For trolley jacks with a cup shaped lifting pad, the "ice-hockey puck with a slot" type of pad works well. Plenty of choices here:
rubber jack pads vw skoda: Search Result | eBay
For jacks with a flat plate style of lift pad, I use the exact same type of alloy pad adapter as described by the Hood in #3. After being alerted to their existence by The Hood in fact.
Those work very well indeed.
I've used the same pair of ramps for oil changes, etc. for nigh-on 40 years. Still perfectly good. Even with my BMWs. The last two of which have had 255mm width rear tyres and 235mm wide fronts. Provided of course you take care to ensure the ramp is positioned centrally in relation to the tyre.
"Longlife Servicing" is car industry language for extended oil change intervals. Typically 18-20,000 miles or so. Only really suited to cars that have an easy life cruising motorways and achieving high annual mileages as a result. Where the engine is subject to relatively few cold starts. All components, but particularly the oil, get up to their designed working temperature, then stay there for the rest of the working day. Consequently, oil degradation and especially contamination is exceptionally low. So it is safe to extend the interval between drains. They work well in that environment, provided fully synthetic oils are used. Cars that enjoy that kind of easy life, also put a lot less strain and wear on things like transmissions, brakes, etc. So "high mileage" can often mean little wear and tear. Especially compared to a car that has done few miles, but been used constantly in an urban environment with constant stop-start driving, traffic lights every half mile, etc.
For cars with lower annual mileages, oil changes intervals in the 6-10,000 mile range are far more preferable for longevity.
Diesel cars favour the high mileage motorway, low wear and tear user. Hence can often achieve intergalactic lifetime mileages. 250,000 miles or more being common - the average distance from the Earth to the Moon. Petrol engined cars often, but not invariably, are more frquently used in urban stop-go, high wear and tear environments. Especially since the 2015 "dieselgate" VW & Mercedes emissions cheating fiasco. Beware of this when buying from car supermarkets, where it is even more difficult to glean the previous user and pattern of use history for the car.
Remember that manufacturer's "recommended" service regimes are a bare minimum. Designed to prevent the car self-destructing during the first 3-5 years of life, when it might come under an extended warranty. NOT designed to maximise its longer term life expectancy. It's not in the manufacturer's interests for the car to last as long as it could. They would sell fewer new cars that way!. (Exception: Volvo, at least while they were still Swedish owned. Possibly SAAB too, before they sank into the General Motors cess-pit.)
General servicing and oil changes are perfectly achievable by a moderately competent DIYer. The biggest "complexity" for an oil change by conventional draining, is that the car is fitted with a noise deadening, plastic undertray, below the engine/gearbox area. Like probably 80-90% of more modern cars. Those are quite straightforward to remove though. Four screws down each side of the undertray, T20 Torx from memory, then three bolts across the back T35 or T40 torx. Then the whole undertray just unclips and slides backwards off the rear lip of the front bumper. Although if the undertray has not been removed in seven years, the side screws could well be seized. Use a dab of copperslip on them when re-assembling, to prevent future seizing.
Again, like the vast majority of more modern cars, the sump drain plug faces rearwards. 19mm hex bolt on the Yeti, from memory. You'll find that the rear or side facing design mean you are far less likely to end up dropping the plug into your oil drain catch pan. Than with older, base of sump, drain plugs. The side or rear facing means you can reach over the top of your catch pan to undo the plug more easily. Be ready though, for the hot oil to come streaming out in an arc. So position your catch pan accordingly.
Alternatively, do what most of the main franchised dealers do, and suck all the oil out through the dipstick tube. Dealers often use a vacuum pump. For DIY use, small 12v powered electric pumps are perfectly adequate. Often available for around £15 or so from places like the centre aisle at Aldi or Lidl, or eBay and Amazon. I've used one for 6-7 years now. Having satisfied myself that I can extract around 250ml more oil from my old 2010 Yeti, through the dipstick than I could from the drain plug. For my "new" 2017 Yeti though, like the 2014 Octavia I also service regularly. The oil filter is only accessible from below. So the plastic undertray has to come off anyway. Hence I've reverted to using the drain plug. I'm not sure if a 2015 1.2 TSi has a top or side accessible filter, or a downward accessible one? The 2016 1.2 Polo I service has the filter on the side of the engine, but accessed from below.
