I can’t fault the Chery Tiggo 4 for offering great value, but should you buy one?

Chery is another newish Chinese brand that has arrived on the scene and already has the Tiggo 7, Tiggo 8 and Tiggo 9 to choose from. Anyone needing something smaller than those sizable SUVs but who still craves space will like this, the Chery Tiggo 4. It’s a relatively compact crossover-style creation that, inevitably, looks like something you’ve seen before. And, while the exterior design is rather forgettable, there’s no doubting its practicality. Plus, it is cheap.

Indeed, in terms of price, it stacks up well, being way cheaper than the likes of the Ford Puma, Dacia Duster or Vauxhall Frontera as three of our main rival choices. The Chery Tiggo 4 Aspire costs just £19,995 while the Summit trim I tried is priced at £21,995 (as ever with Chinese car brands, the Tiggo isn’t sold in the US). It’s therefore a good choice if price is your main consideration in the same way as the similarly affordable MG3 Hybrid+ is. For the money, both are perfectly fine on the small car front.

Equipment levels are good too. Even the cheaper Aspire trim comes with everything expected including alloys, LED headlights and generous levels of tech. Stretch to just under £22,000 and the Summit edition adds on a better interior, which features an electric driver’s seat, a heated steering wheel, wireless phone charging and 360-degree parking cameras. Chery throws in a seven-year 100,000-mile warranty for good measure. Folks looking for value without any thrills will find it ticks a lot of the right boxes.

The styling

I was quite impressed by the overall look of the Chery Tiggo 4 in the Summit trim. Granted, the exterior design is rather nondescript and a bit generic, but everything looked like it was in the right place and there was a quality feel on offer. The LED headlights, bold grille design, smart alloy wheels and general trim flourishes were just enough to make it seem special enough. In fact, for the money, the compact SUV felt like a bit of a bargain in much the same way as MG gets things done so well with its current crop of cars.

The interior on my Summit trim featured faux leather, which lifted the look and feel of things nicely. In fact, for the price, I thought the overall fit and finish was very good. Another bonus with the high-sided styling of the Tiggo 4 was the way it offered lots of room for passengers both front and back, helped by a wheelbase just over 2.6 metres. I liked the view out of the windows too, with good levels of visibility aside from out the back, although an impressive 360-degree camera setup took care of that.

The drive

I found the Chery Tiggo 4 a slightly strange car to drive. There were plenty of options for getting the driving position just as I liked it, including an electrically adjustable seat. However, from the off, the Tiggo 4 felt a little odd, especially when it came to the light steering, which felt vague and quite wayward out on the open road. Combined with the suspension arrangement, my initial driving impression wasn’t great. This was made worse by annoying ADAS features, which took some effort to tame via lots of muttering and screen prods.

Of course, things improved as I got used to the Tiggo 4’s floatiness, which needed careful management (more so than the driver aids) when it came to putting on the power. The self-charging hybrid setup was basically fine, but power delivery could be a little unpredictable as the petrol engine and electric motor setup talked amongst themselves. The Tiggo 4 felt fast enough for the job though, with enough acceleration to get those everyday driving jobs done.

Nevertheless, the car was definitely most enjoyable when it wasn’t being pushed and, instead, driven sensibly along major roads. Less great sections of tarmac, like country lanes and potholed sections around town, felt quite unpleasant to me as the suspension did battle with the lumps and bumps. The Chery Tiggo 4 also didn’t like being pushed through tight bends either, and I soon realised that this is a car that needs to be driven gingerly, rather than enthusiastically.

All that is fine though, especially as I kept reminding myself just how much the Chery Tiggo 4 costs. It should be a cheap car to run as well, with miles per gallon reaching well into the 50s during my time with it. And, being a hybrid, any of the electrical stuff is all done in house, meaning there’s no plugging in or charging faff needed from the owner. Wind noise felt reasonably minimal and, at just over 4.3 metres, it was also a good size for parking and getting around the urban landscape.

The technology

It was good to be behind the wheel of a Chinese car that didn’t expect me to do everything via the dashboard-mounted infotainment screen. The layout features a brace of 12.3in screens, one in the middle and the other in front of the wheel. I thought it looked rather like something found in a Hyundai, which is no bad thing. The graphics and resolution were decent enough, but the best thing was the way there was a physical touch button panel running down into the centre console.

This was a real bonus as it had a row of physical tabs for core controls and a whole section below that for climate control. Obvious and easily reached A/C and fan controls have been essential of late and, for that, I was more than grateful. The overall levels of tech, for a car of this class, were solid and Apple CarPlay or Android Auto left me feeling that the majority of new owners would feel pretty pleased with what is offered inside the Tiggo 4. That even extends to the standard Aspire edition rather than the slightly plusher Summit trim.

Elsewhere, the Summit trim offered a 50W wireless charging pad, USB A and C ports along with an audio system that, whilst adequate, wasn’t especially great in terms of the sound it delivered. That rear-view camera worked well though, via the infotainment screen and, overall, I thought the Snapdragon-powered software setup was as responsive as anything else I’ve driven recently, even though the layout and execution of the graphics was a little bit pedestrian.

Chery Tiggo 4 verdict

The Chery Tiggo 4 is one of those cars that definitely needs a thorough test drive before committing to it full-time. It has some pronounced quirks, including steering that feels slightly odd and a suspension setup that struggles with poor road surfaces.

However, it also has a lot going for it, with generous levels of kit, a sensible and stylish interior that packs plenty of practicality and it is also reasonable frugal for good measure. It’s hard to quibble with the price too, but buying one also means there will need to be a few compromises on the expectation front.

Chery Tiggo 4 technical specifications