Replacement for Tiguan

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My dad currently has a VW Tiguan 2.0TDi. It's been a great car but given that he's doing about 2000 miles a year he needs to switch to petrol (or maybe a hybrid). The car needs to be

An SUV type with high ground clearance (my mum struggles to get in and out of normal cars)
An automatic - we think at his age it would be easier for him.
Petrol - so no clogged DPF / EGR

Speed/performance/handling are not priorities. Comfort, ease of driving, good visibility, easy to park soft ride are all far more important.

It would be nice if it was something from the VW family, or maybe a BMW / Merc / Lexus.

All suggestions and advice appreciated.

[the-photographer]

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He doesn’t want to go all electric, although it would probably be ideal for him.

Also I think that’s a bit lower down than we prefer.

Q3 1.4 appears to be favourite.

[CoreyDog]

VW T Roc 1.5TSI with a DSG?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202408213...

1.5 has the same output as the 2.0TDI but T Roc is abit smaller and lighter than the Tiguan but with similar ground clearance. Doddle to drive, tried and tested engines and gearboxes.

We have a 2.0TSI 4Motion and really get on well with it.

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Thanks for that.

How good is the DSG box? I seem to recall that it has issues with being slow to pull away from rest?

[Ryyy]

Caddy.

Had it in van form, sat high just in seating position and if the life variant is the same as the van it rolls high off the ground anyway. I lowered it 50mm and it still had a decent clearance.

[CoreyDog]

Countdown said:

Thanks for that.

How good is the DSG box? I seem to recall that it has issues with being slow to pull away from rest?

No issues at all. Uses the more recent 7 speed.

Off the mark it’s instant, my only complaint would be in “normal” or “Eco” it’s determined to be in the highest gear possible (4th at 25 and into 7th at about 45) which can make wanting to get abit of pace on quickly abit of a process as some throttle it just pulls in-gear, to get it to kick down requires quite a firm press which in the 2.0 results in abit of a lurch. Sport smoothes it out as holds the gears longer but obviously effects fuel economy.

I can’t talk for the 1.5 but in the 2.0 we are getting about 38 around town and about 45 on a run. Both those figures are just normal driving without trying to get max economy.

[aberdeeneuan]

Had a T-Cross sister car, the Arona fr, on a recent trip away as a hire car.

1.5 tsi was surprisingly lively and perfectable servicable. We had a manual and so can’t comment on the gearbox but it was a decent size, loads of room and very easy to drive.

Two tone roof option was a subtle too. Personally I think it looks more interesting than the VW equivalent too. I liked it anyway.

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CoreyDog said:

No issues at all. Uses the more recent 7 speed.

Off the mark it’s instant, my only complaint would be in “normal” or “Eco” it’s determined to be in the highest gear possible (4th at 25 and into 7th at about 45) which can make wanting to get abit of pace on quickly abit of a process as some throttle it just pulls in-gear, to get it to kick down requires quite a firm press which in the 2.0 results in abit of a lurch. Sport smoothes it out as holds the gears longer but obviously effects fuel economy.

I can’t talk for the 1.5 but in the 2.0 we are getting about 38 around town and about 45 on a run. Both those figures are just normal driving without trying to get max economy.

I'll suggest it but I don't think it's going to be tall enough.

What are the equivalents of the Audi Q3 in the rest of the VW family?

[Boringvolvodriver]

Have a look at the Seat Ateca or one of the Skodas, think it is the Karoq that is the bigger one.

Also the Kia Sportage or the Hyundai equivalent- the Kona does appear to have got bigger as well.

[Countdown]

Good call on the Karoq - isnt that basically the Skoda equivalent of the Tiguan?

[M4cruiser]

Countdown said:

Thanks for that.

How good is the DSG box? I seem to recall that it has issues with being slow to pull away from rest?

I'm driving a Golf 2.0 TGI DSG as a shared pool car, and the DSG moving off at slow speeds as the worst part of the car. I haven't driven a T-Roc but my understanding is that the mechanicals are the same as Golf.
The main problem is entering a roundabout from a slow rolling speed (say 5 to 10 mph), you press the gas to take the gap, and nothing happens for ages, feels like it's slipping the clutch in 3rd gear. It's scary sometimes, and I'm not trying to take a marginal gap at all. My understanding is that the gearbox is set up for maximum economy, so it's expecting you to accelerate gently in 3rd gear, with 4th preselected. When you press the gas pedal harder, it has to (1) interpret the signal and send it to the computer, (2) computer tells engine to add power, (3) deselect 4th, (4) preselect 2nd, (5) switch the clutches to engage 2nd, (6) wait for the turbo to spool up. All of this is supposed to happen quickly but it doesn't.

