| Long Term Test | Skoda Yeti 4x4 |
Been anywhere interesting?
Skoda has done a marvellous job turning brand prejudice on its head over the last few years - but it'll take more than a life-size Fabia cake and a few Volkswagen parts to make the brand genuinely appealing to young professionals (who don't drive taxis).
As good as the Fabia, Octavia and Superb are, we think the Yeti is exactly the sort of left-field car that should draw a new, young clientele into Skoda's showrooms. So, when someone we know declared he would "never buy one because it's so ugly and it's a Skoda," and that someone is a married 29-year-old with disposable income, a three-month-old baby, and is looking for a new car - well, the gauntlet was laid down.
So we gave the car to Steven, a Gateshead housing officer, his 30-year-old wife Vicky and baby Alex for two weeks to see if the Yeti really is
that good. They currently own a Peugeot 307. Here are their words.
Anything stand out?
Vicky:
"Its height - it was an ideal height for securing baby Alex in his car seat and its Isofix car seat compatibility was a bonus. Being positioned higher than most other cars when driving the Yeti definitely felt safer.
"I thought the Peugeot's boot would be hard to beat for size but the Yeti didn't disappoint. There was ample room for the buggy and Steven's football kit!
"And it certainly showed the snow who's boss - Yeti by name, Yeti by nature! It was surprisingly powerful when pulling away and its six gears definitely improved our fuel economy. I even liked the prompt on the dashboard that suggested which gear you should be driving in.
"More generally, I liked the Yeti's comfortable driving position, heated seats, wide-ranging headlights and awesome sound system."
... and for the wrong reaons?
Steven:
"I liken it to having an ugly child: the school report is always A* and in front of friends and family you say how perfect he or she is. But deep down you wish they were a little prettier, and that way they would have more friends. I think that is the case for this Skoda - the name isn't an obstacle any more, it's just the fact it is ugly that puts me off.
"But not enough to not want one! So in this case it's the Carlos Tevez of the car world: extremely talented, extremely ugly, but cherished by its owners!"
Where next?
For us, with the keys to the Yeti (wrestled) back safe and sound, it's off for a 650-mile UK round trip. We'll report on the Yeti's long distance abilities next time. We're having the winter tyres taken off, too.
But to wrap up this particular experiment - the giving the Yeti away one - we think it has highlighted one inescapable fact about the car: it constantly battles with its styling. Maybe it's because we choose our cars like we choose our celebrities these days - with more regard for the façade than the substance.
Whatever the reason, it's taken a very extended test drive for us to convince our buyers here of the car's greatness. We might have won Skoda a sale, but wouldn't it have been easier if Skoda hadn't made the car so bloody ugly in the first place?
The thing is, the Fiat Multipla went from ugly to conventional during a facelift, and look what happened to that. Hmm.
