Brand new and with a full factory warranty, the Volkswagen Tiguan is a superb car. It has won countless awards including multiple ‘Car of the Year’ trophies and arguably sets the benchmark when it comes to medium SUVs.

It’s an attractive, supremely practical, incredibly safe vehicle packed with technology and purveying excellent driving dynamics. But, all is not wonderful when it comes to reliability, longevity and quality once the Tiguan has ventured around the block a few times.

As you’ll see, while the Tiguan makes for a convincing case when new, second hand examples require extreme caution before your hard earned money is handed over.

What goes wrong with a used Volkswagen Tiguan?

• DSG transmission issues and failures
• Turbo failure and turbo seal issues
• Water pump failures
• EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) faults
• Oil leak issues
• Feeble engine bay plastics
• Manifold and cooling system components are known to fail
• Complete engine failures due to cracked pistons and timing chain tensioner failures
• Very expensive repair costs
• Poor depreciation

Should you buy a used Volkswagen Tiguan?

We strongly DO NOT recommend buying a used Volkswagen Tiguan. Yes, when they’re new and are covered by a full factory warranty, they’re an impressive vehicle (although we have heard numerous horror stories even when new) and yes, there are unicorn examples that have had minimal issues.

But, we just don’t think it’s worth the risk. Especially when there are far better alternatives to choose from. For what Tiguans are asking for on the used market, we’d recommend looking at Toyota RAV4s, Mazda CX-5s, Hyundai Tucsons and the Kia Sportage.

Sure they don’t have the Euro chic that comes with the Tiguan but you’ll probably also avoid the Volkswagen’s catastrophic repair bills, immense depreciation and the mental stress and anxiety that comes with the Tiguan.

If you are highly allergic to sense and reason and absolutely must have a Tiguan, our pick is the Comfortline 132TSI with a solid service history and the lowest possible mileage you can find but even then, please be extremely cautious.