2023 Volkswagen Tiguan Reviews, Pricing & Specs

Following numerous updates for the 2022 model year, the 2023 Volkswagen Tiguan continues mostly unchanged. Perhaps the most significant news is that VW will retroactively provide Tiguan owners with a complementary five-year Car-Net Safe & Secure connected services plan during the course of the year.

Volkswagen offers the 2023 Tiguan in S, SE, SE R-Line Black, and SEL R-Line trim levels, with R-Line designating versions with sportier styling. Prices range from $26,950 to $37,680, plus a destination charge of $1,295. Our test vehicle arrived in SEL R-Line trim without any options, bringing the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) to $38,975, including destination.

Now, you would think that given the Tiguan’s seven exterior colors, four interior colors, four different wheel designs in sizes ranging from 17 inches to 20 inches in diameter, and three kinds of upholstery, it would be easy to find a combination you like. Surprisingly, your choices are unusually restricted based on the trim level you choose, making it difficult to find the right look at the right price. Want a Tiguan SE with bigger wheels? No can do. Want a Tiguan SEL R-Line in red? Not gonna happen.

Our test vehicle arrived with Atlantic Blue paint, one of four colors available for the SEL R-Line. The interior had Storm Gray leather in an agreeably warm hue. But if we wanted the “Noisette” leather (a dark brown) paired with Atlantic Blue, VW would not build that Tiguan for us. Bummer. However, there is the ever-popular Titan Black leather, which most people seem to like.

The SEL R-Line is our favorite Tiguan for its sporty appearance and sizable 20-inch machined-finish wheels. It looks like it should be more expensive, and though its lines are conservatively drawn, the design is aging gracefully. In top specification, it has adaptive front lighting that helps you see around corners, and it has a fancy light bar across the grille that illuminates after dark.

Inside, though some materials remind you that the Tiguan’s base price starts in the high $20,000s, the overall look of the cabin is upscale. Our test vehicle had quality leather upholstery, appealing artificial wood trim, soft-touch materials, impressive digital instrumentation, a panoramic sunroof, and all the goodies. Plus, it displays robust construction, feeling solidly assembled.

Volkswagen equips the Tiguan with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine making 184 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque, and it gets an eight-speed automatic transmission. Front-wheel drive (FWD) is standard, but VW’s 4Motion all-wheel-drive (AWD) system is also available. Drivers can choose between Eco, Normal, and Sport driving modes, with predictable results. An Individual mode gives you some control over the Tiguan’s dynamic settings.

The SEL R-Line includes AWD as standard equipment. Tiguans with 4Motion add Onroad, Snow, Offroad, and Custom Offroad settings that govern how the AWD system works. Generally speaking, 4Motion continually varies the power split between the front and rear wheels, and it can send up to 50% to the rear wheels at any given time.

According to the EPA, the 2023 Tiguan SEL R-Line should average 24 mpg in combined driving. We got 22.6 mpg on our Southern California testing loop, using Normal mode except when driving on the two-lane roads laced across the Santa Monica Mountains. We did not venture off-road due to stormy weather and the threat of mud and rock slides. Besides, those appealing 20-inch wheels are wrapped in 255/40 Pirelli Scorpion Zero all-season tires. Those aren’t ideal for terrain more challenging than the dirt lot at the trailhead.

The Tiguan’s turbo-four produces just enough power that you won’t complain, except when you need to pass slower vehicles or wish to take advantage of a hole in traffic. There simply isn’t much motive force at higher engine revs. At lower speeds, you can learn to surf the Tiguan’s wave of torque, but the automatic transmission frequently stumbles due to delayed downshifts. Switching to Sport mode helps a bit, but then you’re likely to get lower gas mileage. From a stop, there is momentary turbo lag, so be mindful of this when making left turns across traffic.

While the Tiguan’s powertrain isn’t the smoothest or most powerful in the segment, this VW’s dynamic qualities are otherwise rewarding aside from a somewhat numb brake pedal that requires more effort to use than it should and can be tricky to modulate. Fortunately, the variable-assist steering is light and lively, tire grip in curves and corners is excellent, and the Tiguan feels more stable and predictable than many of its rivals when you’re tossing it around turns.

The Tiguan provides a good feel of the road, but isn’t too firm. Instead, VW dials in plenty of ride compliance without causing unwanted vertical or lateral body motions. On the undulating mountain roads, the ride and handling mix reminded us of riding waves, a characteristic that aligns with the turbocharged engine’s torque curve.

