[RobL]

"Throw crap and kids in" yup, that's why we have one, wife doesn't love it like she did the MB, it has been more reliable though. I used to joke the check engine light was a luxury feature and now everytime we drive by someone in a benz I joke I can see an orange reflection on their face. Back to the Atlas - with the 3rd row flat the boot is massive, the double bob stroller takes up the whole boot of the Touareg, lots of extra room in the Atlas. Dogs are cramped in the back of the Touareg, room to roam in the Atlas, etc. The lack of the Touareg in NA has made room for the Q8. Also, the foam in seats in the Atlas seem to be more compressed from having car seats in it for the past year vs the Touareg seats that have had seats in it for 3+ years now.

 

[Touaregman33]

"Throw crap and kids in" yup, that's why we have one, wife doesn't love it like she did the MB, it has been more reliable though. I used to joke the check engine light was a luxury feature and now everytime we drive by someone in a benz I joke I can see an orange reflection on their face. Back to the Atlas - with the 3rd row flat the boot is massive, the double bob stroller takes up the whole boot of the Touareg, lots of extra room in the Atlas. Dogs are cramped in the back of the Touareg, room to roam in the Atlas, etc. The lack of the Touareg in NA has made room for the Q8. Also, the foam in seats in the Atlas seem to be more compressed from having car seats in it for the past year vs the Touareg seats that have had seats in it for 3+ years now.

You took your wife out of a Mercedes and put her in a VW?

 

[JobyShokk]

I had a '20 Atlas as a loaner for about 6 weeks while my '17 Wolfsburg Ed. Touareg was worked on (nothing major, just had to wait for parts). I put about 500 miles on it & must say, to me it was a 'glorified' Ford Explorer (no disrespect to the Explorer fans out there). I found it to be a very forgettable SUV... nothing about it said 'trade in the T'reg for me'. Don't get me wrong - - the Atlas is a 'fine' vehicle; but that's about it. And when we're spending as much as vehicles of this class/caliber cost nowadays, we want more than 'fine'... we want 'WOW!'. I can totally see a soccer-mom looking at it & saying 'Ehh - this'll do...' while the husband is thinking 'This'll be great for getting a few bags of mulch and some minor matl's for building a dog house'.
The shape screams Explorer.
The interior is -again- 'fine' but doesn't impress me at all in any way.
The drive is nice - that's it...
So in summary - Nothing flashy, nothing unique, nothing terrible, nothing great, nothing that I'd ever want to trade my super-awesome T'reg in for.

 

[mycoman]

Under powered gas-only engine, less towing capability, Haldex-only AWD, cheaper and more “Americanized” interior, etc.
No thanks.

Doesn't the Atlas use the same VR6 as the Touareg?

 

[Amphicar770]

When the Touareg came out it was well above and beyond anything from other automakers. The Atlas is more of a "me too" appliance built for soccer mom's. If you are looking for a generic people mover there are much better options, with fewer repair headaches, from many makers including Kia and Hyundai. When my Treg finally goes to the great scrapyard in the sky, I can not envision myself buying another VW product.

After looking at the Atlas, we did purchase a Pacifica Hybrid for the spouse which has been a great vehicle in every regard and I have zero regrets.

 

[chewblekka]

Doesn't the Atlas use the same VR6 as the Touareg?

Yes. Underpowered and no diesel option.

 

[ameoba]

Yes. Underpowered and no diesel option.

And this is why I didn't choose another VW when a deer suicided itself into my TDI.

I desperately wanted another TDI Exec, but the 15/16's were (Fall 2019) going for 40-45k. That's stupid money. Cayenne TDI's were the same price.

I drove an Atlas - decent rig, but very vanilla. I need a tow vehicle - and the Atlas can barely lug itself around with that VR6, let alone putting ~4k lbs behind it for long trips (boat). Bring the Touareg back and give us a more powerful engine and I'll be back in the fold.

I do still miss my TDI!

 

[RobL]

You took your wife out of a Mercedes and put her in a VW?

Her decision, we needed a bigger vehicle than the GLC. It was a lovely car though, custom order brilliant blue, designo interior, sport pack, had to wait 5 months after ordering to take delivery! Down payment thanks to Jetta TDI buyback!

 

[TouaregNut]

Wow Atlas just got creamed - lovin’ it

 

[volkswagens-for-life]

I think there's some confusion with a lot of people in here. The Volkswagen Touareg is a 70,000 to $80,000 car. an entry level Atlas is like 30 grand with the most loaded version being about 60 grand.

