200k report 2018 Tiguan

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Jun 4, 2005
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Location
Cow Hampshire
We have owned since brand new a 2018 Tiguan SE 4motion (AWD) with panoramic sunroof.

This is one model above base with leatherette light grey interior on black exterior. Niceties: Apple CarPlay , basic safety like auto braking for front and rear along with bling spot detection.

How did it fare so far?

Just following maintenance per manual including 10k OCI.

Notable this has been our most reliable vehicle by a long shot to 200k including her prior 2005 Subaru Legacy and 96 Civic. This is her third car she has owned in her life is 50.

Issues on the way:
1) Panoramic roof started leaking 4 months into ownership due clogging from an excessive pollen year. Turned out to be later TSB to open up ends of drain lines. Issue never happened again.

2) 151k miles engine going into limp mode. A bummer because a goodwill extended warranty came out till 150k to replace ignition wiring harness(known issue). Dealer charged over $1000 to replace $100ish part.
3) At 195k miles Fuel door electric lock started to be intermittent. $200 .

Wear items outside of scheduled maintenance:
• Full Brakes including pads/rotors twice
• tires twice and nearly worn out now. Replacements were General RT43 and RT45. Guessing she’ll want General RT4? Again. The 4motion coupled to these tires is very predictable in snow, ice , rain and slush.

Car remains a pleasure to drive and a little bit fun compared to its peers (CRV and RAV4). Power is okay, just adequate. It’s smooth and quiet. The 8 speed AISIN automatic remains smooth. It was clunky at first but a free TSB fixed that 1 year or so in from new.

The interior looks still newish as easy to clean especially wipeable leatherette. Just slight wear on interior driver door handle.

Wife commutes 70 miles highway round trip to work 3-4 days per week. I use for ski trips with daughters.

It manages 30+ MPG consistently but guessing 80% high way. It drops to 25 mpg city/town. It beats the rated 22 city / 27 highway.

Minor nags:
Suspension if you hit bumps at certain angles has slight creak however it is factory original.

It is slightly leaking oil from valve cover gasket area. Consumption or loss not sure is about 1/2 quart in a 10k oci.

We hope for another 3 years/75k which conicides with daughter graduating college and home fully paid. I think this perfectly maintained per schedule car can do it.

I thought it was going to be a bad experience when she picked VW over Honda , Subaru , Mazda and Toyota compact SUVs. However thus far not the case.
 
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We have owned since brand new a 2018 Tiguan SE 4motion (AWD) with panoramic sunroof.

This is one model above base with leatherette light grey interior on black exterior. Niceties: Apple CarPlay , basic safety like auto braking for front and rear along with bling spot detection.

How did it fare so far?

Just following maintenance per manual including 10k OCI.

Notable this has been our most reliable vehicle by a long shot to 200k including her prior 2005 Subaru Legacy and 96 Civic. This is her third car she has owned in her life is 50.

Issues on the way:
1) Panoramic roof started leaking 4 months into ownership due clogging from an excessive pollen year. Turned out to be later TSB to open up ends of drain lines. Issue never happened again.

2) 151k miles engine going into limp mode. A bummer because a goodwill extended warranty came out till 150k to replace ignition wiring harness(known issue). Dealer charged over $1000 to replace $100ish part.
3) At 195k miles Fuel door electric lock started to be intermittent. $200 .

Wear items outside of scheduled maintenance:
• Full Brakes including pads/rotors twice
• tires twice and nearly worn out now. Replacements were General RT43 and RT45. Guessing she’ll want General RT4? Again. The 4motion coupled to these tires is very predictable in snow, ice , rain and slush.

Car remains a pleasure to drive and a little bit fun compared to its peers (CRV and RAV4). Power is okay, just adequate. It’s smooth and quiet. The 8 speed AISIN automatic remains smooth. It was clunky at first but a free TSB fixed that 1 year or so in from new.

The interior looks still newish as easy to clean especially wipeable leatherette. Just slight wear on interior driver door handle.

Wife commutes 70 miles highway round trip to work 3-4 days per week. I use for ski trips with daughters.

It manages 30+ MPG consistently but guessing 80% high way. It drops to 25 mpg city/town. It beats the rated 22 city / 27 highway.

Minor nags:
Suspension if you hit bumps at certain angles has slight creak however it is factory original.

It is slightly leaking oil from valve cover gasket area. Consumption or loss not sure is about 1/2 quart in a 10k oci.

We hope for another 3 years/75k which conicides with daughter graduating college and home fully paid. I think this perfectly maintained per schedule car can do it.

I thought it was going to be a bad experience when she picked VW over Honda , Subaru , Mazda and Toyota compact SUVs. However thus far not the case.
Very impressive. But this can’t possibly be true since it’s a VW and not a Toyota or a Honda ;)

Out of curiosity, is there any oil consumption during the 10k OCIs?
 
Very impressive. But this can’t possibly be true since it’s a VW and not a Toyota or a Honda ;)

Out of curiosity, is there any oil consumption during the 10k OCIs?
Currently I add 1/2 quart of SuperTech synth around 6k miles into 10k OCI. This started around 150k. Current oil is Motul 5w20 oil including with FCP auto parts change kit. Originally used Castrol 508 spec 5w20.
 
More proof that Internet forums are not a good gauge of actual reliability. If you go by the interwebz VW is horrible and it is a modern miracle that you see so many of them on the road here and overseas. The reality is that most modern vehicles are pretty reliable and that the use cycle and care of the owner is more material to reliability and longevity. Yes defects occur but it happens with all of them, this is why you have a warranty and why an extended warranty is not a bad idea, if from the manufacturer and reasonably priced.
 
Currently I add 1/2 quart of SuperTech synth around 6k miles into 10k OCI. This started around 150k. Current oil is Motul 5w20 oil including with FCP auto parts change kit. Originally used Castrol 508 spec 5w20.
At this mileage, I would try out of spec Valvoline R&P 5w-30 every 5K mi and see if ur oil consumption improves. It is a non Euro spec oil.

It would be a great R&P clean up project with results for the forum.
 
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Currently I add 1/2 quart of SuperTech synth around 6k miles into 10k OCI. This started around 150k. Current oil is Motul 5w20 oil including with FCP auto parts change kit. Originally used Castrol 508 spec 5w20.
That’s pretty great. Good to see real data on a high mileage 2.0 EA888.
 
IMO the main criticism with VW has always been how expensive it was to repair when things did break because of imported parts and finding people willing to work on them. However, now all cars are complicated and everything is imported, expensive and hard to work on so I don’t think the criticism is valid anymore. I don’t think you can walk out of any dealership service dept without spending $1000 anymore.
 
Vw thing in the desert me thinks.
1753209018737.webp
 
My wife is a VW person to her bones. Since we've been together she has had 3 Beetles (1998, 2003, 2013 current), 2 Tiguans, and her current Atlas. All three Beetles have been pretty good considering the beating they have taken. The Atlas has been excellent. The Tiguans were first generation cars and had some major issues. Our overall stance is that either you get a good one or a turd. There is no middle ground with a VW.
 
Impressive, but at the same time, 7 years/200K is almost 30K/yr.
Cars that accrue a lot of miles in a short amount of time tend to be less problematic.
 
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