Long-term test: Volkswagen Tiguan

Verdict

What any family car needs above all else is easy-to-use space and excellent practicality – and in that respect the Volkswagen Tiguan absolutely nails its brief. If it wasn’t for a gearbox that can struggle around town (where I spend much of my time), it would earn a higher rating.

• Mileage: 3,642 miles
• Efficiency: 44.1mpg

Strange as it may sound, the biggest sign of how much I think of the Tiguan as a family car is how little thought I give it. I’ve never had to worry about whether the family will be comfortable or whether our luggage will fit. And thanks to its mild-hybrid powertrain, there hasn’t been any range anxiety. The VW takes it all in its stride.

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We spent the best part of six months with the car, and it’s been plain sailing all the way. It replaced a similarly priced Volvo EX30, and the VW’s extra 30cm of length was appreciated by both my daughter – who had more legroom in the back – and my wife, because the bigger boot meant we never had to think too hard about what to pack.

In our time with the VW, we did a couple of big drives – a holiday in Norfolk and then visiting friends in Northumberland – and the Tiguan was ideal for us. It was big enough to take us and all our stuff, but not so big that parking – or fuel economy – was a problem.

Used - available now

2024 Volkswagen

Tiguan

20,278 milesAutomaticPetrol1.5L

Cash £26,709

View Tiguan

2023 Volkswagen

Tiguan

39,993 milesAutomaticPetrol1.5L

Cash £19,220

View Tiguan

2023 Volkswagen

Tiguan

19,138 milesAutomaticPetrol1.5L

Cash £22,374

View Tiguan

2024 Volkswagen

Tiguan

60,761 milesAutomaticPetrol1.4L

Cash £19,811

View Tiguan

Most of the time, the car never had more than three passengers, but it could do a very convincing impression of a people carrier or a van when needed. Fitting a couple of our daughter’s friends alongside her on the rear seat was no problem; her bike would fit in the boot just by folding down one part of the 60:40-split rear seat; and when we had to clear a relative’s lock-up, we managed to pile in several boxes of tools.

The 1.5-litre engine coped well with these heavy loads, too, and our longer trips perfectly showed off the powertrain’s benefits. Because the car can coast, engine off, when there isn’t much load on it, steady cruises can be surprisingly economical. On our return journey from Northumberland to London, for instance, the 320 miles were done at an average speed of 58mph – all at an impressive 49mpg. The system is less effective in heavy, stop-start urban traffic, but I am still impressed with an average in excess of 44mpg over more than 3,500 miles.

It was also on longer, high-speed runs that the VW’s automatic gearbox was at its most effective, swapping between its ratios smoothly and sweetly. Again, it was less impressive in town, tending to be slow to react and too eager to change up. As I eased off the throttle approaching a roundabout, for example, the gearbox would change up – but if I didn’t need to stop and wanted to carry on, the gearbox was slow to kick down again.

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I did try Sport mode, but that hung on to the gears too long, and I didn’t appreciate the noise the engine made at high revs. True, it wasn’t horrendous, but it was at odds with the car’s refinement in other situations.

In fact, the class and quality of the VW were things that I always appreciated. The cabin uses decent materials that stood up to the challenges of family life very well, while touches such as the lightbars, the puddle lights under the door mirrors, plus the ambient lighting inside and rear-seat ventilation, gave the car a more premium feel than some mainstream competition.

The same goes for the infotainment. VW has been criticised for some of its recent systems, but the Tiguan has the latest set-up and I soon got to grips with it. The graphics are really clear, the menus reasonably intuitive and there are big ‘buttons’ to press, making it easy to use on the move. And after six months with the car, I think that word ‘easy’ best sums up life with it.

Volkswagen Tiguan long-term test: second fleetwatch 

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It's already proved its worth as a family car, but the Tiguan is also a surprisingly convincing as a commercial vehicle

Having successfully passed its test as holiday transport, our Volkswagen Tiguan’s next trick was to show another string to its practical bow – by becoming a removal van. The challenge was to shift an armchair across south London from a relative’s flat to our house, and I wasn’t confident it would be possible. I needn’t have worried, though – not only did the chair fit into the boot, I didn’t have to fold any of the rear seats. Job done.

