Compare the2025 Volvo XC40VS 2024 Volkswagen Tiguan

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Volvo XC40 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Volkswagen Tiguan doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.

The XC40’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Tiguan doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the XC40 and Tiguan have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The XC40 Ultra has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Tiguan’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

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 XC40 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 Volvo XC40 has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps 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 XC40 has a standard Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WHIPS allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. At the same time the pretensioning seatbelts fire, removing slack from the belts. The Tiguan doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the XC40. But it costs extra on the Tiguan.

The XC40’s 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 XC40 and the Tiguan have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available around view monitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Volvo XC40 is safer than the Volkswagen Tiguan:

	XC40	Tiguan
OVERALL STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	200	260
Neck Injury Risk	30%	37%
Neck Stress	209 lbs.	417 lbs.
Neck Compression	25 lbs.	80 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	361/380 lbs.	408/641 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
Chest Compression	.5 inches	.7 inches
Neck Injury Risk	31%	37%
Neck Stress	156 lbs.	261 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	397/411 lbs.	428/471 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Volvo XC40 is safer than the Volkswagen Tiguan:

	XC40	Tiguan
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Hip Force	320 lbs.	337 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	119	156
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	237	330
Spine Acceleration	33 G’s	49 G’s
Hip Force	411 lbs.	855 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the XC40 is 1.3% less likely to roll over than the Tiguan.

Warranty

The XC40’s corrosion warranty is 5 years and unlimited miles longer than the Tiguan’s (12/unlimited vs. 7/100,000).

Volvo pays for scheduled maintenance on the XC40 for 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Volkswagen pays for maintenance for the Tiguan (3/30,000 vs. 2/20,000).

Reliability

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the XC40 has a standard 760-amp battery. The Tiguan’s 360-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the XC40’s reliability 12 points higher than the Tiguan.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Volvo vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen With 22 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Volvo higher than Volkswagen.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Volvo vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Volvo 2 places higher in reliability than Volkswagen.

Engine

The XC40’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 63 more horsepower (247 vs. 184) and 37 lbs.-ft. more torque (258 vs. 221) than the Tiguan’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Car and Driver the Volvo XC40 is faster than the Volkswagen Tiguan:

	XC40	Tiguan
Zero to 60 MPH	6.1 sec	9.1 sec
Zero to 100 MPH	16.7 sec	25.9 sec
5 to 60 MPH Rolling Start	7.3 sec	9.7 sec
Quarter Mile	14.7 sec	16.9 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	94 MPH	83 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the XC40 gets better mileage than the Tiguan:

			MPG
XC40
	AWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl. Hybrid	23 city/30 hwy
Tiguan
	AWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	22 city/29 hwy
		R-Line 2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	22 city/29 hwy

Regenerative brakes improve the XC40’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Tiguan doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

The XC40 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.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the XC40’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Tiguan:

	XC40	Tiguan
Front Rotors	13.6 inches	13.4 inches
Rear Rotors	11.9 inches	11.8 inches

The XC40 stops much shorter than the Tiguan:

	XC40	Tiguan
60 to 0 MPH	111 feet	134 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the XC40 has larger standard tires than the Tiguan (235/55R18 vs. 215/65R17).

The XC40’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 55 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Tiguan S’ standard 65 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the XC40 has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels are standard on the Tiguan S.

Suspension and Handling

The XC40 has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Tiguan’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the XC40 is .8 inches wider in the front and 2.1 inches wider in the rear than on the Tiguan.

The XC40 B5 Ultra handles at .85 G’s, while the Tiguan 4Motion® pulls only .82 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The XC40 B5 Plus executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Tiguan 4Motion® (27.4 seconds @ .62 average G’s vs. 28.3 seconds @ .58 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the XC40’s turning circle is .7 feet tighter than the Tiguan’s (37.4 feet vs. 38.1 feet).

For greater off-road capability the XC40 has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Tiguan (8.1 vs. 7.6 inches), allowing the XC40 to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

Chassis

The XC40 is 11.3 inches shorter than the Tiguan, making the XC40 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Passenger Space

The XC40 has .7 inches more front legroom, .2 inches more front hip room, .2 inches more rear headroom, 1.1 inches more rear hip room and .5 inches more rear shoulder room than the Tiguan.

Cargo Capacity

The XC40 has a much larger cargo volume than the Tiguan with its rear seat up (20.4 vs. 12 cubic feet).

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the XC40. The Tiguan doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

Towing

The XC40’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Tiguan’s (3500 vs. 1500 pounds).

Optional Trailer Stability Assist (TSA) on the XC40 uses the Dynamic Stability and Traction Control sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. The Tiguan doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

Ergonomics

If the windows are left open on the XC40 the driver can close them all at the outside door handle or from a distance using the remote. On a hot day the driver can also lower the windows the same way. The driver of the Tiguan can’t use the remote to operate the windows.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the XC40 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 XC40’s standard rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Tiguan has an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

The Volvo XC40 has power folding mirrors that offer unparalleled convenience while maneuvering in tight places or parked. With the mirrors folded it’s easier to walk past and help prevent parking damage. The mirrors can be quickly unfolded when the driver is ready to leave. Power folding mirrors are only offered on the Tiguan SEL Premium R-Line.

Both the XC40 and the Tiguan have standard heated front seats. The XC40 also offers optional heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated second row seats aren’t available in the Tiguan.

The XC40 has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the Tiguan SE/SEL.

Compared to the Volkswagen Tiguan, the Volvo XC40 eliminates the need for separate garage door openers and associated risks of losing, breaking, or having dead batteries with its optional integrated Homelink® universal remote controlled from the rear view mirror.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Volvo XC40 has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. Only the Tiguan SE/SEL offers wireless charging.

Economic Advantages

The XC40 will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the XC40 will retain 50.91% to 56.33% of its original price after five years, while the Tiguan only retains 48.29% to 50.45%.

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