If you don’t have a problem, then this is a great car. But when you do get a problem, both spare parts and technical competence seem to be in short supply.

BHPian genghis_on_road recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I bought the VW Tiguan Allspace in March of 2021. Since then I have clocked over 30,000 km, driving in Bangalore city as well as road trips around Bangalore. I have thoroughly enjoyed driving this car but my experience has been marred by the persistent issues that I have faced from the first day itself.

Let me start with the driving experience of the car. This is the strongest point of the Tiguan for me.

• Pick-up - The pick-up of the car is very good and after a negligible turbo lag, the car is very responsive. I mostly drive in the ‘Econ’ mode and it works well for everyday use. The car is more responsive in the ‘Normal’ and ‘Sports’ modes. I don’t use the ‘Sports’ mode in Bangalore traffic because then the ride can feel jerky. But when the roads are open, sports mode is good fun.
• Braking – Braking is superb in this car. You will feel very safe driving at high speeds because the straight-line braking is excellent.
• Handling – I love the handling of the car. I have driven a lot in the Western Ghats and the power steering always gives me confidence. The car hugs the curves nicely and is always very stable. The ground clearance has also been more than adequate so far.
• Ride quality – I have found the ride quality to be quite good. It is a bit on the stiff side but very comfortable. A couple of back seat passengers have complimented me on the ride quality of the car. The cabin is very well insulated and noise levels are low.
• Auto Hold – At this point, I would like to talk about a very underrated feature of the car – the auto hold. While the vehicle is waiting at a signal, the driver can lift his foot off the brake pedal and the vehicle will stay in place. You don’t need to keep the brake pedal continuously pressed. You also don’t need to change the gear to ‘Parking’ when you stop at a light. You just bring the car to a halt and it stays like that till you press the accelerator. If you have the Auto Start feature on as well, then the engine will also switch off while you wait. It will also come on the moment you press the accelerator or turn the steering. This is a game-changing feature for city driving where you are constantly stopping and starting. It reduces your work significantly while driving in high-traffic areas. Once you get used to this, it is very painful to drive a car without this feature. I would gladly give the sunroof (and many other features) to get this feature in any car that I own.
• Mileage – City – 8-10 kmpl, highway – 12-13 kmpl (mostly on Econ mode)
• Interiors – The build quality of the interiors is very good. I have had no issues with anything in the last 3 years. There is ample storage in the front and back for bottles, cups, keys, phones and other things.

So far I have only raved about this car. But now let me come to some of the challenges that I have faced.

The day the car was delivered to me, the battery died. Volkswagen changed the battery at no cost but it set the tone for what was to follow. The batteries in the keys also died in the first year and had to be replaced. The wipers also needed to be replaced after 2 years. All of these lead me to believe the car was stored for a long time before selling. They are, however, all minor issues that could be sorted easily.

My larger issue has been with wrong warnings that flash regularly in the car when you turn it on or even while driving. When the warnings come, some of the dashboard icons light up and sometimes an emergency warning is sounded. A voice says “This is an emergency. Please contact the nearest service station’. These disappear if you keep driving. But this happens regularly and is very annoying. I have had Volkswagen look at this multiple times but they have not been able to solve this issue.

A recent issue that happened is even more distressing. I had an accident and needed to get the front bumper and a few other parts replaced. These parts were not available and it took a month to get them from elsewhere. The company’s supply chain is terrible (at least for this model) and I can expect this delay for any replacement part for the Tiguan.

All of these issues are of course specific to my car. I am very curious to know from other Tiguan owners if they have faced similar issues.

There are a couple of other issues that are design issues, and not specific to my car.

The ADAS feature can be very annoying in heavy traffic as all the sensors keep beeping frequently. Imagine stopping at a red light in India. Inevitably a two-wheeler will stop right next to you and because it is too close, the ADAS alarms will go off. There should be a way to turn this off when you are in heavy traffic.

There is an auto-brake feature in the car which is a great safety feature. It will brake the car if it feels you are going to slam into something in the front. Sometimes the feature gets triggered when it should not (especially when the traffic in front is slowing down at a speed breaker). When this feature gets triggered, the brakes slam suddenly and the car stops or slows down dramatically. Firstly this is very disconcerting for the driver and secondly, I fear one of these days it would cause a collision from the rear as the traffic behind me would not be expecting this hard brake.

Overall experience

I have loved driving this car and I look forward to our road trips on it. However, I feel the car is over-engineered for India. There are too many features, some are great, some are buggy in Indian conditions. I don’t think the technical competence required to handle this kind of car is there in the VW India technicians. If you don’t have a problem, then this is a great car. When you do get a problem, both spare parts and technical competence seem to be in short supply.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Volkswagen plans to introduce the Tayron in India by early 2025.

