Volkswagen Tiguan : Official Review

[Ithaca]

@ Aditya, Jaggu & team.

Fantastic review as always. Rated it 5 stars. Wish I could rate it higher.

Reading this review made me feel that I was sitting in the vehicle beside you and experiencing the good and not so good. The attention to detail simply must be marveled and appreciated.
My cousin is on the look out for an SUV in the Compass to Santa Fe range to tackle Bangalore - Mysore runs and I have sent him this review as it will help him in his research for his next SUV.

This review raises the bar for the next review and the ones that follow.

Congratulations to you all for the time, dedication and effort taken into penning this wonderful review.

[MNITDEVIL]

Having used a VW polo till yesterday, I agree with the clean design philosophy, attention to details in VW cars. But on our roads, comfortable suspension, service & spares availability play a much bigger role. Also, the premium to be paid for a sun roof and couple of other features is exorbitant. So did not even think about going for this option.

PS: I got a new Tucson GLS AT delivered yesterday at pre-GST prices with ~1.4 lakhs discount. Looking at this review (5 stars for details), it seems like a pretty sweet deal to me.

[ARAY]

Very Detailed Review Mods. 27-30 lakhs is on the higher side. This one does remind me a lot of SUVs like Mazda Navajo and GMC Typhoon, very clean lines. I love the clean straightforward lines but not many now a days would dig the simplistic design. The wet clutch setup or as VW calls it 250DQ can cope up to 350nm while Tiguan delivers 340nm, so headroom is questionable and I am not very sure how it would take on offloading trails. I have seen the car in flesh standing besides my Duster and somehow I did not get that Wow effect.
I feel VW group had brought the wrong bull to arena, shared by Fortuner and Endeavours.

[Reinhard]

Have seen the Tiguan regularly now in the last 3-4 weeks on my travels to office. The car gets totally lost in the crowd. Lacks street presence and is quite small + low riding in person. Just yesterday one overtook me on a crowded road & I only took notice of it once I saw the wonderfully detailed tail lamp cluster after it had gone 3 car lengths ahead.

So an SUV for those who want quality, good power, plush features and don't want to grab attention at all. I wish I had the money!!

[mayjay]

Originally Posted by ARAY

The wet clutch setup or as VW calls it 250DQ can cope up to 350nm while Tiguan delivers 340nm, so headroom is questionable and I am not very sure how it would take on offloading trails.

The gearbox in the Tiguan is DQ500, which supports max torque of 600Nm.

[actinium15]

Originally Posted by ARAY

The wet clutch setup or as VW calls it 250DQ can cope up to 350nm while Tiguan delivers 340nm, so headroom is questionable and I am not very sure how it would take on offloading trails.

Originally Posted by mayjay

The gearbox in the Tiguan is DQ500, which supports max torque of 600Nm.

Adding to mayjay's response, Tiguan's DQ-500 is a 7-speed gearbox as against 6-speed DQ-250 which at service in Skoda Octavia and Superb.
As for the off road capabilities, whilst team-bhp review does mention the GC is not an issue and 4MOTION AWD is capable of soft-offroading, a more off-road focused test was published by carwale.com last month. Links below:

https://www.carwale.com/m/volkswagen...reviews-30508/ (off-road drive report)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rHditEJ7FfM

(video review for carwale.com off-road drive of Jeep Compass, Volkswagen Tiguan, Toyota Fortuner, Isuzu D-Max V-Cross and Tata Hexa, all with their 4WD/AWD variants as applicable)

[nileshdias]

Tiguan is seriously classy and has made my head turn on streets of London. The design probably suits cold (and grey) North European climate more than vibrant Indian climate.

Sadly, like most cars, it is grossly overpriced in India. It was considered overpriced in UK where the top-of-the-line model retails for £31K OTR (Rs. 23L) The base version of Tucson is significantly cheaper than Tiguan (£18K vs £23K) but they are pretty much same at the top (£30K vs £31K)

[actinium15]

Quick question: has anyone tried to get in touch with any Volkswagen dealership for Tiguan booking recently?

I've been 'registering' on the Volkswagen website to get a call back from the dealer in Delhi or Noida area for almost two weeks now; while the call center callback is prompt each time, the dealers from Noida and Delhi don't seem to have the car available for test drive, and the one from Noida dealership (Viraj Automobiles) went as far as to mention that:

sir, Volkswagen has overachieved the target for Tiguan. There was a waiting period for more than two months already, but the production has stopped altogether now and due to upcoming Passat, Tiguan production will not begin till next year

This sounds like baloney to me, but the way dealers in Delhi and Noida have been behaving I'm now wondering if this actually is true... Any ideas?

[geotracks]

Have been to VW showroom locally on 2 separate times. However, post taking down details and agreeing to call back for a TD, never hear back form them.

[docsr]

Same situation with the test drive here in Bangalore too. The sales person does not seem interested in pursuing requests for the test drive. He would never commit to a definite appointment despite multiple calls.
Initially , it was "we can bring vehicle to your door as soon as you ask" to "come to showroom across town and we will try to arrange the test drive if the vehicle is there" later.
So there goes .....

[rajamuneeb]

Originally Posted by geotracks

Have been to VW showroom locally on 2 separate times. However, post taking down details and agreeing to call back for a TD, never hear back form them.

