yeeeetiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

[netpenthe]

when available?

WHEN

[BlackOctaviaRS]

It's available first week of October - I spoke to a dealer today.

[Illy]

Available to order or have stock in Australia?

[BlackOctaviaRS]

Available to have stock in Australia - I spoke to Mentone Skoda in Melbourne, and they advised that their dealership is bringing in 20 Yetis to start with.

[woofy]

There is apparently someone trading in a RS wagon on one at Richmond, and also someone lined up for the same tradein on an RS Fabia when they eventually come. Anyone in here?

[NotYet]

I was told that each Skoda dealer will start with a small allocation of Yetis (up to about 20). (What is the collective noun for Yetis?) They had to specify how many of those they wanted in each model (front wheel drive 77TSI or AWD 103TDI), and nominate options (including manual or DSG) and colours. The first batch of demonstrators (up to about 3 per dealer) are expected in showrooms in about mid-September 2011. The rest will trickle in from October onwards.

One Skoda dealer in Melbourne (not Mentone) told me that they have been allocated 20, of which 14 will be 103TDI. Most of the TDIs will have DSG (I think they said 10 of the 14). Most of the initial batch will be optioned up with things like metallic paint (I was told this will be $460), sat-nav (a whopping $2890), sunroof ($1990), front and rear parking sensors ($990), bi-xenon headlights ($1490) and leather. That means the on-road price for most of the AWD models in the inital allocation will be in the mid- to high-$40ks

Nevertheless, dealers seem confident that those ones will be snapped up, so don't expect heavy discounting.

There will be some scope for swapping between dealers - so that if Dealer A in another State has, say, the silver 103TDI with DSG and sat-nav but no sunroof that you want, Dealer B in your State might be able to swap a manual Lava Blue one with a sunroof for it. Each dealer should have access to a list of all configurations allocated to dealers throughout Australia.

On the other hand if you order a bespoke configuration after September, expect a 6-8 month wait. (That is the current waiting time in many other markets such as the UK.)

If you jump in now for a bespoke order, before they hit the showrooms, you might get one sooner. I have pre-ordered one and the current indications are Dec-Jan for delivery (i.e. 4-5 months from order).

Note that the current brochure on the Skoda Australia web site lists 10 colours, but you can order a Yeti in the other four MY2012 colours listed on Skoda sites in other countries (see Skoda international web site). The other colours are Rosso Brunello and Safari Beige (which have been around for some time on Skoda vehicles) and two new colours, Malachite Green and Terracotta Orange. (Terracotta Orange is more accurately called Bronze in the UK, and incidentally quite a good colour in my view - there is a picture of a schmick-looking Yeti in this colour with a black roof in the Skoda international Yeti brochure.) I have read, however, that there is a delay for Rosso Brunello because the supplier of that paint was affected by the tsunami in Japan.

Skoda Australia has not yet published a list of accessories or prices, but if you look at Skoda UK you will get an idea of what will be available. The prices for accessories are likely to be much higher here though. For example, I was told that an extra Spitzberg 7.0J x 17" alloy rim would be about $450 in Australia, compared to £153 (about $A240 at current rates) in the UK. Might be cheaper to import it myself.

MDI - that is, an iPod/iPhone connection - won't be a factory fit until next year; in the meantime it might be available only as a $600 dealer fit. At that price, I'd say save your money if the standard auxiliary socket and bluetooth are sufficient for you; otherwise go for an aftermarket option.

Happy Yeti hunting!

[Jake02]

I have pre-ordered one and the current indications are Dec-Jan for delivery (i.e. 4-5 months from order).

Thank you very much for that, it's nice to finally see some info about the Yetis trickle in. What spec, if you don't mind me asking, did you order (engine, colour, options etc)?

[K1W1]

Nevertheless, dealers seem confident that those ones will be snapped up, so don't expect heavy discounting

I'm not sure whether it's you or the dealer who is in fairy land but within days of these things hitting the floor anybody who can't get $4000 off will be a fool who should be parted with their money.

MDI - that is, an iPod/iPhone connection - won't be a factory fit until next year; in the meantime it might be available only as a $600 dealer fit. At that price, I'd say save your money if the standard auxiliary socket and bluetooth are sufficient for you; otherwise go for an aftermarket

The MDI is simply a proprietary USB interface and seeing as they charge around $200 for the same interface on the same radio system in other Skoda vehicles your chain is being yanked so hard I'm surprised that you don't have whiplash. Don't forget that the $600 you have been quoted DOES NOT include the $100 they will want to charge you for the cable that you need to connect the interface to the device when you do your budgeting.

[BlackOctaviaRS]

I'm not sure whether it's you or the dealer who is in fairy land but within days of these things hitting the floor anybody who can't get $4000 off will be a fool who should be parted with their money.

