Volkswagen has a problem every carmaker dreams to have: Weeks before the new generation of a car is launched, the old generation is totally sold out. According to a Volkswagen press release, this is exactly what happened to the Touareg’s little brother, the Tiguan.
A facelifted Tiguan is scheduled to be unveiled on March 1st at the Geneva International Motor Show, to hit the showrooms later in spring. FYI, you are looking at Germany’s best selling SUV. With all old Tiguans gone, Volkswagen decided to start selling the Golf-based trucklet before it is launched. All over Europe, you can place your order today.
A base new Tiguan will set you back 24,175 euros ($33,000), which buys you a 1.4 TSI engine (90 kW / 122 PS) engine. (If you wait until it arrives in the U.S., you’ll probably get it for less – tax, title, tags not included.) Volkswagen proudly announces that in Europe, “the Tiguan is still at the same price level as the previous model despite numerous improvements.” According to the first pictures, the number of improvements appears to be bridled.
The base is $33k? A loaded one at that price is too expensive. What justifies the massive price premium over a CRV or Rav4? They have less usable space than either. If 33k is base…leather and extras make it what $37-38? For that I can get a one year old certified Lexus RX350.
Calm down. EU pricing. Includes VAT. As mentioned, US pricing most likely lower.
Also, cars are priced to market. Europeans pay more so that you can pay less.
Bertle,
You should always include a note that European car prices usually translate to dollars at a ratio of 1EUR = 1USD. As in the base Tiguan should sell for about 24,500USD.
Yep, the same way Americans pay retail for pharmaceuticals (either personally or thru their prescription plans) ;)
All I care about is if the US gets the diesel version, VW is only interesting to me for that reason.
Cheapest Rav4 is 23.800 Euros in Germany so a base Tiguan costs the same
Does any of you realise that a Tiguan SE with six speed auto and AWD is ‘already’ listed north of 30 grand?
The current Tiguan is priced around the same as the GTI, which it is very much equipped like as well, so that makes sense. I like these a lot, sporty yet practical for couples or small families. Much more fun than a CRV, though likely not as reliable… :)
Funny thing though, at the top of this page as I was reading it, is a Google ad stating that Tiguans are overstocked at VW dealers… WTF? Google ads must suck…
12 in stock at my local VW dealer. Sold out only in the EU, I guess. And agree with your assessment of the vehicle.
At the risk of sounding like a complete Volks/Audi shill, these newer 2008.5+ models have shown a significant improvement in overall quality, especially in regards to the 2.0T motor, which was the source of most headaches for Jetta, GTI, A3, CC, Passat, Tiguan and A4 owners here in North America.
I’m a Volkswagen guy that lives in an area where Volkswagens are pretty popular, so I notice other VWs on the road. I can count on one hand how man Tiguans I’ve seen on the road. The dealer closest to me has 6 in stock, the next closest has 2 and the third closest another 6.
Wonder if in this version they finally figured out how to make a rear seat that folds down flat without having flip the cushions up first. VW makes nice quality interiors, but in terms of the basic layout and how things work, they are behind basically everyone, including GM.
Hey look, it’s the Tiguan TDI! Which is what would be in my driveway if those ass clowns at VWoA would sell it in the U.S. But instead I hold on to my Jetta TDI hoping for them to clue in some day.
So true… the Tiguan would really be perfect with a TDI. The 2.0T is fun in my GTI, but it gets horrible gas mileage. And YellowDuck has a point, the packaging isnt very good compared to the competition. Its basically a Golf with jacked up suspension… my seats dont fold flat either (but I dont have to flip the seatbottom up at least!). If they offered something no one else has, the TDI, I think that would attract more people. If anyone could pull it off, its VW, they already offer that engine in so many other cars… why not this one??
mnm4ever –
You get bad mileage on your 2.0T? On the highway you should easily see 30mpg and around town you should easily see 25-26mpg, even with a ‘normal’ foot.
Yep. Utility and fuel economy would sell it to a lot of people. That is as long as VW can figure out what’s causing the HPFP problems that people have experienced in their 2010+ TDIs.
VWoA said the Tiguan would be available with a TDI soon after its initial introduction when it first went on sale. But it’s never happened and I’m not hopeful it will. They do talk about TDIs across the model range, so I guess maybe there’s a slight chance of it occurring. It would just be nice to know when.
@hreardon — I track my mileage fanatically, and I have averaged 22mpg for the last year almost without fail. Now I almost never drive highway trips, so thats part of it. The last 2 highway trips I kept track, and I do get 30 when cruising around 75, if I cruise at 65 that goes up to 35mpg. As long as I dont dip into the throttle a lot for passing and such, highway isnt bad. But around town is terrible. If I baby it like a Prius (which I have tried several times, I never see 25-26mpg… best I have ever done is 23mpg, and I hated driving that way! If I drive fun, I get 18ish, if I get crazy, 15mpg is the worst I saw. Normal around town driving in a respectable way, its 22mpg constant.
