Help convincing my wife that the Yeti was the right choice

[damian.r.smith]

After many (and I mean many many months) deliberating over what car we should replace our VW Touareg with I finally bought (on its way from Germany as I type) a Yeti.

Here's the problem. Two very young children and my wife has been spoilt with a huge 4x4 diesel gussling beast of a car. I hate the Touareg, it's a sod to drive and hateful to own. Crazy road tax, awful MPG and very slow. Not My better half however loves it. I had to bribe her by saying she could have an iPhone if she agreed to selling the Touareg. She caught me out as she agreed, bough an iPhone the next day and left me to deal with he car.

Anyway, after reluctantly test driving it (I haven't even tried it myself) I decided to cut our losses with the VW and buy an already specced out Yeti that is someones cancelled order. It's a 2WD 1.2TSI (my choice over 1.4 as I feel we need to give our planet something back after owning a Co2 monster) with b.tooth, auto/come home lights, xenons, special paint, ESP, heated front screen and a few other nice things (can't remember). This forum has been a great help before I even put the deposit down.

Problems I am facing, despite the Yeti being delivered in a couple of weeks are:

- "it's too small, we won't be able to fit the buggy and everything else in"

- "I can't stand the kids up in the boot and put there shoes on"

- "I can't fit another person in the back"

Blah blah blah.

Now she wants to trade my BMW in for a Mini Clubman!!!!!! Crazy!

Anyway, I was hoping to hear from anyone out there who has kids, uses this car as a family car and could give me some ammunition to fire at my wife. I have just bought her a brand new car (first time we have ever owned from new) and was hoping she would be excited about it.

I personally cannot wait until it arrives. It looks great, everyone says its great and it will be loads cheaper to run than the VW.

Cheers everyone.

Edited 9 June, 2011 by damian.r.smith

[gadgetman]

The clubman has a tiny boot and looks silly.

[MartynVRS]

The clubman has a tiny boot and looks silly.

+1 They look fugly

[servicepoint]

I'm getting rid of my X5 for all the same reasons, its a great car had it since new and only done 21k

Miles but its greedy and no fun to drive and everyone has one!!!

I'm hoping the Yeti will do everything the BMW did for less cash and more fun.

[Silly Old Hector]

Man up ! Tell her - It's the Yeti, or she can start using her feet....

[wakev]

Man up ! Tell her - It's the Yeti, or she can start using her feet....

[Terfyn]

Anyway, I was hoping to hear from anyone out there who has kids, uses this car as a family car and could give me some ammunition to fire at my wife. I have just bought her a brand new car (first time we have ever owned from new) and was hoping she would be excited about it.

I can only comment as a granddad of two, (girl 5 and boy 2.5 years). It is tight in the boot but we have always coped. The boot is deep and things get piled on top of each other. Remove the parcel shelf (and store it behind the rear seats) and the roof is the limit. We have easily coped with buggies. (normal ones, not those Rolls-Royce jobs) and, 'cos kids have short legs, the rear footwells come into use.

The Yeti is only good for two car seats, Isofix on both rear outer seats, but you could get three in the rear without that sort of hardware.

In short, it works and is a lot better than most, so called, family saloons.

Incidentally I always use the rear bumper as a seat to change shoes. I have the "false boot floor" which makes the floor flat from the door opening and it is a perfect platform to change nappies etc!!!!

Edited 9 June, 2011 by Terfyn

[bribagz]

The kids can sit down and dangle over the rear bumper can't they? they will still be under cover. We fit two collies happily in the boot and they never moan, I believe the 1.2 goes well and is quiet, I have a 140 4x4 and 50ish per gallon most of the time, I even managed 30mpg dragging the wobble box to mid Wales and back :-)) Good choice..

[blueR36]

Sounds like you have married a badge snob , the clubman is pig ugly and no bigger than the yetti, try standing up in a mini! I hate the way BMW(mini) ruin cherished memories, I had an original clubman ,then a 1275 GT(same bodyshell)

[Bobdog]

You don't need to say anything - nothing you can say will persuade her. You just wait until the Yeti arrives, and let her drive it. The Yeti will do all your talking for you!

