Volkswagen Tiguan review (2016-2024) | owner reviews: MPG, Problems & Reliability

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My Tiguan has been nothing but trouble since day one. Faulty electrics, faulty sensors, not starting, handbrake not working, shockingly bad sat nav that can't pick up the simplest of destinations and, if it does, be prepared to travel the long way round. It's currently back at VW having a new screen fitted as this has now also given up. Also, I can't put the windows down without a horrendous thumping noise which is only resolved if the other windows are put down at the same time.

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A mixed review. I came to the Tiguan from an S-Line A3 which had a firm ride but comfortable seats; the Tiguan in S form has a great ride but the seat is too short on the leg as it has no adjustment and is quite uncomfortable without lumbar support. As a motorway cruiser it's stable and a great load lugger and I can't really complain on the twisty bits either, given the car's dimensions and strong engine. There's great leg room in the back, although this seems to come at the expense of the boot. I opted for an S instead of an SE so that I could add a sunroof, electric tailgate and metallic paint, so I only have myself to blame for the gripes I have, caveat emptor. It looks great in Atlantic blue when clean and in the sunshine. Would I get another one? Probably not, not in this spec anyway.

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I'm not 100% happy: Muck gets into the rear door wheel arch and it gets sprayed down the outside of the car when the roads are wet. Third gear seems to rattle when cold on overrun and the headlamps fog up when it's wet outside. I reckon it is overpriced for what you get and I feel I should have looked around. There must be better SUVs out there.

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This is the new Tiguan model. Previously I had the old model Tiguan which I loved. This one drives well, but there are several things I don't like about it: 1. I live in a country area with farmers coming out of fields and leaving mud on the road which I have to drive over. I have mud flaps on the car. When I get out of the car, if I touch the door trim or seal with the back of my leg even slightly, I get a stripe of mud on the back of my leg. This did not happen with the previous model. For this reason alone I would not buy another one. I have experimented with this issue and concluded that, in order to avoid this issue, I need to clean the seal every day before I get in the car. 2. AdBlue - what's that about? Why can't we have a car that deals with emissions without a threat of the car not starting if you don't fill it up! 3. Front assist. I didn't want this but it comes as as standard and can't be turned off. I've owned the car for a year and only 3 times has it told me I'm driving too close but more times than that it has told me that the sensors are impaired! In short, I'm disappointed and off to buy a different make of car.

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I must say this is the most comfortable car I've ever owned. If you've driven any other VW you will feel at home behind the wheel. I opted for the Vienna leather, which has full electric adjustment with lumbar support on the drivers seat (with 3 position memory). The engine has a willingness as good as my previous Golf GT, and the DSG gearbox is really smooth and not notchy at all. The 'Active info display' dashboard is a fantastic addition, and when used with the optional 'Head-up Display' gives all the information you need in exactly the right place. The ride can be adjusted for Comfort, Normal, Sport and Individual, and the 4motion has different offroad settings selectable with a dial next to the gear stick. The 'Area View' works well giving camera views all around the car, and the 'Park Assist' is very handy for getting in and out of tight spaces. Boot space is massive with no sill to get over when loading. Also the front passenger seat back can be folded forward to take a really long load. Both rear seats can be slid forward and backwards, and the seat backs reclined allowing superb room and comfort for rear passengers. The full length sunroof gives plenty of light for both front and rear. The front seat backs also include folding trays for the rear passengers. The infotainment system is also very good with access to Apple Carplay and Android Auto, and has an excellent navigation system. All in all I cannot fault this car and would recommend it highly.

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It's comfortable, economical and quick when necessary.

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In short, best car I've had. Not without it's slight shortfalls, but what car is perfect for us all? Great standard spec, adaptive cruise control combined with the lane assist makes motorway driving less stressful. Auto adjustment LED lights work great, Android Auto (or Apple CarPlay if you're that way converted) is great - so much so that I don't use my car's own Sat nav at all (which is a shame as that has it displayed in my driving console). Yes it's not fast at junctions if you need to pull away fast - SOLUTION - put it in Sport mode, pull away, then change back. Simple. Fuel economy isn't great, was expecting more but if I was bothered to calculate it, wouldn't be costing me a huge amount more. What I'd like to have seen is a retractable boot parcel shelf as opposed to the fixed one - to give you the ability to use it with seats down, with dogs in the back etc and be able to stow it away within the car as opposed to leaving it at home. I'd also like to see manufacturers giving the customer an option to choose the type of tyre on their vehicle (without charge) when buying from new - summer or all round weather tyres. Wonder how many people would then choose all weather tyres for the benefits we'd get for using in the British weather? Saying all that, I'd have another Tiguan tomorrow with the electrical boot lid option as the car is that good. However when I'm ready to change it, I'll be looking for an electrical SUV variant.

