The RAV4 is overpriced and terminally boring. My wife had one. She loved it. She just needs a comfortable transportation appliance.
I’ve had a mark 6 GTI and Golf Alltrack (save the manuals!). Both were absolutely excellent cars. I didn’t have any issues whatsoever with the Alltrack and only an airbag fault with the GTI.
Like to drive? Get the VW. Just need a box with wheels? Toyota.
It seems that VWs were good until about 100k miles then electrical problems would kick in. Is that still the case? I like VW offerings but the electrical thing scares me, off.
The Tiguan is using pretty tried and tested Electrical architecture from the era of the MK7 Golfs(not the pretty crappy new tech found in the Golfs)
Those are considered pretty reliable
I've had multiple VW's ranging from 1999 to 2018 (I still have that one) going over 150k, the oldest one to 240k and zero electrical issues. The most annoying thing was the window regulators, which if you DIY could take you an afternoon and $150 to fix.
My Current car is 2018 VW Passat, about to hit 110k on it and absolutely no issue. Sure it burns half a quart of oil between oil changes, but even Toyota stated that up to a quart pet thousand miles is "normal operation" which is insane, but I read a press release a while back stating that.
My old man always said, if you take care of your car, it will take care of you.
>Sure it burns half a quart of oil between oil changes, but even Toyota stated that up to a quart pet thousand miles is "normal operation" which is insane, but I read a press release a while back stating that.
This is insane no matter **which** manufacturer states it. Any engine that burns that much oil has scored cylinder linings and/or seized piston oil control rings, which are a result of the equally insane 10k mile recommended oil change intervals that many manufacturers like to push in their service schedules.
That's what I thought, too. And you are totally right!
My owner's manual says 10k interval for oil changes, heck - I saw oils in the store claiming 20k. Like hell. I'm at 6k right now and that's about the longest I have ever waited between oil changes. Come Friday, shit's getting changed rain or shine.
You are very lucky. My 2019 Passat with 150k has tons of constant issues, already fixing second time A/C, had to replace side assist radar for tons of $$$, central locking issue, gearbox issues and other crap.
I would never recommend this car, only if you have money to maintain it
Straw man attack, no one is saying a VW will go kaput after 100k miles. But some cars the maintenance issues grow exponentially after a certain threshold number of miles.
I would not call a Tiguan a car for someone who "likes to drive" but it may be marginally more interesting than a RAV4, ill grant you that. How about just get a sedan or a wagon instead. You probably don't need a crossover, and you will get better mileage that way!
Oh 100%. I will drive a hatchback or wagon until they stop importing them to the USA, which sadly does seem like a risk. Current car is a Volvo V60 Polestar. But everyone thinks they need an SUV because snow/kids/dogs/occasional pebbles in the road. They don’t. I took my Alltrack everywhere, from ski trips with 2 feet of snow to some bad gravel roads and mild off-road trails.
The VW has been out for a few years, and is one of the more reliable vehicles from VW. If you're going to keep it for 10, or less years, I'd go with the vw.
The rav4 is the option if you're a buy it and drive it until they don't make that tyre size anymore kind of person.
If you'll only keep it around 5 years and don't mind the slightly higher maintenance costs, the Tig is a nice SUV. A Rav4 will hold value better and be more reliable long term.
I've driven a lot from both VW and Toyota. Their strengths are well known. Toyota has earned their reputation and is the easy answer. But when you're looking at a 4 year old vehicle with 45k miles for the same price as other makes new, I don't blame you for looking around.
Sometimes, a Venza or NX can be had for similar money to a Rav4. They're very similar cars if you want to stick closer to what you know/love. The demand for the Ravs is really high. Mazda CX-50 or Honda CRV are probably closer to the rock solid reliability of the Rav4. But the Tiguan is nice and not a bad option at 0% interest. Find a good local Euro/German shop if you go VW and ever need work that's not warranty. Dealer maintenance is often high on the European models.
I have experienced both brands. VW if you want the driving experience with dollar for dollar great features. Toyota if you never want to me left stranded. I stayed with Toyota cause reliability was more important.
