Your opinion on the VW tiguan's?

ED Ford Falcon · 18-10-2009, 02:52 AM

Dad has ordered one, its a 2 litre V4 turbo diesel? This is the third brand new car dad has bought in 6 years even though he keep's saying he is broke

He did the right thing, and got an auto, as mum is useless at manual's

:

Its a 6 speed auto, with a pearl essent blue paint with the standard 16 inch rims

These things supposedly pull out 320 nm of torque from the factory which is only 28nm less than my falcon (when it was brand new) :O

Does anyone own a tiguan?

ps. it gets delivered on monday...

DA68ZA · 18-10-2009, 07:31 AM

For vw's try this forum

http://http://www.vwwatercooled.org....load/index.php
You will get better answers than here ...

Cam · 18-10-2009, 07:39 AM

I'll be interested to see how it goes, one of the guys at work just bought the same thing, but has a few week wait for delivery, post back your thoughts!

kircher · 18-10-2009, 10:28 AM

It's a Golf platform and drivetrain, so it can't be bad. However I believe the Golf or Jetta would be the better car.

edit: it's an inline 4, not a V4. There aren't many V4s around. The auto gearbox in the VW is excellent. In my opinion it's the best money can buy (except for maybe AMG's new box). It's a dual clutch transmission, so is roughly as fuel efficient as a manual, but generally as smooth or even smoother than an auto. Google or youtube "DSG" if you're interested in seeing an animation or explanation of the technology. "how stuff works" might also have some good basic info.

calais · 18-10-2009, 10:37 AM

I drove one this week (albeit a 147TSI petrol), they are like a jacked up AWD golf really, for a small SUV, they have a tiny boot, couldnt fit much in there at all.

On the plus side, they drive as tightly as a golf, and the 2.0l Diesel is a great engine.

Just dont let him be fooled into thinking he has a four wheel drive like so many CR-V owners over the years, the Tiguan's limits are gravel roads at worst, without risking serious embarassment or damage to the vehicle.

ED Ford Falcon · 18-10-2009, 11:49 AM

Okay, thank you everyone for your knowledge

, will definitely shortly do some googling

turns out he gets it at the end of january now :S

Mr Hardware · 18-10-2009, 11:55 AM

My opinion on anything VolksWagen? Terrible, cos everyone knows they're german but not cool german like porsche/bmw/merc.

calais · 18-10-2009, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

My opinion on anything VolksWagen? Terrible, cos everyone knows they're german but not cool german like porsche/bmw/merc.

A very shallow view there mate......

ED Ford Falcon · 18-10-2009, 03:02 PM

If it is Mr Hardware's honest view i don't mind though calais

Did some you-tubing on the gearbox, and they seem pretty impressive

Mum says she gets first drive and she is going to personalise it? :S

outback_ute · 19-10-2009, 07:12 PM

Slightly larger Golf, pretty small boot

ED Ford Falcon · 02-02-2010, 12:22 PM

Dad picked the car up from the showroom with 11 kms on it yesterday!

My opinions boot really isn't that small..and it has some reversing thing where you don't touch the steering wheel and it reverse parks for you..scary stuff!!

One thing i couldn't quite get over was how dad parked on an upwards hill and accelerated slowly and the gearbox didn't seem to want to go into first gear (there is a display on the dash which tells you what gear it is in)..i know most diesel buses and stuff basically never use 1st though.

Also it has 16 inch alloys right the way around..but the spare is an 18 inch...is that like fail space saving or what? :S

Will get some photos and a better opinion when i have done more km's in it.

KITBAG · 02-02-2010, 01:52 PM

Drove my Mum’s the other day 2008 model Tiguan
2 litre diesel auto

GOOD THINGS......
Go good pulling a 6x4 full of soil.
Smart *#@ car tells you if a indicator is out on trailer……

BAD THINGS………
Get back in my AU11 wagon and I fell like on sitting on the ground…….
Turn wipers on instead of indicators at corners……..

eb2fairmont · 02-02-2010, 01:54 PM

Yeah I can answer some of these as my daily is a MkV golf.

The spare is an 18" across all of the PQ35 platform (Golf/passat/Tiguan/scirocco/a3) family. You'll notice is has a low profile tyre on it - and it exists because no one uses a spare these days and its only there to get you out of trouble. Its one part for a lot of cars a big saving for VW.

The DSG boxes are a pain for hillstarts. The trick is to use the brake like a clutch. If you touch the brake while accelerating it opens the clutches for more slip. So when taking off, as your coming off the brake pedal apply power. It takes a little practice. The older ones (like my 2005) are a little more jerky.

The dsg has a very low first gear so it doesn't stall. Thats why at walking pace or above it will slip into 2nd. The TDi motor have a fair bit of torque so don't be too peturbed by it.

Cheers

David

gcg2503 · 02-02-2010, 02:43 PM

Friend has one for his wife. Good car, nice torque . The auto park feature is freaky isn't it?

ED Ford Falcon · 02-02-2010, 03:51 PM

thanks for all the info everyone..the big spare really dazzled me lol!

