2014 VW Tiguan TDI or 2014 Subaru Forester XT?

evoWALO

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i hate the tiguan, so get the forester :D

i know, neither objective, nor fair... but still, i hate the tiguan!
 
The Tiguan looks like a rugged car, but it actually isn't. Thus I'd recommend to either get the Forester if you need a rugged car or a Golf if you need a normal car.
 
I would buy the Tiguan because it isn't a Subaru.

Then again, VW dealer support and third party parts are plentiful around here while subaru is a royal pain in the ass to own. Things could be different there, especially since "vw just opened this week" if by that you mean that they just launched the brand in the philippines.
 
I'd get the Tiguan, it's a very nice car, quite reliable in Europe and should be up to the task of slightly bumpy or rutted roads, interior is probably nicer than the Subaru's one too
 
Subaru has more POWEEEEERRRRRR and is therefore my choice. Plus I am not a fan of German cars in general.
 
SUBARU!!!
 
I'd get the Tiguan, it's a very nice car, quite reliable in Europe and should be up to the task of slightly bumpy or rutted roads, interior is probably nicer than the Subaru's one too

VW had a brand launch last week. ;)

I went to the just opened VW showroom 6 hours ago and the interior of the Tiguan though nice lack the following

- leather seats
- powered driver seat
- bluetooth for the car stereo
- color LCD car stereo that can display maps, video or a touch screen
- rear camera
- car telemetrics

They have a special on it right now for the first 100 customers get a PHP190,000 discount from the PHP2,100,000 price tag. This roughly matches the price of the Forester XT.

Max. Output
Forester 177 kW (240 PS) / 5,600 rpm
Tiguan 103 kW (140 Ps) / 4,200 rpm

Max. Torque
Forester 350 Nm / 2,400 - 3,600 rpm
Tiguan 320 Nm / 1,750 rpm

Weight
Forester 1,620 kg
Tiguan 1,630 kg

Tigtorq1.jpg


ForesterFA20DIT.jpg
 
I'm sure most (if not all) of those extras are available for the Tiguan when you want them. And you're comparing a diesel to a petrol engine with a completely different power output.

Apples and oranges? Or am I missing something here?
 
Subaru has a diesel engine as well but as far as I know it's pretty crap and surely does not make 280HP. Yes, that's an apples to oranges comparison if I ever saw one.

I'm not very fond of japanese cars in general but I would also be weary of a brand that isn't well established, like VW. Then again, VW is huge and can probably support their customers in a new market. Subaru is a small manufacturer in the grand scheme of things and they've never been able to gain a proper foothold up here. If Subaru is well established there, that's another thing.

All those options you mentioned can be added to a Tiguan, of course. The VAG bluetooth stuff works very well in my experience. I've got stereo bluetooth and handsfree in the Skoda, no satnav though. Having one built in is vpenis, but I'd rather just use my phone which I "have" to have a car holder for anyways for music streaming.

You can also install an aftermarket (but OEM looking) head unit with all those features. Blaupunkt makes one, and there are tons of chinese off-brand alternatives too but I wouldn't touch them.
 
I'm sure most (if not all) of those extras are available for the Tiguan when you want them. And you're comparing a diesel to a petrol engine with a completely different power output.

Apples and oranges? Or am I missing something here?

Comparing the two based on price range. Sales rep told me that the stuff I found missing will be taken up with the Germans in their next meeting. They do not offer customization at this time.

I would have been somewhat forgiving with the engine and weight of the car but the interior feels cheap and dated. Heck, the interior minus the instrumentation reminds me of the 2000 Ford Escape that we had. Gawd aweful manual POS. Never getting a Ford again.

I told the nice sales rep that the interior of the car is OK if it was still 2003 but seeming it is already 2013 it shouldn't be the case. A Korean car has a better interior than this "People's Car".

Yes, it is made by Germans in Germany and has been tropicanized so it shouldnt screw up but the Forester is made by the Japanese in Japan. :lol:

Now on the Toureg it is awesome but it is double the price of the Tiguan. :lol: The Philippines' equivalent to the IRS will not allow us to expense out any vehicle beyond 2.3M. :-\

Subaru's been in the Philippines since 2006 and we've bought 4 cars from them since (BRZ, '07 XT, '13 XT & '07 WRX) and they're pretty ok.

I really want to go with VW but they're not making it any easy. I do understand why they are rather stingy with letting us have options here seeming I do not expect VW to sell more than say 200 units/year for 2013 or 2014. Don't take it as offense as Toyota sold 65,396 in 2012 which is a paltry sum in other countries.

This is one of the major draws to the brand for me. Relatively inexpensive and low volume sales. Same with Subaru being the lowest selling Japanese brand in the Philippines.