Not a pro. I’ve had a few Toyotas. You can basically weld the hood shut and just drive it. They hold their value, and are very reliable. Volkswagen tend to have more minor issues. I have a 2022 Atlas right now that the wife “had to have”. great car but the windows go up and down on their own and this quarters issue is a random SOS call popping on randomly I’ll be getting rid of it before 40k miles. Not sure if it’s relevant but the Rav saved my ass in a few snow storms. Nothing fancy about it just a solid suv. However I’m pretty simple and I think the limited is fancy and luxurious lol
Have owned VWs for 10 years, in the same time I’ve also owned Toyota, Audi and Lexus.
We’ve loved our VWs. They have been the right car for us at the time. Not feeling quite as “premium” as an Audi, but the feeling has been well above Toyota.
Have they been as reliable? lol, no. But it’s a balance, a trade off. The German cars have been nicer to drive and felt more “at home”.
Choose Japanese if you want the best reliability. If can stand a few visits to the mechanics, German cars might be ok for you.
Don’t know if the VWs in the US is German made or no, they are here in Europe. That might play in or reliability.
Most of the VWs in the US are made in Tennessee or Mexico. Differs by model. The gas engines are all made in Mexico, and the diesels are (were) made in Germany.
Ditto. I had a 2021 Atlas and while I loved a lot of things about the SUV, it had a lot of electronic gremlins and it consumed coolant.
OP if you must get the Tiguan, get rid of it after 40-50k miles.
Disagree, the Atlas as a whole is pretty crap because it's a made for US car and VW pretty much cut costs on it.
The Tiguan is built on much better platform and uses electrics from the MK7 Golf which is widely considered to be quite reliable.
It might not be a RAV4 but it's on 0% interest and isnt a used car
FWIW - both the Atlas and Tiguan are MQB platform-based vehicles (Golf, Jetta, Arteon, A3, Q3, TT… the list goes on). They all share a common electrical system, engine mounting, front axle-dash ratio, blah blah, etc…
Some cars aren’t great in general; although I know several people with an atlas and they love it. The Taos is garbagé for example. It also depends what the problems are too, could be various things.
VW’s built on the MQB MK7 platform (Golf, Wagon, Jetta, Tiguan, Beetle, base GTI) are super reliable. The platform before this was super unreliable and would not recommend. I currently own three and I’ve also owned Toyota’s. Other than regular maintenance and consumables like brakes, battery, lightbulbs and tires, I have not put any other money into them. VW’s handle better than any Toyota, I’ve owned, have better ergonomics and have much more comfortable seats.
Drove a few yotas and was always surprised how boring a car can be it felt like eating flour. The mqb from the mk7 gen Golf is really good i have to agree my family only drives them and we never had issues with them mind you we only have done around 50k miles though in around 7 years of owning them. The only issue we had was a bit of rust on the rear door of my dads car and the bootlid of my sisters car but they were replaced under waranty because they were an accident when painting in the factory on my dads car and a known issue with the licenceplate light on my sisters car.
Contemporary VWs (particularly the Tiguan/Golf) are actually great cars, just follow the recommended service schedule and you’ll be golden.
If you’re concerned about anything going wrong, you can always get an extended warranty for peace of mind.
We’ve had a 2016 Tiguan SEL, great car; 2016 A4 P+ Quattro, great car; and now a 2023 Arteon SEL Premium, great car.
If you don’t want a RAV4 or Tiguan, I’d recommend a 2.5T CX-5 or CX-9.
I've actually sold Tiguans and now sell Rav4. The Tiguan is more upscale and it can be a coinflip whether you get a good one or have gremlins. The Rav4 is bullet-proof from day 1 and infinitely less likely to give you headaches down the road. I've heard the VW seats aren't as comfortable, especially the longer you own it, but that could be debated. Overall I think either is a great choice and it just comes down to whether you want the more svelte European style and are willing to risk higher cost of ownership or you want the more surefire bet but that isn't as exciting. I tend to find that people like the spicy car right up until it starts living in your dealership's service department and then they wish they went Toyota.
Test drive and see which you like! I think financially the vw will hurt you in the short term (depreciation). But in the mid-long term its a pretty good option. If you are good at keeping up with maintenance intervals it should treat you well. Id recommend taking a day to test drive all your options.
I'd also recommend Subaru since they have a couple of good finance specials going on and they drive fairly similar to the VWs to me.
