tiguan 125tsi or subaru forester xt

[clip]

... for me I can also say that the Subaru was always more reliable than VW (it means less trips to the dealer with funny little things needing fixing)...

funny that, I know three people that have owned Subaru's over the past 15 years. Seems there's only two types of Subaru owners though, those that bought one and now wouldn't own anything else, and those that bought one and would never own another one again. Two of the three that I know are in the latter category, citing reliability (alternator/electrical gremlins) and of course the dreaded oil consumption issues of the last few years (as far as I know, Subaru are the only company that supplies a litre of oil in the spares kit to get you to the first service).

But then there is always plenty of stuff about cars and their faults if you want to dig deep enough. In the end it's up to driving the bloody thing yourself and then making decisions and opinions.

[Transporter]

funny that, I know three people that have owned Subaru's over the past 15 years. Seems there's only two types of Subaru owners though, those that bought one and now wouldn't own anything else, and those that bought one and would never own another one again. Two of the three that I know are in the latter category, citing reliability (alternator/electrical gremlins) and of course the dreaded oil consumption issues of the last few years (as far as I know, Subaru are the only company that supplies a litre of oil in the spares kit to get you to the first service).

But then there is always plenty of stuff about cars and their faults if you want to dig deep enough. In the end it's up to driving the bloody thing yourself and then making decisions and opinions.

So, now you met the 3rd type of Subaru owner. We have 3 VW cars in family and one Subaru. I have no problem replacing Forester with a better car but one has to be realistic mate and lets be honest VW has more than a fair share of the small faults we wish they wouldn't be there. There are way to many posts on this forum about VW engines using a lot of oil (expensive one too and not as available as the oil for Subaru), A/C pumps failing in GolfV, many people prefer manual gearbox rather than fantastic DSG gearbox because they fear that DSG will fail when the car is out of the warranty. So will the automatic transmission in Tiguan be as reliable as the one in Forester?
I will answer it for you Subaru has 20 years history in making their symmetrical drive train with all aluminium engine which was in their cars in the 70's and the AWD system is in the Subaru cars for over 20 Years. During that past 20 years they were very reliable cars. Can you say that about VW? Look at the USA market and do some search about VW cars there and compare it with Subaru in USA market. It's all good if you keep your car for 3 years and before the warranty runs out you buy another one.

P.S. You can't buy 2WD Subaru they sell only AWD in Australia and don't charge extra for it - 2WD is not even as option.

http://www.motortrader.com/industry-...ity-index.html

[gmw]

Thanks for various responses. We have a Subaru Forester in the family - father in law has done 240,000 km without any problems. The Bora I previously owned in the UK did around 50,000 miles with no issues, my brother drives a Seat Leon in the UK (VW mechanicals) and has had no problems to date so both brands seem ok. Looking forward to driving the Forester and the Tig.

[Paragon]

Only problem (and one I could not get over, hence I am now on this forum) when test driving the XT for my wife was the 4 speed auto from the 1980s that it came with

[NZTiguan]

maybe the new diesel Forester will be better ? but the drive I had in the petrol Forester didn't impress me one bit and nobody I know of that's driven it and then the Tig has had much good to say (except for ground clearance and boot space) about the Forester. To me it felt lightweight, loose, rough, and the handling wasn't within a mile of the Tig. There may be the odd occasion where the Sub has an advantage but I'd say in 99.9% of your driving the Tig would eat it. In my case it simply wasn't even in the hunt.

[Transporter]

Only problem (and one I could not get over, hence I am now on this forum) when test driving the XT for my wife was the 4 speed auto from the 1980s that it came with

Sometimes well-proven technology is better than a new technology with many problems. The first thing in designing of any product is KIS = keep it simple. If the vehicle can achieve good fuel economy and good emission and has good performance why would you care how many gears has a gearbox?
I'm not saying that Tig is going to be unreliable, however it is new to the market so it is too soon to say. We are yet to see any posts like "help needed with my Tig" or "DSG tried to kill me."
But one thing I noticed is that many people still waiting for the Tig. So their experience is based purely on the road test. Too short for me to convince me that it is much better than something else. Different cars suit to different drivers that’s why there is so many brads make and models, some of them hideously ugly and they still sell.
I really would like to have all the cars in my driveway to have VW badge on them but at the same time I want the vehicle that I could keep for 10 or more years with minimum problems and based on that the TIG would have to drive like nothing else and Forester would have to be really bad in handling and general feeling when one drives it. Of course with 25mm more ground clearance I don't expect I can take Forester to racetrack or drive like a maniac on the road. In 1999 when we were buying Forester it was the ugliest one from all SUV's with the best handling. Some review's of the new Forester are even saying that it drives and handle better than BMW X3, so it can't be that much worst than the TIG.

