I always bring my Volkswagen Tiguan to the dealer for advised maintenance by dealer. The timing chain failed and engine has been blown out. I always bring vehicle to dealer they even replaced the timing chain case but never mentioned to replace timing chain even though I have asked. Volkswagen Tiguan is a horrible vehicle just designed to skim money from the owner. 4 times sunroof were replaced, 3 times heat exchange AC unit were replaced, Turbo break down need to be replaced, Steering wheel bearing was replaced, rear wheels arms were replaced, 2 times gas pedal were replaced, exhaust emission system were replaced, There is an extremely gas smells in the driver and passenger compartment, the reason of the problem never found. Now finally engine is wrecked dealer asking $10.000 to fix. I am actually happy because the misery ended.

This repair was unexpectedly expensive and should not have occurred at only 90,000 miles! My local VW dealership had a waiting list to have the timing chain replaced and did not have parts in stock, although I was told it was a common problem with Passat and Tiguan. It would have taken a week to get in, and 2 weeks to fix, for a cost of about $5,000.00. I had a small garage specializing in VW get me in much sooner for repair, which still took two weeks. The total charge for repair was about $4000.00. This garage also told me that this was a terrible and quite common problem with VW timing chains and had to do with a poor design for the year and model of my car. They also suggested I look into a class action lawsuit because VW was aware of this defect.

I had my timing chain go on my 2010 VW Tiguan at highway speed while in the US. I had to get it towed back to Canada to find out the timing chain went and took my engine with it! The required repair is a new engine at a cost of $7500 Canadian. This cost includes parts and labour. VW has offered a partial payment towards the repair cost as I have a service history with VW.

This issue with the VW Tiguan and similar Audi engine is evident all over the internet. One simple search under "VW Tiguan timing chain" results in countless cases of the chain going and taking most of the engine with it! I want to know why VW has not issued a recall for this part and is not willing to compensate 100% for damage to engines they already know have a faulty part.

What an excellent car....until last night. I was out to dinner, and when I went to get back in the car to start it, it clicked but wouldn't turn over. I called a tow truck and towed it to the dealer.

I hear from the dealer today with, "it's not good news". Turns out the timing chain "skipped", causing the valve to bend, damaging the cylinder head. I was totally shocked. It was driving completely fine and was just in there less than two months ago for the regular maintenance as well as working on the rear differential. At that time, I was told that the car was in amazing shape.

I have no idea what happened. The service adviser told me "these things happen", but I've never heard of a car at 88,000 miles with something like this. Now the engine is dead and it's going to cost over $8,000 to fix. I owe less than that in financing, but totally and completely screwed. I'm waiting to hear whether or not VW will allow a warranty extension or if the dealership can do something to help with the cost. Otherwise, this is total bullshit.

Update from Jul 5, 2020: After receiving a class action lawsuit notification over a year ago, I filed and was actually paid back every penny that we had to spend to replace the engine. If anyone bought a Tiguan where they experienced this, please know that the dealership knows about the fix and is obligated to take care of it.