Spotted: Tiguan TDI In Palo Alto, CA

I'm not sure where to post this, but I figured this forum gets a lot of interest, so the 101 forum it is. Ok, so I was driving with my wife today down in Palo Alto, and passed by the VW Design Center there. Something in the lot caught my eye, so I pulled in and lo and behold, there in front of us was a real Tiguan, in California no less. The pics were taken with my cell phone so the quality is so so:

Rear of car:









To me, it's very Rav4 looking but seems a big bigger, about the same size as a BMW X3. This one was in silver and looked pretty good, at least in person. As you can see, it's a tip tranny in there, and this one had cloth seats. I wanted to take more pics but I got chased away, yes, even on Easter Sunday, by an upset VW engineer.

BTW, this VW center has been there a few years and often has interesting cars on the lot. In this same lot today were some Bentleys and often times one will see weird TDI vans, not the Sharan, but more cargo type vans. There was an Audi TDI Q7 TDI there a few weeks ago, but alas, I didn't have a camera of any sort at the time.

Anyways, I know some folks are very interested in getting a Tiguan, so any look, even a few pics like this, is always helpful.

Enjoy...

whimper....

I would trade the Jetta, Beetle and Dodge Truck for one of those, but I want the rad Orange concept color.

dlai said:

BTW, this VW center has been there a few years and often has interesting cars on the lot. In this same lot today were some Bentleys and often times one will see weird TDI vans, not the Sharan, but more cargo type vans. There was an Audi TDI Q7 TDI there a few weeks ago, but alas, I didn't have a camera of any sort at the time.

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Time to buy a cheap digital camera to keep in the glovebox

N I C E snag, Dan!!

I will wait for one of those to get my wife into and get rid of her Hyundai XG350!

Very nice, how much? Good job on getting pictures of this thing. They're pretty clear for a cell phone.

Maybe this means VW will be selling the TDI version sooner rather than later. I would love to have one of these, but there's no way I'd buy the gas version.

You should have told him that it's their fault for not having them here yet, if they were here, maybe you wouldn't have to stop and look at it! Including the TDI engine that is. Thanks for sharing!

should have pounced on the VW engineer chasing you off with a barage of questions. I'm sure you could have talked your way into a test drive and some first hand info regarding the mileage.

Your mission, is to go back, stake out the TDI, and strike up a conversation with said engineer.

Taht's sweet. I'm holding off on a new vehicle, hopefully for one of these. Wifey wants to sit up higher, like a Honda CRV, so I hope this will keep her satisfied.

John C

looks like a toyota/ mazda hybrid(not the engine), but I like. ok since no one else sadi it, I GOT FIRST DIBS!!!!!

Eric B

thanks got my hopes back up, going to get trade my wifes 2001 audi a4 in for one.

I just thought, you could have seen how well the "immobilizer" worked! Although it'd be almost impossible to hi jack if you can't even look at it without getting grumbled at.

Is that parking lot on or visible from public property? They can only control what you do on private land. If you can see something from public property, you can legally take a picture of it.

Anyway, nice catch, I want one.

Well, in terms of talking with that engineer, he spoke real bad English so I would probably need someone who spoke German with me. The lot itself is on private property. The company I used to work for is right next door to it but you can see the lot from the street. Still, there's been several times where I've walked by and that place by nature is not very friendly. I suppose it's because whatever they're working on is supposed to be secret. They have a bunch of cool cars inside the place but they rarely leave the garage doors open. I remember seeing a dyno of some sort, some smog testing stuff, and lots of scopes and measuring equipment when the door was open.

wonder what google street view has a picture of...

They have a website since it's their Electronics Design Center. It's http://www.vwerl.com/

Their address is:

4009 Miranda Avenue, Suite 150
Palo Alto, California 94304

If you Google satellite it, you'll see there's trees blocking any direct view from the street but when you drive by you can see parts of the lot and cars depending on where they park. It's an area surrounded by lots of high tech companies like SAP, HP, Roche, and Tibco, to name a few...

Looks great, thanks for posting that.

I'm excited about the Tiguan, though I may settle for a gasser as I can't wait for the TDI version...

dlai said:

To me, it's very Rav4 looking but seems a big bigger, about the same size as a BMW X3. This one was in silver and looked pretty good, at least in person. As you can see, it's a tip tranny in there, and this one had cloth seats. I wanted to take more pics but I got chased away, yes, even on Easter Sunday, by an upset VW engineer.

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VW has had Tiguans at many auto shows since the premiere at the LA Auto Show in December 2006. So we know what they look like. Just nobody has actually seen one with a TDI badge on it in North America.

Would you have bothered to take pictures if you hadn't noticed the TDI badge?

