Hi Stew and welcome - all lurkers and lookers are welcome here!
Not knowing your budget, the best advice is to go for one of the diesels, as any of them will tow right up to the rated range in comfort and safety.
As far as robustness of the transmission & drivetrain is concerned, this system handles the V10 Diesel (up to around 900Nm of torque) and in some markets there is the W12 petrol engine.
We may be biased here but there is a recent thread where all of the former Patrol owners who now drive Touaregs "outed" themselves, and you'd be amazed how many of us there are. Check it out here: http://www.clubtouareg.com/forums/f67/hi-from-a-new-tregger-38553.html
I had the small (2.5 litre) R5 diesel Touareg and sold it to a retired couple for them to tow their 2.5++ tonne caravan load around Australia.
I'm sure a few of the heavy-towing brigade will weigh in with comments.
If you like the V8 that you have found, check more on the US part of this forum, once the diesels proved themselves here, VW dropped the V8 from the range as no one wanted it. Still a big seller in the good old US of A.

cheers,
..Neil

 

Hi Neil,

Thanks for the reply, i am from Newy as well.
Unfortunately my budget doesn't stretch to a diesel - the v10 would be an awesome addition to my garage though.
The car i am considering is advertised at 28,000 which is at the top of my budget. and its main competitor at this point is a LX470 with a TRD supercharger setup.
I don't do alot of km's - i work 7 days a fortnight (12hr shift) and only live 13kms from work.
But the spec sheet of the treg looks right up my alley.....

 

I would stay away from the v8 it drinks fuel especial when towing. The main advantage of the treg with air suspension is it stays level no matter what the load on the tow bar is , LC and patrol will sag in the ass with 300 + kg on the ball. Yes you can fit stiffer springs but then for 99% of the time when you not towing you have to supply kidney belts to your rear passengers.

 

Yes the V8 likes to drink it towing a load but it does it with greatness and without effort. I have a V8 with air and 131k miles so over 200,000kms.
So if you don't drive a ton of miles (i do not think you do) then the V8 will be a great choice

 

Hi Stew,

Welcome to this fantastic forum. If you can afford a few more bucks you could pick up a 3.0 litre TDI diesel which would fill your needs perfectly.

I have recently upgraded to an R50 however my previous Treg was an 06 3.0 litre TDI. I also currently have a 26' Four Winns bowrider weighing in at 3.5 tonnes with trailer. Last year I towed the boat from the Gold Coast to Sydney and back. The Treg didn't know the boat was there. I travelled at or above highway speeds on cruise control, hills didn't exist. To top it all off I averaged 13.2 l/100kms. There is nothing on the market that could match this performance.

 

Thanks for the replies guys,

As i said, the fuel consumption does not really worry me greatly, my normal driving is less than 10k per year.
What kind of numbers are we talking towing???

I had a flick around car sales, cheapest 3.0 diesel i could find was 49k - alot more than the 28k for the v8 - which is already at the top of what i want to spend. There is a v10 for 51k as well..... but alas i think it will be the v8 or none for me.

Snowgum - was that towing with the 3.0 or the new one? those new r50 look awesome on paper.... i need to drive one i think....

That is exactly the kind of info i am after.
Anyone towed a decent weight on a semi regular basis?

Cheers
Stew

 

Welcome Stew,
I have spoken to a few other Treg owners before buying mine on the towing prowess of the various engine incarnations. I if you can get your hands on a diesel whichever engine they all seem to do it easily. I have personally only towed with my V10, which tows that easy you forget you've got anything behind you until you look in the rearview! I personally like you was on a limited budget and was looking for an R5 (smallest of the diesel engines), but persistence paid off and ended up with a V10 for the price the R5 where bringing, so it pays to look around!
Good Luck!
Reggie

 

Hi Stew, this is my first post. I recently sold a 2004 V8 petrol landcruiser and bought a 2007 v6 diesel toureg, there is no comparison between the two, we use it to pull horses around and the touareg does it so much more easly and at a lot less fuel consumption. Go the diesel over petrol if you can find one, you will not regret it.
Phill.

 

TDI = torque, no matter what Treg diesel variant. On a budget, the value is in the pre-owned R5. Chip the 2.5TDI donk, bigger exhaust etc if you want more Nm. R5 is cheaper to buy, own (rego and service) and you still have the same fun as the rest of us V6 and V10 TDI owners. I tow a 1.5T alloy boat. I never feel it on the back. Remember, you'll do most of the K's without a trailer - the Tregs always a clear winner on that basis.

 

A PS to my post - On the downside, a used R5 is mid $30K's upwards. The V8 at the right price (your budget) is a winner if you do not do big annual K's. So the fuel bill you can live with I guess.

 

Toy77

If you can stretch a little, this may be worth a look at 2005 VOLKSWAGEN TOUAREG R5 4XMOTION LUXURY 7L MY05 Cars For Sale in QLD - CarPoint Australia

Given car ownership over 3-5 years, that's an extra $1500-$2500 per year. Not a lot for the extra capability and effortless towing.

Having had both a V8 and the V10(R50) I've loved both, but I really enjoy the V10 more and I know my next car will also be a diesel.

