2023 Volkswagen Taos Reviews, Pricing & Specs

Though the Taos nameplate is exclusive to North America, Volkswagen Group sells this SUV all around the world. Designed for appeal, engineered for affordability, and sized to succeed almost anywhere while maximizing passenger comfort and practical utility, the Taos and its derivatives are quite popular.

For example, in the U.S., the Taos was Volkswagen’s third-best selling model in its inaugural year of 2022, beating the Jetta by 20,843 units according to Automotive News. Jetta sales shrank 38.3% last year, a shocking decline for the once thriving model. Despite a base price starting about $3,500 higher than the Jetta, the Taos undoubtedly siphoned some sales from the sedan.

This year, 2023 VW Taos prices range from $24,155 to $34,535, not including a destination charge of $1,235. The SUV comes in S, SE, and SEL trim levels, with a choice between front-wheel drive (FWD) and 4Motion all-wheel drive (AWD). Our test vehicle arrived in SEL trim, which includes 4Motion. Dipped in Cornflower Blue paint, it had no options and carried a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $35,830, including the destination charge.

That’s pricey for the small SUV segment, but the Taos SEL is a stylish, sporty, and appealing vehicle. Bold 19-inch alloy wheels with a machined surface, the bright blue paint, creased and carved flanks, and proper proportions give the top-trim version an upscale look that eases some of the sticker shock.

The premium look and feel continues inside, where the test car’s light gray seat and dashboard accents, gloss black trim, metallic detailing, and leather seats make the Taos SEL resemble a cut-rate Audi. In addition, according to Volkswagen, the Taos is nearly as roomy inside as the larger Tiguan model, and that makes it one of the biggest small crossover SUVs you can buy.

Every 2023 Taos has a turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine making 158 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. With FWD, the engine pairs with an eight-speed automatic transmission. With AWD, which is optional with S and SE trim and standard on the Taos SEL, a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic is standard.

Depending on the model, a Taos can have up to five driving modes and four additional settings for the 4Motion AWD system. In addition, you can choose a Sport transmission mode. It is a bit much, so we stuck with Normal and Sport modes with 4Motion in its Onroad setting.

Driving a Taos SEL smoothly is a challenge because powertrain response is hard to predict. Sometimes, you get a surge of torque that you’re not expecting. Other times, an unexpected delay in response can cause a momentary panic when turning left across oncoming traffic. Frequently, the dual-clutch transmission exhibits its characteristic halting behavior. A typical consumer is not going to put up with this, but if you can acclimate your driving style to the quirks, you’ll find your peace with this SUV when traveling in urban and suburban areas.

We evaluated the Taos in Southern California, on a driving loop that threads across the Santa Monica Mountains on Mulholland Highway. Here, we switched into Sport mode and put the transmission in Sport mode. That eliminates some of the inconsistency in the powertrain response, but also consumes more fuel. Still, over the entire route, the test vehicle averaged 26.8 mpg, coming up just short of the official EPA rating of 28 mpg in combined driving.

Doubling up on Sport modes doesn’t solve the engine’s lack of power. At the Taos SEL’s sticker price, you could get a turbocharged Mazda CX-30 generating 250 hp and 320 lb-ft, or the thrilling Hyundai Kona N boasting 276 hp and 289 lb-ft. In comparison, the pricey Vee Dub’s paltry 158 hp and 184 lb-ft is almost an embarrassment. Volkswagen Group knows how to make powerful, efficient, and refined turbocharged four-cylinder engine drivetrains. It’s a shame the Taos doesn’t benefit from the automaker’s mastery.

When you upgrade to a Taos with 4Motion, VW swaps the standard torsion-beam rear suspension for an independent multi-link setup. However, since the Taos offers no more than 6.6 inches of ground clearance, depending on the configuration, you’re not going to travel very far off-road. If that’s a priority, consider the Ford Bronco Sport, Jeep Compass Trailhawk, or Subaru Crosstrek.

Circling back to our run down Mulholland, the Taos SEL demonstrates a distinctly Germanic driving character. Sitting closer to the road than some rivals, and equipped with grippy P225/45R19 Pirelli Scorpion all-season tires, the Taos SEL feels firm, sure-footed, and stable. In addition, due to the excellent visibility, it is easy to place on a road.

Steering effort is light, but the wheel feels good in your hands and the response is sharp and accurate. This little SUV is nimble, toss-able, and easy to trust, so though it lacks power, its inherent athleticism makes for a rousing good time (especially traveling downhill).

Volkswagen equips the Taos with four-wheel-disc brakes, but brake pedal feel and response is occasionally hard to predict, making it difficult to know what you’re going to get when you press down on it. Sometimes, response is touchy and too aggressive. Other times, nothing much happens. This flaw calls attention to itself often enough to deserve mention here.

Also, at highway speeds, the Taos suffers from wind noise and plenty of road noise. But that is common in the small SUV segment.

When you shop for a 2023 Taos, you’ll discover that S trim has cloth seats, SE trim has CloudTex artificial leather upholstery, and SEL trim features real leather.

In addition, both the SE and SEL have cold-weather equipment, including heated side mirrors, heated washer nozzles, and heated front seats. Our SEL test vehicle also had rain-sensing wipers, dual-zone automatic climate control, ventilated front seats, and a heated steering wheel.

An eight-way power driver’s seat is standard with SE and SEL trim. It is exceptionally comfortable, and the Taos feels bigger inside than most competitors, like it should be selling one class up in size. However, it needs a sliding and height-adjustable center armrest to ensure maximum comfort.