Stop looking at $30,000 cars to compare to your $70,000 plus Touareg. If we want to have a real conversation about a replacement for the Touareg let's double or triple how much money you're willing to spend and then we'll have a nice base to start with.

 

[Yeti]

I think there's some confusion with a lot of people in here. The Volkswagen Touareg is a 70,000 to $80,000 car. an entry level Atlas is like 30 grand with the most loaded version being about 60 grand.

Stop looking at $30,000 cars to compare to your $70,000 plus Touareg. If we want to have a real conversation about a replacement for the Touareg let's double or triple how much money you're willing to spend and then we'll have a nice base to start with.

My '10 was stickered at 55K, I got it for roughly 51K. Only thing that approached the 70-80K range was the V10 TDI here in NA. I don't even think the T3's did close to that here. No Touareg being sold here is why I am going to leave VW when I decide my '10 is done.Altlas does nothing for me in any sense. The can dress it up all they want, but still no where close to a Touareg. I love the car and the motor, but have not loved it since the "fix". Runs fine, but has had more emissions related issues since the "fix than it did the whole time I have owned before.

 

[Denker]

Like the dude and others have reiterated, it’s NOT A TOUAREG REPLACEMENT. Some thick ones in here. VW didn’t intend it that way either so it makes no sense to whine, “F VW for trying to replace the Touareg with this Atlas thing,” when they obviously did not do that as they still make the Touareg.

We just don’t get it over here because it doesn’t make financial sense for them to bring it back to our shores, along with many other reasons, such as that little emissions thing that some might remember. It was always a niche vehicle here and that niche has dried up significantly.

The Atlas is for a completely new segment in their lineup and I really like it for filling that; the new Tiguan was the really poor attempt they threw at the 3rd row SUV market. Too small, waaaay underpowered and even cheaper feeling overall than the Atlas. These are reasons why we traded up our 18 Tiguan and are happy with the Atlas and have “zero regrets” as those who like to speak in hyperbole would say.

A much more useful thread would be comparing the MQB platforms... ya know, Granny Smiths vs Red Delicious.

I for one am patiently awaiting the EV that may replace my Touareg needs. May be awhile but I’ll be here waiting. I’m at 27 VAG products in a row and don’t intend to leave the fold over a few years of what I see as transitional offerings from VW like ye of little faith.

 

[JobyShokk]

Like the dude and others have reiterated, it’s NOT A TOUAREG REPLACEMENT. Some thick ones in here. VW didn’t intend it that way either so it makes no sense to whine, “F VW for trying to replace the Touareg with this Atlas thing,” when they obviously did not do that as they still make the Touareg.

We just don’t get it over here because it doesn’t make financial sense for them to bring it back to our shores, along with many other reasons, such as that little emissions thing that some might remember. It was always a niche vehicle here and that niche has dried up significantly.

The Atlas is for a completely new segment in their lineup and I really like it for filling that; the new Tiguan was the really poor attempt they threw at the 3rd row SUV market. Too small, waaaay underpowered and even cheaper feeling overall than the Atlas. These are reasons why we traded up our 18 Tiguan and are happy with the Atlas and have “zero regrets” as those who like to speak in hyperbole would say.

A much more useful thread would be comparing the MQB platforms... ya know, Granny Smiths vs Red Delicious.

I for one am patiently awaiting the EV that may replace my Touareg needs. May be awhile but I’ll be here waiting. I’m at 27 VAG products in a row and don’t intend to leave the fold over a few years of what I see as transitional offerings from VW like ye of little faith.

I can see your point & understand why you may get a bit bent out of shape for the posts (including mine) for attempting to compare the two. However, the fact is that one stellar vehicle was cancelled & at the same time another was introduced (which is, to me, a lesser vehicle in almost every way). Therefore the 'T'reg replaced by the Atlas' comparison is all but inevitable - esp. to those of us who would LOVE a new, updated T'reg stateside.
And if you want to stay strictly w/ the Atlas - as I listed in my previous post; I drove one for over a month, so I became pretty dang familiar w/ it - I'd say more familiar than several others on this thread that may have only had a few miles test drive experience & even more so that the writer of the original post who had it for a few days. So I can speak w/ experience when I say - It's a fine car - not great, not crappy... just 'fine'. And when I spend $40k+ for ANY vehicle, it needs to be way MORE than just 'fine'. They'll sell plenty of them b/c of the fact that it's 'a fine car' & people who are satisfied w/ vanilla will be very happy. Toyota sold millions of Camry's, Ford sold millions of Taurus', and so on... VW will sell a ton of the Atlas' - but just not to me... and that's ok, too~

 

[TommiT]

I think quite a few of you, those who are tuned in to their vehicles, might not like the Generation 3 T5.