Couldn't agree more - if I end up deciding to get one, I'll be going at them hard for a decent discount (+corporate pricing).

[VAG newbie]

I'm not sure whether it's you or the dealer who is in fairy land but within days of these things hitting the floor anybody who can't get $4000 off will be a fool who should be parted with their money.

It depends on how many "fools" are out there. Not everyone is aware of corporate discount, not everyone uses car broker, if each dealer are only allocated with 20 or so Yetis only, and they are as good as they are, it's possible we might not see much discounts.

But at the same time, most fools won't buy a Skoda. They won't even walk into a Skoda showroom. These fools are most likely purchase a Korean car and still thinking they are supporting Aussie jobs. You know which brand I'm talking about.

[VAG newbie]

I'm not sure whether it's you or the dealer who is in fairy land but within days of these things hitting the floor anybody who can't get $4000 off will be a fool who should be parted with their money.

It depends on how many "fools" are out there. Not everyone is aware of corporate discount, not everyone uses car broker, if each dealer are only allocated with 20 or so Yetis only, and they are as good as they are, it's possible we might not see much discounts.

But at the same time, most fools won't buy a Skoda. They won't even walk into a Skoda showroom. These fools are most likely purchase a Korean car and still thinking they are supporting Aussie jobs. You know which brand I'm talking about.

[Zelig]

One Skoda dealer in Melbourne (not Mentone) told me that they have been allocated 20, of which 14 will be 103TDI. Most of the TDIs will have DSG (I think they said 10 of the 14). Most of the initial batch will be optioned up with things like metallic paint (I was told this will be $460), sat-nav (a whopping $2890), sunroof ($1990), front and rear parking sensors ($990), bi-xenon headlights ($1490) and leather. That means the on-road price for most of the AWD models in the inital allocation will be in the mid- to high-$40ks

Thanks for the heads up on the cost of those options.

Do you how much Leather will be ?

[NotYet]

What spec, if you don't mind me asking, did you order (engine, colour, options etc)?

G'day Jake. I have ordered 103TDI AWD with bi-xenon lights (no other options). It's Malachite Green. Yes I know green cars have poor resale value! It was my partner's choice. Personally I would have gone for the Terracotta (Bronze). But I figured it was better to take the resale value hit (given that we expect to keep it long-term) than have years of hearing, "I hate this colour. What possessed you to get Terracotta rather than that nice green?".

Do you know how much Leather will be ?

Sorry Zelig, I didn't ask and wasn't told.

The MDI is simply a proprietary USB interface and seeing as they charge around $200 for the same interface on the same radio system in other Skoda vehicles your chain is being yanked so hard I'm surprised that you don't have whiplash. Don't forget that the $600 you have been quoted DOES NOT include the $100 they will want to charge you for the cable that you need to connect the interface to the device when you do your budgeting.

As for "yanking the chain" I am just reporting what I was told by a dealer. The main point is that they will be a relatively cheap factory fit option from some time next year. In the meantime I'd say get an aftermarket one if you really want it.

I'm not sure whether it's you or the dealer who is in fairy land but within days of these things hitting the floor anybody who can't get $4000 off will be a fool who should be parted with their money.

Maybe you will be right Kiwi. The point I was really trying to make was about the dealers' expectations of likely demand. One dealer told me in late July (that is, maybe two months before any cars arrive) that they had already pre-sold 8 of their allocated 20. Another said two weeks ago that some dealers have already pre-sold their entire allocation. Maybe some of that is dealer spin, and maybe the "early adopters" are not a reliable indicator of demand later in the year. But the indications of strong demand don't surprise me given that (a) the numbers are small, (b) there are big wraps on the Yeti, (c) there are long waiting lists in other markets, (d) the Yeti fills a gap between the Dualis/ASX/ix35/Sportage on the one side and Tiguan/X1/Mini Countryman on the other, and (e) this segment of the market remains buoyant. But Skoda Australia have been known to over-estimate demand in the past (e.g. Roomster, Octavia Scout manual).

[Big banana]

New guy here who is going to buy a yeti. Im hoping the smart boys here can help me with a few queries. Incidentally I test drove the 103TDI (or equivalent) recently when in Europe. Suitably impressed.

Looking at the options, the only thing I want is the MDI, can this be fitted after market cheaper? If so by who?

Also, I'll be wanting a tow bar and a dealer said this would be around $1500 which seems a bit much. Can this also be fitted after market and if so by who?

Thanks for any help than can be provided.

Bb

[woofy]

I don't think there is any spin on the Yetis already sold, I know some dealers here have people literally waiting for theirs to come in. With stock so tight worldwide, they aren't going to need to discount at all.