Volkswagen T-Roc review - Reliability and safety

The T-Roc gets a welcome list of standard safety kit, while you can really go to town with some safety options that used to be the preserve of bigger, far more expensive models. 

Autonomous emergency braking features, as does adaptive cruise control and a driver fatigue warning. These are fitted as standard across the UK line-up, while lane keep assist is included by default too. 

Loads of other safety and assistance features are found on the options list. Traffic sign recognition, a rear view camera, blind spot monitoring with a lane changing system, semi-autonomous traffic jam assist, parking assist and automatic high beam headlights are available, alongside emergency assistance. 

The T-Roc was tested by Euro NCAP in 2017, and earned a five-star safety rating. Adult occupant protection was rated at 96 per cent, while child occupant safety rates highly too, with an 87 per cent score. Standard equipment such as autonomous emergency braking and lane keep assist stands as one of the reasons why the T-Roc notched up the maximum five stars under the Euro NCAP scoring system. 

In our latest Driver Power survey, Volkswagen finished 27th out of 32 manufacturers, which is clearly not a strong enough placing for a brand that prides itself on quality products and good customer service. The T-Roc achieved 28th spot on a 75-car list in the best cars to own poll - up from 34th spot the previous year.

26

Warranty

As with the rest of the VW range, the T-Roc has a warranty that lasts for three years or 60,000 miles, whichever comes first. That’s pretty average by industry standards. An extended warranty is offered at additional cost, which can take cover up to five years and 90,000 miles.

Servicing

As with the Golf, the T-Roc has a variable service schedule depending on the kind of driving you do. Most owners will likely meet the standard 12-month/10,000-mile service schedule, but those covering extended motorway miles might meet the extended two-year service interval period. Fixed-price servicing is available from Volkswagen dealers, but the firm doesn’t have a reputation for offering the sort of low-cost, all-in service package that many rival manufacturers do, so costs here could be higher than for some competitors.