Small SUVs are notorious for their cramped back seats, but that isn’t the case in the VW Taos. Passengers will find plenty of room for their legs and feet, softly padded front seatbacks, air conditioning vents, and, in the SEL, a panoramic sunroof that extends all the way over their heads. The door panels are constructed of hard plastic, and the seat cushion feels a little bit low, but otherwise the Taos offers impressive rear-seat room and comfort.

Storage space is plentiful for all occupants, but most locations aren’t lined, so items placed there may cause noise and vibration. In the cargo area, deep wells exist on either side of the main load floor. Cargo space is generous, too, offering 27.9 cubic feet behind the back seat and 65.9 cubic feet with the rear seat folded down. With 4Motion, the figures are a little smaller, at 24.9 and 60.2 cubic feet, respectively.

Volkswagen equips every 2023 Taos with standard digital instrumentation. With S and SE trim, the screen measures eight inches. The SEL gets a 10.25-inch display with more features, viewing options, and the ability to display the navigation map on the entire panel.

Infotainment systems range from basic to fully featured. With the Taos S, the SUV has a standard 6.5-inch touchscreen, Bluetooth, and Car-Net connected services. Subscription plans include Remote Access (via smartphone, and includes what VW calls a last parked location function); Safe & Secure (SOS emergency calling, automatic crash notification); and Hotspot (Wi-Fi). In addition, Family Guardian provides teen-driver-related safety features.

With SE and SEL trim, the infotainment system adds an 8-inch touchscreen equipping the Taos with Bluetooth support for multiple devices, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, SiriusXM 360L satellite radio service, and an added USB port. Wireless smartphone charging is standard on these versions of the Taos.

A native navigation system is standard in the SEL. Sign up for Wi-Fi service and you can also pay extra for connected services that provide over-the-air navigation data updates, a natural voice-recognition system, and access to premium streaming media services like Tidal. The SEL also has an eight-speaker Beats Audio premium sound system. It sounds good for the segment.

The SEL’s top-shelf infotainment system looks simple, clean, and logically laid out, but the user-experience is sketchy.

First, Volkswagen hides some of the virtual controls and doesn’t show them on the proximity-sensing screen until you raise your hand toward the glass. So, if you’ve forgotten what those hidden functions are and why they might not be visible, sometimes you stare blankly at the display trying to figure out how to do something.

Second, tuning the radio is a total pain in the you-know-what because you need to make sure the system is on the correct radio function before twisting the knob. So, raise your hand toward the screen, check the row of function tiles that magically appear at the bottom, and determine whether you need to make a change before twisting the tuning knob. But act fast, before the tiles disappear again.

Third, when you choose the menu granting access to the settings for the advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS), Volkswagen loads a fancy graphic instead of the expected list of functions and settings. If you don’t notice the small Settings icon in the lower right portion of the graphic, you won’t understand how to change things and will once again stare blankly at the screen.

Fourth, if you have the navigation map displayed within the digital instrumentation, but you select Nav on the center touchscreen, a map doesn’t load. That’s because if the map is showing in the digital instrumentation, it won’t also show on the infotainment screen. Forget this detail, and you’ll be mystified and irritated.

Fifth, unless you pay for Wi-Fi and then pay extra to get the Plus Speech add-on service, the voice-recognition technology is terrible. Even when carefully following the suggested voice prompts on the display, it’s not effective tech.

So, what the moral of this story? Pair your phone, run Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, and forget about this VW’s native system.

For the 2023 model year, Volkswagen improves the Taos regarding standard safety features. Now, the Taos S includes standard Front Assist (forward collision warning with pedestrian detection and automatic emergency braking), a blind-spot monitoring system, and rear cross-traffic alert.

The Taos SE adds VW’s IQ.Drive collection of ADAS as standard equipment (it is an option with S trim). IQ.Drive equips the SUV with Lane Assist (lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist); Travel Assist (adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go and lane-centering assist); Emergency Assist (automatic stopping when a driver becomes unresponsive); and an active version of blind-spot monitoring that will attempt to prevent an unsafe lane change.

In addition, the Taos features a standard post-collision automatic braking system (all trims), automatic high-beam headlights (SE and SEL; optional on S), parking sensors with automatic braking (SEL), and a road-sign recognition system (SEL).

Travel Assist is excellent. While driving north on Pacific Coast Highway from Malibu to Oxnard in Southern California, the technology easily navigated around curves and through construction zones. On a stretch of freeway, the system performed proper distance maintenance to traffic ahead without excessive or inconsistent braking. In addition, when slower vehicles exited the highway, the Taos was quick to accelerate back up to the set cruising speed. Overall, Travel Assist proved smooth, accurate, and refined.

While driving with only the Lane Assist system active, the tech reminded us it was operating but didn’t irritate us at all. The only false warning was its inaccurate perception of a crack in the road as a lane marker.

Crash-test ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) are decent, but imperfect.

The Volkswagen Taos is not the most affordable small SUV you can buy. But, it doesn’t look or feel as cheaply outfitted as some of its rivals, offers more interior room than competitors, is technologically sophisticated, and provides rewarding handling. In addition, VW provides complimentary scheduled maintenance for two years or 20,000 miles, whichever comes first.

The problem with this SUV is the powertrain. At the SEL’s price, you can get significantly more power and performance out of a Hyundai Kona N or a Mazda CX-30 2.5 Turbo. And if fuel economy is the goal, the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid is unbeatable in the segment. The Taos lacks off-roading talent, too. For that, you would need a Ford Bronco Sport, Jeep Compass Trailhawk, or Subaru Crosstrek.

We like the Volkswagen Taos well enough. With more power, added drivetrain refinement, and a new infotainment system interface, we might love it.