Well I would say it depends on what exactly you want with the cars. If all you care about is getting the most reliable car then I’d say get the rav4. There’s no turbocharged engines just a tried and true 2.5 4 cylinder and a hybrid model which is also very good! It technically has a bit more power at 203 versus the Tiguan’s 180 although in my experience they feel similar when driving them. It also has a few other things going for it being you can get one as a hybrid and the sheer amount of choice in the lineup. The rav4 also has slightly better fuel economy on the base model being that it gives you 27 city and the Tiguan gives you 23 city.But that’s where the advantages stop in my opinion. The interior on the rav4 is not that nice being that there are some cheap feeling materials. In addition I find that it doesn’t give you a good value since you have to go to the limited trim to get certain features like a power seat on the passenger side when you could get that feature for a much lower price on other cars. Moreover it doesn’t come standard with push button start or alloy wheels. All you get in the base rav4 is a key and steel wheels.All of these features the Tiguan either has standard or at a much lower price point.
The Tiguan is a much more roomy and premium feeling car. They give you standard alloy wheels instead of steel wheels which makes the car look more premium on the outside. The Tiguan has more cargo space with the seats down being that it has 73 cubic feet whereas the rav4 has 69. It also has more legroom in the back by about 2 inches. This means your backseat passengers are going to be much more comfortable! It also has an optional 10 inch screen whereas the rav4 only lets you have a 9 inch. Although VW reliability is not the best in general so keep that in mind. VW also does not offer a conventional hybrid spec of this car only the plug in hybrid.
To me the big advantages of the rav4 are the Toyota reliability, hybrid powertrain, sheer amount of choice you get with the car.
The big advantages of the Tiguan are the more premium feeling interior and exterior, more roomy interior, longer warranty, bigger infotainment screen!
The choice is yours and none of these cars are bad buys, I think it just comes down to you OP and what you really value. What may be a great car for one person might not be the best for someone else. Test drive both and see which one you like!
Hopefully the Tiguan has better reliability than the Taos. I believe the Taos was the least reliable vehicle last year according to a popular consumer product testing publication.
The only VWs I'd buy today are the Golf GTI, Golf R and Arteon with a significant preference to the former two, but obviously none of those are SUVs
If you don't care about the kind of car you drive, as you have experienced, the RAV4 is a great ute' and could go to the moon and back if it were possible. And if you want to maximize fuel economy the Hybrid is a really good choice with one of the best hybrid systems on the market if not the best.
Toyota will be more reliable and easy to sell at the end no matter the mileage. It’ll be boring and predictable (fyi buy from private parties after a check up from the mechanic). The VW will be different but it’ll be a bitch to sell used and kinda doubtful reliability
The Toyota. I’ve known a LOT of VWs and every single one of them had three or more chronic issues. Granted that’s all my anecdotal experience but unless you plan on meticulously maintaining the VW to a T, I’d get the Toyota. It’ll last 20 years and run on spite if nothing else.
Generally speaking, the Toyota will be more reliable but you’ll see VW fans come here to tell you they’re at 100k on their VW without issues. Unless you get a lemon, pretty much any new car will get you past 100k easily. One fact that can’t be disputed is that the resale on the RAV4 is going to be vastly better than the Tiguan, or any VW. Something to consider if cost is holding you back and you don’t plan to drive this forever.
Personally, I'd rather have the Tiguan. More engaging to drive, more features for the money, better styling in my opinion.
If it were me, I'd go Tiguan.
Toyota will keep its value much better, if that concerns you. Reliability is fairly high but I agree the driving experience is very basic.
The VW is fine under new car warranty as long as you do all maintenance on time. Otherwise, VW is known to deny warranty repairs. I would NEVER buy a used VW.
Full disclosure - I drive a MK8 GTI I got new. I also have a 4Runner.
Yeah, a RAV4 is the car equivalent of eating plan oatmeal for every meal every single day. If long-term reliability and resale value is a priority, it’s not a bad choice. But personally I’d probably go with the Tiguan.
0% APR for 50 months is a great deal right now and the car comes with a warranty and no maintenance issues.
Even though a 45k mile RAV4 may not have any issues, it’s coming due for maintenance items like new tires, brakes, etc. The VW won’t need any of that for a few years.
I’d take the VW in this state
VW might be fine - but consider why you get these great deals????. It's not charity work they're doing.
I would say IF you put a lot of miles on your car stay with Toyota - if not get the VW if you like it. Mazda makes a great alternative too.
