Volkswagen Tiguan Owners Manual: If the vehicle is stuck

Read and follow the introductory information and safety information first⇒Introduction to the subject 

It takes experience and a fine touch to rock a vehicle back and forth to get it going when it is stuck.

If you go about it the wrong way, you'll dig the vehicle in even deeper and need someone to tow you free.

If the vehicle won't budge

• Carefully dig out all four wheels and make sure that no other parts of the vehicle are stuck in the sand.

• Select reverse gear.

• Carefully accelerate and try to back up in your own track.

If this doesn't help, try placing brushwood, floor mats, or burlap sackcloth directly in front of the tires to improve grip and traction ⇒ .

Rocking the vehicle free

Don't spin the wheels. It's unlikely to help you get going and all but certain to dig you in even deeper if you do it too much ⇒ .

• Switch off Anti-Slip Regulation (ASR) ⇒ Braking, stopping, and parking .

• Turn the steering wheel so that it points straight ahead.

• Shift into reverse and accelerate just to the point where the wheels first start to spin.

• Immediately engage first gear and accelerate again until the wheels just begin to spin.

• Repeat this process to get the vehicle to rock back and forth and then hopefully develop enough forward momentum to get going again.

• Once the vehicle is free, switch ASR back on ⇒ Braking, stopping, and parking .

Warning

• Stones, brush, pieces of wood, and other objects under the wheels can be thrown at great velocity when they spin. This can cause serious or even fatal injuries.

• If the stuck vehicle suddenly regains traction, it will lurch forward and can run over anybody who is standing too close to it in the front or in the back.