Car Review: Volkswagen Tiguan is cutesy and plans to pack a boost

The Volkswagen Tiguan takes its cues from its successful big brother: the Atlas.

Namely, this compact SUV goes all-in with an impressive interior.

This is the 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan SEL R-Line, which is the nicest one you can get.

Its leather seats are tan in the middle and black along the edges. The dash features a tan material, some light wood and a huge center touch screen, though many functions are done through that touch screen or through haptic buttons. This interior also features purple ambient light strips with pink pixels lighting up the dash, which are certainly interesting.

Outside, this is Monterey Blue, which is almost a highlighter blue, offset by black wheels. A slightly rounded front gives this SUV a cutesy look. It does have a spare tire!

Now, for my complaint: This one felt slow, even with its turbo four-cylinder engine. Volkswagen must have been reading my notes, because the 2026 Tiguan turbo gets a big power boost to address that deficit.

This one comes in at $41,635, after shipping.

A base Tiguan starts at $31,670, after shipping.

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John Aaron

John Aaron is a news anchor and reporter for WTOP. After starting his professional broadcast career as an anchor and reporter for WGET and WGTY in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, he went on to spend several years in the world of sports media, working for Comcast SportsNet, MLB Network Radio, and WTOP.

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