Volkswagen's head of engineering Karlheinz Hell has revealed more details of its new 7-seater SUV, the Tayron. It will replace the Tiguan AllSpace in the brand's global line-up.

The Volkswagen Tayron will be based on the upgraded version of the brand's MQB platform, which will be shared with the next-gen Tiguan and Skoda Kodiaq. It will also be larger than the outgoing model.

Crucially, unlike the Tiguan AllSpace, which looks similar to the regular Tiguan, the Tayron will get unique styling. It will be offered in standard and coupe body styles, in 7-seater and 5-seater configurations, respectively.

Powering the Tayron will be 2.0-litre turbo-petrol and turbo-diesel engines paired with a 48-volt mild-hybrid system and a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. Additionally, there will be two petrol plug-in hybrid options.

Reports suggest that Volkswagen plans to introduce the Tayron in India by early 2025. It is likely to be imported via the CKD route and assembled locally. The India-spec Tayron could use a 2.0-litre petrol engine.

Source: Autocar India

The VW Tayron 7-seater SUV could enter the Indian market around 2025.

Volkswagen is said to be developing a new 3-row SUV for the global market. The new model is likely to be called the Tayron and will replace the Tiguan AllSpace in the brand's SUV line-up.

According to media reports, the VW Tayron will be based on the MQB-A2 platform, which will also underpin the next-generation Skoda Kodiaq. Unlike the Tiguan AllSpace, which is essentially a 7-seater version of the Tiguan, the Tayron will have a unique exterior design and shouldn't be mistaken for the 5-seater VW Tayron sold in the Chinese market.

Reports suggest that the Tayron global SUV will be manufactured in Germany. It is expected to enter production in 2024.

Now, speaking of the domestic market, VW reportedly plans to introduce the Tayron in India as well. Reports indicate the SUV could be imported via the Completely Knocked Down (CKD) route around early 2025.

Source: Autocar India

Folks at VW service centre do not seem to have clear idea on how to fix the part back and they are trying to avoid working on it.

BHPian Guna recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My car's (Tiguan Allspace) underbelly scrapped against something hard and a rod/pipe-like piece which is located under the exhaust pipe got dislocated.

This piece s called 'Floor Pan Reinforcement' or 'Tunnel cross-piece' (part no. 5QA802117A).

Folks at VW service centre do not seem to have clear idea on how to fix it back and they are trying to avoid working on it. Before insisting further, I wanted to know if anyone on the forum knows how it is fixed to the body.

My question:

This piece is fixed with the help of 4 bolts. If you notice, the bolts appear as if they are cut rather than broken. Are these bolts fixed to the body with some kind of fusing/welding, which would have given up upon the impact?

Service center folks tell me that the bolts need to be put from inside (which means stripping the carpet, seats etc). Another thing to be noted is, 'shouldered hex nuts' are also involved.

This is where the piece sits:

The piece:

Broken bolts on the piece

Other side of the piece:

Holes on the body:

Here's what BHPian Kosfactor had to say on the matter:

Looks they can make a small cut in the carpeting, drill out the broken fastener and replace with one of suitable size. The bracket can be reused as its not mangled out of shape anyways.

Here's what BHPian Sran had to say on the matter:

How about welding from outside using some sort of fire blanket/sheet metal? There are also metal glues but how successful they might be, I have no idea.

If in any case a work is done, why not fix a metal plate instead of bracket.

Here's what BHPian crdi had to say on the matter:

If VW is not giving a better repair option; maybe drill out the bolt remnants from under the car, and fix the part with an over-sized self-tapping bolt? The part doesn't appear to be needing frequent removal or sustain too much flex.

Here's what BHPian rpunwani had to say on the matter:

As the name suggests it is a floor pan reinforcement in the transverse direction. The primary function of the reinforcement is to maintain the shape of the tunnel under transverse loads.

The impact has probably sheared the bolts - can happen if the impact has occurred at a high speed. You can see that the cross piece has twisted a bit. The twist can be straightened.

The bolts should be extracted using a bolt extractor and renewed. If the carpet / seats / plastic moulding has to be removed for access please have it done. I would not recommend any kind of welding. If a spare piece is available at reasonable cost, renew it.

Here's what BHPian Vid6639 had to say on the matter:

Very tricky to remove the bolt left in the body shell. They need a bolt extractor or drill with a small bit into the left over bolt then take the old sheared bolts out. After that fix the new beam and bolt it back on.

Hopefully the threading on the body is not damaged.