Yes the auto park is freaky, especially when mum says "look I can do it with my hands out the window"! I don't trust her driving when both her hands are on the steering wheel when she is parked let alone reverse parking!
She says afterwords that's the first reverse parallel park she has done in over 30 years..:O

Jason[98.EL] · 02-02-2010, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ED Ford Falcon

thanks for all the info everyone..the big spare really dazzled me lol!

Yes the auto park is freaky, especially when mum says "look I can do it with my hands out the window"! I don't trust her driving when both her hands are on the steering wheel when she is parked let alone reverse parking!
She says afterwords that's the first reverse parallel park she has done in over 30 years..:O

sounds like that is a car i should get for the wife ( she doesnt even have her licence YET )

Jason

XR6_190 · 02-02-2010, 05:09 PM

Good choice, It's a VW, that's all you need know, superbly built, well equipped, and cutting edge technology, what more do you want.

shockwave XR · 02-02-2010, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

My opinion on anything VolksWagen? Terrible, cos everyone knows they're german but not cool german like porsche/bmw/merc.

i bet you have never owned a vw. sell your falcon and buy one, i did, and you will never go back.

geckoGT · 02-02-2010, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

My opinion on anything VolksWagen? Terrible, cos everyone knows they're german but not cool german like porsche/bmw/merc.

Awesome information and obviously comes from a deep wealth of personal experience and research

: I feel so much better informed now. Apart from the fact that Audi, Porsche and VW share platforms (toureg, cayenne and Q7), not too mention other engines, transmissions and host of other components. Might be something to do with the fact that VW owns porsche.

Since when is a Bugatti Veyron not cool? It was made by VW.

ED Ford Falcon, could you give us some more of your thoughts on it when you have a chance? We are seriously looking at these in the process of selecting the new family hack and I would be interested in your thoughts.

Brazen · 02-02-2010, 10:22 PM

deleted - misread thread

ED Ford Falcon · 02-02-2010, 10:29 PM

i will have to get some photo's up..before it gets dirty... personally i don't have much of an opinion on it as of yet geckoGT but we have only had it for two days and i of yet haven't driven it!

geckoGT · 02-02-2010, 10:34 PM

Ignore this post

Post I was referring to has been deleted.

Brazen · 02-02-2010, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geckoGT

I think you sometimes have to look at who actually makes the VW commercial vehicles. For example, the Mercedes Sprinter that is used in all ambulance services in australia are not made by Mercedes, they are made by Kia. This is like saying that all fords are unreliable crap because some models had serious reliability issues (EA, Explorer, AU etc).

Early VW commercials probably did have transmission troubles, the early mercs did when they had the semi auto (bucket of crap transmission, the electronic single plate clutch always fails).

We are not talking about a commercial vehicle here, this is essentially a big golf with golf running gear. I know of half a dozen people at work that have golf GTI (same engine and DSG trans), not one has had a warranty claim yet and all said they will be looking at a new VW first next time they buy. I have had 3 fords recently and haven't had one with less than 3 warranty claims, VW look good to me.

The problem is a good reputation takes decades to earn, but one model to lose.

Thanks GeckoGt I assume you were responding to my comment about VW reliabilty, I removed my post as I forgot that his dad had actually already bought it, I thought it was a 'what do you think thread'. The last thing I wanted to do is to badmouth a car of someone, especially as I was going off third hand reliability information of VW cars which werent even the Tiguan. Yeah I should know better..

Cheers, and I think Tiguans are one of the best compact 4wds.

geckoGT · 02-02-2010, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brazen

..

Cheers, and I think Tiguans are one of the best compact 4wds.

I was not having a go at you in any way, just bringing up a relevant point to a good point you bought up, the power of discussion.

So do many of the journalist reviews, guess we will have to wait and see.

Brazen · 02-02-2010, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geckoGT

I was not having a go at you in any way, just bringing up a relevant point to a good point you bought up, the power of discussion.

So do many of the journalist reviews, guess we will have to wait and see.

Didnt think you were having a go at all, just realised my post sounded like I was one of those idiots who judge a car brand by a few (probably exaggerated) bad stories. Looked at the VW Tiguan at a car event awhile back, beautiful interior, looks good and the diesel specs sound fantastic. The only thing I didnt like about it was the long front overhang - but that shows how good it was if that was the only thing I didnt like. I bet its a much better all round vehicle than a CRV, Rav4 etc.

geckoGT · 02-02-2010, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brazen

Looked at the VW Tiguan at a car event awhile back, beautiful interior, looks good and the diesel specs sound fantastic. The only thing I didnt like about it was the long front overhang - but that shows how good it was if that was the only thing I didnt like. I bet its a much better all round vehicle than a CRV, Rav4 etc.

We have not looked at the Tiguan yet, looked heavily at the Golf GTI when we bought the Mini so I know about the drivetrain and to be honest the GTI was my first pic based on this. Need to look at the tiguan properly with regards to the interior as I was not impressed with the MkV GTI interior and this point was why the Mini was selected, much better interior. Hopefully the tiguan is better then MkV GTI.

My concerns with the Tiguan is the boot size but we are yet to have a real look. Have to admit I have not really noticed the front overhang but can see how that would be an issue considering most manufacturers are working hard to reduce overhangs.