Used car reviews say that Volkswagen Tiguan was game changer in competitive market of soft-roaders provided space was not a priority. After Volkswagen launched Tiguan in the year 2008, there was a stir in segment of compact soft-roaders. It brought along with the reputation of Volkswagen for strong dynamic performers along with European flair.

Along with lots of competition (mostly from Japan & South Korea), Tiguan got the work cut out, particularly as it wasnt anywhere close to roomy, including the X-Trail of Nissan or high-selling Forester from Subaru.

While shopping for Tiguan, you should pay a lot for a car which doesnt have a lot of options. The European manufacturers are pretty good for conjuring the lists of options & VW isnt any different. Some of the Tiguans are equipped well than the others.

For instance, used car reviews say that the leather trim costs about $4000 & a lot of buyers cant see any benefit. Rear-viewing camera which should be arguably standard for all the soft-roaders is available only as optional extra & bundled along with sat nav package, and this adds $3000 to $5000.

Few buyers are attracted to Volkswagen as it isnt South Korean or Japanese. However, brand snobbery only gets you so far & one can argue that Tiguan lacks build quality & reliability of few contemporaries.

''DSG'' Quick-thinking dual-clutch auto gear box is known to have some problems, with few vehicles needing new transmissions. For being fair, it looks like Volkswagen has done right thing here but any DSG which clunks or shudders in to gear or just cant make its mind about which gear to get can be trouble.

Turbo engine of diesel is really robust but requires that the cam belt is replaced for every 100,000 kms.

As hard-working diesel, you need to give it regular maintenance, and hence service record is really essential part in any of the used Tiguan, says used car reviews.

For the petrol engines, excellent ''twincharged'' 125kW 1.4-litres engine for Golf GT was not available in Tiguan. Instead, choice was amongst 2 x 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged units 1 with power of 125kW or 147kW model borrowed from Golf GTI.

All of these engines delivered well and hence up-to-date & stamped service hand book is needed. Maybe biggest issues of quality that faces Volkswagens in past couple of years are having niggles with the electrics & trim.

Ill-fitting carpets & water leaks in 2008, when Tiguan first came out but there wasnt any guarantee that the bits & pieces would not stop working for moments of inconvenience.

You should check each of the power window for making sure that the sun roof works & isnt leaking. The water stains on headlining are signs that the water is getting inside & blocked channels drain of are likely culprit. Used car reviews say that you should check all the buttons & dials to see if the work, especially satnav & Bluetooth. They should be checked through phone connections. The biggest problem for the would-be customers is load space Tiguan's which is really less.