Here's what BHPian AJITHAAA had to say on the matter:

Usually there are no loose bolts inserted from the inside of the car body shell. These should be studs welded on the outside of the car body. The entire stud seems to have been dislodged from the body. Looking at the parts catalog on Boodmo/Oriparts the part is a cross member reinforcement for the tunnel. The nuts used are M8, Item No.22 in the first image and by all probability the weld stud is Item No. 13 in the second image. If this is indeed the part, then its welded from outside. The fuel tank might have to be dismounted before welding if its deemed a fire risk.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Volkswagen will continue to offer the next-gen Tiguan with a range of petrol and diesel engines in the global markets.

The third-generation Volkswagen Tiguan has been spotted with production-spec bodywork for the first time.

The next-gen Tiguan gets subtle cosmetic changes in typical Volkswagen fashion. The front bumper features a large air dam with vents on either side. The grille still has camouflage that mimics the design of the current model. However, a close look reveals that the grille could be slimmer.

The rear of the Tiguan features a clean design with wraparound tail lamps that are covered in camouflage. The car also has faux chrome exhaust tips, roof rails and a roof spoiler.

Volkswagen will continue to offer the next-gen Tiguan with a range of petrol and diesel engines in the global markets. In India, the current model is available with a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol that puts out 187 BHP and 320 Nm. It is paired with a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and an all-wheel drive system.

Source: Motor1

I’ve driven the car only about 14,000 km post gearbox replacement.

BHPian Dhruv29 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

15th April 2022

THE GEARBOX HAS FAILED AGAIN!

Exactly after a year since I first noticed this problem in summer, I am facing the same exact problem again!

After driving the car on the highway for about 15km at an ambient temperature of 42 degrees, again my car refused to accelerate and started knocking from the engine side.

What is the problem with VW for launching this untested, useless product in Indian conditions in the name of CBU? Who should be held responsible for this.

In fact, just an hour back I received a comment on my older video on youtube from a viewer asking for help for exact same issue. Who knew that I’ll be posting the videos of the same issue again!

I’ll send my car to the service centre again and god knows what kind of diagnosis they’ll do and how long my car will be stranded there.

Currently, the ODO stands at approx 27,500km. I’ve driven the car only about 14k km post gearbox replacement.

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

Here's what BHPian EV NXT had to say on the matter:

Sorry to hear about this situation.

But to answer your question, I think it’s we customers who buy DSGs full aware that it is notorious for consistent failures and even indicate that we should set apart a lakh or two for possible failures that are responsible for this situation.

Instead of boycotting VW thereby forcing them to come out with a product that does not fail or provide unconditional/unlimited warranties we instead encourage VW by knowingly buying DSGs.

There are quite a few threads advising to set apart money for DSG failures instead of advising to boycott the product thereby forcing VW to improve or introduce a better gearbox. Wouldn’t VW read those threads and realize that they can actually make more money by selling a defective product than by providing a fail-safe one?

On another note, your car must be under warranty but even if it isn’t, the gearbox alone would be eligible for a 2-year warranty after a service done by VW a year ago.

Here's what BHPian Maky had to say on the matter:

Precisely, while VW cannot be given an excuse for creating half tested products simply because they are great to drive, we need to really be aware of what we are buying.

I have been in the market for a new car and will be for the remainder of this year, I have test driven cars from Jeep and Skoda. I asked point-blank the Skoda SA when I tested the Octavia about DSG failures(DQ200) and what could I expect from the new one(DQ381) and he in turn point-blank replied, 'Sir it will cost you 2-2.5L'.

As much as I enjoyed Octavia's drive over the Compass, I decided there and then I will keep aside an amount for the eventual DSG failure over and above the regular maintenance costs should I go with a VAG car.

Here's what BHPian igemini had to say on the matter:

Totally understand your frustration over this and that too the second time in a year. DSG is a real pain for the customers and it's just a matter of time before it is going to fails.

In India at least, DSG isn't a viable option and it isn't an engineering marvel, unlike many claims even in Team-BHP. As long as it works it would be great, and when it fails it would be nothing less than a total disaster and money-draining pit. No need to say about the loss of time.

Either VW India should invest more time and make the DSG gearboxes India ready. Or else they should offer something that's more reliable compared to DSG, a Torque converter perhaps. For those who want a DSG, there must be an option for that too.

Regardless of everything, as long as we as consumers are happy purchasing the DSG, VW India will keep selling the DSG gearboxes that aren't India ready, again and again. VW India is sleeping on it for a long time and they might never get a wake-up call or they don't want to be awakened. Either way, the loss is for the customers, in terms of money, time, and effort and to live in the fear when it's going to fail.

