Cars.Com Names Tiguan “Best Compact SUV Of 2019

For the second year in a row, Volkswagen’s Tiguan has been named Cars.com’s the “Best Compact SUV of 2019.” The Tiguan’s competition was intense in Cars.com’s Compact SUV Challenge.

Many Parts Made Up The Winning Combo

A comprehensive package of driving dynamics, comfort, a quiet interior, and sophisticated multimedia system provided the winning margin for the compact SUV. “We redesigned the Tiguan the ground up last year to meet the needs of American drivers and their families,” VW chief Scott Keogh, emphasized. “Being named the ‘Best Compact SUV’ two times in a row is validation that Tiguan is a serious competitor in this segment.”

Jenn Newman, editor-in-chief of Cars.com told an interviewer that the Tiguan “returns as champion on the strength of how it drives, and you give up nothing in roominess, media, safety, and driver assistance features and cabin comfort for it.” She said the Tiguan’s victory was decisive “against the newest and best-selling in the class. It topped or tied in a staggering nine out of 16 categories.” The categories were:

• Front seats
• Rear seats
• Multimedia and controls
• Interior quality
• Powertrain
• Handling
• Noise
• Cargo
• Cargo storage
• Child-seat fitment

Vehicles Updated Or Restyled Since 2017

The Compact SUV Challenge focused on SUVs updated or redesigned since the site’s last compact SUV test in 2017 and invited back winners and runners-up that stood on the podium along with the Tiguan (Volkswagen Tiguan, Honda CR-V, and Mazda CX-5, the latter of which declined participation).

The Compact Challenge targeted higher-end trim levels with MSRP spanning from $34,000 to $40,000. Each SUV included all-wheel-drive, forward collision warning with automatic braking.

The Cars.com Compact SUV Challenge focused on SUVs updated or redesigned since the site’s last compact SUV test in 2017 and invited back podium finishers (Volkswagen Tiguan, Honda CR-V, and Mazda CX-5, the latter of which declined participation). Cars.com targeted higher-end trim levels with MSRP spanning from $34,000 to $40,000. Every SUV included all-wheel drive, forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, a sunroof, in-dash navigation, dual-zone electronic climate control and more. All included Apple CarPlay® integration and all but one Android Auto® integration.

Scoring categories included front and backseat comfort and amenities, interior quality, cargo provisions, fuel economy, child-safety seat fitment, safety, and driver-assistance features, handling, braking, ride quality and value. Testing resulted in the following ranking:

The Rankings

The 2019 Tiguan is available in seven-time levels, the S, SE, SEL, SEL R-Line Black, SEL Premium, and SEL Premium R-Line Each Tiguan comes with the industry’s best bumper-to-bumper limited Warranty of six-years or 72,000, whichever comes first. Second and subsequent owners can benefit from the transferability of the warranty throughout its term. For more information, including scoring details, photos, and videos from the Cars.com Compact SUV Challenge visit www. Cars.com/news. Pricing for the S FWD (Front-Wheel-Drive) begins at $24,295.