yeti price/value ?

[big foot]

Hi there,
I'm finally ready to purchase a new car and I've narrowed it down to the Tig or Yeti. A common comparison I'm sure..
I'm taking the Yeti for a test drive tomorrow, and hopefully a Tig as well, but already leaning to the Yeti for the consistant postive reviews, being able to more easily carry bike(s) inside the cabin and I like that the Yeti is a little more unquie looking and not many around.
I Prefer manual, don't need a ton of power but defintiely some kick at the lights or overtaking. Live in the city but travel the freeway to work, and plenty of weekends out of town riding (dirt roads) or away with the GF.

My only concern is the Yeti seems way underpowered for the money, or way over priced compared to the Tig. Am I missing somthing? I don't know a ton about engines but understand basic specs. Is there something the Yeti has over the the Tig to justify the difference price??
Appreciate any advice.
Thanks

[Jake02]

Hi Big Foot, whichever vehicle you choose you'll be very happy with the end result; after all the Tiguan and Yeti are the same underneath and both are similarly well received by those who review them. There are key differences between the two however; the Yeti is a bit smaller than the (already small for the class) Tiguan; the Yeti's main selling piece is its VarioFlex rear seating where you can take the seats out, recline them, slide them etc. The Yeti's boot is only 40 litres smaller (310 litres vs 350 litres for the Tig) in Australia, despite being physically reasonably smaller. The Yeti is a sportier drive, being smaller and lower, but it's also more off-road focused (in the case of both AWD models).

Value is a hard topic to discuss; every variant of each is a little different. Based on the RRP, the Yeti 77TSI ($26,290) vs Tiguan 118TSI ($28,490) comparo is easy to go to the Tiguan because $2,000 buys you 41 more kW's of power. The Tiguan 132TSI Pacific vs Yeti 118TSI comparo is strange to me. Brought in as a better value limited edition model, the 132TSI Pacific has a few more things as standard and gets a 2 litre turbo engine. But it's slower than and uses more fuel than the Yeti 118TSI, plus it comes with horrible and cheap-looking 7-spoke 16" alloy wheels. The 2.0 TDI comparo is a win for the Yeti because it's $300 cheaper, but comes with the Tiguan 103TDI's $1,000 Comfort Package as standard, as well as front foglamps, a touch-screen radio and bigger alloy wheels, and is more practical, raising the total difference to near $2,000.

As I said, they're the same car and they're both excellent. I'd choose the Yeti only because it has infinite amounts of character (the Tiguan, especially the facelifted model, has none in my opinion), those rear seats are amazing and it's a lot newer too. But drive both of them, see how much they're being offered for and go from there.

[big foot]

Wow, thanks for all the info, that was perfect!
That cleared up most of the confusion I had.
The removable seats are one of the main factors for looking at the Yeti with lugging bikes.
I'm only test driving the 77TSI today maybe the 118 Tiguan, then hopefully next week the 118 Yeti so I can get a good feel for the differences.
Let you know how I go.
Thanks again

[dagget]

Yeti seems great value at the moment we had a look last weekend at them as well but the price difference was too much to seriously consider in the end. Then noticed on carsales could have had a 77tsi one if I waited for $21K or $22K.

[Rooboy]

The removable seats are one of the main factors for looking at the Yeti with lugging bikes.
I'm only test driving the 77TSI today maybe the 118 Tiguan, then hopefully next week the 118 Yeti so I can get a good feel for the differences.

You will definitely notice the difference driving the two. The suspension tune is very different with the 77tsi set up for comfort and the 118 set up being more sports orientated. I'm not too sure about the 118 but, while the 103tdi isn't the fastest thing to 100, it does have the torque to haul up hills without any real effort. I went the Yeti because I thought it was a bit better thought out interior wise than the Tig. It's not just the varioflex rear seats but there are some nice little touches like the ticket holder on the windscreen, little slots to store the rear seat belt buckles when they're not in use, etc.

The only issue I have with the 77 over the 103/118 is that it is a real poverty pack in comparison missing out on the climate control aircon, fog lights, auto lights/wipers and a few of the storage options like the underseat box, rear hooks etc.

[bluey]

For me the packaging of the Yeti makes it far more practical than the Tig - the removable seats make a big difference if big loads are on your occasional agenda. Size wise, the Yeti is shorter than Tig and has a much smaller turning circle. I also prefer a real handbrake. If you are looking at 4WD versions, the Yeti is a better city car with 17inch wheels, vs Tig's 16 which off-roaders prefer.

Deal wise, I think you will be able to find a much better price on a Yeti.