Join us in this episode as we delve into the detailed review of the 2025 Volkswagen Taos SE. Richard and John explore what makes this compact SUV not only economical but also a fun ride. From its robust features like the 1.5-liter turbo engine to practical elements designed for both everyday commutes and off-road excursions, this car stands out in a rapidly growing segment. Discover why the Taos SE, with its intuitive controls and resilient interior, is becoming a favorite among families and city dwellers alike. The episode provides an insightful peek into the functionalities and updates, including a
All right, we are back. As I said a moment ago, we do car reviews each week, which this week, Richard, we’ve got a review again. What did you drive recently?
SPEAKER 02 :
So, Dad, I drove actually one of my more enjoyable cars of the past few months. And kind of some of you are going to think, well, that’s kind of a weird thing to say. But, you know, it is what it is. This is a 2025 Volkswagen Taos. This is the SE, Dad, which is kind of their middle, sort of kind of middle value pick, I guess you could say. This car, Dad, or I should say this SUV, as it sits with 31,475, and you can get an S model for about 26, or you can get the SEL for about 36. So right there between kind of the mid-20s to mid-30s as far as that goes, Dad. This on it, I’ve got the window sticker here, so I’m going to give folks some of the features. This has the all-wheel drive, the 1.5-liter turbo four-cylinder engine, the start-stop system, 18-inch wheels, rain-sensing wipers, rear window washer and wiper, all that sort of stuff, illuminated mirrors, front-row charging ports. It’s got cloud tech and cloth seating surfaces, which I’ll talk about in just a second. It’s got a lot of other obviously kind of safety features as far as the digital cockpit and push button starts and remote engine start and all sorts of things, Dad. All of these things for, like I said, $31,475. And it also has, Dad, which this might be a nice thing, 24-hour roadside assistance for three years and 36,000 miles, which I think is a really, really nice feature on that. All this to say that the reason it was one of my most enjoyable cars is because for the money, it is really hard to beat, and it was just a fun car to drive. You got in it. The controls were very functional. They were very intuitive. They worked really, really well. The soft tech that features or that… the cloth kind of like material I mentioned, it kind of was like a suede, kind of like a leather, Dad, but you felt like you could beat it up a little bit more. And you know kind of what I mean, right? When you have kids especially, it’s not something that I worried about getting super dirty or anything like that. I felt like I could spill something on it and wash it off, right? And it’s not something that did happen, but I felt like it could. And especially here in Colorado, Dad, right, we see a lot of Volkswagens around People take them off-road all the time, and it’s something I felt like you could do, and you didn’t have to worry about taking super, super great care of it. This is the updated Taos generation that was introduced in 2022. They’ve revised the styling a little bit. I already mentioned the engine. The all-wheel drive models do have a new transmission on it, Dad, and they’ve also updated it with a larger touchscreen, and so that kind of goes back to some of what I mentioned. Relatively quiet on the inside, Dad, right, for a car in the low 30s in terms of a price point. In this segment, Dad, and you can speak on this, kind of this, I guess it’s the small SUV, or Volkswagen kind of says it’s like the extra small SUV category. This is becoming a really popular category, and for this price point, I think the Taos fits really, really nicely.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah. And again, for a lot of folks, that particular segment, as you know, Richard, is huge. And I mean, when I say huge, I mean huge. There are several, typically in a manufacturer, several different cars that fit in a particular lineup. And what I mean by that is, no, they’re not all the same size as the Taos and Volkswagen will even have smaller, larger. And so my point is that That midsize, small to large midsize SUV, end of things, Richard, is absolutely ginormous. It is a huge segment of the marketplace right now. It will continue to be a huge segment. And the reason for that is because the cars in that segment, the cars are so versatile that you find yourself not needing anything else other than that particular vehicle. That’s why they’re so hot right now and why everybody wants one.
SPEAKER 02 :
Absolutely. And especially, you know, I’ll go back to the kid side of stuff. I was able to get two car seats in here. Now, are you going to be able to fit two rear-facing car seats? Probably not. You’ve got to kind of move that front passenger seat up. But like you said, Dad, in terms of versatility, especially in an urban environment where you may be going into some tighter spaces, but you still want a little bit of room, this vehicle fits for that. Now, it’s not ginormous by any means, right? Right. you know, going to get a full sheet of plywood in the back, but I don’t think most people would expect that, right? They just want a car that’s reliable, works here in Colorado, that all-wheel drive is a great feature to have, right, for all of the weather that we do have. There’s a few other kind of, I guess, features on this car I really, really like as far as some of the visuals of it. It’s got a full LED bar that’s It makes this car really recognizable in kind of how they’ve done some stuff.
SPEAKER 01 :
I see that. It’s a really good look. I mean, their update, it’s a good-looking car. They’ve done a good job on it.
SPEAKER 02 :
And again, for folks who haven’t driven one, Dad, or maybe they’ve seen these from afar and you’re not sure what it is, I encourage you to check it out because, again, if you were in the market… for that extra small kind of SUV type of a vehicle. Like you said, Dad, the options are sort of endless. And I was actually talking to someone about this this past week. When it comes to a car, folks, we don’t tell you a lot of times, you know, yes, this car is for you. No, there’s lots of options. You have to be the judge, right? Do you like the styling? Do you like the fit? You may like what we have to say about a car. You may not like what we have to say. We’re just trying to give you a very, you know, overview perspective to see if it maybe piques some interest that you have, Dad. And I think that this, again, the 2025 Volkswagen Taos will do that for a lot of people. So encourage people. Go check this vehicle out, Dad. Last thing I’ll tell people real quick is fuel economy. It’s got an average of 25 and 33 for an average of 28 to almost 30 miles per gallon, Dad, in this car, which is really fantastic.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 02 :
Again, check it out at your local Volkswagen dealer. Let them know that John and Richard Rush from Drive Radio and Rush to Reason sent you.
SPEAKER 01 :
This is John Rush from Rush to Reason and Drive Radio. Thank you so much for listening. Check out more of our podcasts at RushToReason.com or Drive-Radio.com.