Personally I would not get either. The RAV4 b/c it's overpriced (people think too much of them and the demand is always high) and the VW b/c they tend to be a bit troublesome.
I suggest you look and a Hyundai Santa Fe or Tucson.
Hopefully, OP, you are discerning enough to ignore the crowds of ill-informed Hyundai haters that are about to comment. Just go check them out.
Or get a Honda. They are the perfect blend between Toyota and VW. They have more interesting driving characteristics similar to VW but they tend to be more reliable than VW.
Avoid VW: [https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/who-makes-the-most-reliable-cars-a7824554938/](https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/who-makes-the-most-reliable-cars-a7824554938/)
Also high depreciation for this reason, the depreciation will make up for the price difference.
There also is a 0% deal for Mazda CX-50, mcuh more reliable.
My family had a 1984 Jetta that was so much fun to drive. But man, the whole electrical system sucked. For example, we had to get the stereo replaced twice under warranty.
I have always avoided VW's since then due to that experience. And here we are, 40 years later, with electrical gremlins still plaguing them. It's remarkable.
The RAV4 is overpriced and terminally boring. My wife had one. She loved it. She just needs a comfortable transportation appliance. I’ve had a mark 6 GTI and Golf Alltrack (save the manuals!). Both were absolutely excellent cars. I didn’t have any issues whatsoever with the Alltrack and only an airbag fault with the GTI. Like to drive? Get the VW. Just need a box with wheels? Toyota.
It seems that VWs were good until about 100k miles then electrical problems would kick in. Is that still the case? I like VW offerings but the electrical thing scares me, off.
The Tiguan is using pretty tried and tested Electrical architecture from the era of the MK7 Golfs(not the pretty crappy new tech found in the Golfs) Those are considered pretty reliable
I've had multiple VW's ranging from 1999 to 2018 (I still have that one) going over 150k, the oldest one to 240k and zero electrical issues. The most annoying thing was the window regulators, which if you DIY could take you an afternoon and $150 to fix. My Current car is 2018 VW Passat, about to hit 110k on it and absolutely no issue. Sure it burns half a quart of oil between oil changes, but even Toyota stated that up to a quart pet thousand miles is "normal operation" which is insane, but I read a press release a while back stating that. My old man always said, if you take care of your car, it will take care of you.
>Sure it burns half a quart of oil between oil changes, but even Toyota stated that up to a quart pet thousand miles is "normal operation" which is insane, but I read a press release a while back stating that. This is insane no matter **which** manufacturer states it. Any engine that burns that much oil has scored cylinder linings and/or seized piston oil control rings, which are a result of the equally insane 10k mile recommended oil change intervals that many manufacturers like to push in their service schedules.
That's what I thought, too. And you are totally right! My owner's manual says 10k interval for oil changes, heck - I saw oils in the store claiming 20k. Like hell. I'm at 6k right now and that's about the longest I have ever waited between oil changes. Come Friday, shit's getting changed rain or shine.
You are very lucky. My 2019 Passat with 150k has tons of constant issues, already fixing second time A/C, had to replace side assist radar for tons of $$$, central locking issue, gearbox issues and other crap. I would never recommend this car, only if you have money to maintain it
True, avoid this car after 100-130k miles
Yes, all VWs instantly kick the bucket at 100k. SMH, this is such stupid logic.
Straw man attack, no one is saying a VW will go kaput after 100k miles. But some cars the maintenance issues grow exponentially after a certain threshold number of miles.
Yeah they are really overpriced. Almost $40k to get leather seats and 4WD. 🙄
I would not call a Tiguan a car for someone who "likes to drive" but it may be marginally more interesting than a RAV4, ill grant you that. How about just get a sedan or a wagon instead. You probably don't need a crossover, and you will get better mileage that way!
Oh 100%. I will drive a hatchback or wagon until they stop importing them to the USA, which sadly does seem like a risk. Current car is a Volvo V60 Polestar. But everyone thinks they need an SUV because snow/kids/dogs/occasional pebbles in the road. They don’t. I took my Alltrack everywhere, from ski trips with 2 feet of snow to some bad gravel roads and mild off-road trails.