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My Tiguan is now 5 weeks old and generally I am very pleased with it. It is not powerful but I knew that when I purchased it. The only problem I have had a rattle near the glove box which the garage have been unable to stop. The garage say it has never experienced the problem which I don't understand as the internet is full of reports about the same. Apart from rattle I am very pleased

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I took delivery of our Tiguan R Line 2.0 TSI auto in March 2017 after waiting 6 months for delivery, for the first 5000 miles it’s been faultless, it drove perfectly had reasonable economy great looks and packed with great kit including panoramic sat navigation sun roof slick auto box a great all round package. However, at 5,020 miles it broke down with the EPS and exhaust lights appearing on the dash and went into limp mode, the car was recovered and taken to my local VW dealership where it has remained for over 3 weeks as they can’t find what’s wrong. It’s the second new VW we have had in three years – our previous Golf GTD had similar electrical problems at 3,000 miles.

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Absolutely fabulous to drive, rapid when required, although you have to drive it hard to achieve real speed. Fantastic features including panoramic sun roof, full sat nav display. The LED lights can shape their beam around oncoming cars, they're very bright at night and light up the entire road ahead. It's very roomy, has had side rails fitted and hence looks really sporty. I had an Audi Q3 before and was dubious about changing to the VW, yes its a lot cheaper but in my opinion a far superior car and I am really glad I changed to this model

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This is my 4th Tiguan, and my first second-generation one. I opted for R-Line due to its high level of standard equipment package and looks for the price. It's a big improvement over the original and facelifted model for all the reasons given. I've only recently given it a motorway run using the cruise control and adaptive braking and found it to be a practical system that deals with even heavy traffic. Even selecting 75mph it returned easy 50+mpg. The SatNav is a little frustrating, it doesn't appear to take just a post code, when an address might not be fully known to input it. I'm impressed with the auto headlight system. It's quiet and comfortable for this long run, set on Normal suspension.

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Great SUV. Stable, Powerful. You feel the high torque when going uphill. There is some delay before the turbo comes in .... and it can be noisy sometimes.

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I love this car, it does everything I need it to. It goes off road without a problem, wades through rivers without fuss and yet it has impeccable manners on the motorway. It is slightly better equipped than my wife's Evoque which cost 15k more, the only thing hers has that the Tiguan doesn't is the electric boot lid. I have hammered it for 30k miles this year and it hasn't complained once, even in snow with normal tyres on. The sunroof is amazing and I open it up overtime we can see blue sky. In a year i'll get another one for sure.

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Honeymoon period over. Am experiencing many software glitches. Tyre pressure warning symbols appear and disappear. Side, front and brake assist sensors failing randomly to the point I'm happily driving an empty road and the red warning suddenly flashes and the brake comes on! Only very briefly but enough to make the car jolt. Car currently at the garage being assessed it but can't find the fault after two days. I have a good relationship with our VW garage so remain hopeful it can be sorted.

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This is my second Tiguan, I owned first generation Tiguan 2.0-litre diesel 150bhp 4motion in match trim from new too. I kept that one for 6 years with a total of 109k miles when I exchanged it. That one impressed me with zero problems and fantastic mpg at 50+, great in the snow with all season tyres. My mk2 is an R-line 150bhp 2.0 diesel 4motion DSG automatic. Negatives first: slow launch from stop position with DSG box, stop-start stops too quickly causing delay in pulling off quickly again, not quite as sharp handling as the old one. Very poor mpg compared to mk 1. Positives now : beautiful on the eye, fantastic kit, loads more room in the boot, fantastic interior, love the automatic adjustment on those bright led lights, much quieter on the inside, relaxing cruise, premium feel to car. Don't normally like leather seats but love these along with electric adjustments with 3 memory settings. Overall: lovely classy premium feeling SUV, but not without compromise, MPG could be better and its lost some of its original mk 1 attributes. I.e. sharp Golf-like handling but still a comfortable vehicle although less exciting to drive. I would buy again but would stick to a manual box next time.

