2008 Volkswagen Tiguan 103TDI Automatic Review
September 8, 2008 by Matt Brogan
2008 Volkswagen Tiguan 103TDI Automatic Review & Road Test
Tiguan demonstrates just how good a modern SUV can be
Model Tested:
- 2008 Volkswagen Tiguan 103TDI 4MOTION wagon 2.0-litre turbo diesel six-speed automatic – $38,290 (RRP)
Options Fitted:
- Metallic Paint $790; Audio System Upgrade (DynAudio) with Satellite Navigation & Reversing Camera $4780; Xenon Headlamps $1990; Leather Trim $3990; Front Fog Lamps $390; 17” Alloy Wheels $1490
Willing Engine, Smooth Auto, Quality Feel & Finish, Good Looks
Waiting List, Smaller Cargo Capacity, Steering Wheel Adjustment
CarAdvice Rating: 
- by Matt Brogan
It’s been a few months since we first had the exciting new Tiguan visit the CarAdvice office and although we were highly impressed last time, we couldn’t help but wonder if driving the more sought after automatic model would change our opinion of VWs marvelous mid-sized SUV.
In the blue corner, weighing in at 1676kg we have the 103TDI (103 kilowatt, turbo-diesel injection, automatic gearbox) variant which has had just about every box ticked on the feature list, thus giving us an idea of how sweet owning a diesel soft-roader can be. While in the red corner we have the entry-level manual model as tested previously (click here for manual review).
Catalina Blue / Wild Cherry Red
Fortunately the days where owning a smaller SUV meant a basic, bone jolting ride with rattling, smoky engine and little or no creature comforts are long gone and with Tiguan demonstrating just how good a modern compact SUV can be, it’s little wonder we’re back for more.
In addition to the standard kit of MP3 compatible CD tuner, power windows, heated power mirrors, semi-automatic air-conditioning, power steering, remote central-locking, cruise control, leather steering wheel with remote audio and cruise controls, trip computer, cloth trim, 16-inch San Francisco alloy wheels, black roof rails, and a cargo area cover Tiguan can also be rather highly optioned – just like our test car.
Featuring satellite navigation with 16:9 (800 x 480 pixel) 6.5″ colour screen and 30GB hard drive, DynAudio 300W premium six-CD tuner, self parking system, reversing sensors and camera with park assist guidance, leather electrically adjustable heated seats, bi-xenon self leveling and cornering headlamps, low tyre pressure warning indicator, climate control air-conditioning, automatic wipers, dusk sensing headlamps, 17-inch Boston alloy wheels (18-inch New York alloys also available), auto dimming mirror, fog lamps and anti-theft alarm, the only omission from our little blue beast is the glass electric tilt and slide sunroof.
The touch screen RNS510 audio and navigation system features 3D mapping and is by far the most user-friendly system on the market. Not only is it simple to set up and use but is also easy to understand visually, a great tool for those who often find themselves geographically embarrassed.
The self parking system takes but a few tries to master and can complete both angle and parrellel parks with a few touches of the screen and a light prod of the throttle, the rest (steering and braking) is managed automatically. Having recently sampled a similar system in the Lexus LS460 I must say this system is far easier to use and far better at getting the park right first time.
I love the Tiguan. I think its very handsome and although I think Id prefer an Audi Q5, I would gladly spend the money to get one if I wanted a compact SUV.
that blue Tiguan (as shown in the review) has NO sunroof (like mentioned), and it has the 18″ New York alloy wheels, not the 17’s… what’s the go there? lol
atleast it still has the Xenons…
Heaps of equipment, great mechanicals but too small compared to its competitors. This size might have cut it 5 years ago but today doesnt come close to what any of the Japanese or Korean competitors offer. Call me when there is a bigger one.
Iam not liking this car and most of VW as have that droopy curve under front headlights that make it look like an angry Transformer (robots in disguise). Is still a nice looker but does not gel at front as too square as flatish bonnet and weirdo angry bad lights! Still passes on good looking….just!
