VW Tiguan
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VW has sent a few journalists to Africa for a preview test drive of the upcoming Tiguan.
(These pictures are from Motor Trend)
I am not sure why, but they still cover parts of the cars. Like the lights and the front end..
If you’re going to invite people to drive the thing, why not show it all.
And I bet these guys are going to really write what they think of the car after an all expenses paid trip to Africa…
As you can see, it looks just like the concept from last year. So nothing spectacular.
And VW reliability doesn’t seem to get that much better with the new Jetta/Rabbit platform.
A couple of friends of mine bought Rabbits within the last year. And yes. They do spend a lot of time at the dealer.
Nothing like laying down your hard earned money for a fine Mexican built vehicle marketed under a German nameplate! Doesn’t Pontiac already sell this SUV at their dealerships under a different name?
The funny thing is, VW still charges a premium to make you think you are getting a more reliable product just because it’s German. Makes me wonder, I bet buying a new domestic or even a Korean car would have fewer problems.
I am not sure why your friends are having problems
with their cars, but I only had maybe one problem
over the past 9 years with my VW Golf.
The size and proportions appear to be vaguely RDX, however, I doubt the interior would be half as nice (fit/finish) or as accommodating. THe overall look of the interior is rather drab, however, there will most likely be a darker color option (brown/beige always look worse than their black/gray counterparts). Color aside, I don’t like the circular vents, and the steering wheel looks very cheap (where are the audio/cruise controls?). However, unlike newer VW/Audi designs the audio console and heating/ac controls do appear to be simple and straightforward. Also, I really hope that isn’t a cupholder on the top of the dash…it would be a shame if VW copied the location from the dated Land Rover Freelander. All in all, just another ho-hum addition to the bloated cross-over segment.
Circles! CIRCLES EVERYWHERE! I counted eighteen… Geez, I don’t know about you but I think that’s a bit excessive. The interior doesn’t look all that great to me.
suzuki sx4 and fiat sedici look alike
Too many round things.
FOR REAL?
what a joke. this cute-ute segment is going to become increasingly crowded, and VW thinks this will stand out?
are barf bags standard?
This looks like a very nice Kia Sportage. Except, the Kia won’t cost you a fortune to own and keep running, and will likely have MUCH better dealer support than the VW will.
I laugh when people say they owned their VW for umpteen years and never had a problem. Yeah, my girlfriend’s VW never broke down either. But it was also air-cooled and didn’t have any electronics to speak of.
People just dont know how to take care of their cars, that is why there are problems. Even Honda has recalls and break downs but nobody seems to cry
about it like you folks.
I’ve had a new VW, my ex-girlfriend had a new VW, and all I can say is my Subarus have been 10 times more trouble free with over 100,000 miles on them than either NEW Volkswagen was. Yes, they were both Mexican built VWs, but still, there’s no excuse. Mechanically, VW’s hold up fine, but you will never NOT have some little niggling problem with it. And to the fellow who said he had maybe one problem with his VW, well, you had a rare VW indeed…as they would say in Europe the quality is “crap”
It seems like everybody loves to hate VW. (Read Clarkston’s review of the Jetta. It’s a fun read even if it does make this Jetta TDI owner cringe a bit.) I love my VW and haven’t had any trouble (except that the dealer network in my area has crappy service). I’ll agree that the interior is pretty circle-heavy, but I’ll save my judgment until I’ve seen the interior in person. That said, I can’t wait for the Tiguan for one reason: affordable bluetec in a utility form. Diesel engines are so easy to live with and give wonderful fuel economy. My other car, a Murano, chugs the Premium. I’d like a small oil burner to replace my awesome but thirsty Murano.
Hmmmmmm….I am I guess another “rare” (former) VW owner as my Passat wagon was in for nothing but routine maintenance the five years I had it. Only traded it in because the turbo lag had gotten tiring. Never had issues with the dealer either- they were absolutely wonderful! I agree with the above that it seems everyone loves to hate VW. A lot of my friends have new VW’s and have never had problems. However a coworker has a newer Honda Civic and it is constantly giving her problems and in the shop. Unless you get a true dud, I think a lot of is in how you keep it maintained, regardless of brand. By the way, the new Rabbits are made in GERMANY not Mexico (the Jetta is still being made in Mexico).
It sure is ugly. And yes, VW quality does suck even though some die-hards deny it. And yes, many people think they are the cats meow when they buy the “junk from Jermany”, no matter what the brand. I think it has something to do with the German superiority attitude, you know like Adolph.
If you love circles, you’ll love the Tiguan interior.
Yes, I really hope VW works on their quality control, especially if they are going to charge more than the Japanese or Korean companies (Rav4, CRV, Santa Fe). Sure, they all have recalls, but rather than relying on anecdotal evidence, take a look at Consumer Reports.
After reading all the comments on this vehicle and VW the bottom line seems to be to avoid any vehicle manufactured in Mexico. If the VIN number on the driver’s side dash begins with the number ‘3’ it was built in Mexico! If your VW has a ‘W’ for the first digit it was built in Germany! Be a wise shopper and get the quality you deserve when you lay down the big bucks by avoiding third world country products!
mexico’s quality record for the past 10 years proves that their cars are MUCH better built than american garbage
Looks very promising il consider it with the bluetec diesel, i was expecting a better looking interior for a vw product but im sure it looks alot better in black, ive had 4 mexican made vw’s that took lots of abuse and i never had a single problem!
I strongly disagree with the comments about lack of maintenance being the problem with VWs. I maintained mine by the book and then some, but things would just inexplicably go wrong. Switches would fall off or break. Dash backlighting would fail after 3 years (I have a 34 year-old Suzuki m/c and all the electrical still works perfectly). I truly blame all the large and small faults of VW’s on poor product development work, and equally poor quality control at the manufacturing level. My take on German build quality is that it looks like the best build quality in the world, it just doesn’t act like it…My Subaru’s dash might look like it came from a 3rd world country, but nothing ever goes with wrong it….
I’ve owned a mexican bulit bug for the last 8 years and i’ve had not a problem with it. It has less trips to the dealership than my friends echo plus double the fuel economy (diesel) it’s been more reliable and cost less to maintain than my friends honda. Funny, everyone talks about Reliability when they barely drive 10 k a year. Well my VW bug has nearly 800,000 k on it and i’ve had not a problem. My friends honda,toyota have around 200 k. Don’t talk smack unless you guys know what your talking about.
Here’s some better pics of the Tiguan —