Here's what BHPian pratikonomics had to say on the matter:

I continue to be surprised how people still justify expectations of DSG failure.

A solution doesn't become an engineering marvel just because of its ability to deliver higher highs, all while ignoring or simply accepting periods of frustrating lows. That would be something expected in a lab, not something you're selling for money.

Combined with the abysmal service and accountability culture in India across the entire retail structure, this is a recipe for disaster that simply has no end in sight. Unless VW sees that this is actively hurting their sales and brand, they'll be happy to divert the market euphoria with some Polo nostalgia or Monte Carlo buzz.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

I'm super happy with the upgrades. It feels surreal every time I get into the car & it makes me & my family feel even safer than before.

BHPian narayanbabu recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Guys, I have something really exciting to share. I bought my Tiguan Allspace in December 2019. My detailed ownership review is here.

Like any other self-respecting car owner, before sitting in the drivers' seat, I went through (thoroughly) my ownership manual/handbook to understand how the car works. As a CBU, the manual was *not* custom printed for India. So, I came across terms like:

• Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)
• Traffic Jam assist
• Blind Spot Assist
• and more

I would learn later that these are *not enabled* in the Indian variant and many of them can be *enabled* easily. I would have to wait for over a year to figure out how to really get this done.

So, here is my experience enabling some advanced features on my Allspace (with the risk of losing warranty/or not), and my experience of using them for over a month.

In Nov 2021, I found someone who could help me with the quest of upgrading my Allspace, for the first round, I chose these features:

• Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)
• Massaging on driver's seats
• Wireless charging
• TPMS (with pressure levels)
• Auto high beams

None of these involved (major) hardware upgrades. Most of these features involved mostly coding and switching of some components.

TPMS

This was by far the most time consuming and invasive process. [Not sure, if I will recommend, considering the vanity value]. It involved adding a new TPMS module under the boot, pulling the wires all the way to the cockpit and then connecting it. Then taking the car to a tyre shop and putting sensors on all 4 tyres, remembering the serials and coding of the new sensors and setting desired pressure levels for different modes (I chose 32, 34, 36, for Comfort, standard and full load).

It took a good half day to get done end to end, and after everything, the pressures didn't update for a while and realized it needs a few kms of drive to get calibrated.

Massaging for driver's seat

This was again a vanity, but something which makes the car really feel posh. I remember seeing this feature for the first time when a friend of mine showed off this in his fancy high-end BMW 2 seater. The process is simple, the car has electronic adjustment for lumbar support, you just swap out the controller, and then configure the 3rd seat preset button to activate massage. When triggered, it massages for 5 mins and then stops. Took 15 mins to swap the controller and add the coding.

Wireless charging pad

Another easy swap (which honestly I feel VW should have included for their top-priced car for India). Involved just pulling out the cover of the storage base (below AC controls) adding a plate below it and connecting it, and putting the cover back. Once coding is done, it will show a nice notification, whenever a phone is kept on the storage, "Qi charging something something...", another 30 mins job.

Miscellaneous

The guy who helped me code all this added a few miscellaneous tweaks, like Auto high beams, seat adjusting to the right position as we unlock the car and a few other small things. What I missed was enabling closing of boot remotely, which is for some reason disabled from the factory.

Adaptive Cruise Control

This was what it all started with. My quest for enabling ACC, which already has the necessary hardware. The modder gave me an option to switch to a new steering wheel (sporty VW) vs swapping the ACC switch piece on my existing one. Considering the extra 40k price hit, I went for the switch swap. As he inspected the car, also suggested upgrading the radar module, the stock module could only support up to 150kmph, while the new one could do 220kmph. And since the 3rd generation Driving Assist Systems that Tiguan Allspace has, comes with dynamic calibration, swapping out the radar won't create any issues. For the uninitiated, the radar module hides behind the ceramic VW logo on the front grill.

This was the easy part. The next part involved opening the steering and swapping out the ACC buttons.

This was a tricky process, unlocking the steering from the base, then opening it, and swapping the switches. Was a nervous 90-mins or so. Once this was done, our guy plugged into the CAN port and started coding, after another 60mins or so, installed the license, calibrated everything and it was good to go.

The whole mod affair took almost a full day, and mostly the delay was because of some lack of planning. The car was in our apartment basement, we needed to get it into an open, well-lit place to be able to work on. Then we realized we needed a good internet connection and a power point to connect the laptop. Downloading and backing up the entire firmware took a lot of time, with choppy mobile data and connection drop off. We started in the morning, but the car was ready to be coded only by 6pm. Eventually, everything got done by 1am. Lesson learnt.