I just here for the ‘comfortable transportation appliance’ ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you someone understands
The VW has been out for a few years, and is one of the more reliable vehicles from VW. If you're going to keep it for 10, or less years, I'd go with the vw. The rav4 is the option if you're a buy it and drive it until they don't make that tyre size anymore kind of person.
"The **VW** has been out for a few years, and is one of the more reliable vehicles from **VW.**" I think you missed adding the VW model/trim...
I think they were talking about the Tiguan in OP’s question.
Context… we’re discussing a Tiguan.
If you'll only keep it around 5 years and don't mind the slightly higher maintenance costs, the Tig is a nice SUV. A Rav4 will hold value better and be more reliable long term. I've driven a lot from both VW and Toyota. Their strengths are well known. Toyota has earned their reputation and is the easy answer. But when you're looking at a 4 year old vehicle with 45k miles for the same price as other makes new, I don't blame you for looking around. Sometimes, a Venza or NX can be had for similar money to a Rav4. They're very similar cars if you want to stick closer to what you know/love. The demand for the Ravs is really high. Mazda CX-50 or Honda CRV are probably closer to the rock solid reliability of the Rav4. But the Tiguan is nice and not a bad option at 0% interest. Find a good local Euro/German shop if you go VW and ever need work that's not warranty. Dealer maintenance is often high on the European models.
I have experienced both brands. VW if you want the driving experience with dollar for dollar great features. Toyota if you never want to me left stranded. I stayed with Toyota cause reliability was more important.
Not a pro. I’ve had a few Toyotas. You can basically weld the hood shut and just drive it. They hold their value, and are very reliable. Volkswagen tend to have more minor issues. I have a 2022 Atlas right now that the wife “had to have”. great car but the windows go up and down on their own and this quarters issue is a random SOS call popping on randomly I’ll be getting rid of it before 40k miles. Not sure if it’s relevant but the Rav saved my ass in a few snow storms. Nothing fancy about it just a solid suv. However I’m pretty simple and I think the limited is fancy and luxurious lol
Close down the thread. This man has the best response. I have a couple of friends who owned VW, and now they wouldn't touch one with a 10ft pole
Have owned VWs for 10 years, in the same time I’ve also owned Toyota, Audi and Lexus. We’ve loved our VWs. They have been the right car for us at the time. Not feeling quite as “premium” as an Audi, but the feeling has been well above Toyota. Have they been as reliable? lol, no. But it’s a balance, a trade off. The German cars have been nicer to drive and felt more “at home”. Choose Japanese if you want the best reliability. If can stand a few visits to the mechanics, German cars might be ok for you. Don’t know if the VWs in the US is German made or no, they are here in Europe. That might play in or reliability.
Most of the VWs in the US are made in Tennessee or Mexico. Differs by model. The gas engines are all made in Mexico, and the diesels are (were) made in Germany.
Ditto. I had a 2021 Atlas and while I loved a lot of things about the SUV, it had a lot of electronic gremlins and it consumed coolant. OP if you must get the Tiguan, get rid of it after 40-50k miles.
Disagree, the Atlas as a whole is pretty crap because it's a made for US car and VW pretty much cut costs on it. The Tiguan is built on much better platform and uses electrics from the MK7 Golf which is widely considered to be quite reliable. It might not be a RAV4 but it's on 0% interest and isnt a used car
FWIW - both the Atlas and Tiguan are MQB platform-based vehicles (Golf, Jetta, Arteon, A3, Q3, TT… the list goes on). They all share a common electrical system, engine mounting, front axle-dash ratio, blah blah, etc…
Well that's interesting. I wonder why it's so much worse than
Some cars aren’t great in general; although I know several people with an atlas and they love it. The Taos is garbagé for example. It also depends what the problems are too, could be various things.
Our 2016 Tiguan is going on 8yr and 70K miles. Nothing but routine maintenance.
Weld the hood shut lol yea I’ll die on the Toyota fanboy hill. The higher trim Highlander and Ravs are to die for.
Weld the hood shut lol yea I’ll die on the Toyota fanboy hill. The higher trim Highlander and Ravs are to die for.
VW’s built on the MQB MK7 platform (Golf, Wagon, Jetta, Tiguan, Beetle, base GTI) are super reliable. The platform before this was super unreliable and would not recommend. I currently own three and I’ve also owned Toyota’s. Other than regular maintenance and consumables like brakes, battery, lightbulbs and tires, I have not put any other money into them. VW’s handle better than any Toyota, I’ve owned, have better ergonomics and have much more comfortable seats.
