Choices, Choices...

[burtybear]

Hi Folks!
Been a while since I've been on VWW, but I always know it's where I'll get good honest info...
We're looking to trade our Honda Odyssey, once it hits 100K kms, for maybe a small SUV. The reviews all point to the Tiguan as the best all-rounder in its class. However, I'd like some views from people who have been through the evaluation process, and compared the Tiguan to other SUVs. I'd like some views on why the Tiguan was or wasn't their choice.
Who knows, I might end up with a Touareg, instead!
Thanks in anticipation!

[clip]

there's plenty of discussion on other posts about this. do a quick search, look back a few pages and you'll find it all. Bit of a waist of time though, pretty much everyone ended up buying a Tig! Only issue with Tig v others is the size of the hatch.

But the Korean alternatives are very nice according to Aussie journos, and they have very stringent guidelines on life span of their products IMO, nothing less than 3 years, nothing more than 5!

[Captain Bungers]

Hey burtybear

There is a bit of feedback on this thread...

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/f97/...tig-54906.html

I suppose it comes down to what you want and clip is right, the biggest limiting factor (read: only limiting factor IMHO) is the room in the hatch. You also have to consider that the rear seats can be shifted forward in times of need - I have only done this once in 6 months and it was for a dishwasher. The Tig has been around for a long time with little change, and this says to me that it is a good car. The next Tig (what you will get) is facelifted, but mostly the same. I must stress that the room in the back seat is awesome.

If you have kids, take a pram/booster seats when you test drive.

Don't forget about the 'upgrades' you can get aftermarket. I am seriously loving the 189 kw...

[Captain Bungers]

I might add that my dad is seriously considering selling the forester for a Tig after driving my 'upgraded' version.

Sent from my X10i using Tapatalk

[Prodigy]

We are in the process of buying a new SUV for the wife so last Friday we spent most of the day test driving a few variants. We drove the Tiguan 125tsi & 147tsi, Mazda CX7 Classic & Turbo Sports and the Toyota Rav 4 & Kluger.

She currently drives a 2005 Rav4 so we were looking for something similar in size or a bit larger.

I was sure she would like the Tig but to my surprise she prefers the Mazda Cx7 Sports, mainly due to the fact it looks pretty sporty inside and out for an SUV and the Kluger due to its size and rear room for the kids plus the benefit of it being a 7 seater.

We still haven't made a final decision but at this stage it looks like no new Tig for us.

[Phil G]

We bought our Tig 3 weeks ago after owning 2 Xtrails.
The Xtrails had a lot more room, but lacked the refinement, nice finish and gadgets we're enjoying with the Tig.
Both have 2 ton towing capacity. Xtrail was easier and cheaper to service (DIY), but the intervals were 10K vs 15K on the Tig so I guess cost will be same.
For us it was time for a change, and we're enjoying the change to VW.

[Captain Bungers]

I was sure she would like the Tig but to my surprise she prefers the Mazda Cx7 Sports, mainly due to the fact it looks pretty sporty inside and out for an SUV and the Kluger due to its size and rear room for the kids plus the benefit of it being a 7 seater.

We still haven't made a final decision but at this stage it looks like no new Tig for us.

I can't comment on the CX7 sports as a car, although the figures look ok. It is a bigger car and the seven seats might be good now, however just think of the future when you are the person with the seven seats and the other people have five...just think, seven whole seats to fill with screaming kids that aren't your own!

I am going to strategically buy a roadster in a couple of years - "sorry, can't take your kids, or mine. Can you take mine in your seven seater?"

[clip]

Mazda CX7 Classic & Turbo Sports and the Toyota Rav 4 & Kluger.

She currently drives a 2005 Rav4 ... she prefers the Mazda Cx7 Sports, mainly due to the fact it looks pretty sporty inside and out for an SUV and the Kluger due to its size and rear room for the kids plus the benefit of it being a 7 seater. (

CX7- unless they've fixed it in the last 12 months - dreadful turbo lag, and far too ostentatious looking IMHO.

The Rav4 V6 goes like stink, unfortunately it doesn't handle it very well, although much better than klugger (which has the most horrendous understeer)- and then you have to get the AWD version klugger, otherwise on even just a slight rise in the road, you end up sitting at the lights spinning up the front wheels (until it finally decides to try and do something about it) - and could be seriously dangerous in the wet.

[Garenio]

The wife and I were looking to replace our Toyota Echo hatchback with something bigger for seating and storage space and it had to be an auto. Started looking around last year.

Had a look and a drive of the Subaru Impreza hatch and thought it was quite alright and really liked the lack of body-roll it had, though it wasn't quite big enough.

The other half quite liked the look of the Forester, however, once we actually test-drove one, it turned out to be a serious disappointment! The interior felt rather thin and cheap and the 4-speed auto was a major let-down too.

I thought of giving the Audi Q5 a test-drive to see what a really good car felt like. Was suitably impressed with it. Highlight of the test-drive was when the sales guy told us to hold on as he was about to demonstrate how difficult it was to get the car out of shape while driving. I thought we were going to be taken off-road, but instead the driver floored it going around a corner then through a s-bend while coming to a stop at the end of a short straight. Car was like it was on rails, certainly was a "holy ****" kinda moment for me. Having a car that was capable of being thrown around somewhat like I do with my GSX-R sports bike was VERY appealing!

The price for the Q5 was quite a bit out of my range, $70k for the basic model, with OEM accessories not being on the cheap side either. Essentially we decided that we'll look for something similar without the price-tag.

Give the Mitsubishi Outlander a whirl. Had lots of space and seemed to drive OK, but the overall feel and package didn't really appeal all that much to us.

Eventually we took a 125TSI Tiguan out for a spin and pretty much made up our minds on the car we wanted. Had decent poke, was happy to go around corners when pushed a little, felt fantastic and had enough space for us.

In the end we got a MY11 103TDI DSG Tiguan and have been quite chuffed with it!

[Jake02]

We looked very seriously at a Tiguan 147TSI when they came out but a lack of a manual, features (the base 103TDI/125TSI look rubbish as front fogs aren't even standard equipment and the 147 doesn't look that much bette) and space (the boot is practically a Golf boot - waaay smaller than my Octavia and if you count the Octavia Scout, it's actually a rival and sealing relevance). Although it's not saying much, it's still way better than anything else on offer in the Compact SUV class (X-Trails are great value but LOOK at them; RAV4s are boring - they're a Camry SUV; Foresters/Outbacks used to be great but like all Subies they're awful; Koleos' are okay but there's just something about them; CR-Vs are ugly; SsangYongs are... just no; Ford Escapes are... just no and Outlanders are great but I'd like a diesel)!

Good luck!