Look how the speed is going down as the car in front comes closer.

How is the ACC

So, the whole crux of what I did was to get this one single feature. As soon as our car was ready (at 1am) we left for Chennai (from Bangalore), we were supposed to leave by evening, but since this all took time, we ended up leaving really late.

ACC took maybe around 30 mins to get used to, after that it was bliss! It was almost surreal to the car working its way through the highway with ACC and lane assist. In the beginning, your muscle memory does not let you let the car take control, but over a period you start trusting the car for slowing down and speeding up. [NEVER EVER took this lightly, was still alert all the time].

From Chennai, the next day we went to Trivandrum (another night drive). Along this 1000km+ in the 48 hours, we drove mostly using ACC, and maybe 2-3 times car switched to emergency braking instead of following the vehicle on front. I got a little scared, then realized, at night when there is a truck with no rear lights or even reflectors, the car was not considering it as a vehicle but an obstacle (this is my inference).

The biggest change in the driving post ACC was, we did not drive beyond 90kmph, but still had a very high average speed (55-65). Overall, we were reaching destinations faster, even though the overall drive was relaxed. I was told ACC would bring down mileage, but I attained never been seen mileage ranges post the mod.

After our 1000km+ drive.

Tidbits

• ACC+Lane assist gives *kinda* autonomous driving on highways, but the camera sensor only scans for 20secs, so you get the warning *take control of the steering* after 20 secs. The camera can be upgraded for autonomous driving, and other features like Traffic jam assist, signboard identification etc.
• With the upgrade, the cockpit shows a small car icon, when there is a car in front of you, even when ACC is off, also when ACC is on, the car icon gets closer or farther depending on the distance maintained.
• ACC turns off, during adverse conditions. Driver assist is a very secure system. It turns off when it finds it's not safe to use. It happened to us once, when the car was in heavy rain. It came back on after a while.
• Wireless charging is very slow, and really not that useful (at least that's what we found).

Overall, super happy after the upgrades, feels surreal every time I get into the car, and it makes me (and my family) feel even safer (which Tiguan has always made us feel even before).

What's next

So far I haven't made any major hardware upgrades, but some items which are on the list are:

• Upgraded ACC cameras for fully autonomous drive and a few missing features mentioned in the manual (traffic jam assist, city drive enhancements). The current sensors do not have the fidelity or precision to handle slow speed or continuous monitoring.
• Blind spot Assist (BLA). Another feature mentioned in the booklet. This involves replacing the side mirrors with BLA lights but also adding side sensors to detect when cars come into the blind spot. This is really useful for our Indian conditions where drivers switch lanes on a whim. I have used this in Volvos and they're really effective.
• 360 cameras. Something I am not sure if I will do, because of the invasive surgery it requires to add the sensors and cameras and wiring. But, really sour after seeing the 2022 Kodiaq has it!
• Dynamic Chassis Control. The ultimate and most expensive hardware upgrade. Not sure, how effective this will be in terms of driving pleasure, but again Kodiaq 2022 has it, will have to do research, test drive the Kodiaq to get a feeler.
• Discover+ infotainment Another maybe/maybe not item. There is a 9 inch upgraded infotainment unit that supports 3D maps and better gesture controls etc.

Overall, it has been 3 months since I made the upgrades and wanted to share my experience with this awesome community.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

The 7-seater Tiguan Allspace is being replaced with the 5-seater Tiguan.

Volkswagen has discontinued the Tiguan Allspace, as it gears up to launch the 2021 Tiguan 5-seater in India.

The Tiguan Allspace 3-row SUV was introduced in 2020. It was imported as a completely built unit (CBU). An updated version of the SUV was showcased earlier this year.

The SUV was offered with a 2.0-litre, turbo-petrol engine that produced 187 BHP and 320 Nm. The engine was mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and an all-wheel-drive system.

The Tiguan Allspace came equipped with features such as a panoramic sunroof, digital instrument cluster, touchscreen infotainment head-unit with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and an automatic tailgate.

The 7-seater Tiguan Allspace is being replaced with the 5-seater Tiguan. It will be launched on December 7, 2021.

Also, the dealer was quite keen to close the deal, almost surprised even to see someone buying this car.

BHPian narayanbabu recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

This is my first Team-BHP post, though have been using this as a guide for years. So going to pour in my writing and automobile knowledge into this virgin post.

Introduction

So, my car ownership journey has two phases, pre VAG and post VAG.

Palio (2014)-> Beat Diesel -> Optra -> Rapid DSG -> Polo SRT edition -> Polo DSG -> Tiguan AllSpace (2020 Dec).