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When it works it's a great car. However i've owned mine for 1 year, having bought it as an ex-demo from a dealer. In that year, it's been back 5 times for warranty work, and i've just had to book it in again: 1. 2 days after collection, the steering arm came loose so that the front wheels could point in different directions. 2. It was recalled as the mood lighting in the roof was a fire risk. 3. The battery died and i had to jump start the car. After it was jump started the parking sensors went mad, so it had to go back for a software reset. 4. The rubber seals around the sun roof perished (when the car was 18 months old), so i had rain coming through the roof into the electrics behind the rear view mirror. This took a fortnight to fix, and i'm told that VW issued a recall for this issue a few weeks later 5. the entire electronic dashboard crashed, and had to be taken to VW to be reprogrammed. 6. The engine management light has come on - this is now booked in for what will be it's 6th repair under warranty.

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Endless electrical issues - engine and exhaust in particular. VW seem unable/unwilling to diagnose. Ignition switch failure, electric handbrake failure twice, door locks failure - most things sorted by independent garage after I gave up at the dealer network. On my fourth set of rear hatch gas struts - including the mount breaking and having to have a new mount welded in and the whole back hatch painted. Mechanically it hasn't stopped though and is pleasant enough to drive.

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An awful car with rubbish build quality. There's cheap plastics everywhere, uncomfortable seats, awful fuel economy unless on motorway all the time and heavy steering. As for the seats, the massaging function doesn’t work, while the heated seats get so hot, they burn you. No electric adjustment on any front seat. Rubbish infotainment screen that marks easily and goes pixelated and bitty covers in fingerprints, so I'm forever wiping it clean and the car isn’t even a year old yet. So much for German build quality. The first and last VW I will ever own. I wouldn’t recommend this car at all, it's overpriced rubbish save your money. There are better cars out there for £35k.

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I currently own the Tiguan R-line and I must say I am mightily impressed with it. It is reaaly comfortable on the 20" wheels, better than I expected. I love the lane assist, the adaptive cruise and the traffic jam assist and the panoramic sunroof just floods the car with light. I made the right decision getting this car, for the kit that comes as standard on the R-line trim I think it offers fantastic value for money given the build quality and the badge appeal. Well done Volkswagen, highly recommended.

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12,000 miles in, I'm still very pleased. It's a great car for long journeys. Ride is firm but very comfortable (personal taste). It's noticeably larger than the previous Mk1, especially for boot space. Handling and engine responsiveness are great and the array of engine mode including eco, makes a noticeable difference to fuel economy. I've little to criticise, but living in a rural area I have to disable front assist in country lanes to avoid unexpected fierce braking being triggered which can be off-putting. As with other VW reviewers, I've found the SatNav isn't intuitive and journey times always are grossly underestimated. It's good for a little light off-roading, too, e.g. grass fields are handled well thanks to the good ground clearance.

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Fab car. Comfort fabulous, wonderful dash board with digital display with many many different scenarios to choose what display you wish to see. Gear box very easy to use. Wonderful for long and short journeys. Comfortable for my 3 year old granddaughter to sit in happily for hours. The 12v charger plug in the back is great for plugging in her iPad or DVD player. My two dogs have more than enough space and room to travel 6 hours on holidays without them being distressed.

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Very comfortable and quiet SUV. Petrol engine 1.5 tsi 125 hp very pleasant to drive

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This is my second VW and I must say I don't think it will be the last. Was always a fan of the old style and was going to get one until me and my partner saw the new one and we both fell in love with it. The inside is very stylish and the space inside is incredible what a difference having an automatic hand brake does to the space in the centre of the vehicle. The space in the front and the back for the children and their car seats is comfortable and perfect and the boot space is spot on. If your a VW driver and a fan then you would love it. Drives like a dream and has the power when you need it. It looks far better than the older version but isn't as good looking as some of its competitors. But again it's a VW. Looks are not important when you're getting a great reliable car.

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Having received my new Tiguan only 4 weeks ago, this is a report of my first impressions. The car drives well, though at high speed my old Passat feels more stable: I presume this is an unavoidable consequence of the Tiguan being a higher 4-wheel-drive car, which comes with its own advantages. The car is quite roomy even in the back as the back seats can be adjusted to increase legroom at the expense of a smaller boot. I just love some of the Tiguan safety features such as adaptive cruise control, LED headlights with dynamic Light Assist , and the side scan that alerts me about cars about to overtake or on my side. I was very keen on the lane assist as well, and it can be useful, though I noticed today the car swerved slightly of its own volition without good reason (?misread lane lines). Lane assist is actually teaching me good driving manners: if you overtake in a 4 lane road, the car may offer some resistance to my attempt to move back to the left-hand lane unless I have signalled my intention. My choice of models was limited: I would have wanted the SEL or R-line, but both always have a panoramic sunroof. I hate sunroofs because they reduce the internal height for the passengers, make the car less safe and are prone to leaks (based on my past experience and car users reports). Thus I had to settle for the SE Nav and had to pay significantly more for optionals which would have been available as standards in the higher models. My greatest disappointment has been the front ergoComfort seats for which I paid an additional £ 550. They are meant to have “electric 14-way adjustments”, but actually the only electric adjustment is for the lumbar support, all the other adjustments are manual. The brochure is somewhat misleading on this. The ergoComfort seats are not terribly comfortable either: they are very firm and the driver’s seat has a hard plastic edge at the front, whenever I pull my legs back I hit and then rest my legs against a hard plastic edge. The standard seats of my old VW Passat are much more comfortable and have a soft cushioned front edge. I bought a model with manual gears and had to re-adapt to learning gear changes as my previous Passat was auto DSG. The display does tell you in which gear you are, but only after you have released the clutch (too late if you have gone into the wrong gear).

