2015 Volkswagen Tiguan: Real World Review

What is it? 2015 Volkswagen Tiguan

Price Range: $26,255 - $39,625+

Competitors: Mazda CX-5, Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Jeep Cherokee, Toyota RAV4

Alternatives: Volkswagen Golf, Mazda 3, Ford Focus

Pros: Lovely engine with good punch at low revs; precise, well-sorted handling

Cons: Poor styling; pricey compared to its competition; lacking in features unless you’re willing to stump up silly amounts of cash for a higher trim level.

Would I buy it with my own money? Knock a couple of grand off the price and make me look less like a circus freak driving a small elephant, then maybe. No, scratch that — I’ll just buy a Golf instead.

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Why am I talking about a VW Golf? Well, you really don’t get a great deal of additional space in the Tiguan small crossover SUV when compared to, say, the four-door Golf or the Mazda 3 or the Ford Focus, or even the tiny but versatile Honda Fit. You’d have to be really picky about those extra few inches to notice much of a difference. Plus a Golf is around $8,000 cheaper than the base Tiguan S (even the brilliant Golf GTI is $2,500 cheaper) — and you won’t look like a buffoon while driving it.

Why am I talking about buffoons? Unless you’re optioning a higher trimmed Tiguan, like the $31,260 Tiguan SE with the Appearance Package or the near-$40,000 “R” range, the car looks bloated and entirely awkward. (It looks better in pictures, unusually, than it does in the flesh.) I had the base Tiguan S with very few options to test for a week, and I was left mostly shielding my face; even my neighbors made fun of me, and yet praised the Chrysler 200 on my driveway the following week — which is a first. Unless you get tinted rear windows and big, fancy wheels, the Tiguan is like the chubby kid spilling out from his extra-tight skinny jeans, and while a new Tiguan — set to arrive in 2017— is due to be significantly larger and feature three rows of seats, for today’s buyer, that doesn’t help one bit.

However, in true VW fashion, the diminutive CUV does handle exceptionally well. The ride is firm but never harsh and the 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine, despite being turbocharged, boasts low-end oomph that feels more than its 200 horsepower and 207 lb.-ft. of torque would suggest. Plus, a lovely six-speed automatic gearbox shifts crisply, never stutters or gets lost like that poor gent scouring the aisles at Walmart in search of organic mung beans. Compared to its competition, the Tiguan, even in base “S” form like I tested here (I didn’t drive the higher trim models), handles with real poise and composure. If you close your eyes, it truly is a great little CUV.

But you can’t close your eyes lest you mow over a stray cow, or help but come back to that price tag. It starts nearly $5,000 more than a CX-5 and close to $3,000 more than most everything else in the segment. And yet in base trim, at least, you’re left with few features worth mentioning: I had real trouble connecting my phone to listen to music (it arrived with a fixed, non-removable yesteryear iPhone connector), and the car’s radio would drop a station every 100 yards or so (*mild exaggeration, but it sure felt like it). In fact, I had absolutely no technology of note, and for the $27,000+ my Tiguan S test car fetched, even despite the lovely handling, it didn’t add up from a value perspective (and the 21 mpg city/26 mpg highway fuel economy is at the lower end of the segment).

So, in summary, I turn to Meat Loaf, who once said “two out of three ain’t bad.” The Tiguan has the driving part down but lacks in both value and style. If you were following Meat’s advice, you’d pick the cheaper, prettier and still well-sorted Mazda CX-5. Better still, just buy a Golf.