Even though you have bought you car, do take some time to read this thread with info gathered from Treggers around the world. By the time you've finished it you will be an expert on the car:

Buying a used Touareg. What to look for. - myTreg forums

 

That you got a D or a Fail on?

I would never recommend a 10 year old, first year production TDI in the USA market to a female owner/driver, unless she has someone in the family to abuse all the repairs it is going to need in the future. 2004 and 2005's were bad years, just look at Consumer Reports for comments.

My advice, sell it, before you hate how much money you have to throw into it to keep in running right, before it falls apart completely on you with nickle and dime plastic failures of key fobs, door locks, ignition switches, and on and on and on. And I do mean on, and on and on, I've only touched the tip of the iceberg in all the problems that are coming your way, OP.

 

Lots of gloom and doom here... : \

I purchased my 2007 v10 new and enjoyed 180K (miles) of trouble free usage. Other than the driveshaft and some silly stuff, the maintenance was reasonable (not a Honda).

However, I spent 13+K rebuilding the top end (cam shafts, lifter, turbos) due to VW's misinformation on their oil standard....

Yes; The electrical and "plastic fantastic" stuff is expensive, and WILL FAIL.

However, if you are mechanically inclined you can divert the majority of the expense and enjoy this truck.

As Nooby always mentions, the v10"s are a supercar (both special and expensive). Be prepared financially.

Please PM me should you have any questions. Chris

 

As Nooby always mentions, the v10"s are a supercar (both special and expensive). Be prepared financially.

Hey, I didn't this time!!

But it's true - the V10 is a supercar with the potential for HUMUNGOUS supercar bills on the engine.

I'm just glad it's not my bank balance this one is running on...

 

Happy 04 owner here. It's been a great vehicle so far (knock on wood) You gotta pay to play. Don't let everyone scare you especially those who don't own one. Congrats on the purchase and enjoy

 

Congrats!!!! You should join us for the Kolorado Treffen. We're meeting in Salida on the 15th of September. PM me if you want to tag along and I'll send info.

 

what V10 FUN said.

 

Wow, yeah.. lots of doom and gloom here..

So, here's the deal.. seriously - if this breaks down soon/quickly and is gonna cost a lot of $$ I'm very much SOL. I'm the only checkbook and it doesn't have a budget for that sort of thing. Nor do I have a family member to help out with mechanic stuff..

I had a Passat before.. think it was a 2001.5 and it ran great.. (owned it for 3 years then switched to a 1994 Range Rover CLWB- after about 5-7 years that started to nickel & dime me to death so traded that in )
I have always enjoyed VWs and figured the Touareg would be a good choice for driving thru the sometimes 17+ inches of snow on the drive to work verses my rear wheel drive Charger that I just traded in on this VW TDI. (Oh and it has 144k miles - I was told in a gas engine that is = to about 50k diesel)

Now, when I looked up the CarFax it seemed the owners before took decent care of it. ~ I have to go to Denver so I figured I can stop by the dealership that did the maintenance and get more info on the service records; this is what I did find out from them..

Since 2011 it's had over $8,000 put into it so I'm hoping the previous owner 'paid it forward' for me a bit or more? Upon calling the dealership that did the maintenance it's had service done in their records since 2011 and had a new turbo oil feed, new right valve cover, oil sensor, cam sensors, alignment, dual plug sensor, both batteries and a fuel filter new/replaced; and they did do a quote for a modem mount - something to do with how the engine attaches to the frame?? So not familar with this..

I found an 2005 Infinity FX45, but I don't know much on those.. or should I just see if I can find another Charger and keep sucking it up in the snow on the drive to work?

How bad is it, shall I see if I can somehow trade it in, or just drive it a bit and hope that I'm not in a time bomb?

Again, thanks to all for your help..

 

The v10 will be more reliable than your Rover and arguably better in the snow. Purchase a VAGCOM cable from Ross-Tech, use/read this forum for advice, and enjoy. If you start having issues dump it and move on. It's not worth the stress.

 

Well, you could look into a 2012 or 2013 VW passat SE TDI in a 6 speed manual, new. It will go 250k miles, it's diesel, has a ton of torque for it's size, and is a great highway cruiser. Get snow tires for it in the winter on a spare set of wheels and call it good.

Keep it as close to the basic version as you can, and your service expenses with the 6 manual with no sun roof to fail, will be slim to none.

 

@ Lucky Chances

There are lots of people who run V10s and have no problems BUT . . . for all kinds of repairs and replacements it's 30 hours labour just to remove and replace the engine and that's before any work or parts have been chucked at it.

You really have bought a super car, but the reality is that occasionally things go tits up and the bills really can be humungous - $20,000 for the engine for example.

Even a bad valve chest in the gearbox [a common failure in older cars and around 70-90,000 miles] will be hitting $2,000.

The V10 is not a car for anyone on a tight budget without some considerable reserves in the bank.

There have been lots of discussions on here about the value or otherwise of warranties but even those who say don't waste your money on a warranty agree that the one Touareg you should get a warranty for is the V10.

There's no shame in living within your income and your comfort zone - it's what sensible people do - so from what you have written I would bail out ASAP.

That Passat Niner mentions looks good to me!

 

Lucky - do give that Passat TDI a drive - with studded snow tires it'll go just about anywhere it's even remotely safe to go. Maybe not 17" of packed snow - but at least 12" of powder like we get here. I used to drive my Jetta TDI in 12-16" and it'd just blow back over the windshield. Keep a 3-day kit in the trunk and you'll be golden. The resale on a VW TDI is incredible - I got a bit over $7K for my 12 year old TDI when I totaled it.

I'd LOVE to have a V10 TDI but I don't make enough to pay someone else to work on it and I don't have a lift in my garage to get the engine dropped. Seems like it'd be frustrating to work on though. I could change the glow plugs in my Jetta in 15 minutes - start to finish. Can't imagine having to remove the intake manis to change them in the V10. It'd be a great second car.

Good luck in whatever you choose to do.

 

We'll be down in the Springs on Saturday to pick up the cheapo discontinued $9.99 part I bought from Al Serra VW. Will be happy to spend a few minutes to vagcom it if you want.