The Tiguan is mainly my wife's current first choice, and she'll be the person who drives it most. But I must admit I'd not considered SEAT or Skoda, and I'll have a look a their small SUVs.

By that I assume you're thinking of the diesel?

No, I'll get Petrol. the Honda does about 12k miles per year, which is probably not quite enough to justify diesel. I also drive in and around London, and there's talk about a diesel tax or ban. It's only talking about older diesels at the moment, but who knows what might happen in the future?

Also since your CRV is an automatic are you planning on buying another auto?

Yes, it's got to be auto. I'm OK with either auto or manual, but my wife will be driving most of the miles and she far prefers an auto. I've never tried a DSG, but I've not heard much good said of them, so I'll probably steer clear of that option.

What sort of money are you thinking of spending and what is your normal weekly usuage and rough annual mileage?

For new, maybe 30k. But I might look at nearly new to bring that down a bit. I'm also a director of a VAT registered company, so I might consider leasing and reducing my salary to compensate as that could be more tax efficient.

The Tiguan sells well and the emissions scandal has had no noticeable effect on used prices as far as I've seen so don't expect dealers to be throwing money at you to deal.

I wasn't expecting dealers to be bending over to pick the soap up, but I was wondering if they might be trying extra hard to meet their targets and hence have more room for discounts.

VW showrooms are thin on petrol models at the moment probably because of the new engines in the pipeline, the new 1.5 TSi Evo miller cycle engine due in May in the Mk 7.5 Golf and will work its way into the Tiguan and Passat. VW will get it first then a few months or a year later into Seat then Skoda is the usual pattern.

That's very useful info, thanks. I wasn't aware that there was a new petrol engine, but I had noticed a lack of petrol models around, and this explains why. I guess VW don't want to be left with an excess of cars with the old engine that they'd need to deeply discount.

I'm not sure I like the sound of a 1.5 engine in an auto though. I've never driven a turbocharged car, but I drive a 1.5 auto occasionally in Malaysia (a Proton Wira) and it's just horrible: feels about as powerful as a scooter. Everyone drives auto there, as the jams in KL are pretty bad, but IMO a 1.5 engine is happier in a manual.