10 Best Things About the 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan

2025 Volkswagen Tiguan SEL R-Line ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Volkswagen continues to experiment with its compact crossover SUV. The first-generation Tiguan was smaller, more expensive, and fancier than key competitors like the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V. The second generation was bigger and more aggressively priced, but not so fancy. Now, for the all-new third generation, VW wants to incorporate the best parts of both generations – still fancy, but still affordable. 

The redesigned 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan comes priced from $30,245 with a high-tech new interior, generous passenger space, and sporty handling. We just spent a week testing the new Tiguan to see how it fits into the hyper-competitive compact crossover class. Here are our 10 favorite things about the 2025 Tiguan. 

1. Friendly New Design

The Tiguan’s style has bounced around a lot among its three generations. Early Tiguans were tall, stubby, rounded-off boxes. The second generation was longer and lower, with crisp, straight lines. Now, we’d describe the third-generation model as "friendly." 

It’s not just our test vehicle’s Monterey Blue paint (though we did get compliments on its color). The new Tiguan is more curved and gentle than before, yet with enough creased bodywork to keep it from looking merely dull. And it's sized between the two generations, right in the heart of the compact crossover class – for the first time, there's nothing unusual about its proportions.

Base Tiguans do have a plainer front bumper than our tested top-trim SEL R-Line, though, and they’re missing our test car’s 20-inch alloy wheels. The base S has 17-inch alloys, the SE has 19-inchers, and the SE R-Line has 20-inch black wheels. 

2025 Volkswagen Tiguan SEL R-Line ・ Photo by Brady Holt

2. Luxurious, High-Tech New Interior

Inside, the new Tiguan has a cleanly styled, attractively finished dashboard – upright with rounded edges – dominated by a huge central touchscreen. The screen measures 12.9 inches on most trim levels, while our SEL R-Line has an even bigger 15-inch screen. Both screens support wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration. 

The old Tiguan’s interior had a drab design and unremarkable build quality. The new interior is both higher-tech and more luxurious. Traditionalists might have preferred how the old Tiguan’s interior incorporated its 6.5-inch and 8-inch touchscreens into the dashboard, but we won’t miss it. The new one is more modern and is built from nicer materials. 

2025 Volkswagen Tiguan SEL R-Line ・ Photo by Brady Holt

3. And It Has Buttons

You might assume the Tiguan’s big new screen means it follows the modern trend of dropping physical controls. Actually, it was the drab-looking old Tiguan that was missing buttons. Its conventionally arrayed climate controls and steering-wheel controls were fussy, distracting touch-sensitive panels. That’s all gone for 2025. 

The 2025 Tiguan has easy-to-use physical buttons on the steering wheel. A physical audio-volume knob (with a beautifully rendered digital display at its center) lives on the center console between the front seats. And unlike some other recent VWs, the Tiguan has physical controls for the headlamps and power windows.

The wiper controls are a little fussy due to sharing a stalk with the turn signals. And a few climate controls are inconveniently buried in the touchscreen. But overall, we liked the Tiguan’s interior layout, including its infotainment system’s customizable homescreen and attractive graphics. 

2025 Volkswagen Tiguan SEL R-Line ・ Photo by Brady Holt

4. Sporty Ride and Handling

European cars are known for sportier handling than their American or Asian counterparts, and that trend continues into the compact crossover class. The 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan has lively steering and handling for an SUV. It changes direction eagerly, and it feels natural to hustle quickly along a winding road. Selectable driving modes include adjustments to the steering feel, and you can build your own “custom” mode that pairs, say, sporty steering with fuel-saving powertrain behavior. 

The Tiguan rides well, too. The tautly tuned suspension doesn’t hide you from bumps in the road, but it’s steady and composed. And the cabin stays acceptably quiet, too. 

2025 Volkswagen Tiguan SEL R-Line ・ Photo by Brady Holt

5. Healthy-Sounding Turbo Engine With More Power on the Way

Every 2025 Tiguan comes with an upgraded version of last year’s engine. On all trim levels, that’s a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder making 201 horsepower and 207 lb-ft of torque. Those are above-average numbers for this class. The Tiguan isn’t wildly quick, but the bigger advantage is that this engine sounds better than the typical entry-level four-cylinder. It growls heartily when you dig into the throttle, rather than droning or moaning. 

The 2026 model year spices things up further with an optional upgrade to that 2.0-liter engine that makes 268 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque. Expect it to be exclusive to the SEL R-Line – and to cost several thousand dollars more than the 201-hp version, which starts at $40,505. 

Gas mileage isn’t a Tiguan highlight. Our AWD test vehicle gets an EPA-estimated 22 mpg in the city, 30 mpg on the highway, and 25 mpg combined. We did only slightly better, averaging 26 mpg in a week of mixed driving. That’s not terrible, but it’s several miles per gallon behind key rivals like the Honda CR-V and Nissan Rogue. And unlike a growing number of competitors, the Tiguan has no gas-electric hybrid option. Opting for front-wheel drive does get you an extra 3 to 4 mpg, depending on the trim level – a bigger difference than on most SUVs. 