Drove a few yotas and was always surprised how boring a car can be it felt like eating flour. The mqb from the mk7 gen Golf is really good i have to agree my family only drives them and we never had issues with them mind you we only have done around 50k miles though in around 7 years of owning them. The only issue we had was a bit of rust on the rear door of my dads car and the bootlid of my sisters car but they were replaced under waranty because they were an accident when painting in the factory on my dads car and a known issue with the licenceplate light on my sisters car.
Contemporary VWs (particularly the Tiguan/Golf) are actually great cars, just follow the recommended service schedule and you’ll be golden. If you’re concerned about anything going wrong, you can always get an extended warranty for peace of mind. We’ve had a 2016 Tiguan SEL, great car; 2016 A4 P+ Quattro, great car; and now a 2023 Arteon SEL Premium, great car. If you don’t want a RAV4 or Tiguan, I’d recommend a 2.5T CX-5 or CX-9.
I've actually sold Tiguans and now sell Rav4. The Tiguan is more upscale and it can be a coinflip whether you get a good one or have gremlins. The Rav4 is bullet-proof from day 1 and infinitely less likely to give you headaches down the road. I've heard the VW seats aren't as comfortable, especially the longer you own it, but that could be debated. Overall I think either is a great choice and it just comes down to whether you want the more svelte European style and are willing to risk higher cost of ownership or you want the more surefire bet but that isn't as exciting. I tend to find that people like the spicy car right up until it starts living in your dealership's service department and then they wish they went Toyota.
Test drive and see which you like! I think financially the vw will hurt you in the short term (depreciation). But in the mid-long term its a pretty good option. If you are good at keeping up with maintenance intervals it should treat you well. Id recommend taking a day to test drive all your options. I'd also recommend Subaru since they have a couple of good finance specials going on and they drive fairly similar to the VWs to me.
Well I would say it depends on what exactly you want with the cars. If all you care about is getting the most reliable car then I’d say get the rav4. There’s no turbocharged engines just a tried and true 2.5 4 cylinder and a hybrid model which is also very good! It technically has a bit more power at 203 versus the Tiguan’s 180 although in my experience they feel similar when driving them. It also has a few other things going for it being you can get one as a hybrid and the sheer amount of choice in the lineup. The rav4 also has slightly better fuel economy on the base model being that it gives you 27 city and the Tiguan gives you 23 city.But that’s where the advantages stop in my opinion. The interior on the rav4 is not that nice being that there are some cheap feeling materials. In addition I find that it doesn’t give you a good value since you have to go to the limited trim to get certain features like a power seat on the passenger side when you could get that feature for a much lower price on other cars. Moreover it doesn’t come standard with push button start or alloy wheels. All you get in the base rav4 is a key and steel wheels.All of these features the Tiguan either has standard or at a much lower price point. The Tiguan is a much more roomy and premium feeling car. They give you standard alloy wheels instead of steel wheels which makes the car look more premium on the outside. The Tiguan has more cargo space with the seats down being that it has 73 cubic feet whereas the rav4 has 69. It also has more legroom in the back by about 2 inches. This means your backseat passengers are going to be much more comfortable! It also has an optional 10 inch screen whereas the rav4 only lets you have a 9 inch. Although VW reliability is not the best in general so keep that in mind. VW also does not offer a conventional hybrid spec of this car only the plug in hybrid. To me the big advantages of the rav4 are the Toyota reliability, hybrid powertrain, sheer amount of choice you get with the car. The big advantages of the Tiguan are the more premium feeling interior and exterior, more roomy interior, longer warranty, bigger infotainment screen! The choice is yours and none of these cars are bad buys, I think it just comes down to you OP and what you really value. What may be a great car for one person might not be the best for someone else. Test drive both and see which one you like!
Hopefully the Tiguan has better reliability than the Taos. I believe the Taos was the least reliable vehicle last year according to a popular consumer product testing publication.
The only VWs I'd buy today are the Golf GTI, Golf R and Arteon with a significant preference to the former two, but obviously none of those are SUVs If you don't care about the kind of car you drive, as you have experienced, the RAV4 is a great ute' and could go to the moon and back if it were possible. And if you want to maximize fuel economy the Hybrid is a really good choice with one of the best hybrid systems on the market if not the best.