Last I checked, no one had posted any pics here of a "live" TDI Tiguan in NA. Some have never seen one at all, gasser or TDI. A little explanation and my opinion is fine here, no? I have seen gasser versions of other cars in the lot that will be here in diesel form but I don't post pics of them here since this is the TDIClub. Seems you have a problem with my post, my pics, and my opinion on how it looks. Why?

looks like this made autoblog and autoblog green...

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/03/25/spotted-in-the-wild-volkswagen-tiguan-tdi-in-california/

alphaseinor said:

looks like this made autoblog and autoblog green...

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/03/25/spotted-in-the-wild-volkswagen-tiguan-tdi-in-california/

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Cool! Touche', Jerry... (TornadoRed)

Are we supposed to get a diesel Tiguan here in America? (I thought so, but can't say I've really been following all the threads on what's coming and what's not.)

dieseldorf said:

Are we supposed to get a diesel Tiguan here in America? (I thought so, but can't say I've really been following all the threads on what's coming and what's not.)

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One's never sure until it's actually here but I thought so. Here's two articles that sort of touch on it:

http://www.vwvortex.com/artman/publish/volkswagen_news/article_1906.shtml

http://tiguanvw.com/

The tiguanvw.com comments about it coming to NA is near the bottom...

Also, here's an article from Auto Scene in the Eagle Tribune which includes a quote from a VW NA PR guy who saids it will be here:

VW lays out diesel plans

Auto Scene , Jeff Zygmont
Eagle-Tribune

It seems that a lot of drivers on the Massachusetts side of the Merrimack Valley feel frustrated by the statewide ban on diesel-powered passenger cars. There is such as demand in Massachusetts that USED VW Diesels can sell for thousands over the sticker price of what it was NEW!

They will have to wait another 18 months before they can buy a new diesel from VW.

Diesel engines are inherently fuel efficient, rugged and long lasting. They also provide a lot of gutsy pulling power for tasks like towing. But when Massachusetts copied California's more stringent tailpipe-emission regulations, it effectively outlawed the sale of new diesel cars in the state. You can still buy diesel-powered cars in 45 other states. In those states through 2006, Volkswagen of America sold a trio of diesels -- versions of its Golf, Jetta, and New Beetle -- that ranked among the ten most fuel-efficient vehicles sold in America.

In mid-2008, Volkswagen will begin selling a diesel-powered version of its Jetta sedan that meets emission restrictions in all 50 states, announces Clark Campbell, public relations manager for Volkswagen of America in Auburn Hills, Mich. The car will feature a newly tooled, clean-burning 2.0-liter, four-cylinder diesel.

"Once the Jetta is in the market, look for this engine to spread to other VW models in our lineup, including our new smaller SUV, the Tiguan, around fall 2008," says Campbell.

dlai said:

Last I checked, no one had posted any pics here of a "live" TDI Tiguan in NA. Some have never seen one at all, gasser or TDI. A little explanation and my opinion is fine here, no? I have seen gasser versions of other cars in the lot that will be here in diesel form but I don't post pics of them here since this is the TDIClub. Seems you have a problem with my post, my pics, and my opinion on how it looks. Why?

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I'm not sure what thread it was, and I don't know if you consider an auto show photo to be "live", but this photo was taken Dec 10 2006 at the 2007 LA Int'l Auto Show and posted to the TDI Club.



I liked your photos, and I would have liked them if there had been no TDI badge on the back. But it would take all of 8 seconds to google "Tiguan" and click on "images".

At the most recent LA Auto Show, I remember checking out the driver's seat, climbing in the back seat, checking out the rear storage space, etc. But I apparently did not bother to take a photograph... maybe there were too many people in and around it to get a clear shot.

I consider "live" to be on the street, not in a car show. An actual vehicle on the road as the one I saw, not some car show queen. I did use Google before I posted and there are no on the road shots of an actual Tiguan TDI in the US. That is why I posted here, since I thought people here would be interested in seeing the pics.

TornadoRed said:

I'm not sure what thread it was, and I don't know if you consider an auto show photo to be "live", but this photo was taken Dec 10 2006 at the 2007 LA Int'l Auto Show and posted to the TDI Club.

I liked your photos, and I would have liked them if there had been no TDI badge on the back. But it would take all of 8 seconds to google "Tiguan" and click on "images".

At the most recent LA Auto Show, I remember checking out the driver's seat, climbing in the back seat, checking out the rear storage space, etc. But I apparently did not bother to take a photograph... maybe there were too many people in and around it to get a clear shot.

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I think you are missing the point of this thread.... Congratulations on sitting in a Tiguan. Here is a cookie.

I've never seen one in public... let alone a TDI model...

Big difference when I finally saw a TDI in person in 1996 versus on the car show circuit... still have the "totally different idea" marketing for the '96 passat from that show... very exciting times!

Even if there already were on the road posts, this is a new vehicle, still rarely seen here and I appreciate the posted pics and the time the poster took to get them.