General quality of Touareg

asterix · Jul 22, 2009

Hi, I'm considering buying a Touareg 3,2 V6 Tiptr. 2004 - with 64000 km/ 40000 miles. It's fully equippped incl. air suspension - all service OK.
Is this a risky purchase as I have heard a lot of ”rumors” that there are very many problems with electrical system, transmission etc. with this model.
I know it’s expensive to have the car serviced, which I can fully accept, but I don’t want a car which is giving a lot of headache in between the normal services.
Any input is most welcome.

nltomba · Jul 22, 2009

If they fixed all the tsb's on it(have dealer make a print out) you should be ok.
I have an early 04 V8 with almost 110k and it has ben fairly trouble free.
keep in mind that this is a high end vehicle and not cheap to maintain.
A lot of it you can do yourself however and save a ton of money on maintenance and repairs.
This forum has lots of good advise on this.
go buy it. You will love driving it. I still do every day.

ZippySLC · Jul 23, 2009

It depends on what your expectations are.

Is it as reliable as a Honda? No.
Is it more reliable than a Land Rover? Yes.

AndrieK · Jul 23, 2009

Can it take you where a Land Rover can? Yes.
Can a Honda take you where a Touareg can? No.

NorthVan · Jul 23, 2009

AndrieK said:
Can it take you where a Land Rover can? Yes.
Can a Honda take you where a Touareg can? No.

Good point! My wife has a Acura (Honda) MDX and after the first winter in the snow we noticed that it is not even close to the level of the Touareg when it comes to handling tougher conditions.

ColoradoMax · Jul 24, 2009

One thing to consider, something I think a lot of car buyers forget when making a vehicle purchase, is this: Take a good hard look at your real wants and needs. If you subconsciously need a Camry or like vehicle (excellent reliability, don't really have to tinker with it, pay attention to it, just wash it and put gas in), then you should definitely buy one. I'm absolutely not dinging Camrys, either. I think they are extremely well engineered vehicles.

The Touareg needs a bit more attention, research (this site has been fantastic), and tinkering here and there to keep it happy, which I am happy to provide as I am a gearhead and don't mind spending some of my free time on maintenance. My overall experience has been very good.

AndrieK · Jul 24, 2009

ColoradoMax said:
Take a good hard look at your real wants and needs.

That's exaclty why I bought a Treg and not an X5, ML, Q7, LR3, LC or Patrol. I needed a luxury SUV with good fuel consumption that's reliable and has LOW RANGE.

X5, ML, Q7 - No Low Range
LR, RR - Unreliable, Service here sucks (LR3 might be better, but the jury's still out and I'm not paying school fees.)
LC, Patrol - No decent diesel power with good fuel consumption.

All of course my opinion...

dmm_au · Jul 24, 2009

AndrieK said:
That's exaclty why I bought a Treg and not an X5, ML, Q7, LR3, LC or Patrol. I needed a luxury SUV with good fuel consumption that's reliable and has LOW RANGE.

X5, ML, Q7 - No Low Range
LR, RR - Unreliable, Service here sucks (LR3 might be better, but the jury's still out and I'm not paying school fees.)
LC, Patrol - No decent diesel power with good fuel consumption.

Actually I used an almost identical rational, but when out driving with a mate in his ML320, I was amazed to discover it had push button Low Range just like the Touareg. I was very dubious about this, as my research suggested it did not, but the handbook seemed to suggest this was the case.

Perhaps someone who knows could comment on this?

AndrieK · Jul 24, 2009

I was under the impression the first generation ML's had low range, but some people seem to disagree.

AFAIK it is now an option, but the guys still complain about ground clearance. I get the idea it wasn't really designed for low range. They just slapped a transfer case on as an afterthought. Also, from what I've heard the ML's traction control is now where near as good as the Treg's and LR3.

All of this is hearsay, so don't quote me on it.

To be completely honest, I didn't really consider the other brands too much, simply because they don't have a VW bagde on the grille. I've always been a little biased towards the brand...

General quality of Touareg

asterix

nltomba

ZippySLC

AndrieK

NorthVan

ColoradoMax

AndrieK

dmm_au

AndrieK

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