For quite a number of people the ZF gearbox (no longer Aisin) isn't at all pleasant as it repeatedly hunts up and down between gears 7 and 8 when you are cruising.

Other changes aren't overly smooth either, and there is a very noticeabe throttle delay too where, in an effort to overcome it, the driver can over compensate on the accelerator so the car suddenly takes off.

These issues have been noted in a lot of the car test reports.

There have been software updates which have satisfied a few people.

Others have returned their cars.

More owners have been told, in typical VW deny anything and everything style: "There's nothing wrong with your car, it's a characteristic of the vehicle ".

 

[JobyShokk]

I think quite a few of you, those who are tuned in to their vehicles, might not like the Generation 3 T5.

For quite a number of people the ZF gearbox (no longer Aisin) isn't at all pleasant as it repeatedly hunts up and down between gears 7 and 8 when you are cruising.

Other changes aren't overly smooth either, and there is a very noticeabe throttle delay too where, in an effort to overcome it, the driver can over compensate on the accelerator so the car suddenly takes off.

These issues have been noted in a lot of the car test reports.

There have been software updates which have satisfied a few people.

Others have returned their cars.

More owners have been told, in typical VW deny anything and everything style: "There's nothing wrong with your car, it's a characteristic of the vehicle ".

You may be right with your opening sentence, but I'd like the opportunity to find out. I'm just getting tired of the 'bigger-is-better' attitude of ALL the carmakers... the F150 won't fit in most standard American garages. The new (small) Ranger is the size of a 80's F150... Bigger isn't better for us all. The Atlas will sell like gangbusters - I have no doubt about that. But for me & my wish-list, my W-Burg Ed. T'Reg works for exactly what I need it to do within a sub-$40k price range (for a mildly-used one) with enough tech & flash that I feel like smiling when I get into it.

 

[volkswagens-for-life]

If you want exactly what the Volkswagen Touareg has to offer, there are plenty of other manufacturers that are right about there. The Toyota Land cruiser, the Land Rover Discovery, the infinity / Nissan Armada SUV, the Cadillac Escalade, the Cayenne, the Lincoln navigator / expedition, The supercharged Audi Q7, there are plenty of replacements you just have to pay exactly what Touareg cost new or a little more in some of these cases, to get it. Comparing the Touareg you bought used for 20 or 30 or $40,000 isn't a fair comparison.

 

[Touaregman33]

If you want exactly what the Volkswagen Touareg has to offer, there are plenty of other manufacturers that are right about there. The Toyota Land cruiser, the Land Rover Discovery, the infinity / Nissan Armada SUV, the Cadillac Escalade, the Cayenne, the Lincoln navigator / expedition, The supercharged Audi Q7, there are plenty of replacements you just have to pay exactly what Touareg cost new or a little more and some of these cases, to get it. Comparing the Touareg you bought used for 20 or 30 or $40,000 isn't a fair comparison.

Very very true.

 

[Touaregman33]

If you guys want a real comparison of a new VW Touareg on the U.S Market There's only 3 choices IMO. The Q7, Cayenne and Bentayga. The Bentayga and the Cayenne have a very very close interior layout to the New Touareg that we don't get over here.

 

[Amphicar770]

I think there's some confusion with a lot of people in here. The Volkswagen Touareg is a 70,000 to $80,000 car. an entry level Atlas is like 30 grand with the most loaded version being about 60 grand.

Stop looking at $30,000 cars to compare to your $70,000 plus Touareg. If we want to have a real conversation about a replacement for the Touareg let's double or triple how much money you're willing to spend and then we'll have a nice base to start with.

Unfortunately, even the VW dealers are either confused or realize they do not have a replacement and are trying to put lipstick on the pig. Not to long ago I received a mailer from the dealer suggesting I "UPGRADE" my Touareg for a new Atlas. Kind of like upgrading your Corvette for a new Chevette.

 

[volkswagens-for-life]

Lol they're just pushing what's new. Funny stuff.