BTW I value everyone's point of view. Gives me ideas from fresh eyes.
 
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What cars are popular in the Philippines then? 65396 units in a country of almost 100m people isn't that much. Then again, Wikipedia tells me the GDP is low four figures, so a car is probably not something everyone has, right?
 
Comparing the two based on price range.
So for the price of a nicely equipped Forester XT, you can get a worse-equipped Tiguan (whose interior you also don't like as much) with a much smaller engine ... hmmm

I'd have a test drive to check if they both feel good to you on the move. If the Subie is good and if gas prices are not an issue (the Subaru will be less economical), I'd get the Forester XT in a heartbeat. It simply sounds like the much better deal under these circumstances.
 
I would have been somewhat forgiving with the engine and weight of the car but the interior feels cheap and dated. Heck, the interior minus the instrumentation reminds me of the 2000 Ford Escape that we had. Gawd aweful manual POS. Never getting a Ford again.

I told the nice sales rep that the interior of the car is OK if it was still 2003 but seeming it is already 2013 it shouldn't be the case. A Korean car has a better interior than this "People's Car".

Care to post some actual pictures of its interior? I'm curious what they did to it, considering the car launched in 2007 and had an update in 2011. On their website the interior looks like it would look here :dunno: http://www.volkswagen.com.ph/en/mod...8666bc5f986fce863b78478@Comfort & Convenience
 
The climatronic unit looks awfully familiar :p
 
What cars are popular in the Philippines then? 65396 units in a country of almost 100m people isn't that much. Then again, Wikipedia tells me the GDP is low four figures, so a car is probably not something everyone has, right?

Imported used cars make the bulk of sold cars in the Philippines. Most of the used cars come from Japan wherein local mechanics turn them from right hand drive to left hand drive.

Graph below shows how many cars & trucks were sold in the Philippines vs sold in other South East Asian nation in 2011 & 2012.

vehiclesales_zpse790f633.jpg


Top 20 Brands and top 30 models can be seen over at http://focus2move.com/item/464-philippines-car-market-in-2012-hit-new-record-sales

the Interceptor, they have the same engine displacement of 2.0. I know the XT is a petrol turbo but I am unsure if the TDI is a diesel turbo.

narf the photos and the interior of the tiguan on the VW Philippines website is inaccurate. I apologize for not taking a photo as my phone just died when I entered the showroom.

This photo (not mine) is the radio of the local Tiguan.

2013_volkswagen_tiguan_audiosystem.jpg


Photo below are the Philippine Tiguan seats other details in the photo are not.

112_0804_05z%2B2009_volkswagen_tiguan%2Bcloth_interior.jpg


What I found most weird is that the model brought in had a passenger option to turn off the airbag. I do understand that kids can get injured with airbag deployment hence the feature but I find it odd that they'd put that in first rather than a better interior. Locally there is no law on the regulation of airbags for kids or small people.

Per the website the Tiguan has Bluetooth but the sales rep said no Bluetooth.

Seriously, the features are like those of a 10yo car. One can argue that those who aren't tech savy but having food trays in the back and the airbag for kids tells me that the feature of the car is targeted at young families that normally sport a multitouch smartphone or tablet for all members of the family.

=====

Not bashing VW as I really want to get one but the model has lackluster features. :-\
 
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Every car has an option to turn off the passenger side airbag these days. It's not an option, it's standard fare just like headlights and a steering wheel. It would cost them more to skip the feature, most likely. And that would make the front passenger seat unusable for children.

Also, how many used cars does japan produce?! I'm asking because they export a metric fuckton of them to Russia as well. The further East you go, the more of them there are. And they don't bother with the LHD conversion :lol:

Japan has some 120 million people. This apparently creates enough used cars to feed a market of ~143m (Russia) and ~92m (Philippines). Wow. And those two are probably not the only big markets.
 
Every car has an option to turn off the passenger side airbag these days. It's not an option, it's standard fare just like headlights and a steering wheel. It would cost them more to skip the feature, most likely. And that would make the front passenger seat unusable for children.

Also, how many used cars does japan produce?! I'm asking because they export a metric fuckton of them to Russia as well. The further East you go, the more of them there are. And they don't bother with the LHD conversion :lol:

Japan has some 120 million people. This apparently creates enough used cars to feed a market of ~143m (Russia) and ~92m (Philippines). Wow. And those two are probably not the only big markets.

I know NZ has a very large used market and the African continent as well.

Any who... as much as I'd want to be the first dozen or so to drive a Tiguan I'd have to skip it to a decade from now. I hope VW Phil will bring in the Golf R or Scirocco R by the time the BRZ is fully paid up. :mrgreen:
 
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