Volkswagen Tiguan long-term test: second report

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A family holiday is the ultimate test for any car... so how did our SUV cope?

• Mileage: 2,359 miles
• Efficiency: 42.7mpg

As road tests go, they don’t come much tougher than the family holiday. If a car is to get top marks, not only does it need the space and practicality to ferry its occupants and their luggage to a destination, it also needs to get them there in comfort – potentially after several hours on the road.

The good news for my family is that the Volkswagen Tiguan has all of those bases covered – as we found out on a week away in Norfolk, with a one-night stop-off in Cambridge en route.

To be fair, this didn’t come as any great surprise, because we’d already lived with the car for three months before setting off from our London home for the east coast. As I said in my opening report, the Tiguan is a bigger car than my a three-person family really needs, but the result was that we had no problem fitting everybody and everything in.

My wife and I had loads of room in the front seats, and even when our 12-year-old daughter decided to sit behind me and my six-foot-two frame, there was plenty of space for her. Plus, because the boot is so large, no luggage had to overflow onto the back seat, so she was able to spread out her snacks, drinks and soft toys.

I’m the chief packer in our family, and for me, the VW’s boot is perhaps its best feature – particularly on a holiday. But as well as the sheer amount of space available – 652 litres – and convenient square shape, it’s the little touches that make it so easy to live with.

For instance, while this isn’t the first car I’ve run that has an adjustable boot floor, it allows me to clip the floor up while I’m loading the compartment underneath. The bag hook neatly doubles up as a retaining clip and makes it easy to pile in shoes, coats and so on without eating into the main boot space. And, when the floor is set in its top position, it sits flush with the load lip, allowing me to slide the bigger bags and cases in and out really easily. This was particularly appreciated because our stay in Cambridge meant packing and unpacking the car four times in 36 hours.

On the road, too, the Tiguan came into its own on this trip. I have reservations about it around town – notably its lumpy ride and lethargic gearbox – but at higher speeds and with less traffic, neither was an issue.

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On the contrary, the initial schlep around the M25 and up the M11 to Cambridge was a pleasure. The ride smoothed out and the cabin was a haven of peace and quiet – until it was my turn to choose the music, anyway.

Getting around Norfolk was enjoyable, too, and whether we were heading out on boat trips from far-flung boatyards on the Broads or indulging in some retail therapy – much to my surprise, it turns out that Gapton Retail Park in Great Yarmouth is a greater attraction for my daughter than the Pleasure Beach! – the easy-to-use infotainment and big map display meant we could find our way around without any arguments.

Last, but not least, I was very impressed with the car’s fuel economy. The long, straight roads of the uber-flat county were ideal for the mild hybrid’s coasting function, with the result that car’s overall economy has risen from less than 38mpg in May to well over 40mpg now.

The final trek back home after visiting friends near Ipswich was a perfect example of where this fuel-sipping tech works so well. It was a steady, two-hour trip mainly on the A12 and M25, completed at an average speed of 60mph, yet the car returned more than 50mpg fully laden. Overall, we reckon, the Tiguan passed this latest test with flying colours.

Volkswagen Tiguan long-term test: first fleetwatch report

The Tiguan’s mild-hybrid technology offers little benefit in town, but shines on longer journeys 

One of the things about the Volkswagen Tiguan that I have been most looking forward to testing is its real-world fuel economy. I wanted to see where the benefits of the mild-hybrid tech would be most obvious in everyday use.

Unfortunately, for someone who lives in south-west London, I soon realised that heavy stop-start traffic did the car no favours. The Tiguan basically doesn’t do any urban trips – even in part – in economy-boosting EV mode. At one point in a particularly painful recent journey, the car’s trip computer was showing just 19mpg. Although, to be fair, I generally expect about 30mpg around town.

