Does going off-road increase rate of issues reported?

nm2003 · Jan 27, 2015

What are people's thoughts about whether there is any correlation between going off road and reliability issues/problem people are reporting?

Eg. If you never went on-road, regularly garaged your car, and looked after it, would there be as many issues reported by Touareg owners?

This maybe difficult to answer for those that have bought a second hand car, as the off-road history of car may not be known.

Would like to hear people's throughts, especially original owners?

nikoloz · Jan 27, 2015

hi, im third owner of my 05 V8, i know almost all service history, but off course i do not know if PO of my beast ever done any off road at all, but to be honest i think going off road and having technical problems after is related to how much knowledge you have as a driver and if you like to take risks, also if you do not know the capabilities of your car and how to use equipment on your car.

happygolucky · Jan 27, 2015

That's an interesting question. I go offroad from time to time..but nothing too serious. So far nothing has happened and hope it stays that way.

I think if your version of offroading is more hardcore/overcome deep ruts and water trench crossing like those 'offroad' events featured in the magazines.. then ya.. something is bound to give.

Would be interesting to hear feedback from others about their rides.

Singh · Jan 27, 2015

I use my touareg more for offroad than on. None of the issues i've encountered could have been avoided by keeping it in town
Don't be shy live life to fullest is my motto

unkydunky · Jan 27, 2015

IMO I see no correlation ... rather it's a case of 'luck of the draw'. I have racked up over 110,00 km in just over 3 years without a single issue (other than flat tyres and underbody damage from driving over unseen tree stumps in paddocks).

My Treg has done the Kimberley (Gibb River Road and up to Kalumburu), Tanami Track plus countless weekends driving in goat-country paddocks on family grazing property - has never missed a beat.

YMMV.

mpm T2 TDI · Jan 27, 2015

Your off-roads are probably easier on your rig, than our on-road experiences in NYC and how they punish ours...truly the worst roads in the US.

And when we hit things, its at speed...

nm2003 · Jan 27, 2015

unkydunky said:
IMO I see no correlation ... rather it's a case of 'luck of the draw'. I have racked up over 110,00 km in just over 3 years without a single issue (other than flat tyres and underbody damage from driving over unseen tree stumps in paddocks).

My Treg has done the Kimberley (Gibb River Road and up to Kalumburu), Tanami Track plus countless weekends driving in goat-country paddocks on family grazing property - has never missed a beat.

YMMV.

I think you might be right on this. It might just come down to luck of draw.

You can look after a car as much as you like, but it might just come down to whether the guy on the assembly line who is bolting your car together, knows what he is doing (i.e. not a trainee) and has pride in his work, does not mistake your car for a Q7 or Cayenne, and prey that he is not bolting on a defective part from one of the thousands of VW parts suppliers.

Will see when mine arrives in late March, if I was lucky or not.

mpm T2 TDI · Jan 27, 2015

These plants are highly automated (read: robotic). The days of the lazy worker, built on Friday or Monday, assembly line errors are pretty much gone.

Defective sub-components and dealers who don't know how to really diagnose a problem and fix things the first time, are still is still with us...

nm2003 · Jan 27, 2015

mpm T2 TDI said:
These plants are highly automated (read: robotic). The days of the lazy worker, built on Friday or Monday, assembly line errors are pretty much gone.

Defective sub-components and dealers who don't know how to really diagnose a problem and fix things the first time, are still is still with us...

I have to agree that servicing your car at a dealer that doesn't know what they are doing (or has a large percentage of apprentices working on cars) is probably more damaging to your car than going off-road.

I have lost track of the number of times I have had my wheels rotated or a wheel alignment done at a dealer, only to find a brand new set of alloys scratched or damaged during the process.

Singh · Jan 27, 2015

Yep, good service will go a long way!!!

Njord · Jan 27, 2015

I read about correlation between Aisin gearbox premature failures (jerking at higher gears first and after a while symptoms extend to lower gears) and off-roading/towing (especially driving at low speed for too long).

hedditch · Jan 28, 2015

Njord said:
I read about correlation between Aisin gearbox premature failures (jerking at higher gears first and after a while symptoms extend to lower gears) and off-roading/towing (especially driving at low speed for too long).

Njord, I personally doubt that issues like this have much if anything to do with the terrain of gear ratios in play. Driver behavior and regularity of maintenance is a much bigger player.. if this was in fact true then Singh's V10 would be a pile of scrap metal by now!!!

Stuart..

4ePikanini · Jan 28, 2015

I have had high ATF temp while towing a heavy trailer up a long steep climb. Speed was too slow for the TC to lock up.