[Macdemon]

After many (and I mean many many months) deliberating over what car we should replace our VW Touareg with I finally bought (on its way from Germany as I type) a Yeti.

Here's the problem. Two very young children and my wife has been spoilt with a huge 4x4 diesel gussling beast of a car. I hate the Touareg, it's a sod to drive and hateful to own. Crazy road tax, awful MPG and very slow. Not My better half however loves it. I had to bribe her by saying she could have an iPhone if she agreed to selling the Touareg. She caught me out as she agreed, bough an iPhone the next day and left me to deal with he car.

Anyway, after reluctantly test driving it (I haven't even tried it myself) I decided to cut our losses with the VW and buy an already specced out Yeti that is someones cancelled order. It's a 2WD 1.2TSI (my choice over 1.4 as I feel we need to give our planet something back after owning a Co2 monster) with b.tooth, auto/come home lights, xenons, special paint, ESP, heated front screen and a few other nice things (can't remember). This forum has been a great help before I even put the deposit down.

Problems I am facing, despite the Yeti being delivered in a couple of weeks are:

- "it's too small, we won't be able to fit the buggy and everything else in"

- "I can't stand the kids up in the boot and put there shoes on"

- "I can't fit another person in the back"

Blah blah blah.

Now she wants to trade my BMW in for a Mini Clubman!!!!!! Crazy!

Anyway, I was hoping to hear from anyone out there who has kids, uses this car as a family car and could give me some ammunition to fire at my wife. I have just bought her a brand new car (first time we have ever owned from new) and was hoping she would be excited about it.

I personally cannot wait until it arrives. It looks great, everyone says its great and it will be loads cheaper to run than the VW.

Cheers everyone.

Relax Damian, you've made the RIGHT choice. To get your wife to fall in love with it, just get her to drive it.

My brother has a Honda CRV, on an '08' plate and he could not believe how nippy and responsive our Yeti was compared to his slow and sluggish CRV. :yes: and secretly I think he indicated he made a poor choice but his wife wanted it.

DOn't let your kids stand up in the back, get them to sit instead and the problem is solved.

AND you'll be joining 100,000 other people who have made the wise transition too

[BossFox]

Seems simple to me.

If you hated the running costs of the Toureg get a bigger car and she can pay for the running costs.

You keep the Yeti. Problem solved.

My wife wouldn't be without the Yeti. Loves it.

Apparently she wants to keep it for 10 years.

We used to have a two year old Range Rover Vogue SE with the TDV8 engine. So quite a change.

[900000]

I agree with what someone said above. YOU keep the Yeti and let her buy what she wants AND run it! But then I know that is not how it works.

Boot space in a Yeti can be tricky - unless you pack vertically when it has acres of space. BUT you only need to have the rear seats all the way back and the backrests in their backmost angle for carying adults. With kids you can leave the seats in a well forward position giving you a LOT more boot space. See below from the French brochure. The middle seat for some bizzare reason cannot be moved forward. So to really gain this space I suggest this seat lives in the garage at home and you move the other two inboard - which means the baby seats will be easier to reach as well from the front seats - something else to mention to her. With seats forward and towards the middle there are very few cars out there that can bring the baby seat that close to the driver - perhaps only the Roomster can do this too.

Second thing the spare wheel: get it for sure but leave it and the floor at home to gain more space if required. See above again for the space difference with spare wheel in and out. If she is going to do mainly town driving she'll be fine with the Škoda assist as the gunk stuff is all but useless and 9 times out of 10 ruins the tyre beyond repair.

Then tell her how distinctive this car will be. NOTHING out there bar a Morgan Aero8 or a Bugatti or something is as unique as this car. She will stand out and not merge into the background like she did in the Toe-rag. It will be like a Prada handbag!!! The feeling of not following the herd is very liberating I tell you.