2025 Volkswagen Tiguan SEL R-Line ・ Photo by Brady Holt

6. Comfortable Seats With Lots of Legroom

The headline change in the new Tiguan is that Volkswagen dropped the previously available third-row seat. We don’t miss it too much. It was very small and used up most of the available cargo space. 

And the seating that remains is spacious and comfortable. The front seats are well-shaped and supportive, and the rear seat has ample legroom and a high, comfortable cushion. 

Heated front seats are standard, and all but the base model include a power-adjustable driver’s seat. The top SEL R-Line also includes a heated steering wheel, ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, and even massaging front seats that work better than those in some luxury cars.

2025 Volkswagen Tiguan SEL R-Line ・ Photo by Brady Holt

7. Useful Cargo Capacity

In addition to shedding its third row, the slightly smaller 2025 Tiguan has less cargo room than its predecessor: 26.5 cubic feet behind its rear seat and 58.9 cubic feet with the rear seat folded. That’s on the small side for a mainstream-brand compact crossover, but it’s similar to what you’d find in a similarly sized luxury model. We also appreciated the usefully boxy cargo hold and the easy-to-fold seats, even if some competitors have even more room. 

The Tiguan is rated to tow 1,500 pounds with front-wheel drive and 1,800 pounds with AWD. That’s not the best of any compact crossover, but it edges out several rivals. 

2025 Volkswagen Tiguan SEL R-Line ・ Photo by Brady Holt

8. Lots of Features for the Money

The 2025 Tiguan’s starting price of $30,245 is quite reasonable these days, especially considering its long list of standard features. These include heated front seats, a 12.9-inch touchscreen, alloy wheels, rain-sensing windshield wipers, a wireless smartphone charger, automatic climate control, push-button starting, blind-spot monitoring, front and rear parking sensors, and adaptive cruise control. 

Other trim levels are the SE ($33,045, with leatherette instead of cloth upholstery, a power driver’s seat, a power liftgate, and bigger wheels); the SE R-Line ($36,205 with a panoramic sunroof, a head-up display, and sportier trim); and the SEL R-Line ($40,505 with genuine leather, ventilated and massaging front seats, heat for the rear seats and steering wheel, a 12-speaker Harman Kardon stereo, a surround-view parking camera, the biggest touchscreen, GPS navigation, and a third climate-control zone for the rear seat). The SEL R-Line also includes AWD, which is a $1,500 upcharge on other models. 

A few competitors cost less. But we see a lot of value across the Tiguan line, especially if you appreciate high-end amenities that competitors may not offer at all.

2025 Volkswagen Tiguan SEL R-Line ・ Photo by Brady Holt

9. Some Clear Advantages Over the Competition

As a premium-feeling, fun-to-drive compact crossover, the Tiguan competes most closely with the Honda CR-V, Nissan Rogue, and Mazda CX-5 and CX-50. 

The CR-V and Rogue are roomy, well-rounded vehicles with nice interiors and agreeable driving manners. Both have more cargo space and better gas mileage than the Tiguan. Of the three, the Rogue has the most luxury features while costing less than a comparably equipped CR-V or Tiguan. The CR-V is the most economical and has the simplest controls, but also the fewest extra-cost luxuries. And the Tiguan has the sprightliest handling and the spiffiest infotainment system, and neither of the others can match its upcoming 268-hp engine. 

The Mazdas challenge the Tiguan for agile handling while also having optional engine upgrades. And they’re aggressively priced. But they have small, fussy infotainment screens and a lot less rear legroom than the Volkswagen. 

We’d also shop the Tiguan against some entry-level luxury SUVs like the BMW X1, Audi Q3, Lexus NX, Mercedes-Benz GLA, Mini Countryman, and Volvo XC40. This Volkswagen has the driving manners, interior quality, technology, and high-end amenities to go toe-to-toe with these cars – or even beat them in many ways. The main downside (besides its VW badge) is that it’s not as quick, especially if you skip the costly 268-hp engine. 

Finally, if you’re looking for something less fancy than the Tiguan, the smaller Volkswagen Taos is a comfortable and pleasant crossover that’s priced from just $25,495.

2025 Nissan Rogue Platinum ・ Photo by Brady Holt

10. The Luxury Car of the Compact SUV Class

The 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan has premium-grade amenities, ride and handling, and interior ambiance. It also has the downsides of being the luxury car of its class: Like most similarly sized luxury SUVs, it burns more gasoline and has less cargo room than functionality-focused rivals. 

If that’s the tradeoff you’re willing to make, we think you’ll love the new Tiguan. Roomier than the first generation, more spunky and fun than last year’s model, and more luxuriously trimmed than either, the redesigned Tiguan is a great compact SUV for the right people. 

2025 Volkswagen Tiguan SEL R-Line ・ Photo by Brady Holt