Dlr1
There is a bigger one. It’s called the Touareg. Tiguan’s competitors are RAV4/CR-V/X-Trail/Tuscon, all of which are similar to Tiguan in size. Call me when you’ve got this in your head.
Actually. this car.. size and all seems more like a Dualis/Tuscon competitor. All the other compact SUVs have a much bigger boot RAV4/CR-V/X-Trail.
Front headlights are a rip-off from the new Subaru Forester !
OK, I accept the bit about the boot.
Don’t like the look at all, BORING.
Gawd, all this moaning and groaning about the size of the boot! How would you make it bigger? Make the car longer, that’s how! Just like what Toyota has done with their not-at-all-compact RAV4.
If you accept that the load area is hatch sized and not wagon sized, you won’t be disappointed.
I don’t know if everyone wants a massively-oversized “compact” SUV….how much larger has the Rav-4 gotten?
Sure the boot is a little on the lighter side, but hey, when it looks this classy and drives this well, then im sure a few minor compromises are alright
Fantastic drivetrain and a few in-class first’s (including the Park Assist)
Bit of a cut-price Q5 (and much better looking than the bricky X-Trail and overly fussy CR-V)
The other thing what wrecks it as to flatly horizontal across front from headlights and grille makes it look more boring (especially when combined with flat slab look from windscreen forward).
To Dazza76 – for a start, your wrong, but your entitled to your opinion. However, the official tiguan pictures were released long before the foresters so it’s the other way round if you think that.
Test drove one a few months ago, liked it, thought it was very cool, wanted one (in white) and thought it was plenty big enough to put my sporting/camping equipment in the back. I drove my friend’s new RAV4 a few months before i test drove the Tiguan and thought the Toyota felt a bit rattly and the manual gear shift had a sloppy disappointing feel, lucky Toyota has reliability on its side then because overall i was quite disappointed in the drive, and i was critiquing it objectively not subjectively! Yes the Toyota had a nice amount of room in the boot, maybe the Tiguan should have just a little bit more to make it a little bit more practical a live up to the people’s car brand.
With those options the tested price would be $51,720 plus ORC’s. I am waiting for the Petrol version to come before serious consideration. Test drove the diesel and was ok, but I think the petrol turbo may be the way to go.
If you listen realy carefully you can almost hear the deprecation. Unless you really like the badge then check out whats on offer from the Hyundai – Kia show rooms. You wont need more than $40,000.00. Unless you really dont like your money and are happy to give it away.
As an owner of a manual Tiguan 103TDI, here are my impressions:
+ while the boot is small, rear legroom is very large and rear seat move forward when you need the boot to be bigger.
+ handling is awazing: covers twisty country roads much faster than a typical V6 sedan.
+ Korean Hankoon Dyno Pro HP 4wd-biased tyres are actually excellent, never let go (comeswith off-road pack).
- on a minus side, usually very silent engine at 1.5K revs becomes louder at moderately high 2.2K revs when cruising at 120km/h. So cruising at 120mk/h is a bit noisier than say at 100mk/h.
I did test drive Tiguan and then Santafe diesel a few weeks ago…Santafe is miles better..Much quieter or more refined.. much bigger…Warranty is much longer…Most importantly much cheaper…go for Santafe….
The resale value should recover some of the price difference between Tiguan and the Korean competitors…as long as one doesn’t go nuts on ticking the options list. It seems that VW can’t put a foot wrong lately… If I was buying, I’d probably wait till the turbo petrol comes out… then the waiting lists should be shorter… and I own a Golf GTI… that 2L direct injection turbo is a real firecracker, not sure how much slower 4motion and 300kg will blunt the performance though…
I own a VW Bora V64 Motion which I have had since new (2001) and think it is an excellent vehicle – German build quality etc. Therefore I naturally thought of purchasing a Tiguan but guess what – I purchased the new Xtrail Tl diesel manual. It is a far better value for money proposition than the Tiguan. I can list several reasons why but will not bore you with all. The engine/gearbox combination is superb, full size spare (I have done 5,000 mostly country k’s in a month and the security of a full size spare is not to be underestimated)and finally space. The Renault diesel spins to 5000 without effort.