Then something I read on a bicycle forum the other day. The person mentioned how he used to put the money he saved on travel costs in a spreadsheet every time he used his bike. Soon he realised that A the bike paid for itself and B that he had more money each month. So every time you use the Yeti rather than the Toe-rag put the difference in cost per mile in a spreadsheet or indeed save the money in a savings account. She need not see this but after a few months there will be some money in this "kitty" to buy her something else... More brownie points for you!

[damian.r.smith]

+1 They look fugly

Agreed. Not a big fan of the mini itself and the clubman doesn't seem to make sense to me. Suicide door is also on the wrong side for this country. No way will we be buying one of these.

I'm getting rid of my X5 for all the same reasons, its a great car had it since new and only done 21k

Miles but its greedy and no fun to drive and everyone has one!!!

I'm hoping the Yeti will do everything the BMW did for less cash and more fun.

Interesting to you're thinking the same. I regretted not going for an X5 or Disco when we bought the Touareg but I guess now I would come to the same type of conclusion whatever the 4x4 it was. Hope you haven't taken too much of a hit with your X5. I imagine it has held its value a little more than my Treg has.

Man up ! Tell her - It's the Yeti, or she can start using her feet....

Eerrr, perhaps you can tell her. I will be in the USA when you do it though.

I can only comment as a granddad of two, (girl 5 and boy 2.5 years). It is tight in the boot but we have always coped. The boot is deep and things get piled on top of each other. Remove the parcel shelf (and store it behind the rear seats) and the roof is the limit. We have easily coped with buggies. (normal ones, not those Rolls-Royce jobs) and, 'cos kids have short legs, the rear footwells come into use.

The Yeti is only good for two car seats, Isofix on both rear outer seats, but you could get three in the rear without that sort of hardware.

In short, it works and is a lot better than most, so called, family saloons.

Incidentally I always use the rear bumper as a seat to change shoes. I have the "false boot floor" which makes the floor flat from the door opening and it is a perfect platform to change nappies etc!!!!

Thanks for this. Very helpful. If you are going up to the roof however do you use a net or something else to prevent everything flying forward in an emergency. My BMW has a great net fitted as standard but the VW only has a roller blind style cover. Nothing that goes up to the roof.

The buggy is perhaps the problem. It is quite a "rolls royce" type and I think my wife has here eyes on an equally bank balance threatening other one.

The car we are getting doesn't have the false floor (it was already specced out so we avoided the long waiting list). Might have to think of another solution for the changing in the back of car scenario.

The kids can sit down and dangle over the rear bumper can't they? they will still be under cover. We fit two collies happily in the boot and they never moan, I believe the 1.2 goes well and is quiet, I have a 140 4x4 and 50ish per gallon most of the time, I even managed 30mpg dragging the wobble box to mid Wales and back :-)) Good choice..

Ah, good point, bumper seat.

Sounds like you have married a badge snob , the clubman is pig ugly and no bigger than the yetti, try standing up in a mini! I hate the way BMW(mini) ruin cherished memories, I had an original clubman ,then a 1275 GT(same bodyshell)

Badge snob. Yes. She was very excited when we bough the VW and BMW and coulnd't wait to get them on the drive. This one however, I don't even think she has told anyone she is getting a brand spanking new really nice car.

You don't need to say anything - nothing you can say will persuade her. You just wait until the Yeti arrives, and let her drive it. The Yeti will do all your talking for you!

Good idea. I am very hopeful that she will get on with it and not complain too much.

Relax Damian, you've made the RIGHT choice. To get your wife to fall in love with it, just get her to drive it.

My brother has a Honda CRV, on an '08' plate and he could not believe how nippy and responsive our Yeti was compared to his slow and sluggish CRV. :yes: and secretly I think he indicated he made a poor choice but his wife wanted it.

DOn't let your kids stand up in the back, get them to sit instead and the problem is solved.

