My Tiguan has arrived and this is my experience so far

[Gladbach]

I've just picked up my white 162TSI + DAP (no R/Line, no Pana) from the dealer and driven it 35km. Here's my random collection of impressions from my first 30 minutes. Bear in mind that I'm an internet shopper and so these are literally my first impressions (I've never even sat in one before!):

It looks fantastic. I never liked the old Tiguan but this looks classy. I was worried that the black plastic skirting (for us non-R-Line folk) would look crappy, but it's fine.

It's comfortable and spacious inside. Lots of storage compartments (possibly too many as the myriad of storage spaces means you have to look in a myriad of places to find that thing you can't find). Nice heavy doors.

The info display and dashboard display (forgot the proper names for both) are big, bright and clear.

Pairing it with my bluetooth Android was a breeze and the sound system sounded fine.

Active Lane Assist works better than expected. It doesn't 'bounce' you from one side of the lane to the other, but it seems to hug and follow the lane marking that it helped you not drift across. So it's not as far removed from Adaptive Lane Guidance as I thought it would be. It does provide you with progressively more severe warnings if you keep your hands off the wheel though!

There are two things I found really finicky:

- Waving your leg under the rear bumper to open the boot. Both myself and the dealer had trouble getting it to activate reliably.

- Voice recognition on the sat nav wasn't great. I had to speak quite slowly and it's pretty slow to recognise what I said. And the voice they've used sounds like the female version of Marvin the Paranoid Android. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but hopefully the Google Maps integration is good and so I'll be able to use that instead. Unfortunately, Google Maps can't be displayed on the dashboard.

And there's a few features that I'm really confused about because the dealer told me something different from what I've learned here on this forum. This is what he told me today. I haven't had a chance to verify any of this:

- It does recognise Speed Signs at the side of the road.
- It doesn't auto-dip headlights for oncoming traffic.
- The driver settings memory can't be coded to the key (you have to select from one of three profiles when you get in the car).
- The driver settings memory doesn't remember the seat position, which seems odd to me.

FYI The dealer also told me that they're expecting traffic warnings to become available as a software update within 6-12 months.


EDIT - One more thing. The manual is well written but rendered fairly impotent in many cases. It describes all possible features (e.g. Traffic Jam Assist) regardless of whether these features are available in your model/market. It tells you to ask your dealership about what features are available/unavailable.

Congratulations Mine will be arriving at Port Kembla in a few hours. The next few weeks are going to be slow!

With the boot release, make sure you're kicking in a forward motion rather than sideways. The dealer tried to demonstrate it with a sideways motion and it didn't work, but I knew from these forums that it was a kicking motion and it worked on multiple occasions for me. Funnily enough, when I told the dealer it was a kicking motion instead, he didn't believe me, but when he tried it worked him fist go as well hehe.

[latearrival]

And there's a few features that I'm really confused about because the dealer told me something different from what I've learned here on this forum. This is what he told me today. I haven't had a chance to verify any of this:

- It does recognise Speed Signs at the side of the road.
- It doesn't auto-dip headlights for oncoming traffic.
- The driver settings memory can't be coded to the key (you have to select from one of three profiles when you get in the car).
- The driver settings memory doesn't remember the seat position, which seems odd to me.

Happy to confirm he was wrong about the last two. Personal settings can be associated with a key. And they include wing mirror and seat positions.

[latearrival]

Congratulations Mine will be arriving at Port Kembla in a few hours. The next few weeks are going to be slow!

With the boot release, make sure you're kicking in a forward motion rather than sideways. The dealer tried to demonstrate it with a sideways motion and it didn't work, but I knew from these forums that it was a kicking motion and it worked on multiple occasions for me. Funnily enough, when I told the dealer it was a kicking motion instead, he didn't believe me, but when he tried it worked him fist go as well hehe.

Kicking worked straight away! There's a slight pause before the boot opens so at first you think it's not going to open.

[Kymehra]

After a long wait (August order) I finally picked up my 162TSI rline last night.

I was on the edge on whether I should have ordered black or white - I went with white and am personally very happy with the choice. There was a black rline in the showroom when I picked up my ride and it looked amazing. For me I love the contrast between the white paint and the black accents on the trim. The chrome provides a little more contrast as does the sunroof.

It's obviously a very personal choice but I'm really happy with the car so far - looking forward to stretching it's legs this weekend.

So far I'm impressed with the comfort and just how smooth the engine is. Of course, I can't wait to get the first 1500kms behind me so I can put it through its paces. The sunroof is awesome although it's not the best weather in sydney.

Will upload some photos over the next few days.

[latearrival]

There was a black rline in the showroom when I picked up my ride and it looked amazing

Black looks amazing while it's in the showroom and for 60 minutes after every wash/detail

[theitchy]

Here my car with thinkware 770 camera back and front .

[TheTig]

Black looks amazing while it's in the showroom and for 60 minutes after every wash/detail

lol, the same reason I went with White. Went in to order fully intending to order the black, there was one out the front, they'd just been some rain and it showed every spec of dust/grime. They do look elegant though after a good wash

[Gladbach]

Black looks amazing while it's in the showroom and for 60 minutes after every wash/detail

Haha. Too true!

[TheTig]

Here my car with thinkware 770 camera back and front .

Looks really neat, is the battery under a car seat?

[bestyjny]

So few lines after my first kilometers.


I made my order for Tig weeks before any dealers around had demo car in stock. The only way to get knowledge about it, was to search and view any video from press tests in Germany.

That's why I ended with Atlantic rather than Caribbean Blue I saw it on few videos, but color sample plates in my dealer house were from other models and when they show me Caribbean from Touran I said it's not that color I want. Because only two blue rectangle's and Caribbean "wasn't" my color ... and never ever choose color from catalogue! If not black or white of course!

My bad was to not take a drive to Wolfsburg, because it's only half-day trip both sides from us.

Don't get me wrong, color is awesome (in sunny day) and looks good like few others when no sun (orange and brown). And when it's clean


I choose off-road packet to get front different than 90% others (3% R-line and 7% regular - my own estimation) + maybe sometimes go to a ride with friends with serious 4x4 cars to easy trips.

It's worth to mention it's my first SUV, AWD and AT car. And it's awesome to had both! I made few 180 deg snow slips on mall parking, tried on fast turns. Every next car will be with AWD. Definitely!

Daily experience is good, fuel consumption is acceptable, but there are issues with cars, so on local discussion forum we have "****-ups thread" where we put any found problem with a car to estimate what is specific car issue and what is a global problem.