Comments on: 2008 Volkswagen Tiguan 103TDI Review

By: doogle

doogle — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 09:01:26 +0000

Has anyone actually towed a camper or caravan with the 2.0 TDI near the rated 2 tonne limit? From what I can figure out it might tow it OK but how does it go on the open road at speed and on hills. How does it handle with 1.5-2.0 tonne on the back? Also the 100kg down load on the towball seems to be somewhat restrictive on what you can tow. There are only a few vans that fall into this category.

By: Carzrawsm

Carzrawsm — Thu, 06 May 2010 13:36:30 +0000

How good is the towing capacity that is the same as a parado well done VW

By: Neo Utopia

Neo Utopia — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:13:12 +0000

Post Script:

I was told by the sales woman that the Tiguan is currently made in Germany, however if demand is far greater than supply then Volkswagen may have to assemble it in South Africa.

By: Neo Utopia

Neo Utopia — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:58:01 +0000

Sorry about that, the post did not complete for some unknown reason, so I will start again:

I test drove the Tiguan a few weeks ago so I thought I’d share with you my first impressions of the car:

* great ride height to step into
* very light, minimal feedback steering at low speeds (increases feel at speeds above about 70 kmh though)
* relatively quiet diesel engine
* ergonomic easy to use controls (especially the touch screen, should be able to be seamlessly be linked to Apple’s brilliant iPhone with a latter VW software update)
* parking assistant works well and is quite easy to use (VW had their experimental version on their Futura concept car back in the eighties, so I think they would have refined it a lot more by now)
* good forward visibility but compromised rear visibility (I think young families should opt for the rear camera for child safety)
* excellent torque from diesel engine
* car like handling
* very sensitive brakes
* automatic gearbox slows down the car when no accelerator, a of an unusual feeling
* luggage space when seats upright is a bit smaller than what I want, should have been 460 litres, similar to current small SUVs, not to their predecessors to easily fit in prams
* superficial quality appeared quite good, whether intrinsic quality (and reliability) is even near Honda’s CRV is yet to be revealed as the Tiguan ages.

Overall I think the Tiguan offers Australian buyers a quality choice to the small SUV marketplace dominated by Japanese (and Korean) small SUV’s, it will be suitable for buyers wanting to drive in a more fashionable and Germanic type of small SUV to stand out from the Asian invasion (lol) of automobiles into this country.

Nota Bene: I am not a racist person, quite the opposite actually having an Australian female partner who has Vietnamese origin.

★★★★ from me

By: FamilyCarFan

FamilyCarFan — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:23:52 +0000

Picking mine up next week. 103TDI manual, by choice. Auto a bit twitchy. Will be good to be back in a VW, had enough Falcodore for a while

By: Neo Utopia

Neo Utopia — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:59:00 +0000

Hey People,

I test drove the Tiguan the other day so I thought I’d share with you my first impressions:

* Great height to step into.
* Very light, minimal feedback steering at low speeds (

By: RALLYX

RALLYX — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 06:50:23 +0000

Golfschwein, I DID have one.

By: Golfschwein

Golfschwein — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:16:13 +0000

Do you have a SA-built Golf, RALLYX?

By: RALLYX

RALLYX — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:55:28 +0000

Does anyone know what country the (Aus) Tiguan is Built in? Hopefully its not South Africa. If the Golf’s build quality and reliability is anything to go by then the Jap rivals come out far better, even if you are paying a slightly higher premium. If it is built in SA, then this explains the lower than expect price.

By: Nashville

Nashville — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:07:24 +0000

Hillholders were on Subarus in the 80′s, but I dislike them, and I had mine slackened off.
Why don’t people just say ‘high’ or ‘low’ for gearing to avoid the confusion.
I deplore the fact that first gear is too high in most vehicles (for people like me who want to manoeuver a trailer or negotiate up a narrow driveway or rough track without slipping the clutch).
Why not a six speed box where gears 2 to 5 cover normal town running, sixth is for 80+ cruising, and first is for the tight, steep
manoeuvers only.
I’ll be interested to see the Tiguan.