My wife’s MR2 gets 29-30mpg around town, upwards of 35mpg on the highway. Our Celica could even beat that.
Bertel, why is EU pricing higher in general? I haven’t done this properly but, according to my rough math, even after taking into account the VAT, title, taxes etc, the “normalized” pricing of cars with roughly the same engine and trim level seems to be higher in EU-land. By almost 25-40% in some cases. Something just doesn’t seem to add up. It just seems wrong that it costs more to buy a car in the country of mfr and cheaper to buy it in a different and ship it back to the original country.
As I said, priced to market. You can only ask what the market bears.
The same is going on in Europe. Denmark for instance has absolutely insane car taxes. To compensate for that, the price of a car in Denmark is much lower than elsewhere to arrive at a somewhat affordable level. The other countries basically subsidize the Danish car market. Which in turn creates a market for so called “EU cars” which basically are products of arbitrage between these markets.
According to a recent study by the Universitaet Flemsburg, if governments did not interfere with the automobile market, this new Volkswagon would be priced at EU 13.21, ($1.29). That’s the good news.
The bad news is that you would have to wait 51 years to buy one and it would be made out of recycled West cigarettes.
Also the historical reasons. The sharp decline in the value of the dollar during the last several years was not matched by the inflation rate in US, reasons being the crisis and also the hugeness and competitiveness of the US market. Basically prices stayed mostly the same in Euros in Europe and in Dollars in America while the value of the dollar cratered. Over the long run this should somehow even out but my knowledge of economics is lacking there.
the value of the dollar cratered.
In 1999 it was 1.19 today it’s 1.33 – I’d hardly call that cratering.
well, it is actually 1.36 today and in 2000. and few years after a dollar was actually valued more than a Euro.
well, it is actually 1.36 today and in 2000. and few years after a dollar was actually valued more than a Euro.
Then by that theory gold has cratered as it has less than 1/3 the purchasing power it had in 1980. Or, do you not find comparing random peaks and troughs a bit disingenuous?
Also: discounts. Within EU there are many brookers getting you cheaper prices buying across EU. At the end you get 10-30% off list price for a new car (depending on brands of course).
We Soviet Canuckistani also suffer from “priced to market.” Even though the Canukistani Peso is worth more than the Greenback, we consistently pay more for cars than our neighbours to the south. For example, a Made in Canunkistan Civic Si is $5k more here than in the USA. Their excuse is the smaller market costs more to service but I cannot see how it can be 25% more per vehicle. They are just banking on Canadians being used to paying more for things. Times are changing, people are importing vehicles from the USA all the time now.
the rig-let looks much better than the ooutgoing model.
Unfortunately, it still has that damnable touch-screen driving distraction in the middle of the dash, which is a deal breaker for me. I like to look at the road, not electronic representations of buttons.
The ADD is that bad – huh? :-P
Unless something drastic has changed, thats the optional VW radio/nav system, it doesnt come with that one standard, so if you are that offended by common modern technology, dont buy it. Also, it has real buttons, on both sides, for the most common needs. The sub-functions are controlled by touch screen buttons.
the touch-screen radio comes standard on all but the most stripped trim levels. the nav is optional. the touch screen raido came standard on my jetta and it was fun at first, but I quickly came to despise it for the reason that you have to take your eyes off the road to operate it. you can’t feel the “buttons”.
AGREED Sundowner. At this rate, you may need to act fast to grab a German without the touchscreen radio controls. Current A3, the low end VWs, and the soon-to-be-replaced 3-series, which I’m assuming will go with a big pimpin screen, ala the new X3
Looks like something drastic did change… LOL
In my defense, the GTI still doesnt offer the touchscreen unless you add nav… but you are right, a quick check of the VW website shows the touchscreen without nav is standard on everything that isnt a base model.
Well, I will gladly trade you my GTI standard stereo with no touchscreen for your touchscreen model, especially if it has the nav! :)
If only VW could make a reliable car I’d love to have something like this.
They do. Jetta 2.5 and Tiquan both have average reliability according to CU. Last generation TDI and Rabbit are recommended among the most reliable used car pics. Avoid the Taureg (sp?) though.
My soon to be sister-in-law has a two year old Tiguan, after staying with VW because of the high quality of her 1998 Jetta. I’ve been watching carefully and so far so good on the reliability. BTW she’s still got the Jetta, 5-speed manual base model with 250,000+ miles on it and it sits patiently waiting for her 13 year old daughter to get her licence.
