[oscarbravo]

The wife and I have been looking for a new car for her. She had pretty much decided that she wanted a BMW X3 ('05). But tonight, we went over to CARMAX to see what they had. I saw a Touareg and she climbed in. She got a big smile on her face and gave me a "thumbs up". We drove it and we were both blown away! It's the best riding SUV I have ever been in and the interior was amazing.

So we came home and I found this forum and began to read through the posts. A normal person would probably be scared off. BUT I have a BMW 740iL, so I know about maintainance costs. However, I'm a pretty good DIY'er and do my own repair work which helps keep the costs down. So I wouldn't be afraid to do the same on the Touareg.

What we found was an '04 w/54K on it. Normally, I wouldn't consider that age and miles but this time we are on a more strict budget and the car is immaculate. We can buy it for $16.5K which seemed like a good price for a V8.

My question is, am I asking for trouble? It looks like most of the problems on the '04's were electrical and should have been sorted out by now. I will call the dealer Monday to see if they can determin any repair history. I don't think we can afford to go any newer. At least not with the V8. Would I be better off with an '05 V6?

Any help would be MUCH appreciated. I think we'll end up buying a t-reg one way or another. I really liked the one we saw tonight. I don't think I have ever seen a used car in such good condition.

Thanks in advance.

 

[oscarbravo]

If you put what part of the world you are in we would know if the K's are Miles or Kilometers. Please fill all the details in your profile then others can advise .

Sorry, it was late last night when I posted.

I'm in Texas, so it's miles. I guess what I'm going for is, with my BMW 7 series, I pretty much know what wears out and when. And they pretty much all wear out at once so it's BIG $$$ if you have to take it to a shop. After those are replaced however, you can look forward to 50-60K miles of fairly trouble free driving. A lot of unsuspecting buyers buy one (a 740) thinking it has low miles but soon learn it needs $5-6K worth of work done. I'd like to avoid that little issue. So I'm looking for that kind of info. Such as,

1. are there common replacement items at certain mile intervals?
2. if so what are they and how often?
2. are the above DIY projects?
3. how do these vehicles hold up between 50 and 100K miles?
4. can we really expect 14 mpg if she keeps her foot out of it?
5. would I be making a mistake buying a V6?

I'm going to finance this purchase so I don't want to be making payments and pour another $200-300 a month in frequent repairs.

Thanks!

 

[oscarbravo]

this one is in the .35xxx range. I drove two others today. Neither were as nice as the one we drove last night. I think the one from last night has the air suspension.

 

[oscarbravo]

Thanks for the responses. It's pretty much the same think with a BMW 740. Do the research, know what goes wrong and when. I checked out parts pricing and they are in line with my 740.

Unless I am wrong, it seems to me that, most of these have been more reliable (once sorted out) than the 740. I'm not hearing about suspension parts, radiators, intake leaks, leaky valve cover gaskets and cat failures that are common to the 740.

On a disappointing note, the one I mentioned sold yesterday. I drove a couple others including a V6. They didn't compare to the one that got me all excited. I think it's because the first one had the air suspension and the others didn't.