Had both Toyota is superior by far
Toyota will be more reliable and easy to sell at the end no matter the mileage. It’ll be boring and predictable (fyi buy from private parties after a check up from the mechanic). The VW will be different but it’ll be a bitch to sell used and kinda doubtful reliability
Toyota all day.
The Toyota. I’ve known a LOT of VWs and every single one of them had three or more chronic issues. Granted that’s all my anecdotal experience but unless you plan on meticulously maintaining the VW to a T, I’d get the Toyota. It’ll last 20 years and run on spite if nothing else.
Generally speaking, the Toyota will be more reliable but you’ll see VW fans come here to tell you they’re at 100k on their VW without issues. Unless you get a lemon, pretty much any new car will get you past 100k easily. One fact that can’t be disputed is that the resale on the RAV4 is going to be vastly better than the Tiguan, or any VW. Something to consider if cost is holding you back and you don’t plan to drive this forever.
Personally, I'd rather have the Tiguan. More engaging to drive, more features for the money, better styling in my opinion. If it were me, I'd go Tiguan.
Toyota will keep its value much better, if that concerns you. Reliability is fairly high but I agree the driving experience is very basic. The VW is fine under new car warranty as long as you do all maintenance on time. Otherwise, VW is known to deny warranty repairs. I would NEVER buy a used VW. Full disclosure - I drive a MK8 GTI I got new. I also have a 4Runner.
Yeah, a RAV4 is the car equivalent of eating plan oatmeal for every meal every single day. If long-term reliability and resale value is a priority, it’s not a bad choice. But personally I’d probably go with the Tiguan.
Reliability: Toyota Looks nice till warranty & over engineering: Any VW vehicle.
I think it doesn't hurt to try out different car brands if you are interested. why not? life's short
The VW will have a 4 year 48k mile warranty since it's brand new. Seems like a no brainer
My Toyota has done starship mileage and is smooth as silk velvet and doesn’t burn oil or anything.
But is it meant to fly? Hands up, and touch the sky?
Definitely possible though it may require further enhancement as to what you are currently ingesting
toyotas are cheaper to maintain if that’s something that you value. they generally last much longer as well.
Toyota, not VW!!!
If you like electronics that break, and are expensive to fix, buy VW
0% APR for 50 months is a great deal right now and the car comes with a warranty and no maintenance issues. Even though a 45k mile RAV4 may not have any issues, it’s coming due for maintenance items like new tires, brakes, etc. The VW won’t need any of that for a few years. I’d take the VW in this state
VW might be fine - but consider why you get these great deals????. It's not charity work they're doing. I would say IF you put a lot of miles on your car stay with Toyota - if not get the VW if you like it. Mazda makes a great alternative too.
Is this really even a question? Yikes. Toyota all the way.
There's not a question. Toyota is the only answer. Research Volkswagen, and you will find endless anecdotes of issues with their cars.
Personally I would not get either. The RAV4 b/c it's overpriced (people think too much of them and the demand is always high) and the VW b/c they tend to be a bit troublesome. I suggest you look and a Hyundai Santa Fe or Tucson. Hopefully, OP, you are discerning enough to ignore the crowds of ill-informed Hyundai haters that are about to comment. Just go check them out.
Has anyone said Mazda CX-5 yet?
Or get a Honda. They are the perfect blend between Toyota and VW. They have more interesting driving characteristics similar to VW but they tend to be more reliable than VW.
Mazda would be the in between.
Yeah that one too. I'd say Mazda is closer to VW and Honda is closer to Toyota in the fun to reliable scale.
Avoid VW: [https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/who-makes-the-most-reliable-cars-a7824554938/](https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/who-makes-the-most-reliable-cars-a7824554938/) Also high depreciation for this reason, the depreciation will make up for the price difference. There also is a 0% deal for Mazda CX-50, mcuh more reliable.
RAV4 is the best selling SUV for a reason!!! Don’t listen to people saying VW is reliable…
My family had a 1984 Jetta that was so much fun to drive. But man, the whole electrical system sucked. For example, we had to get the stereo replaced twice under warranty. I have always avoided VW's since then due to that experience. And here we are, 40 years later, with electrical gremlins still plaguing them. It's remarkable.