I am a DSG fan and will drive nothing other than that. Octavia RS as next in line after my Rapid, but some life events forced me to alter plans. Read on to know more.

Prelogue

Since, I got my first DSG (VAG) car, I fell in love with the experience, from someone who always considered AT are for wussies, I realized that I enjoy this drive much more. I used to do long overnight drives (BLR -> TVM, 800+km) very frequently and Rapid made these drive much more relaxing and fatigue free. So, I got a second (used) Polo GT TSI, and ended up with a chance buy of a MT Polo SRT. Few years down the lane, after a lot of mods on my Rapid (improvements like Auto head lights, R340G, TPMS to Level 1 ECU tuning), I realized it was time for a new car. While my wife always wanted SUVs, I was always for Sedans, and still eyes on Octavia RS. On her insistence, tried Kodiaq as well (didn't like the drive experience, roll etc.), so dead lock went on for years.

On the other side, when my first kid was a year or so, we went on a Euro trip by road. And the regulations needed him to be on a kids' seat. This was a revelation. Since then, we have never let him sit on anything but kids' seat. It also became a good habit for him, that he would only sit on child seat. Now we had a second kid, and 2 kid seats on Rapid meant the car literally became a 2-seater. So, we didn't have an option but to go for a 7-seater SUV (while I read random rumors about Octavia Wagon releasing in India, I knew it was wishful thinking). So, set out to find out the safest, most driver friendly 7-seater.

Selection

Though the SUV scene was heating up in India since Kia's entry, there were no "driver focussed" SUVs (+ 7-seater). The Innovas of the world were meant to be enjoyed sitting behind, not behind the wheels. Kodiaq was the only option, it was not selling (anymore) in 2019. We decided to test drive a few cars, once in a while. For some reason, we never considered Endeavour or Fortuner (reason = DSG).

Requirements

• 7-seater
• DCT (hence Automatic)
• ~30L price point
• Safety and kids' friendly (Isofix etc.)
• Sun-roof and other such vanity needs.

There wasn't much choice left. Tried Harrier; was a quick "no" as soon as I drove it. Then tried Kia Carnival, it was like a ship (huge!), but also felt like a van. Driving experience was not bad, not great either. So, it made the consideration list, as it had all bells and whistles, plus somewhat met the needs.

AllSpace it is

We had decided to wait for Gloster to test drive, but then I came to know there is this new VW Tiguan variant called AllSpace, which is a 7-seater. In my mind (OG) Tiguan was always a no, pricier than Octavia, worser than Kodiaq, also last updated 2017. But was intrigued by this new variant. From there, it was a blitzkrieg.

• Test drove on Monday.
• Made full payment on Tuesday
• Took home the car on Friday
• Finished first 1000km by Monday. (This was Dec 2020, peak lockdown time)

I also realized this was the priciest VW car sold in India (woah!) and that it was a CBU and hence "no variants to choose from". Also, the dealer was quite keen to close the deal, almost surprised even to see someone buying this car. The on-road price was coming to ~42L (), but he brought it down to 39L. (Later on, seeing Team-BHP posts, I realized it would have gone even further down), was overall happy with the purchase.

Had no buyers' remorse (despite the hefty cheque), enjoyed every moment of sitting in the car. I was so excited that I left rear door open and drove out of the basement, the door slamming shut by a pillar. Door tip got a dent, luckily since the pillar had rubber padding, no paint scratches.

First week

I could still not believe the overall smoothness and tight control of the car. Since, it was CBU and not yet properly ready for India, Voice control, Maps etc were not functional and the car had this weird "Unable to active emergency call system, please contact the dealer" voice over and red light popping up frequently.

Lane Assist: Something I thought would be a vanity in India, became my most used feature (still is), it is very sensitive, and works even with faded markings. Forces a habit to use indicators to switch lanes.

Auto Hold: Life saver in cities. Since the handbrake is electronic, it supports auto hold, which means, if the car comes to a halt, it will not move forward, even if on Drive unless I accelerate.

Brake Assist: The level of confidence and sense of safety this car provides can't be explained in words. Brake Assist more than anything reminds you occasionally that "I will take care of you".

Boot space: If I fold up the 3rd row (which is our standard config) the boot is HUGE! And it is flat, and well designed, with side pockets, underfloor storage etc.

Memory Setting: Me being 5'10" and my wife being 5'0", memory setting linked to keys, partially helps adjust seats, temperature etc. Still must adjust rear view and steering.

Few other things like the virtual cockpit, nice Head Unit etc.

Must say, the car was getting better with each drive, discovering something new and feeling "wow!" about it.

