Volkswagen Tiguan review

The Volkswagen Tiguan is the German brand's best-selling model worldwide and it's rather popular here in Britain, too. It isn't hard to grasp why: this is a family-friendly SUV with a relatively upmarket image, but crucially it's cheaper than premium-badged alternatives that include the BMW X1 and Volvo XC40 – especially if you get a good discount, and that isn't too hard to do. 

So, should you stop reading here and just go out and buy one? Well, there are a couple of things you should probably be aware of before making that decision. Firstly, while the Tiguan does undercut posher-badged family SUVs at the lower end of its line-up, that isn't necessarily the case if you want a strong engine and plenty of equipment. Secondly, the Tiguan is closely-related to the Seat Ateca and Skoda Karoq, two rival SUVs that are even more affordable

Engines range from a 1.5-litre petrol with 128bhp (TSI 130) right up to a 316bhp 2.0 petrol that's exclusive to the hot Tiguan R sports SUV. There’s also a plug-in hybrid (eHybrid) model with a decent electric-only range and tax-friendly CO2 emissions.

The Tiguan is designed more for the road than challenging terrain, but Volkswagen’s 4Motion four-wheel-drive system is available with certain engines, and there are adjustable drive modes to help you tackle trickier conditions.

So, is the latest Volkswagen Tiguan a great buy or would you be better off with one of the many alternatives? Over the next few pages we'll run you through what's great and what's not, and also tell you which of the many engines and trims make most sense.

Oh, and about those discounts... The easiest place to get a fair deal is by heading over to our New Car Buying service. You could save plenty on a Volkswagen Tiguan or any other SUV without the hassle of haggling.