And the inside console treatment is nicer than the VW’s. Never thought I would say that about a Japanese vehicle.
John
If you are not after most metal/space per dollar, but want best brakes, high speed handing, steering feel and refinement in the class, then Tiguan it is. It is marketed in the US as the SUV version of Golf GTi and does feel it. Faster thru around-abouts than many cars as the 4motion system is very quick to throw torque to the rear wheels.
How can somebody write such a lot about an automatic car, having previously reported on the manual version, and say so little about the gearbox? Having read the report, all I learned is that there are six speeds and a Sportmode.
Is it a DSG box?
If not, does it have a lock-up torque converter?
How does its fuel consumption compare with the manual version?
How quickly/smoothly/intelligently does it change gears?
I expect some information in a report, not just a promotional blurb!
I wrote this on the other tigjuan comparo.
beware the total on-road.
A manual tiguan with just a few of the more important options comes to an incredible $57,889 total all-in on-road cost. And a jan 2009 wait time. Incldes a dealer delivery charge of $2722.
These reviews need to publish the “as tested” ON ROAD cost of the car they are testing.
The dealer saw you coming Justin! your whats known in the industry as a “wood duck” another tip. When next you buy ensure there is a sunset clause on delivery. Also January 09 means you’re probably getting a 08 build car that should mean at least 15% off!
Correct me if im wrong Car Advice but does the Tiggy have a variable final drive ratio? that effectively means 1st & 2nd are low ratio gears?
I love many things about VW, I currently have a Jetta and use a Transporter for my business. Unfortunately in my (limited) experience parts have proven to be extortionately expensive and sometimes slow to source from overseas.
Sadly I’ve also experienced some pretty shoddy service from the VW parts people, probably as a result of them having to continually answer to customers comments about the price/delivery times.
Add this to the cost of ownership and can’t justify going with a VW in future.
my comments are never being saved!
im not gonna bother re-telling what i typed, as it was pretty long, but it was something along the lines of the fact that blue car didnt have a sunroof OR the 17″ wheels as stated.
it has the 18″ New York wheels (i checked on the VW website) and the sunroof which apparently was on the tested model, is absent in all the photos.
atleast it still has the xenon lights.
Totally agree with “Lloyd Seaton”. What was the point of this review?.
Is it commom practice to test the same vehicle with different gearboxes, or are you giving VW another plug?
Can we expect another glorified blurb when the petrol variants arrive next year. Given that there are two petrol models 125TSI (Auto/Man) and 147TSI (Auto only) should we prepare ourselves for another 3 test drives?
I clicked on VW under Car Reviews and noticed that there is an extrodinary number of test drives, and funny enough the same thing under Audi but what really blew me away was the number of Skodas driven. (Such a small unrecognised brand on the Australian market) Maybe C/A is trying to help Skoda with their poor sales and market penetration.
OOh I just noticed that all these brands are part of the Volkswagen Audi Group. Any way I’m sure there is another regergitated test drive not too far away.
I am currently on business here in Europe and in the limited spare time I have, I have called in at a couple of VW dealerships in Germany. Principaly I wanted to look at a couple of the cars we don’t get back home such as the Pasatt CC and Sciroco, both great cars. I looked at the Tiguan back home when it was released but didn’t get one as it’s a bit too small for the family and dogs. I have read with interest some of the comments from VW Australia and on this blog about the waiting list for the Tiguan. My feeling is it is all a load of spin to make people think this car is a total market dominating winner. One comment on this blog (can’t remember his/her name) repeats the often quote VW spin of a “60′000 customer waiting list”. Well on Tuesday I visited VW Seville (Spain) Wednesday VW Frankfurt and today VW Innsbruck. ALL HAD PLENTY OF STOCK OF MOST MODELS! In all cases the sales people said that sales were ok but they would all do deals to move floor stock. The bloke in Frankfurt said that VW were preasuring dealers and offering incentives to move more. He also said that the Ford kuga was hurting sales as it is a bit cheaper and the options were “a lot cheaper”.