Instead, the benefits of the MHEV tech are most obvious on longer, higher-speed trips, where I can take advantage of the cylinder cut-off tech and coasting features when there’s no load on the engine. On a journey back from a sports tournament in Wiltshire using the A4, M4 and M3, for example, the VW returned more than 50mpg without any effort on my part. Much more impressive.

Volkswagen Tiguan long-term test: first report 

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We’re joining the crowd and testing this mild-hybrid SUV for the next six months

• Mileage: 589 miles
• Efficiency: 37.9mpg

I’ve never been one to follow fashion, but even by my standards, taking delivery of a brand-new car without a plug in 2026 seems deliberately perverse. As you can see from our recent 16-car PHEV megatest, plug-in hybrids are rocketing in popularity, while electric car sales are at record levels.

To further befuddle my ageing brain, my last fleet car was a pure-electric Volvo EX30, so when this Volkswagen Tiguan arrived I was a little bemused at the prospect of reacquainting myself with filling stations rather than topping up on my driveway.

The Tiguan will be my family’s transport for the next six months. But although what is in effect a pure-petrol car feels very old-school in 2026, there is plenty of tech on board.

Not only is my car a mild hybrid, it also has Active Cylinder Technology Management, which shuts down two of the engine’s four cylinders when there’s low load on the engine, boosting fuel economy. To be honest, though, I only know that because it said so on the spec sheet that came with the car – the system is utterly imperceptible in everyday driving.

I was also a little surprised to find that this is the most popular powertrain in the Tiguan range, with almost three in four private buyers choosing it. I thought more people might be tempted by a plug-in hybrid, but presumably the £3,000 extra it costs is a step too far. It’s a different story with company car users, though. They prefer the PHEV because of its lower, more tax-friendly CO2 emissions.

Where I also follow the crowd of private Tiguan buyers is by going for Match trim – but it’s not hard to see why it’s so popular, given that it includes everything I consider a must-have: dual-zone climate control, adaptive cruise control, all-round cameras to help with parking and Apple CarPlay. Given that this will be our family’s main transport, its five-star Euro NCAP rating is a major draw, too.

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The Cipressino Green metallic paint is part of the standard package, too – and growing on me – plus there are numerous features that give this Volkswagen a premium image. Having illuminated front and rear badges, plus the VW logo projected onto the ground from the door mirrors, for example, elevates the Tiguan above so many carbon-copy mainstream rivals.

That impression continues inside, with ambient lighting, comfortable seats and a couple of very-high-definition screens. I’ve always been a fan of the VW Group’s digital driver’s display, so I’m delighted to have it here. Overall, in fact, ‘delighted’ is a pretty good summary of life so far with the Tiguan. My family has immediately warmed to the space and practicality on offer – much more than was available in the Volvo, despite the cars being almost identically priced – and the VW has easily settled into life in suburban south-west London.

Thus far, the car has only taken me beyond the M25 once, so since it was delivered, the suburbs are pretty much all it has seen. But nothing has fazed it, and it’s taken the ‘Dad’s Taxi’ mix of football matches, rehearsals, shows and shopping trips in its stride.

Admittedly I’ve noticed the VW’s larger dimensions over the Volvo, but it’s only really an issue when parking – and the around-view cameras make it wonderfully easy to squeeze the Tiguan into parking spaces without the fear of clobbering something. I’ve also appreciated that I can turn the speed-warning system off with just two touches on the infotainment screen.

There are a few shortcomings, though, and perhaps chief among those is the over-eager emergency brakes. The anchors have already been slammed on a few times for no apparent reason while I’ve been reversing on to my drive – which is very alarming.

I’m also missing the immediate torque of an EV, something that is only exaggerated by the occasionally slow responses of the automatic gearbox and petrol engine at low revs. The low-speed ride is rather lumpy, too, and I wish the economy was better – I hope that these rough edges will be smoothed off as the car gets more miles under its wheels.

*Insurance quote from AA (0800 107 0680) for a 42-year-old in Banbury, Oxon, with three points.

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