2010 Volkswagen Tiguan 2.0 turbo from North America

Summary:

Great car, horrible engineering mistakes in some places

Faults:

Injectors replaced.

Moonroof replaced.

Headliner replaced.

Seat replaced, moonroof leaking damage.

Timing chain gasket.

General Comments:

Less than 80,000 miles and that thing leaks from all 4 corners. The drain pipes are not attached to drain of the moonroof and they detached or got melted from the sun. Engineers should have attached the drain pipes directly to the moonroof with a clamp; no, they put a dumb adapter in between. The sun deformed the drain pipes a little and it leaks all in the car. I had to carry a tarp with me all the time with 4 bricks and put that over my car every time it rained; you know how annoying it is to ask your boss to go cover your car from the rain. Garbage luxury, put metal on the roof. I hate the sunroof, it's too hot in California and I almost never use it. The car is good, but a middle schooler designed the roof.

Also the moonroof shade I only used it a couple of times and it completely fell apart; I was trying to cover the big glass hole in my roof (moonroof) from the sun and two springs popped out of the roof and that shade fell to the floor, I was only pushing a button for that thing to close, I didn't pull it or obstruct it with anything. You will hate yourself for that roof.

Also the engine has oil leak from the timing cover and 2 injectors quit working. And it is very hard to replace them; lazy engineers made it hard to work on this engine.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 26th February, 2019

3rd Mar 2019, 03:50

Serviceability is often an afterthought to European manufacturers, which can often be an issue given the reliability of their products.

26th Mar 2020, 18:17

I'm also not a big fan of sunroofs/panoramic roofs. For one, they don't benefit the front passenger/driver as the moonroof opening usually sits mostly behind them. So you see very little through it. It's more for the rear passengers. One benefit is to crack it open when parking the car at a mall on hot summer days, so the cabin doesn't overheat from the Sun. Is that enough to justify the cost?

In reply to 26th Mar 2020, 18:17

28th Mar 2020, 00:43

Modern sunroofs in general - I had two Audis in the past, '80s cars - which were how I expect sunroofs to be. Metal for starters, when you open it, you can actually see the opening from the driving position. With modern cars that have swept-back windscreens, the front-most edge of the open sunroof is often so far back that there is no benefit in having it for the driver. And I prefer metal sunroofs, after watching the British video of an offset frontal crash between a '90s Volvo wagon and a more modern Renault Modus. During the impact, although the Renault fared much better than the Volvo, I noticed the glass sunroof broke. I feel that in a real accident, should the car roll over and the sunroof glass breaks, if you happen to have an arm thrown up towards the (now open) sunroof, you could get very badly injured, whereas a metal sunroof, if closed, would keep any body part from going through the aperture.

2009 Volkswagen Tiguan Track & Field 2.0 TDI 4Motion from Norway

Summary:

Quality on this car was a joke

Faults:

First 3 years while under warranty there was nothing wrong. I noted flaking in the paint, but the dealer said chipping and flaking was due to external factors, so I had to pay for a paint detailing after 3 years, since there were some rust spots on the front and on the side of the car. The paint quality on this was very bad.

After the 4th year on the first inspection, I had to do a complete overhaul of the rear brakes. The dealer was completely uninterested in fixing it and I had to pay for it myself.

After less than 5 years and approx 90 thousand km, there were clunking noises in the front and it needed a suspension overhaul. Since the car was less than 5 years old, I have reclamation rights, since this car was sold new in Norway via an official importer. Still the dealer and importer were completely uninterested until I summoned them to consumer court and they finally covered the expenses.

After 6 years and 110-115 thousand km, I had various engine problems including DPF and problems with the recirculation valve.

Sold the car after 7 years and the DSG had error codes on it. Was just glad to see it gone.

General Comments:

Comfortable, fast and very good to drive, but the quality and dealer support are an utter joke.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 15th September, 2018

15th Sep 2018, 17:35

Final comment and a warning on how many car dealers are operating:

As stated in the review, the DSG transmission had error codes on it. Upon inspection they said they were sure there were metal shavings in the transmission, a common fault on early generation DSGs. Shifting between gears worked fine, but was somewhat rough and clunky compared to when the car was new. This meant a new transmission that was a solid 8-9000 Euro fitted since, according to the dealer; nobody locally overhauled DSG transmissions I had to get a new one from the VW network.

So I took a hit on trade-in value. "Since we are so nice" they only deducted half of the repair cost on trade-in value. About a year after selling this car I got a phone call from the "lucky" new owner of this car. He had experienced a complete transmission failure but was stonewalled by the dealer. The message was; you must expect these kind of failures after 150 thousand km on DSG transmissions, nothing to complain about.

I informed that the car was traded in with a defective transmission and that the dealer said that it needed to be replaced. An independent specialist said that the transmission was the original transmission and it was never changed as I was led to believe. According to the specialist they've probably just flushed, cleaned and replaced the oil and then cleared the error codes. This is a cheap quick fix that may work and prolong the life of the transmission by maybe a year or two if lucky, but it's not a permanent solution.

So the dealer first ripped me off, then ripped off the new owner. He phoned me after some months, the dealer said I had got it all wrong and there was never any problems with the transmission, it was just down to bad oil. Unfortunately the sales contract didn't state this or any other defects, since this was a sale to a so called professional party that assumes all risks of the transaction. The only "evidence" was the artificially low price on the trade-in, not in itself enough evidence to prove any wrongdoing on the part of the dealer.

And this was a reputed dealer that has been in the trade for decades! So be careful, trust nobody when it comes to second hand cars. Lesson learned is that even reputed dealers may rip you off.

In reply to 15th Sep 2018, 17:35

26th Mar 2020, 18:24

When you say "reputed dealer", I wonder where this "reputation" comes from? A brand in itself or the country of origin has no reputation, it's all just urban myths...

In reply to 26th Mar 2020, 18:24

27th Mar 2020, 16:35

True, dealers are variable in quality worldwide and management changes as time changes; someone who may have gotten good service at a dealership 10 years ago maybe surprised on return to have a negative experience. Most likely it is because the staff have turned over entirely since their last visit. Best way to do research on dealers nowadays is to check recent reviews online before going.

In reply to 27th Mar 2020, 16:35

25th Dec 2021, 18:02

I'd say that almost all dealers in major cities are bad. Big glass palaces, suit and tie "customer satisfaction" managers, but all is about revenue generation and only that. It voids a lot of the pleasure of car ownership. This business is ripe for change. They are generally a utter waste of space. They've been spending money on the wrong things.

In reply to 25th Dec 2021, 18:02

26th Dec 2021, 19:00

Far better than shopping secondary used car lots, doing your paperwork in a shed. We finance our own. High credit fees and fast talking sellers.

In reply to 26th Dec 2021, 19:00

28th Dec 2021, 10:42

New or CPO, and simply buy and leave. You are there to drive. Not to critique architecture. Maybe it’s part of the buying experience.