I have had both AC and alternator bearings fail (on different occasions) while offroading. I suspect the one way bearing cant handle the rapid rpm fluctuations.

Other than that just some bumps and scrapes.

Singh · Jan 28, 2015

hedditch said:
Njord, I personally doubt that issues like this have much if anything to do with the terrain of gear ratios in play. Driver behavior and regularity of maintenance is a much bigger player.. if this was in fact true then Singh's V10 would be a pile of scrap metal by now!!! Stuart..

Thanks Stuart

Am preparing for a high country trip for some low range adventure and the big one to do anne beadell and gunbarrel tracks around may june

nm2003 · Jan 28, 2015

As pointed out, going off-road and doing it sensibly, may not necessarily contribute to component failures.

Some ways I thing would increase your chances of having something go wrong with your car prematurely:

1) overstressing any car component or regularly put it under load. (ie. towing heavy loads agressively and driving like there was no load.). Going off-road irresponsibly and not respecting your car.

2) You bought a demo/executive driven. These cars regurlarly get thrashed by everyone while on a test drive.

3) Drive faster than the conditions dictate, eg driving fast on corregated roads, putting extra stress on suspension components.

4) Using non-OEM parts and oils.

What do people think?

Singh · Jan 28, 2015

Cannot drive slow on corrugations, you will end up doing more damage to suspension and rattle everything out.
I did 130k on my first touareg, which i used even more for low range offroad adventures. Not even a single issue in the four years of ownership.
V10 has had work done, all these were standard known issues
Touareg suspension in air is probably the most reliable

poid · Jan 28, 2015

Using non-OEM spec oils, definitely, but using OEM spec oils from a quality manufacturer wont cause issues. Same goes for parts.

Towing can definitely do it if you are keeping the car under load or causing significant heat in the gearbox. A lot of people dont understand how much extra stress there is for the engine when you are driving in higher gears and under load. Much better to drop down a gear or two coming up to steep gradients than to just plant the foot.

I think a lot of it simply comes down to how a car is driven, regardless of whether it is off road or all highway (provided we exclude the issues that are due to manufacture or known weaknesses).

pjod · Jan 28, 2015

Singh said:
Cannot drive slow on corrugations, you will end up doing more damage to suspension and rattle everything out.

Agree 100% (well going 150 kph on corrugations is not recommended, but drive too slow below the speed the shakes even out will rattle the beast to pieces quicker).

On towing I suspect that overloading the hitch is more prevalent that realised.
How many rely on the trailer specs and don't weigh the actual towball load?

Quite a few I think, and many would get a shock when they weighed their loaded vans over the manufacturer numbers.
How many use a weight distribution hitch when VW specifically say don't (introducing forces in the opposite direction to the towel load that due to the nature of driving is a dynamic ever changing load in the opposite direction to which the hitch was designed for).

Luck of the draw in many cases is the answer :shock:, as well as many of the other things mentioned. Relying on dealers to use correct fluids etc is not the safest policy for any vehicle.:sad:

On the contrary may I be so bold as to suggest that those who are serious off roaders and who take their vehicles to more out of the way places will tend to have a better serviced and better prepared vehicle than those who use it for the daily commute.

Indeed the daily commute with short runs and inadequate warm ups, irregular servicing (or delayed as it is not quite convenient at the moment) may cause more problems than a two week trip out back.#-o

Njord · Jan 28, 2015

I meant being bogged and getting stuck in sands, driving slowly at low range with locked diffs by the term "off-roading" (not just sightseeing journey) in other words putting great stain on gearbox. One of the reasons for valve chest damage is ATF overheating caused by clogged (e.g. inefficient) cooler (it's recommended to clean up radiator periodically however it's really cumbersome to execute task to dismantle Treg radiators "sandwich"). So, for that reason during summer time heat it's even recommended to shift gears selector to neutral position if you stay idling in a traffic jam for long time (this is not applicable for newer trannys).

themedic · Jan 28, 2015

I go mudding in my T2 on the regular and its normally very hard driving, into the rev limiter, pedal on carpet in 1st and second gear. Suspension components wear quicker but religious service and I have had 0 issues. now at 105k miles. Just one center carrier bearing that was replaced back at 35k miles, and minus some plastic buts from under the motor.

Does going off-road increase rate of issues reported?

nm2003

nikoloz

happygolucky

Singh

unkydunky

mpm T2 TDI

nm2003

mpm T2 TDI

nm2003

Singh

Njord

hedditch

4ePikanini

Singh

nm2003

Singh

poid

pjod

Njord

themedic

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