Re: "
Any tips for oil, oil filter, fuel filter, air filter changes ?"
1) These days, having tried a variety of differing brands of filter makes over the years, I use only MANN filters exclusively for all purposes. Or if MANN temporarily unavailable, MAHLE just as good. Filters that come in boxes branded as BOSCH, are frequently MAHLE inside the box. Biggest / only difference being the word "BOSCH" printed on the filter itself.
2)
Oil filter replacement - If a spin-on metal canister type (as distinct from the more environmentally friendly paper element cartridge type), I recommend getting a cup shaped oil filter wrench of the right diameter to fit the flats on the outer end of the filter. Used in conjunction with a 3/8" or 1/2" ratchet. Over the last 10 years I've acquired a "set" of 5 different sizes/diameters to fit most cars with canister oil filters. Far superior to any other type of filter removal tools. Especially where access space is limited for filter removal. New filter goes on 100% by hand of course. (That said - the only removal tool that would fit for the 2005 Renault Scenic that I had prior to the Yeti, was the old farmer's stand-by - of a 12" flat blade screwdriver, hammered through the metal filter body, to act as a lever. Messy, but effective!)
What type of filter does your Yeti have?
3)
Engine Air filter - a doddle! 8 captive screws that can't be dropped or lost onto the under-tray. Philips heads on older cars. Torx heads on later. Partially lift off the top of the filter housing, leaving the mass air flow sensor and its trunking in place. Filter element can then be swapped easily. Takes about 2 minutes the second and subsequent times you do it. That's on (all?) diesel Yetis that is. With the air filter box just forward of the battery. The 1.2 TSi naturally aspirated engine fitted to the Polo has a much more complicated filter box. Not sure which filter housing design the 1.2 Yeti uses, but photos I've seen suggest more like the diesel Yetis than the Polo.
Tip: I habitually write the date and mileage when changed, on the end of the new filter element, using a ball pen. That way, I have a reminder how long the filter has been in use. Quite handy to refer when I pop out the filter between scheduled changes, to give it a blow through and rejuvenate with a low pressure air line. Usually at every oil change. In part because that is so quick and easy to do.
4)
Fuel filter - Every time I've changed a fuel filter at the recommended 40 or 50,000 mile intervals over the last 15 years, on the Yetis and BMWs I've owned, both petrol and diesel, I've found myself asking: "
Why am I doing this? The old filter element is pristine!". Even using supermarket fuels most of the time. The exception to the rule that recommended change intervals are usually inadequate. At least using UK standard fuels. (Perhaps not in "developing" markets with questionable fuel quality?) I'm minded to extend the change intervals to 60,000+ in future. Or even TOPGUN's suggested 80k?
5)
Cabin Filter - The only one in the Yeti that is a bit of a pain for the knees. It's located behind the passenger side glove box. You have to be on your knees beside the car to reach it. With your head in the footwell. As if praying to the filter gods. A rectangular piece of plastic foam material has to come out to reach it. Then a smaller rectangular plastic panel slides to one side. So you can then wriggle out or in the unusually shaped filter element. Although the shape does mean it is not possible to insert the element with the airflow in the wrong direction, as you sometimes can with rectangular or square elements. No tools needed.
(MANN "Frecious+" cabin filter elements are the dog's whatsits of cabin filters. With carbon layers for smells AND an active bacteriocide/fungicide built in. For only £few more than a standard "white element" filter.)
(Not nearly so tricky to change as the Octavia Cabin filter though. The whole glove box has to come out on those! Easy to take out. A right PITA to get back properly.)
