Bought a VW Taigun 1.0 MT: Reasons for purchase & initial observations

The Taigun and Kushaq seemed to be the only cars that fit my bill and I preferred the Taigun's design and hence my money went here.

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I purchased a VW Taigun 1.0 TSI MT Highline back in October and here is my ownership report:

Why this car?

I stay in Mumbai with frequent runs to Alibaug, where I run a restaurant. Hence I needed something which has good highway manners, a great built quality to last me a few years, decent ground clearance to tackle some of the rough Alibaug roads and compact enough to squeeze through Mumbai traffic and find parking fairly easily.

The Taigun and Kushaq seemed to be the only cars that fit my bill and I preferred the Taigun's design and hence my money went here.

Why the variant?

It was purely a monetary decision, plus I didn't want the lower fuel economy of an Automatic. I paid 17.3 lacs on-road (Company reg + extended warranty + 5 yr service pack + complete insurance cover).

Interiors and features:

The interiors and features are a significant compromise compared to the Topline model (it also costs 2.5 lacs more than this one). The only feature I miss not having is keyless entry with push button start, I could live with not having a sunroof, climate control, cosmetic improvements inside and outside, projector LED lamps etc.

The seats are fabric and are quite bad. It almost feels like how a low-quality cotton t-shirt gets very rough after years of hard washing. This is especially true of the center armrest where my elbow became red after a long drive due to the rough texture grinding against my skin. The seats also absorbs a lot of dust, 2 days into taking delivery I smacked my seat and saw a cloud of dirt. I am strongly considering buying seat covers.

The Android Auto / Infotainment software is a bit 'confusing' in some aspects. There seem to be 2 modes - one with Android Auto and one without, even though both do pretty much everything except for google maps navigation (android auto only). Switching between the two gets a bit buggy at times. There are moments when the connection suddenly stops and I have to reconnect my phone. I also found on multiple occasions that Android Auto causes my phone to freeze and eventually crash. I am not sure if this is a phone problem or a system problem, yet to try this on a different phone to check.
There also is no option of answering calls from the steering-mounted controls, you have to take your eyes off the road and tap on the screen. This is a big miss especially since they have given buttons for stuff that didn't need steering-mounted buttons.

The wireless charging pad is also very glitchy. It keeps throwing up an error that the charging pad has an object disturbing it, where there is nothing. I have tried removing my case, and cleaning the phone back and the charging pad but it still refuses to work.

How does it drive?

The 1.0 is a decent all-rounded engine that has good bursts of speed to overtake and has enough stability to easily cruise at 120-140 speeds. The ride is a bit stiff at low speeds but I find myself being able to drive over small speed breakers at higher speeds without feeling any sharp movements.

The engine almost sounds like a diesel, especially in idle and lower gears. Most passengers immediately assumed I had a diesel.

I am particularly not fond of the gearbox and find it a tad notchy. I somehow struggle to find 4th gear if I need to downshift from 5. The neutral point is not actually right above 4th gear, and is more between 2nd and 4th. I had a bit of a scare as well once when I was unable to do this and eventually started slotting into 3rd directly from 5th.

The turbo lag gets a bit frustrating, especially if you want a quick overtake. If you are driving below a certain RPM in 2nd/3rd, it can take a second or two to kick in and suddenly you feel yourself getting pushed back into your seat with the burst of power. This is fun but can also get scary if you need to break suddenly.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this car. I may have mentioned most of the negatives than positives but I honestly feel this is the best multi-purpose car in the market. Small, but not too small, can tackle some rough roads well, good safety, decent engine, it seems to tick all the right boxes for someone who needs 1 car that can do it all.

The only 2 things I would want to change - the terrible seat fabric and the addition of keyless entry with push button start. Else this car is perfect. I have already racked up 1200 km in 1 month and I am looking to do a lot more!

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