AND you'll be joining 100,000 other people who have made the wise transition too

I think it is the right choice. The alternative last weekend was a 5 series or ford s-max. Love the 5 series but it was used and not really the exact car spec I wanted. If I could have found the right 5 series I probably would have gone with that. The s-max. Wow, what an over priced car. £18k for a 2009 one with 23k miles. It just amazes me how much they hold their value. Whilst it clearly would have been more practical I couldn't face shelling out that sort of money for a ford MPV.

Cannot wait until it arrives now.

Seems simple to me.

If you hated the running costs of the Toureg get a bigger car and she can pay for the running costs.

You keep the Yeti. Problem solved.

My wife wouldn't be without the Yeti. Loves it.

Apparently she wants to keep it for 10 years.

We used to have a two year old Range Rover Vogue SE with the TDV8 engine. So quite a change.

Everything in our household magically gets paid for by American Express. The numbers don't seem to register for my better half.

I agree with what someone said above. YOU keep the Yeti and let her buy what she wants AND run it! But then I know that is not how it works.

Boot space in a Yeti can be tricky - unless you pack vertically when it has acres of space. BUT you only need to have the rear seats all the way back and the backrests in their backmost angle for carying adults. With kids you can leave the seats in a well forward position giving you a LOT more boot space. See below from the French brochure. The middle seat for some bizzare reason cannot be moved forward. So to really gain this space I suggest this seat lives in the garage at home and you move the other two inboard - which means the baby seats will be easier to reach as well from the front seats - something else to mention to her. With seats forward and towards the middle there are very few cars out there that can bring the baby seat that close to the driver - perhaps only the Roomster can do this too.

Second thing the spare wheel: get it for sure but leave it and the floor at home to gain more space if required. See above again for the space difference with spare wheel in and out. If she is going to do mainly town driving she'll be fine with the Å koda assist as the gunk stuff is all but useless and 9 times out of 10 ruins the tyre beyond repair.

Then tell her how distinctive this car will be. NOTHING out there bar a Morgan Aero8 or a Bugatti or something is as unique as this car. She will stand out and not merge into the background like she did in the Toe-rag. It will be like a Prada handbag!!! The feeling of not following the herd is very liberating I tell you.

Then something I read on a bicycle forum the other day. The person mentioned how he used to put the money he saved on travel costs in a spreadsheet every time he used his bike. Soon he realised that A the bike paid for itself and B that he had more money each month. So every time you use the Yeti rather than the Toe-rag put the difference in cost per mile in a spreadsheet or indeed save the money in a savings account. She need not see this but after a few months there will be some money in this "kitty" to buy her something else... More brownie points for you!

nice to hear that the boot and rear has some degree of flexibility. I will try a few differnt things out to see what works. Taking out the centre one sounds like a good choice.

The car doesn't come specced with the spare. I may look into buying seperately and leaving in the garage most of the time. The car, I agree, is very distinctive and last weekend on a round day trip to London we spotted 1. Saw more Ferarris.

As an accountant I like the idea of monitoring the savings. I don't think it will take long to pay for that Mulberry handbag she longs for. VW takes £125 to fill and achieved about 400 miles on that.

Cheers for all your replies. Very useful.

[rockhopper]

My CR140 DSG cost about £70 to fill up, and I do more miles than that, just driving it around London during the day.

[Terfyn]

Thanks for this. Very helpful. If you are going up to the roof however do you use a net or something else to prevent everything flying forward in an emergency. My BMW has a great net fitted as standard but the VW only has a roller blind style cover. Nothing that goes up to the roof.

My comment about to the roof may be a little OTT - BUT the Yeti is supplied with nets and plenty of tie down points to secure luggage. The point is that the Yeti does not have the biggest boot but it is very adequate for most normal purposes with the grandkids on board. My ex X-Trail had a massive boot and, at first, I missed it but now we find that a different approach to packing solves the change in shape.

[CJJE]

The car we are getting doesn't have the false floor (it was already specced out so we avoided the long waiting list). Might have to think of another solution for the changing in the back of car scenario.