Fringes

The car comes with the European manual. I have the habit to reading the manual end to end before using any product. And as I read the Tiguan manual, I was in for a heart break. Traffic jam assist, Adaptive Cruise control, 360 view, blind spot assist. Few things I saw in the manual were not to be found in the car. Dealer had no clue either. After a bunch of research, realized the radar unit is active in the car, but the features are not enabled in India. I even got some leads on how I can just replace the Steering buttons and activate the features from software. I want to go ahead and get these done. But not finding a reliable partner in crime, and fear of losing 4+ years of warranty has kept me away. (Still game if someone wants to help me out)

Misses

Air conditioning: It sucks, I was driving a friend's s-presso, and it has 10 times better A/C than tiguan. 2nd row situation is bad, 3rd row is like a furnace (even if your A/C is in full mode). And 3rd row doesn't even have any ventilation options. The dealer said A/C would be weak if I am on economy mode, but I can attest that it is useless in all modes.

3rd Row: To be honest, as soon as I drove the car for the first time, I knew I am buying it. 3rd row was no more a factor. But practically, 3rd row is tight. Can "adjust", if 2nd row is pushed ahead, otherwise just good for kids. Also, it is terribly hot there.

Software updates: Dealer has limited clue on how this vehicle works (at least at the time I bought). So he didn't know when he will get the software for India, so maps didn't work. Voice control didn't. I managed to download and apply maps myself. Had to wait for 4 months to get Voice control working. The infotainment system runs EU ROM, with some interesting VW apps which don't work in India. Also, the annoying "emergency call system" error.

Boot opener: The "Wag your leg to open boot" never worked when I genuinely had my hands full, or whenever I tried to show off (basically never worked). No way to close the boot remotely, I read here somewhere, pressing and holding boot opener switch will close the boot, It does not

Mileage: This is expected, but still hurts, I get 9-10 kmpl, whether I am in city or the highway. Whether I am in economy or normal. Haven't got 600km range in a full tank till date.

Bells and whistles: Whatever is there is "classy", but it is not loaded like a Kia or a Hyundai. For example, it has limited WLAN support, but not in any way "a connected car", the infotainment system is average, the maps/navigation is okay. No wireless charging, 230V port, USB C port, no electronic seat adjustment for passenger seat, ambient lighting customization etc. TPMS is primitive, informs if there is "pressure loss". If this is supposed to be most expensive VW car, expected it to have everything that a T-Roq or Taigun would have (it is not the case).

The drive experience

The car is a bliss to drive. After getting this car, it was a pain to drive the Rapid, the steering felt hard, the suspension felt hard, the seat felt hard. I feel guilty of my stepson like treatment to it, but Tiguan has just spoiled us. Easily end up climbing high speeds in BLR-CHE highway, without even realizing, (early morning trips, dead straight strips). But these aside, the car just feels safe and in control all the times. Never have I tried to push the car to a point where it started struggling or rattling. At times, I forget it is a 7-seater family car! In the last 7 months and 12k kilometers, there has not been any deterioration of performance or pickup. It has been as it was on Day 0.

Have off roaded quite a bit. Though car suspension evens out most of what comes its way, the car has a low spot near its nose, so if you're not careful, you end up dinging it against the floor. I have a regular countryside route which I drive over weekends, when once I drove through that in my Rapid I actually realized how bad the roads were. It's not an apples-apples comparison, but Tiguan just absorbs all of it.

This is the most expensive car I have ever driven so can't compare with the name brands (BMW, Audi etc.), but the steering has the right amount of weight, being electronically powered it has very high fidelity and you can move it precisely (I had the same feeling when I moved from Beat to Rapid, but now Rapid steering feels extremely hard to maneuver relatively). In terms of power and response, I have never had a situation where I had to wait for the gush, whether for a quick overtaking maneuver or for speeding up in general. The 180+ BHP and 320NM seems to be more than what I can explore as a driver maybe. Also, the engine is extremely silent, that with auto-stop feature, you at times don't know if you're car ignition is on or off.

Ownership

I haven't taken the car for its "official" first service. There is a 1000 km and 5000 km checkup which honestly involved just toggling the software flag saying checkup done I guess, and then cleanup. I took it mostly with the expectation of software update. I am close to the first proper service (15k km), will update on how it goes. When I bought the car from showroom, there was a 2mm dia, white spot (paint gone) on the body, which I mentioned to the dealer, he apologized, but don't know what my expectation was, so beyond an awkward conversation didn't get any resolution for it. Overall VW dealer folks have been cordial, especially the RM who closed the deal is prompt to help with any queries. (Compared to Skoda, VW seems to be a few notches better at least in the way they interact with customer, can't comment of service quality yet).