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Have only owned it 3 days so this first impressions. Picked the car up from a dealership up in Hull and then drove it home to Essex at the weekend. Very comfortable on the motorway, felt quite high up compared to old Tiguan, but no bad thing. Inside it's very classy, very clear instruments (I got the active info display) and Apple CarPlay works perfectly. Gearbox is smooth, and the engine has plenty of power if you need it. Overall I'm very happy so far and no complaints. Only wish I'd splashed out on LED headlights.

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I love my Mk2 Tiguan, it’s the best car I’ve ever owned. It’s been very reliable and has clocked up nearly 40,000 miles now. I bought it second hand as an ex demonstrator with just over 5,000 miles on the clock. I love the safety features and the panoramic sunroof, heated seats etc. The visibility is excellent as are the parking sensors and rear view camera. It’s economical (up to 60mpg on some journeys in the Summer) and comfortable and feels very safe and predictable on the road. I’ve taken it on some very long journeys and it’s always excelled. It inspires confidence in a nervous driver! No extreme excitement but then this type of vehicle isn’t built for thrills. I’d certainly look at buying one of these again (or smaller version) but in hybrid/electric form.

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After the post 'dieselgate' "fix" this engine (150 BHP diesel) is awful. It has no torque and sometimes stalls if you shift to second gear too early which I have never known another diesel to do. You can't make a spirited start off the lights as it lacks low down torque and bogs down. I'm very disappointed with this engine and wish the 190 bhp version had been on my company car list. Space inside is very generous given the relatively small external dimensions and sits 3 children (beyond car seat age) well. The glass sunroof currently won't auto close whilst stationary but will whilst moving as it must think theres an obstacle in its path and closes so far then retracts. Its been into a VW workshop at 6,500 miles to have a vibrating exhaust heat shield refitted to stop the load buzzing outside the car whilst idling.

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What a beautiful car this is! The 1.4-litre engine is brilliant so quiet and smooth, it feels amazing on the road with the DSG making it that little bit more luxurious! People often look and comment on the car the R LINE bodykit surely adds that mean, high class look. So far so good! I highly recommend the 1.4 TSi. It doesn't lack power at all. I'm very impressed!

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I've had this car for a little over a month and just over 1500 not very comfy miles, in R-Line trim in Tungsten Grey it looks outstanding in my eyes, it has all the gadgets you think you need. I added key less entry that came with push button start and electric tailgate £660 option. For all the looks the high spec and the high quality interior to me it's just all a bit vague the steering is to light the seats are not quite comfy enough, the ride on perfect tarmac is ok but there is not much of that around and on the 20 inch rims you tend to notice, wind noise from the mirror all add up. I want it to be has good as it looks but it's not.

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I have not had the car long, bought as ex-demo with 2000 miles on the dash. Moved from 1.5TSI Passat estate (GT) which we loved but it did have its own minor issues & over to the diesel. We can just about warrant a diesel as we do fairly good weekend trips at distance and if I am honest, I prefer a diesel. MPG is pretty good, not far off the clever 1.5TSI which although was good had its drawbacks (A/C on the engine was terrible and steep hills it just did not get on with). Boot size has gone down which is a bit of a drawback, however, now we are using all the space all the time. Driving is far more enjoyable than the Passat estate and even though the power is supposed to the same, the torque really makes a difference I feel, bit extra poke. The R-Line Tech has some useful features although the GT Passat had electric seats and the top R-Line doesn't unless you have leather? I do feel VW has becoming a pain with trims and options recently. However, the area assist camera is fantastic, useful to know where double yellows begin and also helpful not to dent the enormous 20-inch alloys. Speaking of big alloys, the ride quality is better than the 18's on the Passat? Confusing, so many review say avoid the 20's but I feel they are fine, no issue.

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