 

Toy77

If you can stretch a little, this may be worth a look at 2005 VOLKSWAGEN TOUAREG R5 4XMOTION LUXURY 7L MY05 Cars For Sale in QLD - CarPoint Australia

Given car ownership over 3-5 years, that's an extra $1500-$2500 per year. Not a lot for the extra capability and effortless towing.

Having had both a V8 and the V10(R50) I've loved both, but I really enjoy the V10 more and I know my next car will also be a diesel.

Yeah, that's the one I saw as well. I think if that particular R5 has a solid service history, then the 185K's are no issue. Many commercial diesels hit the million k click mark B4 a rebuild. The 2.5 TDI is a proven donk.

 

I'm probably biased, but I agree about the 185k mileage, my R5 only started to free up (runned-in) after 150k, now passed 180k and the engine is terrific, and the car feels tight and solid as when new.

One thing about diesel though, it is very sensitive about the quality of diesel you put in. I don't know whether it's psychological, but everytime I've had bad (uncommon brand diesel) in my R5, it has not run well, and as soon as I top up the tank with decent diesel, the performance improves. So for now, unless I really had to, I usually hunt around for a Shell or BP (eeeewww, hate to admit it given what's happening in the US at the moment) to fill up.

Also to the OP, my theory about VW (or probably even VAG) cars in general is that quality control is not up to the standard of the Japanese cars, but if you're buying second hand, then the previous owner/s would have sorted out all the issues for you and motoring should be relatively hassle free after the factory warranty run out.

In addition, (at least with the touareg), VW tracks common failure and will have 'enhancement program' in the first few years to sort out defective designs (e.g. 90D7 where on the R5 a revised water pump was replaced as part of the campaign), in fact I reckon VGA has latched onto Toyota's unscheduled service practices and Nissan's goodwill practices, and IMO there's pride involved so the risk of a second hand lemon in a toaureg is minimal.

Having said above, look for service history, as a car that has not been properly serviced may not be 'sorted out' as well as one that has had good VW dealership history.

 

Diesel - I have always used Woolies (Caltex) fuel in all 3 of my VW's. Never had a problem with any Woolies servo. The servo is close by home and we shop at Woolies co-located with the servo. Never used any other brand, ever. Just the way it works out with all the Dubs having excellent fuel economy, I always can full up at home.

 

I agree wholeheartedly with many of these posts. I have just traded my R5 on a new V6tdi and it is fantastic. Having said that my R5 was excellent too and caused me no grief whatsoever in nearly 100,000kms of very pleasant motoring. Like Oilslurper I also tow a 6m boat and the R5 did it effortlessly. My advice would be to look for a weel maintained and priced R5 and go for it - you will not be dissapointed.
Cheers,
CamB

 

Towed one of the rally cars for the first time about 2 weeks ago. 940 kms, 130 of that dirt, 1900kg's fully loaded with spares and jerries on the trailer, V6Tdi, 12.8/100 av comsumption over some pretty average territory, 13 cd's played, 4 packets of beef jerkie comsumed. One happy Touareg owner.

 

Yeah, got to love the Diesel for towing. Just got back from a week up north in my R5 Treg. 2700kg of weight in the caravan. 1300km trip, including 150 of low speed off road driving (obviously not towing for this bit) and an average of 13l/100km. With an average tow speed in the high 90s.

 

Hi Stew - I regularly tow a 3.5T (ish) boat and trailer (maybe a tad more on occasions with 5 sets of twin scuba gearoaded for the short trip over to the ramp) with the V10 - have dragged it down from Brisbane last year and it is just awesome. Often you have to look in the rearview mirror to remind yourself that there is a load on.

So far I have had no gearbox problems. As the engine is rarly working near capacity I suspect the gearbox is the same.

If I put the car in low range for the pull out from the ramp it barly gets above idle.

At 80 -100kph the economy is not so flash 20 - 25l/100 though

The trailer is a triple axle so it tracks pretty straight - car seems to handle it OK

 

Just towed 2500kg caravan over 400km of which 100km gravel. Speed 90-100km/hr and most of the time against front/side wind. Consumption 19,2l/100km which I think is superb! The stability of the rig is just unbelievable (without sway bars due to air suspension).

 

Just returned from 19,000ks in 12 weeks with a 3.5t Bushtracker van on the back. Lots of gravel - including the Gibb River Road.
Only Treg issues were a Bi-Xenon globe, and the stability control locking on after a severe wind gust - forcing a stop to reset (by restarting engine).
Ran Goodyear 19" ATR and carried two spare cases as well as a spare tyre - no flats!

The gear change from 5 back to 4 is harsh under load so I drove mainly in "manual". Fuel consumption ranged from 17.5l to 22l depending upon the usual - speed, wind and road conditions. (LC 200 series were generally 15-20% higher consumption in similar conditions.)

The Treg has now done 100k so the decision is to replace or keep. And the second string there is what to replace with? Gotta say it is disconcerting to drive from Perth to Darwin with no dealers and we didn't hang back on where we wanted to go.

The ideal for me would be a Treg with bullbar, snorkel, real spare on board and at least 150l tank A safe range of 500ks is not enough - we carried 40l in Gerries which needed to be used a few times.

We were asked almost daily how the little VDub pulled the big van! Even had a guy take a photo to show his son that his Golf was perfectly capable of towing a van! Must admit the Treg does look small next to a Bland Cruiser!

I just can't imagine a better tow vehicle!

IAN