[NZTiguan]

Sometimes well-proven technology is better than a new technology with many problems. The first thing in designing of any product is KIS = keep it simple. If the vehicle can achieve good fuel economy and good emission and has good performance why would you care how many gears has a gearbox?
I'm not saying that Tig is going to be unreliable, however it is new to the market so it is too soon to say. We are yet to see any posts like "help needed with my Tig" or "DSG tried to kill me."
But one thing I noticed is that many people still waiting for the Tig. So their experience is based purely on the road test. Too short for me to convince me that it is much better than something else. Different cars suit to different drivers that’s why there is so many brads make and models, some of them hideously ugly and they still sell.
I really would like to have all the cars in my driveway to have VW badge on them but at the same time I want the vehicle that I could keep for 10 or more years with minimum problems and based on that the TIG would have to drive like nothing else and Forester would have to be really bad in handling and general feeling when one drives it. Of course with 25mm more ground clearance I don't expect I can take Forester to racetrack or drive like a maniac on the road. In 1999 when we were buying Forester it was the ugliest one from all SUV's with the best handling. Some review's of the new Forester are even saying that it drives and handle better than BMW X3, so it can't be that much worst than the TIG.

Sorry to disagree but the 6 speed auto on the Tig is so far ahead of the old 4 speed Sub that it's just not a joke. Incidentally i don't think anybody is going to say "the DSG tried to kill me" in a Tig cos they don't have DSG.

The Forester IS "really bad in handling and general feel" in comparison to the Tig (according to most people I've heard comment) and there are a number of people that have gone from X3 and even X5 to Tig because it's a better drive.

I'll be really interested to hear your end comparison because I suspect (if you're completely honest) you might be disappointed with the Sub after the build up you've given it. As I've said before I've yet to hear one person that's driven both suggest that the Sub is the one they'd own.

Good luck with your choice though, as you say "different strokes for different folks"

Cheers

[Transporter]

Sorry to disagree but the 6 speed auto on the Tig is so far ahead of the old 4 speed Sub that it's just not a joke. Incidentally i don't think anybody is going to say "the DSG tried to kill me" in a Tig cos they don't have DSG.

The Forester IS "really bad in handling and general feel" in comparison to the Tig (according to most people I've heard comment) and there are a number of people that have gone from X3 and even X5 to Tig because it's a better drive.

I'll be really interested to hear your end comparison because I suspect (if you're completely honest) you might be disappointed with the Sub after the build up you've given it. As I've said before I've yet to hear one person that's driven both suggest that the Sub is the one they'd own.

Good luck with your choice though, as you say "different strokes for different folks"

Cheers

I mentioned DSG only as example I know that Tig has ordinary auto trans.
I don't care how many gears auto trans has it could be CVT as long as it is reliable and last over 200,000km with no problems. Only after that time the one can be a judge: what is better, if old 4sp. auto or a new 6sp. auto. I didn't road test Tig or Forester yet and you can be sure that I will post the honest comment when I do.

[Paragon]

Sometimes well-proven technology is better than a new technology with many problems. The first thing in designing of any product is KIS = keep it simple. If the vehicle can achieve good fuel economy and good emission and has good performance why would you care how many gears has a gearbox?
I'm not saying that Tig is going to be unreliable, however it is new to the market so it is too soon to say. We are yet to see any posts like "help needed with my Tig" or "DSG tried to kill me."
But one thing I noticed is that many people still waiting for the Tig. So their experience is based purely on the road test. Too short for me to convince me that it is much better than something else. Different cars suit to different drivers that’s why there is so many brads make and models, some of them hideously ugly and they still sell.
I really would like to have all the cars in my driveway to have VW badge on them but at the same time I want the vehicle that I could keep for 10 or more years with minimum problems and based on that the TIG would have to drive like nothing else and Forester would have to be really bad in handling and general feeling when one drives it. Of course with 25mm more ground clearance I don't expect I can take Forester to racetrack or drive like a maniac on the road. In 1999 when we were buying Forester it was the ugliest one from all SUV's with the best handling. Some review's of the new Forester are even saying that it drives and handle better than BMW X3, so it can't be that much worst than the TIG.

Because if you actually care about things like good fuel economy and emissions, performance is probably not your thing. But it you choose your vehicles based on fuel economy and emissions do you think a car with 4 speeds or 6 would perform better? its pretty much a complacent Subaru slap in the face to its consumers when cars are coming out with a 7sp DSG as standard and Subaru feels fit to clear its leftover 1980s stock of 4 speed autos but sticking them into 2009 Foresters.

[clip]

its pretty much a complacent Subaru slap in the face to its consumers when cars are coming out with a 7sp DSG as standard and Subaru feels fit to clear its leftover 1980s stock of 4 speed autos by sticking them into 2009 Foresters.

True, they must be the last manufacturer to offer such an antiquated gearbox, but then the people that buy foresters probably wouldn't know the difference anyway - or at least wouldn't care whether it had a dang fancy gearbox in it or not. As long as it was a subaru, that's all that matters.