Road noise enters the cabin, helping to communicate road texture and anomalies. In addition, our test vehicle picked up an odd resonance on Ventura County’s southbound 101 freeway through Camarillo, something we haven’t experienced in other test vehicles. It caused a subtle shake in the ride quality.

Thanks in part to its thin windshield pillars, the Tiguan provides excellent outward visibility, and drivers can easily judge all four corners of the vehicle. In combination with the variable-assist steering, these qualities also make it feel nimble and easy to park. The SEL R-Line’s surround-view camera and parking sensors help in this regard as well.

Overall, the 2023 Tiguan is enjoyable to drive once you acclimate to the powertrain’s quirks. This is especially true of the SEL R-Line and its sizable wheel/tire combination.

If you need a roomy but affordable SUV, the 2023 Tiguan should be on your consideration list. Versions with FWD even have a standard third-row seat. But that third row reduces cargo room, so if you don’t need it, we recommend selecting a Tiguan with the added all-weather traction of AWD coupled with one of the biggest cargo areas in the compact SUV class.

Our SEL R-Line had exceptionally comfortable front seats wrapped in appealing leather. Both chairs offered eight-way power adjustment, heating, and ventilation, and our test Tiguan also had a heated steering wheel that is sheer delight to hold in your hands. As for storage space, the bin under the center armrest is small, but other locations for stashing your stuff are generous.

The front seats face a dashboard with questionable ergonomics. For some reason, Volkswagen thinks touch-sensing steering wheel and climate controls in highly reflective gloss black plastic are a good idea, but they hamper usability. For example, the Climatronic Touch climate control panel represents a real brain fart on Volkswagen’s part. It is placed so far down on the dashboard that, when you look at it to find the desired touch-sensing button or the temperature control sliders, the road ahead completely disappears from your peripheral vision.

As for the touch-sensing steering-wheel controls, reflections can obliterate their markings, making them impossible to discern while driving. In addition, it is too easy to accidentally turn on the heated steering wheel while using the directional controls for the digital instrumentation display. Also, VW provides touch-sensing sliders for stereo volume and tuning, which are not as easy and accurate to use as the knobs on the dashboard. Finally, we find that if you don’t touch a control in just the right spot, it doesn’t work.

Taken together, these touch-sensing controls are a distracting mistake. They might look high-tech, but they’re not a suitable replacement for physical controls with matte-black backgrounds and white markings.

One area where the VW Tiguan excels is with regard to passenger and cargo space. This SUV has large rear door openings and a huge back seat with more room than you expect. Legroom, headroom, and foot room are generous, and the test vehicle had air conditioning vents, cupholders, and a USB charging port. The bottom cushion could use more leg support, but otherwise, there is nothing about which to complain.

Our test vehicle’s hands-free power liftgate rose to reveal a cavernous cargo area that accommodates full-size suitcases stored on their sides, and beneath the cargo cover. The cargo area has an adjustable load floor height, deep storage wells on both sides, handy levers to use to fold the seats, and a plastic hook for hanging grocery bags.

Remember, with AWD the Tiguan holds more cargo because it doesn’t have a third-row seat. So, you can squeeze in 37.6 cubic feet of cargo behind the second row and 73.4 cubic feet behind the front seats. That’s on par with some midsize SUVs. Choose a Tiguan with FWD, and those numbers dip to 33 cubic feet and 65.3 cubic feet, respectively. Only 12 cubic feet of luggage will fit behind the third-row seat.

Every 2023 Tiguan has digital instrumentation. Most trims use an 8-inch display while the SEL R-Line gets a larger 10.25-inch display offering a more sophisticated appearance and wider array of data.

The bigger display looks impressive, especially the full-panel navigation map. Also, if darkness falls and you have the headlights turned off, the Tiguan shows a warning and a request to turn your lights on. With so many people driving in the dark with only their front running lights illuminated, every car company should do this.

In the middle of the dashboard, a touchscreen display provides access to infotainment functions. It measures 6.5 inches in the base S trim, while other Tiguans have an 8-inch touchscreen surrounded by touch-sensitive main menu buttons and two physical control knobs. Our top-of-line test vehicle had all of the features and functions including wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless smartphone charging, Car-Net connected services, SiriusXM 360L satellite radio, and a terrific nine-speaker Fender premium sound system.

At a glance, the 8-inch system looks simple to use. But as your fingertips approach the screen, sub-menus may appear on the display to create irritating multi-layer, multi-step processes to execute what should be easy procedures. For example, changing the radio station is not as simple as twisting the tuning knob. First, you need to bring your hand up to the screen to launch the sub-menus. Then you need to choose the correct sub-menu for tuning stations. Then you can twist the tuning knob and, when you arrive at the desired station, you must push the tuning knob to select it.