You can buy the false floor for £185 as a Yeti accessory. Interestingly they don't quote a fitting charge for this, unlike the one I added to my Octavia! This raises the boot floor to bumper level, and gives you somewhere to keep shopping bags, picnic blankets etc out of sight. If you really need the full height in the boot, it unclips so you can remove it.

Chris

[Clive1942]

You can buy the false floor for £185 as a Yeti accessory. Interestingly they don't quote a fitting charge for this, unlike the one I added to my Octavia!

A fitting charge? Surely, you just put it into place?

Cheers

Clive

[Llanigraham]

A fitting charge? Surely, you just put it into place?

Cheers

Clive

Er, no. The plastic supports and the spare wheel mounting are actually fixed to the floor, not just "placed" there.

[damian.r.smith]

Er, no. The plastic supports and the spare wheel mounting are actually fixed to the floor, not just "placed" there.

Doesn't sound like an easy solution. I think we will just have to see how we get on with it and decide if the extra cost and hassle of fitting it is really worth it.

Fingers crossed the dealer with be in touch this week about a delivery date.

[Llanigraham]

Doesn't sound like an easy solution. I think we will just have to see how we get on with it and decide if the extra cost and hassle of fitting it is really worth it.

Fingers crossed the dealer with be in touch this week about a delivery date.

It's only Torx like screws holding them down!

[rockhopper]

Er, no. The plastic supports and the spare wheel mounting are actually fixed to the floor, not just "placed" there.

I have changed mine a couple of times. Takes me about 10 mins. now with the right tools

Mike

[turnedlight]

I am a mum of two, and I won't let my husband buy too big a car, I consider myself pretty good at maneuvering and parking (because I've had lots of practice) but I wouldn't like to have to find a space for anything bigger than our yeti in a tight little car park either in our town or on hols somewhere like Cornwall! I don't need my children to stand up in the boot, and I can fit another child in the back easy.

When the kids were smaller we had a tt (which I hated driving tbh) and then an audi a4 cabriolet when their legs stuck out too far and would need to be surgically removed to get them in the back seats of the tt :yes: so I know what it's like needing to get new child car seats, dealing with a small boot, trying to fit buggies in - I just bought a mini buggy to fit the boot and found a way of reducing our luggage! I saw no need to suddenly buy an enormous great tank of a cars just for a couple of children, our parents managed just fine without them..

This time I got to help pick the car, and I'm really happy with the yeti, high driving position and easy to park. And I don't even agree that the boot is cramped.. :p

[damian.r.smith]

I am a mum of two, and I won't let my husband buy too big a car, I consider myself pretty good at maneuvering and parking (because I've had lots of practice) but I wouldn't like to have to find a space for anything bigger than our yeti in a tight little car park either in our town or on hols somewhere like Cornwall! I don't need my children to stand up in the boot, and I can fit another child in the back easy.

When the kids were smaller we had a tt (which I hated driving tbh) and then an audi a4 cabriolet when their legs stuck out too far and would need to be surgically removed to get them in the back seats of the tt :yes: so I know what it's like needing to get new child car seats, dealing with a small boot, trying to fit buggies in - I just bought a mini buggy to fit the boot and found a way of reducing our luggage! I saw no need to suddenly buy an enormous great tank of a cars just for a couple of children, our parents managed just fine without them..

This time I got to help pick the car, and I'm really happy with the yeti, high driving position and easy to park. And I don't even agree that the boot is cramped.. :p

Many thanks for this. Nice to hear experience of owning one from a mum with two.

My wife is already eyeing up a new bugaboo! as she claims it is marginally smaller than the phil and teds. Yet another buggy we will no doubt be buying to accessorise the smaller car.

[900000]

My wife is already eyeing up a new bugaboo! as she claims it is marginally smaller than the phil and teds. Yet another buggy we will no doubt be buying to accessorise the smaller car.

Well for your part I do hope it is not a Bugaboo Donkey. Only £1200 or so. Yes for a baby stroler!!!!!!!!!