[Sheepshanks]

Countdown said:

My dad currently has a VW Tiguan 2.0TDi. It's been a great car but given that he's doing about 2000 miles a year he needs to switch to petrol (or maybe a hybrid). The car needs to be

An SUV type with high ground clearance (my mum struggles to get in and out of normal cars)
An automatic - we think at his age it would be easier for him.
Petrol - so no clogged DPF / EGR

Speed/performance/handling are not priorities. Comfort, ease of driving, good visibility, easy to park soft ride are all far more important.

It would be nice if it was something from the VW family, or maybe a BMW / Merc / Lexus.

All suggestions and advice appreciated.

Wife has just moved from same car - her’s was very a late mk1 (so had the mk2’s diesel engine with AdBlue) and had DSG (and 4Motion). She thought mk2 Tiguan too big - not helped by a salesman saying, “oh yes, it’s much bigger than mk1”. Found driving position bit odd in T-Roc - can’t quite remember now, I think she felt like she was peering over dash (she’s 5’5” so not tiny).

So she got Skoda Karoq 1.5 petrol DSG. It doesn’t have quite the solid feel that Tiguan had, but it goes well and MPG is same as diesel. No issues with DSG - it’s perhaps a little sharper than the Tiguan but that could be my mind playing tricks as Tiguan’s was wet a clutch and Karoq’s is “dry”. I’ve driven a few and don’t recognise the issues others speak of - I’d say 1.5TSi DSG’s biggest issue is it’ll too readily spin up the front wheels pulling out of junctions in the wet.

[Anastie]

Toyota RAV4 Phev? I’ve had two Tiguans. The RAV4 plug in is a very good car. The last time I put petrol in was June and I still have 3/4 of a tank left as I can charge overnight at home.

The interior is solid but not as nice as a VW. However for me the functionality of its big boot, upright driving position and incredibly efficient engine gives me no regrets.

[Countdown]

Thanks all

RAV4 and new shape Tiguan are likely to be too big. My dad’s current one is a 15-plate (so basically the last of the old shape).

Also it’s my younger sister who normally ferries them around so she prefers something the same size or smaller.

Other options I’m going to suggest are a GLA or an X2

[CoreyDog]

Countdown said:

Thanks all

RAV4 and new shape Tiguan are likely to be too big. My dad’s current one is a 15-plate (so basically the last of the old shape).

Also it’s my younger sister who normally ferries them around so she prefers something the same size or smaller.

Other options I’m going to suggest are a GLA or an X2

We were looking at the X1 and X2 before buying the T Roc, I was really disappointed.

They are really poorly spec’d, missing things I’d call standard on bottom of the range equivalent brands. We test drove an 2.0 M Sport and seats were very uncomfortable for us.

It drove very nicely but that’s about all it had going for it.

[Sheepshanks]

CoreyDog said:

No issues at all. Uses the more recent 7 speed.

Off the mark it’s instant, my only complaint would be in “normal” or “Eco” it’s determined to be in the highest gear possible (4th at 25 and into 7th at about 45) which can make wanting to get abit of pace on quickly abit of a process as some throttle it just pulls in-gear, to get it to kick down requires quite a firm press which in the 2.0 results in abit of a lurch.

Never drive our 1.5 in eco, always use normal. It does run up quickly through the lower gears and there’s a route we use which starts off level from lights then gently rises and if traffic keeps the speed down it can feel its in a gear too high but it moves along OK. In 50 limits it’s in 6th - ours has to be doing 55ish before it’ll shift to 7th.

[PurpleTurtle]

We were recently in Spain for two weeks where we had a VW T-Cross with the 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine as a rental.

It was a really nice car to drive and ticks all the boxes your dad would need.

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PurpleTurtle said:

We were recently in Spain for two weeks where we had a VW T-Cross with the 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine as a rental.

It was a really nice car to drive and ticks all the boxes your dad would need.

Thanks for the suggestion.

What's th difference between the T-Roc and teh T-Cross. The former looks a bit nicer in my eyes.

[Harpoon]

T-Cross is smaller / cheaper isn't it?

I know it's not one of the previously mentioned brands, but what about a Ford Puma? Mrs Harpoon has a manual and I reckon it's a really good drive. The ride is excellent, nimble, easy to park etc. She went with it over a T-Roc, Kamiq and others.