Compare the2025 Nissan KicksVS 2024 Volkswagen Tiguan

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Nissan Kicks have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Volkswagen Tiguan doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Kicks are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Tiguan doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Nissan Kicks has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Tiguan doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Kicks SR offers an optional front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Tiguan doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

With its standard Autonomous Emergency Braking, the Nissan Kicks is better at preventing collisions with pedestrians than the Volkswagen Tiguan, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:

The Kicks’ driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Tiguan doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Kicks and the Tiguan have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The Nissan Kicks achieved a “Top Safety Pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the 2024 model year. This recognition was based on its impressive performance in the small overlap frontal crash test, updated side impact crash test, headlight evaluations, and pedestrian crash prevention testing. The Tiguan is not a “Top Safety Pick” for 2024.

Nissan’s powertrain warranty covers the Kicks 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Volkswagen covers the Tiguan. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Tiguan ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

The Kicks’ corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Tiguan’s (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

There are over 66 percent more Nissan dealers than there are Volkswagen dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Kicks’ warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Nissan vehicles are better in initial quality than Volkswagen vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Nissan above average in initial quality. With 75 more problems per 100 vehicles, Volkswagen is rated below average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Nissan vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen With 68 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Nissan higher than Volkswagen.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Nissan vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Nissan 10 places higher in reliability than Volkswagen.

On the EPA test cycle the Kicks gets better mileage than the Tiguan:

The Kicks has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Tiguan doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

The Kicks has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Tiguan doesn’t offer a CVT.

The Kicks stops shorter than the Tiguan:

The Kicks S’ standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Tiguan S’ standard 65 series tires.

The Kicks has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Tiguan doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Kicks SR AWD handles at .84 G’s, while the Tiguan 4Motion® pulls only .77 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

For better maneuverability, the Kicks’ turning circle is 3.3 feet tighter than the Tiguan’s (34.8 feet vs. 38.1 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Kicks has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Tiguan (8.4 vs. 7.6 inches), allowing the Kicks to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Nissan Kicks may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 700 to 750 pounds less than the Volkswagen Tiguan.

The Kicks is 1 foot, 2.2 inches shorter than the Tiguan, making the Kicks easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Kicks has .1 inches more front headroom and 2.5 inches more front legroom than the Tiguan.

The Kicks has a much larger cargo volume than the Tiguan with its rear seat up (30 vs. 12 cubic feet).

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the Kicks easier. The Kicks’ cargo hatch lift-over height is 27.9 inches, while the Tiguan’s liftover is 29.4 inches.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Kicks has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the Tiguan only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Kicks’ headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Tiguan’s headlights are rated “Acceptable.”