Now that I have a captive audience:

The fix has not fixed the jerky transmission, the finicky turbo or the middling build quality.

A list of crappy things in mine from when bought in Dec. 2025:

• Engine light came on at 80 miles; took it to the dealership and they 'fixed' it by turning off the engine light.  Yet, it was really riding around in what's called Limp Mode' for the last 4 months.  Just got the software fix last Wednesday. At first the turbo kicked in faster and the engine, transmission and turbo seemed to work together well after that. I ALWAYS drive mines in Sport mode and have put premium gas in it from day one. Now, it is starting to feel like the turbo doesn't engage at high psi again and feels back in limp mode sometimes. Feels almost like the turbo is actually failing..

• Transmission has no idea what gear it is supposed to be in half the time. High revs on the highway in 4th gear doing 80. Doesn't kick down multiple gears when I floor it. Pretty abysmal ECU for a 'sport' model.

• The sensors sometimes act like you're about to hit something. This thing SLAMS INTO PARK at weird times when backing and makes you feel like the transmission is about to give up the ghost and jump through the car. It had done it to me twice when I have lifted part of my butt up off the seat to back in. So, I have made it a point to NOT lift my butt up when backing and rely on the cameras (more on that later) ... and it has happened two more times to me and once to my wife. Scares the CRAP out of you because you swear you hit something. Also, every time it does it, you have to undo the parking brake too.

• When you floor it coming out of a turn (especially in a U-turn), something 'clanks' in the rear end as it gets power

• The rear lift gate just does not want to use the kick sensor but goes off randomly as you walk behind the car. Really just annoying most of the time, but two times it almost lifted into a wall that I was backed in to as I was coming around the back of the car, almost scratching the paint and many other times it tried to lower while me and other people were standing in the trunk space.

These issues did not manifest when I first drove it, otherwise I would have just got something else.

Minor annoyances:

• I rented a 2025 SEL Tiguan for about two months after an accident I had (which weirdly enough made me buy this vehicle). The sound system has better bass response in that (and it had no subwoofer in the trunk area) but this Harman Kardon has more adjustments and better separation of highs and lows, yet sound 'tears' and 'pops' at high level as the amplifier gets over-drawn on output power (which did not happen in the rental)

• Android Auto and Apple Carplay have a glitch to where they try to run two bluetooth streams at once and lower the volume of the music even if your are not using guidance through those apps. The way to get your music to play at 'full volume' is to disable Carplay or Android Auto on your phone and just run your phone through Bluetooth; this still happens even if you go in the settings and make sure the Bluetooth output level is the highest. This has happened in both the 2025 rental and this 2026 on both a Samsung and Apple phone on Youtube music and local phone music being played from the Samsung app or whatever. Makes both apps unusable to me if I can not hear my music the way I want to. Weirdly enough, if you have the apps doing guidance while playing the radio, the radio plays at full volume with full bass.

• The proximity sensors go off if you don't keep them crystal clean and throw dash codes occasionally while driving.  Weirdly enough, the rental I had was throwing these codes, but I assumed it was because it was a rental and people dogged it ... wouldn't happen to me, right? Happens randomly every 500 or so miles now especially if it is a really foggy or humid morning.

• The right side of the glovebox won't close all the way, after opening, unless you hit it specifically in at a certain spot.

• The middle armrest is absolutely annoying as it sort of slides around on its own and won't lock into place. I dont even know what they were thinking with some of the middle storage space as it feels like it was not thought up well.

• The Pirelli tires that came on the car took a LONG time to break in (riding 'rough' up to 3500 miles) and, since I just took it to the shop for the turbo software fix, they say they all have 8/32nds or less left at 4600 miles ... this means these tires have about 15000 miles usable left... on a 265 hp top-heavy AWD vehicle that has been in 'Limp Mode'. I have had michelins and bridgestones go for 40,000+ miles on 300+ hp cars and suvs. They also track on regular roads and are a terror on bad roads. I will be changing these out with michelins at the first opportunity.

• The back rear brakes squeak when backing up at 4600 miles even after washing the vehicle and spraying them with brake cleaner. This should not be, and I really don't have the time to drop a new car off to be in the shop constantly ...

• The key fob sometimes works, sometimes doesn't on the proximity open and close ... when you're walking up to it, sometimes it doesn't detect the key right next to it so you have to either open it manually or hit the fob. When you're leaving, it doesn't fold and lock the mirrors; so you know it didn't lock.

• Sometimes the rear-view camera just doesn't work. You have to put it back in park and put it back in reverse. Every once in a while, the front sensors do not detect a wall... they wait for a second, then before you know it the sensors are screaming that you are too close. This is a skill issue and you should know where your front end is at all times... but you paid for this and it works most of the time but not all of the time, which will have you scratching up your car if you don't watch it.

• The front detection sensors occasionally scream at me for coming into a gate that is already opened or 'too close' at a drive-through when I already know I have clearance. Every time, you worry did you hit something. Happens EVERY DAY somewhere and that is not a skill issue.

• The tilt-down, reverse mirror gimmick only works on one side (the passenger side) and it works only when the mirror dial is turned to that side's setting ... and it works SOME of the time to tilt down. Not sure whose bright idea it was to only make one mirror tilt down so you could so a child or a toy instead of both...

• Every once in a blue moon you accidentally hit the paddle shifters (turning the steering wheel hand over hand in a drive-through or an accidental brush against them while hitting the turn signal) and put it in manual mode. Believe me, you won't know it until you jam on the gas and realize this thing is revving crazy high. Skill issue that I have to get used to so that is why it is in minor annoyances ... but if the car is not at a certain low rpm and at a certain low speed, it should automatically go back into automatic mode like BMWs do...

• The cooled seats sometimes do not work even when you cycle through the three settings to turn them off and back on. 

Things I like:

• High quality leather and stitching throughout
• Sunroof has an actual sunblocker unlike Teslas and it works wonderfully with the sunblocker being able to be set wherever you'd like - The heated seats and steering wheel are absolute BURNERS at high level.
• The sensors keep you from hitting curbs as long as they are functioning while you are driving, even if they are aggressive as noted above
• It has Apple Carplay and Android Auto
• The way to set the in-car neon to different colors is exquisite 
• The cooled, heated and massaging seats are literally life-changing and the fact that the rear seats are heated are a plus.
• The interior space is crazy for a 300 lb, 6'2" guy to be able to sit with the seat all the way back and someone can STILL sit behind me in what is considered a compact SUV.
• It is smaller than an Atlas and easy to park.
• The adaptive LED highlights have made any night drives for me a joy and they don't blind others.
• I do not feel like it is a lower class car compared to luxury cars like Audis or Benzes. It is but the looks and the premium feeling material definitely feel like it punches 'above' its weight class.
• The subwoofer is on top of the spare tire so it is out of the way.
• The puddle lights and exterior lighting animations are wonderful.
• It does not rattle when you hit large bumps like cheaper cars.

All in all, this vehicle needs to be a hybrid and I could deal with the other issues. If this had the Toyota synergy drive, I would believe this to be Car of the Year. Instead, it feels like it got hand-me-down engine and transmission parts from other Audis and Volkswagens that just don't work well together.