There are a bunch of accessories like mats, bumper protection stickers, VW child seats etc. which quite honestly were way too expensive for it's value (compared to similar aftermarket counterparts). So, I spent ahead and 30k or so getting a ceramic coating done (aftermarket), which has helped a lot. Car boot, doors at times have opened to the wall, and even occasional front/rear ending to walls and minor accidents have left no marks on the car. Though on high traffic corners, the coating seems to just start wearing down.

My verdict?

Two kids' seats, 1 mini fridge, vaccuum cleaner, rolled up mats, icebox and diaper bags. This is like home to us. As Saturday morning comes, we pack food, and leave to some uninhabited place around Krishnagiri or Thalli. During the lockdown, this was our only way to get out of 4 walls to somewhere exciting. Our 2-year-old and 4-year-old have spent more time in this car than anywhere else. In the 8 months, the only remorse (envy) is when looking at the 2021 version which has a tiny bit more features than ours. Only if we could exchange this for the new one (even if for a little premium).

Also, in the 7-8 months, I have not encountered another Tiguan AllSpace on road. This kind of exclusivity is something even a Jaguar owner may not have.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Being fed up with usual response of S.C that part is unavailable, i took the car to VW Moti Nagar, where to my surprise 2 other Tiguan Allspace with the same concern was in line for repairs.

BHPian Dhruv29 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The A/C problem is occurring more frequently now. Cooling coil freezing up, A/C gas loud hissing sound when starting the car, weak cooling. Only the dealer in Motinagar, New Delhi has proper fitment to connect the car with A/C gas evac machine. None of the dealers in Gurugram have proper attachment. I'm waiting for the part to arrive since 3 weeks, bbut to no avail. This is terrible planning by VW India that they are not able to provide proper tools for their reliable "German Quality" CBU car. I'll have to now take my car all the way to Delhi for this stupid problem.

I had raised A/C cooling issue during the time of Gearbox replacement but as usual, my concern was ignored and A/C was deemed fully fit when I picked the car after gearbox replacement. I was informed by the Technician that air filter was fully choked which is strange that I gave the car back with fully functioning system, what I suspect is that cooling coil froze during their drive after gearbox replacement and ice melted when they opened filter for cleaning. Every other parameter such as gas quantity was within check. Strangely, they didn’t have the proper equipment to check but still were able to judge that gas is within spec.

I took the car back and during the long drive, I experienced no airflow from any of the vent and video recorded it as well. Next day, I took the car back to S.C for thorough checkup in front of me where they informed me that they don’t have connector which connects there EVAC machine with Tiguan Allspace. I asked them how were they able to tell that A/C gas is within spec? They had no answer. I was told to either take the car to Moti Nagar, Delhi workshop or wait for 2-3 days till connector was available.

I opted to wait as 15K service was also near. I took the car back for periodic service after 15 days and to my surprise the part is still not available! Now it’s been nearly 25 days since I faced A/C freezing issue. Being fed up with usual response of S.C that part is unavailable, i took the car to VW Moti Nagar, where to my surprise 2 other Tiguan Allspace with the same concern was in line for repairs.

One was ready for testing after complete A/C system replacement, other was waiting from 20 days for its turn for diagnosis! God knows when my car will have its turn for diagnosis. I obviously took my car back because already there is a car before me which hasn’t even been touched yet. It would’ve been 20-25 days of downtime for waiting for parts and diagnosis easily!

Why is VW acting so poorly in such widespread issue of their so called German Quality Indian Flagship! Where workshops are not equipped to handle same concern from different owners. And only one workshop in Delhi/NCR which already has Tiguan Allspaces lined up for repairs. God help Tiguan Allspace owners.

Here's what BHPian ajmat had to say on the matter:

I am surprised that no Kodiaqs have this issue unless Skoda have made a specific design change.

Here's what BHPian Axe77 had to say on the matter:

Wow! It is really poor form that even a diagnostic tool is not available, let alone a part replacement. 20-25 days down time is simply unacceptable. This when VAG collectively are doing minuscule numbers. I wonder what is the state of their readiness as they are on the cusp of doing far greater total volumes with the likes of Taigun / Kushaq being launched. Will getting even basic service appointments then be a challenge? Are they truly geared up to deal with the numbers? If there is anything beyond oil change and routine service, how seamless an experience will it be for customers?

It’s one thing to buy into a car / brand that’s prone to problems. At the very least, if reliability is a known problem, HQ should ensure they can offer customer friendly service, go the extra mile on warranties, and provide these solutions “promptly”.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.