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5 Posts
Hi All, this is my first post to club touareg, and while I do not own one yet, I am seriously considering it.
A little bit about myself: I have been a VW owner for quite some time, everything from vanagons, to GTI's, to Jettas, I have not owned a Touareg though. I currently own a vanagon and if any of you know about these underpowered, finicky vehicles, I'm a bit over having to worry about breaking down on the side of the road due to bad grounds/head gaskets/etc. I'm interested in the a Touareg because it initially appears to fit my budget, has plenty of power to truck me up a mountain, the 4WD to do it in the winter, and the space to take the wife and the kids up too. I am a mechanical engineer who enjoys doing his own wrenching. I have gone over the things to look for when buying a Touareg as well, they don't seem THAT bad.
So, onto my questions. In general:
In my research I have noticed that most people say to stay away from the 2004 model, V6, v8 & TDI, and go for the 2006 ones since they seem to have bugs ironed out. Is the 2005 model year sort of half ironed out? Also do the 2004 ones, once they've hit a certain mileage have their quirks ironed out as well, or are they constantly having new issues?
Is there any real reason to go with a V6 gasoline? It appears to have only slightly better gas mileage and significantly less power than the V8 (V10 TDI is out of the equation for me unfortunately). Does it tend to have better reliability? etc.
Should I stay away from the air suspension? Any other options to stay away from?
Relative to other VW's of the same age, do these vehicle seem to have more, same, or less issues? I'm no stranger to VW's sensor problems, how many of the ones that commonly go out would I be able to do myself with the service manual (Bentley manual is the best I'm assuming?)
I keep seeing brakes costing $1000+ to change, are these OEM brakes (pads, rotors, calipers) being done at the dealer? how much if I do it myself? at somewhere like Midas?
Sorry if my thoughts seem jumbled at the moment, I'm out in the woods drinking beer. Thanks for any responses though!
Erik
A little bit about myself: I have been a VW owner for quite some time, everything from vanagons, to GTI's, to Jettas, I have not owned a Touareg though. I currently own a vanagon and if any of you know about these underpowered, finicky vehicles, I'm a bit over having to worry about breaking down on the side of the road due to bad grounds/head gaskets/etc. I'm interested in the a Touareg because it initially appears to fit my budget, has plenty of power to truck me up a mountain, the 4WD to do it in the winter, and the space to take the wife and the kids up too. I am a mechanical engineer who enjoys doing his own wrenching. I have gone over the things to look for when buying a Touareg as well, they don't seem THAT bad.
So, onto my questions. In general:
In my research I have noticed that most people say to stay away from the 2004 model, V6, v8 & TDI, and go for the 2006 ones since they seem to have bugs ironed out. Is the 2005 model year sort of half ironed out? Also do the 2004 ones, once they've hit a certain mileage have their quirks ironed out as well, or are they constantly having new issues?
Is there any real reason to go with a V6 gasoline? It appears to have only slightly better gas mileage and significantly less power than the V8 (V10 TDI is out of the equation for me unfortunately). Does it tend to have better reliability? etc.
Should I stay away from the air suspension? Any other options to stay away from?
Relative to other VW's of the same age, do these vehicle seem to have more, same, or less issues? I'm no stranger to VW's sensor problems, how many of the ones that commonly go out would I be able to do myself with the service manual (Bentley manual is the best I'm assuming?)
I keep seeing brakes costing $1000+ to change, are these OEM brakes (pads, rotors, calipers) being done at the dealer? how much if I do it myself? at somewhere like Midas?
Sorry if my thoughts seem jumbled at the moment, I'm out in the woods drinking beer. Thanks for any responses though!
Erik