VW Touareg: Thoughts?

The Clarty family spent Christmas with my brother this year. He lives near Chicago, and has a 2005 Touareg V8. He says it's expensive to operate and maintain, but still loves the car. It got me thinking.

From what I can tell, they're really well-made. His Touareg had no rattles or squeaks after driving around the Chicago-land moonscape for five years; my '03 Passat is full of irritating rattles.

In favor of a Touareg: real off-road ability (opposed to an X5), build quality. . .

Against a Touareg: no manual transmission.

Anyone who's driven a V6 and a V8 (even a V10 TDI), do you think the V6 has adequate power? Is the TDI a maintenance nightmare?

Thanks!

No personal experience, but I've thought about a TDI from time to time (as I own an '03 TDI). It's definitely the best looking (IMHO) of the VAG/P trio.

Some info on tdiclub.com, although not much (along with a scary shot of a dropped engine/front suspension to replace a p/s pump...)

Apparently there's more info on clubtouareg.com

Price is something else that I'm not a fan of. $15,000 was entry price on one around here. I can get a clean Range Rover for less, and probably be equally as reliable and just as "cheap" to fix.

we had a V6 one for a short time while our other VW was worked on. The engine was adequate for a family car, very smooth, almost fun to drive. The computer read something like 18 mpg average around town - that pretty much makes it a no sale for me, but might be similar to other vehicles of its type.

Wow... what to say here. I would avoid it. I say that because we bought a certified pre-owned '06 Model, V8, fully loaded, 45000 miles. In the course of a year we had to replace the brakes twice, the driveshaft, the sunroof has leaked a substantial amount on 3 different occasions requiring the interior trim to be replaced and the carpets cleaned to get the musty smell out.

So, we were less than impressed with our purchase, despite the impressive stat line associated with the Touareg.

It could be that we just got the "exception", but you can browse around and find the thread on here were I am trying to find a replacement for the wife now.

One of my good friends had a V8, it seemed to be problematic. He's a big fan of VAG products, but was not impressed with the maintenance required with this one. This from a person accustomed to Audi maintenance. He actually replaced it with an All-road.

I looked under the hood of a V10 TDI one once, it looks very unpleasant to work on. Just remember they are intended to only last 100k miles with dealer maintiance, and thats about it (the same as most luxury cars).

Clarty wrote: In favor of a Touareg: real off-road ability (opposed to an X5),

my wrx has real off-road ability compared to an X5, lol....

TDI is the only thing that makes it any more attractive than all other big silly station wagons on stilts IMO. So... yeah. Buy the Toureg TDI.

I always thought the V10 diesel was cool. I recall it was supposed to be kind of powerful, but maybe I'm not remembering correctly.

As a vw tech, the main thing I would say is that the 2004's are especially bad. Also they go through brakes and tires like crazy, and replacing them is pretty expensive

I'd love to have the V10 TDI Touareg, but there's NO way I'd own one without a warranty.

The air suspension tends to chew up tires, same thing on the Allroads and Cayenne's...

The manual trans is slightly easier to find in the Porsche Cayenne. Get the v8 or TDi, you will be disappointed with the v6 if you ever drive either.

The cayenne is a close cousin, does it have similar issues?

My boss owns an '05 or '06 V8. I don't much like it. It's heavy as a friggin' earthmover, rides poorly, and absolutely devours expensive rubber and brakes. Also, just like every one of the damn things ever installed on any car, the tire pressure warning system is hyperactive and goes off all the time.

My response as a forum community member:
Buy it you think you like it.

My response as an auto repair shop owner:
Please for the love of GOD buy this car and keep my number on speed-dial.

My response as a human:
Run as fast as you can. Do not pass "go," do not collect $200, just berkeleying run.

docwyte wrote: I'd love to have the V10 TDI Touareg, but there's NO way I'd own one without a warranty. The air suspension tends to chew up tires, same thing on the Allroads and Cayenne's...

Why would the air suspension impact tire wear on these?

Nathan

If you buy one, you may want to get this tattoo to show your loyalty:

In reply to njansenv:

constantly varying camber, will affect toe etc.

When an air spring begins to fail it's like lowering the car. You wouldn't lower your car without getting a new alignment would you?

It's like a miata with a hard top, higher seating, and lots of back seat room, but a miata nonetheless

seriously thought I think Curtis summed it up

Ok, lots of dissing of the Touareg here, and probably for good reason. This is not a vehicle for the faint of heart... That said:

My wife and I simple love ours. We have a 2004 V8 with air suspension and 90K on the clock. We've had it for just over a year and have done the following:

Brake rotors and pads, 4 new tires on 19" rims, disabled the TPMS, replaced the timing belt, loved EVERY SINGLE MILE.... Yes, it's not been the cheapest vehicle to own, but I REALLY enjoy it every time I get in it and drive, and I'm pretty picky about vehicles. I think VW and Porsche did something pretty special here, so far as vehicle enjoyment goes...

Yes, I'm scared of the air suspension failing, all the sweet electronic bits going bad, etc, and the maintenance is just something you have to come to terms with. I have said several times, however, I do NOT want for any more luxury or performance in a vehicle like this. It's not as fun to drive as my GTI, but it's VERY close, I can drive it for 5-6 hours without any fatigue, it has loads of torque off the line, it's quiet, and it does just about everything very well. No thanks Mercedes and BMW, you can keep your variants... I don't love the 14MPG we average on premium gas, but I DO love blasting away from just about everyone in just about ANY weather. I mostly blame myself for the fuel mileage.

Bottom line, it's not for everyone, but if you know what you're getting into and don't have something like a Maybach or Rolls Royce parked beside it, I think you'll love it.

sachilles wrote: In reply to njansenv: constantly varying camber, will affect toe etc. When an air spring begins to fail it's like lowering the car. You wouldn't lower your car without getting a new alignment would you?

You wouldn't get an alignment without fixing the failing air spring, would you?If the car is aligned at NRH, then I don't really see the spring medium affecting tire wear UNLESS there is something wrong with the suspension system.

A friend of mine was very happy with his and recently replaced it with a V8 Cayenne. They like the Cayenne even better but they are realistic about vehicle ownership. It's going to get SUV mileage, it's going to eat tires/brakes like an SUV, but it's going to be one of the best driving SUVs you've ever experienced.

I had a V10 for a week - it's still on the list of my top ten favourite press vehicles. Drove it up the face of our local ski hill late one night , with 553 lb. ft. of torque it laughed all the way up. I loved that thing.

WTF? Who's this bonehead? CANOE