Just thought I would add my 2 cents worth. Cheers to you all and can’t wait to get back to Oz.
To Eh179 driver:
How refreshing it is to read something factual and not fanciful. The elongated waiting list you mentioned was posted by “Vegas” 21st July 08 on the 3 way comparison between the CR-V, Forester & Tiguan.
He claimed the waiting list was 80,000 and would grow to 120,000.
Yeah right….!!!!!!!
A comparison of the Tiguan TDI vs TSI would be good
How about comparing the same Tiguan model but with different colour paint?
Well I love my Tiguan it drives well, plenty of power and pushes out 1000km to a tank (diesel)not to mention it looks sexy..Rav 4s and Korean cars dont get a look in for me you pay for a what you get and I think its well worth the money.
I think most of the people on this site who have commented havent even driven the vehicle and probably will never be able to afford one anyway.
Maybe some of you have not noticed but the price variation between ULP 91 and Diesel is up to 32 cents per litre more.
In Sydney today on average I saw ULP 91 at $1.14 and Diesel at $1.46 so really any fuel effeciency is negated by greedy oil companies, and further compounded that Diesel variants cost thousands of $$$ more to purchase against their petrol variant equivalent.
It’s a false saving for the average Aussie motorist to buy a Diesel. In Europe Diesel retails on average for about half the cost of petrol what may be suitable for European motoring does not always suit us down under!!!
In answer to why bothers question of buying a diesel Tiguan, here is the answer.
Using the Australian average of 15′000 kilometres per year, the Diesel Tiguan would use approximately 1005 litres of diesel. At todays price (in Melbourne) of $1.40/litre, that would be $1407 per year.
The petrol version would use 1′335 litres per year and requires 98 octane at $1.19 per litre for a total of $1′588.65 per year. So on the surface, the diesel is still $181.65 per year cheaper to run. VW maintain that you HAVE to use 98 octane. I have been told that you can use 95 so you could save another $147 if this is possible. However the diesel Tiguan is about $2000 more than the petrol so add another $500 per year over 4 years for that and the servicing costs are also a fair bit higher over the life of the car. I guess that it all comes down to the driving experiance. The diesel produces more torque and if you are doing a lot of driving in hilly country or a lot of driving with a few people on board it might be what you need. I have not driven a petrol Tiguan so I can’t comment on that.
Really though the big savings with diesel really only comes when you get into the bigger heavier cars like Patrols, Land Cruisers and the like. But that said, they do give a lot more torque comparred the the equivelent petrol engines.
Oh and that waiting list must be down to nothing. VW Mentone (Melbourne) have 2 demos for sale and they have been for sale for some time.
To Eh197 I would agree its horses for coarses but most people who buy compact Diesel vehicles are sold the “economy” advantages vs petrol by the salesperson as the vehicle gets larger with more towing ability it would be of greater advantage.
I’m also in Sydney and lets say we compare a similar sized Japanese SUV for comparative purposes as the petrol engine only requires 91RON vs 98 or possibly 95 from a European petrol engine and a Diesel.
In Sydney this week on a discount day ULP 91 hit as low as 95c vs 1.38 for Diesel thats 43c per litre more for Diesel.(Greedy State Govt). If we do the same sums 15,000km per annum with the same fuel consumption Petrol 1335 Litres vs 1005 Litres of Diesel the table is turned with the cost of fuel ownership during that 12 month period for petrol being $1268 and Diesel being $1386. Plus the additional purchase cost of approx $2000 for a diesel motorized vehicle and slighter higher service costs.
But yes I would have to agree with you of the benefits of torque and pulling over the petrol engines but of the few diesel Tiguans I’ve seen so far on the road none were fitted with towbars.
I think you may have been in Europe a few months ago if I remenber correctly. Did you have a chance to look a Ford Kuga. All reports so far say its a winner? Cheers.
