VW Toureg

[yakers]

Anyone have one? What are your experiences? VW is selling off the very last of the US model at a very good price. Sells all over the world so not worried about parts. But is it reliable and is it as useful as the specs suggest?

 

[Bamaman]

I think they are pretty good vehicles. But in the U.S., this vehicle is not particularly popular. The Toureg is one of those low sales volume vehicles other brand new car dealers don't like to trade for due to a limited retail market.

While VW is a very large auto company, they are a second tier company here. They have some unconventional engineering and not many mechanics have the special tools or knowledge to fix them outside of dealerships. Great deals are rare because their dealers are often low volume and they don't have a pickup truck business to lay their overhead.

I just prefer Toyota, Lexus and Honda vehicles. My late model Explorer is just as good my old RX Lexus SUV.

 

[njhowie]

We purchased a 2014 VW Tiguan about 6 months ago from VW and wife loves it. Very well built and runs very nicely.

Check with VW on the fuel requirements for the Touareg engine. For the 2014 Tiguan we purchased, VW highly recommended using 91 octane fuel because it is a high performance engine, so we do. I believe that newer models of VWs do not have the high octane fuel requirement, but it would be good to confirm and just be aware of it if it does.

 

[kitesurfer2]

my daughter in law bought a new one a couple of years back and loved it...until she hated it! she spent a few thousand warranty dollars and took a BEATING when she traded it for her BMW. parts took forever to get was the biggest problem as i remember.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I buy only used cars, and I haven't owned a VW product in over 10 years, but I found VW's support with parts to be poor in the US. And parts (often unexpected ones) do fail -- when I frequented an online Audi forum, outside door handles broke with such frequency that members blamed any shoddy or boneheaded design on the company's "team door handle."

I think back to Audi's introduction of the A4, when buyers had control arm bushings fail prematurely, and when their new 1.8 liter turbo came out with defective ignition coil packs. The company had months-long backlogs of warranty claims because parts weren't available.

 

[Out of Steam]

I've seen articles that say that the VW cars that come out of the US plant in Tennessee have been pretty reliable.

Think this may be mostly to do with designs being relatively simple to keep costs down and allow for maximum sourcing of parts in US/Canada/Mexico.

 

[TheRunningMan]

A friend who was a VW dealer sales manager (now with Hyundai) always said it was a great SUV but it was one of the most expensive VWs to maintain and repair.

...for what that is worth.

 

[timo2]

When I lived in Denver and went to NHL hockey games there, we would see quite a few of the newer, younger hockey players driving a VW Touareg. Like it was the first thing they bought with their new contract money.

That said, we have a Tiguan, and it has that nice German car ride. I imagine the Touareg does also.

 

[Luck_Club]

Had a diesel version. LOVED IT AND MISS IT! When the diesel buyback came couldn't pass it up, but had that not happened would have kept the car til it died. After 4 -5 years it was still holding up very well, with little in the way of wear showing on the vehicle.

 

[NgineER]

We purchased a 2014 VW Tiguan about 6 months ago from VW and wife loves it. Very well built and runs very nicely.

Check with VW on the fuel requirements for the Touareg engine. For the 2014 Tiguan we purchased, VW highly recommended using 91 octane fuel because it is a high performance engine, so we do. I believe that newer models of VWs do not have the high octane fuel requirement, but it would be good to confirm and just be aware of it if it does.

IMO, the high octane requirement is only relevant when pushing the engine. Followed that requirement for our ‘99 Passat for about three years. Have been driving it for another 15 with 87 octane without any issues.

 

[ncbill]

VW makes some very nice driving machines.

With traditionally poor reliability.

Best bet is to lease, not buy.

VW has had very good lease offers.