Similarly, when you touch the Car button in search of the safety system settings, a lovely graphic depicting the vehicle pops up onto the screen. To alter the settings, you then need to touch the on-screen Settings sub-menu to get the list of features and make your adjustments.

Another quirk is that if the navigation map is showing in the digital instrumentation, it won’t also show on the center touchscreen display. To make that happen, you need to choose Nav, then select the correct sub-menu, and uncheck the box telling the technology that you want the map to appear on the instrumentation panel. Once you’ve switched that off, it will show on the center display.

Granted, these things are not difficult to figure out, and over time you either acclimate to them or find workarounds. But, like the touch-sensing steering wheel and climate controls, the unusual user interfaces introduce unnecessary complexity and distraction.

Volkswagen says the 8-inch system has an enhanced voice-recognition system, but it does not perform to expectations. We frequently got a reply telling me there wasn’t a data connection. We assume that’s because the Car-Net Hotspot subscription with its Plus Speech add-on were not active in the test vehicle. That’s too bad, because a conversational voice-recognition system could make the climate control system less dangerous to use while driving. We can’t think of a vehicle where it would be more desirable to be able to say: “Hey Volkswagen, change the temperature to 72 degrees,” or “Hey VW, turn on the seat heaters.”

If Volkswagen stumbles with regard to the interior controls and tech, it gets the 2023 Tiguan’s safety features right. Not only that, but this compact crossover provides tech that is often found only on luxury brand models.

All Tiguans have standard Front Assist and Side Assist. Front Assist includes forward collision warning with pedestrian detection and automatic emergency braking. Side Assist adds blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert. VW also installs an Automatic Post Collision Braking System that brings the Tiguan to a stop as soon as possible following a collision. This helps to avoid secondary impacts after airbag deflation.

Volkswagen bundles most of the Tiguan’s other safety features in what it calls IQ.Drive. This package, optional on base models and standard on other models, adds adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go capability, active blind-spot monitoring that counter-steers to help avoid collisions, Lane Assist, Travel Assist, and Emergency Assist.

Lane Assist includes lane-departure warning and lane-keeping assist. Travel Assist pairs the adaptive cruise control with lane-centering assist for semi-autonomous driving assist on highways. Emergency Assist is active when using Travel Assist. It can detect an unresponsive driver and bring the Tiguan to a safe, controlled stop. Volkswagen also offers Light Assist (automatic high-beam headlights), Park Assist (steers the Tiguan into parallel and perpendicular spaces), parking sensors with low-speed automatic braking, and an Area View surround-view camera system.

Overall, the Tiguan’s safety technology worked beautifully. It doesn’t cause driver irritation, and rarely issues false alerts. Travel Assist proved easy to trust and performed in a subtle and refined fashion. Better yet, at one point a vehicle ahead of us began to pull off the highway, and the adaptive cruise control reacted smoothly and then wasted no time in getting the Tiguan back up to speed.

Unfortunately, the 2023 Tiguan’s crash-test ratings don’t paint a clear picture of its ability to protect occupants in a collision. For example, as this review is written, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) testing is incomplete. In addition, the NHTSA also says the Tiguan’s driver’s door unlatched and opened during the side-impact test, producing a safety concern.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gave the 2023 Tiguan a Top Safety Pick+ rating for the 2022 calendar year. However, that rating does not apply for the 2023 calendar year. Check the IIHS website for any updates to this status.

We think the 2023 Tiguan represents good value, especially considering its interior room and overall utility in addition to its upscale look and feel.

Furthermore, every 2023 Volkswagen comes with Carefree Coverage. This plan includes two years of scheduled maintenance (not including tire rotations), three years or 36,000 miles of roadside assistance, and a four-year/50,000-mile warranty.

In addition, VW provides a complimentary five-year subscription to Car-Net Remote Access with features such as remote engine starting, Family Guardian safety features, a find my car function, and more. Not only that, but VW recently announced it would add a new five-year Car-Net Safe & Secure plan to the program, which includes SOS emergency assistance, automatic collision notification, and a stolen vehicle tracking system.

Still, the Tiguan is not without a few quirks and flaws. From the occasionally uneven power delivery and aggravating touch-sensing controls to the infotainment user interface and largely unhelpful voice recognition system, this SUV regularly calls attention to itself. And not in a good way.