I think VW is loosing the plot in India. It will be interesting to see how Skoda positions the Kodiaq. If it is able to price the Kodiaq at par or a tad below the Tiguan it will pretty much finish off the Tiguan. This segment is dominated by Fortuner and Endeavour and is highly competitive.

[bhavik.1991]

Originally Posted by actinium15

Quick question: has anyone tried to get in touch with any Volkswagen dealership for Tiguan booking recently?

I've been 'registering' on the Volkswagen website to get a call back from the dealer in Delhi or Noida area for almost two weeks now; while the call center callback is prompt each time, the dealers from Noida and Delhi don't seem to have the car available for test drive, and the one from Noida dealership (Viraj Automobiles) went as far as to mention that:



This sounds like baloney to me, but the way dealers in Delhi and Noida have been behaving I'm now wondering if this actually is true... Any ideas?

I visited VW Karnavati(Ahmedabad) couple of weeks back for an issue related to my Jetta. They didn't have a demo or TD Tiguan available.

Unrelated: During my conversation with technical head of the service, he mentioned that the dealership has sold 48 tiguans already in Ahmedabad (Ahmedabad has two VW dealers).

[84.monsoon]

I wonder if VW is quietly withdrawing the Tiguan temporarily to make space for the Kodiaq. They are group companies after all and the profits eventually go into the same pot. Having the 5 seater Tiguan actively present and competing in the market will force Skoda to price the Kodiaq above the Tiguan, making it uncompetitive. Pricing the Kodiaq below the Tiguan will totally finish off the Tiguan. So by VW quietly withdrawing from the space, Skoda gets a shot at making a splash in the market. The Kodiak may be able to land in the 28 lakh ex showroom price bracket making it very competitive with the Fortuner.

Skoda are able to sell a base version of the Kodiaq as low at 22000 pounds in the UK. In the future, they may be to hit the 20 lakh mark for a strip down version of the Kodiaq with an 1.4 TSI engine with 2WD and MT as volume efficiency kicks in here in India. They have demonstrated that they are able to sell the Octavia with that same MQB platform and engine configuration for 15.5 Lacs. A 19.99 Lac Kodiaq with 7 seats will really deliver some good volumes and get them going as a serious player in the market.

[Aniket6]

Originally Posted by actinium15

Quick question: has anyone tried to get in touch with any Volkswagen dealership for Tiguan booking recently?

I tried to get the test drive from VW palace cross roads in Bangalore and they could not be bothered less.

Tried 3 times and did not get a call back. Needless to say, I cant be bothered with the Tiguan now.

[vidyabhushan]

Incidentally, I clocked about 1500 kms in the new Tiguan (in Bangalore) before the review the came out - so while reading the review, I was just nodding my head at each point and wondering if I even have anything to add after having this car under my ownership for more than 3 weeks now. So great job guys - you noted not-so-known aspects of car in probably a few days, that I have discovered in 3 weeks / 1500 kms.
Quick perspective from an owner -
Is it over priced? Heck yeah, but I would rather put my 33.5 L on a comfortline Tiguan than a Fortuner, Endeavor, Q3, X1 (I wouldnt put even 10 Lakhs on GLA though).
In fact, I get this query so often - why didnt you go for Fortuner / Endeavor / Q3 / X1? Indirectly, asking why wouldnt you spend this money on something bigger or something faster / flashier?
Let me answer it this way, imagine a customer profile - mid 30s (so self driven, car should be comfortable / AT, yet peppy for his/her solo trips to office), married with young kids (needs safety, space, practicality), lives in Bangalore like city (so minimum 200 mm ground clearance to go over its speed breakers, compact dimensions to be able to park in congested basement parking), likes to go out for weekend getaways (highway dynamics, occasional mild off-roading required).
How many cars do you think fit this profile?
Q3, X1 are sportier but too small to accommodate 4 in reasonable comfort over long distances. Also, the features provided in these, leave you feeling you spent 40 L on something only outsider enjoy (the badge).
Fortuner, Endy are too big for city and their truck DNA seem to be in an eternal conflict with the idea of comfort, high speed dynamics, etc. (although Toyota, Ford have done their best to balance both - full points there). Also, somehow I cant imagine a formally attired gentleman / lady getting off a Fortuner / Endy and still managing to look just as formal :-)
If ground clearance isnt high on priority, this segment would go for sedans (Jetta, Octavia, Superb, etc.) But if you seek ground clearance too, your options come down to cleaner looking, elegant SUVs (Creta, Tucson, Tiguan, and now Kodiaq). With this perspective in place, the decision becomes very easy.
Yet to see Kodiaq prices, but I am very happy with Tiguan that offers every feature I intuitively seek (though I couldnt have pointed to it while jotting down buying considerations).
I've been driving a VW Vento TSI for over 3 years now (owned two Hyundais, a Chevy Optra, and a Honda City before Vento), so I am absolutely confident about prowess of German engineering. High maintenance of Germans is a myth (Maruti is an exception)- I pay 2-3 times more on upkeep of my i10 than my Vento (service interval of 15K kms vs 5K kms on i10 is a big factor).
I would be happy to answer any queries bhpians have about the car.