For some reason the sight of their driveway always makes me chuckle. Dad, union electrician, 10 year old PowerStroke diesel 4X4 crew cab (and the man legitimately goes to jobsites that require such a vehicle), Mom, aforementioned Tiguan, pharmacist for the local VA hospital, and then an old Jetta, driven occasionally and waiting on daughter. I think the very American contrasted with the German always makes me smile.
I had a 2010 Jetta TDI they are not, I repeat, NOT reliable.
We currently have an ’07 Passat wagon and an ’03 Jetta TDI in the driveway. The only “reliability” problem with the Passat is a bum ashtray door that I’m waiting to have fixed under the CPO warranty (my fault, the dealer has had the part since October, my schedule hasn’t worked out) and the only thing thats gone wrong to date on the Jetta was an EGR valve and a bad accessory belt idler.
The only freak thing I’ve had happen to a VW I’ve purchased new was a bearing failure deep inside the gearbox on my previous Golf TDI. They ain’t cheap to keep up, especially the TDI’s, but if you keep up with maintenance they are as reliable as anything else.
Good looking car. It’s amazing how many parts they now seem to be sharing across platforms. Same steering wheel except for the minor wiring difference, shift knob looking the same. Basically they alter the shape of the air vents and that’s it. Pays to be flexible I suppose. Unless you have a quality problem and have to recall a million cars
Interesting that VW’s trucks look so much better than their latest and greatest sedans (New Jetta and New US Passat).
Only because they know the American market well enough to custom build blandness for us.
My wife fell in love with these at the auto show a year ago. She loved the driving position, the germaness and the styling. Unfortunately it has less interior room by far than her then 1st gen CRV, numb electric power steering and a few other niggles. The deal killer for us wasnt those problems or the I think very highly of myself brand pricing, it was that they were impossible to get. Our local Los Angeles area dealer had one, with maybe another one someday. We couldnt order the combination we wanted let alone hope to deal on pricing. Then she saw a RAV4 with a 268hp V6 and it was all over for the Tiguan. I’m glad VW is selling them somewhere. Of course they had about 20 Routan thingies.
Nice refresh. Follows the Golf, Jetta, Sportwagen, Passat, Eos and Touareg redesigns nicely. By my account, the (US-Market) VWs still in need of the new corporate face are the CC and Routan. Beetle doesn’t count, as it has a beetle-face.
Not sure what is meant by ‘sold out’. The two nearest dealers to me have 9 and 13 of them sitting on the lot here in car crazy LA. I don’t see many of them on the road. I wonder if they’d sell better with a TDI option?
I see the upgrades plainly, and those LEDs are going to come dear.
LEDs or no, I don’t get this car. We own two VWs, so I don’t hate, but I can’t understand how someone going into the dealership looking for utility or “family transportation” fails to note that the Jetta Sportwagen a few feet away has more interior room, more cargo area, similar or better available features, and a TDI. And costs about the same. Like Mrs. Carholica, I was sure my wife would instantly go for the high-riding car in the showroom. But we took one look behind the rear seats and instantly saw the disaster of getting a stroller plus groceries back there. Some people cannot brook wagons because they recall 70s-era mailaise, or Europe, but they have a logic.
Another “what’s it good for?” cute yute. Why bitch about it not being offered with a diesel when you can go pick up a Jetta wagon. I guess if you like vehicles that pretend to be trucks and offer all the negatives but none of the positives, then go with the cute yute.
+1 My futuer mother-in-law has a FWD Torrent and I keep thinking… What if Pontiac had kept in production and kept refining the Pontiac Sunbird or 6000 wagon? I can’t help but think that would honestly be a better more fuel efficent vehicle for her needs. CUVs make me sick (when I think of all the station wagons that should have been sold), but then if the alternative would be all these people driving real SUVs (which would be even more pointless for most of these drivers) then god bless the CUV.
I’m not sure what is worse about the SUV craze. All the full size SUV’s that have never once had a boat, RV, or such hooked to the back of them. Or this whole cute ute market that was created as a result.
the SUV craze is long-gone. We’re in the CUV craze. You don’t understand it, but actually it’s pretty simple. They’re much more practical than trucks (MPG) while offering more interior room than sedans, and giving a slightly higher view of the road for those who want it and are willing to pay a couple extra grand for it. Not tough to understand. There is very healthy market demand for these and the carmakers are therefore obliging.
Yeah, but CUV’s also are so popular because dogs love ’em, too! I know. Canine-approved all the way.
Really? In my experience dogs love two wheelers. Not to ride but to chase. :P
I really like the Tiguan, it’s a very nice looking vehicle.
http://www.autotransportdirect.com
“(If you wait until it arrives in the U.S., you’ll probably get it for less – tax, title, tags not included.)”
And with the special US only 2.5L 5 cyl.! I can’t wait.