To Renaldo, yes I was in Europe a few weeks ago and I called into a Ford dealer in Austria and had a drive of a Kuga. The Tiguan has more rear leg room but in my opinion, the Kuga is a better looking car. But it’s my opinion only. It is based on the Focus and uses a lot of Focus interior parts (like the dash), just as the Tiguan uses Golf and Touran interior fittings. The car I drove used a 2.0litre petrol engine and a 6 speed manual, but they have diesel ones available as well as 5 speed auto’s. In Europe it seems to be selling as well as Tiguan and better in some areas. Like Tiguan, the boot is pretty small but roof bars and roof pods are poular there. The car drove really well and is incredibly quiet, with super comfortable seats.
I think it will sell well here as it has the high up seating that people enjoy, is good looking and should not cost the earth to run. I only hope Ford do import it.
To EH179 thanks for your feedback!!!!
I heard that Ford wants to assemble the Kuga localy from a kit form.
Is it permanent AWD or part time?
Cheers.
Renaldo
Kuga is part time but can be locked in up to 30k’s. I am not sure if that applies to the entire range or not.
Question from a newbe.
Trackdaze says:
Also January 09 means you’re probably getting a 08 build car that should mean at least 15% off!
So does this mean if I go into a VW dealer this week and can find an 08 plated model that they will give me 15% off (with some nego. work from me) or that they should (because car looses value and resale of last years is already less)?
this is my first SUV a Tiguan diesel automatic fully optioned. I wanted a small to medium sized diesel auto. The size of the Suzuki SX4 suited but wasnt in diesel and rough around the edges. So I was relieved to find the VW. So I cant understand when so many posters here suggest the vehicle should be bigger when there are too many large 4WD’s on the market now. Please allow the Tiguan to fill the gap it fills so well with little opposition. Space savers spare, expensive tow bar and a few more storage pockets are my only complaints.
Just ordered a 2010 Tiguan S&S 2.0 TDI Tiptronic today. Can’t wait to get it. Did try a few other cars in the same category, but Tiguan is for me :-) Greetings from Norway!
We’re looking into buying a TDI Tiguan but think that 103kW is a bit gutless to pull a pop top caravan. In the USA theres an upgrade version called Tiguan ABT with either 123kW or 145kW of power. I would like to know if they have those two versions in Australia. If they do, the Tiggy is ours but if they don’t… I think it’ll be the toureg!
Thanks for any suggestions or comments.
Amy: ABT is a German styling/tuning company and you won’t be able to buy one through VW. The only stronger stock engine options are the 170 HP diesel and the 200 HP petrol. The first one only available with a manual stick.
So Frank, would you have to buy the 200 HP engine to replace the one that comes with the VW Tiguan originally? Or is there a different model TDI Tiguan that has that 200 HP engine?
One thing that we really have our heart set on getting is a TurboDieselInjection Automatic with Tiptronic function so the 170 HP won’t be for us then.
Thanks for your helpful reply!
Amy
Done 2000 kms since new in my TDI auto. Am amazed at its fuel economy 6.8ltrs/100kms mainly freeway 115kms/hr but also up and down the hills to and from home. The park assit IS worth it, so easy to use and you trust it over yourself reversing. pity bluttooth and MP3 are options though and that towbar is a ridiculous price. Try finding a small to medium diesel auto AWD- it filled the gap well. Advice to potential buyers- with the Tiguan you get what you pay for so if you wnat a car that will last you decades- buy this car.
Amy: The 200 HP 2.0 TDI is a an original 170 HP 2.0 TDI. ABT has then tuned it to 200 HP. This means that it will not be available with tiptronic. I know that VW themselves will introduce a 200HP version of their 2.0 TDI in the not so distant future. Exactly when or if it’s ever going to be placed in the Tiguan, I don’t know, but my guess is that it will. By the way, the 140HP (103kW) 2.0 TDI isn’t bad when it comes to towing because of the torqy nature of this engine. I have tried both the 140 and 170 HP versions, and I can honestly say that I didn’t notice much of a difference, if any at all. This has to do with the fact that they output about he same amount of torque.