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Comments
Tires: I don't think any 5000+ lb car with V-rated tires gets more than 20-23K miles before the wear bars show. The summer-only tires that were optional on 19 inch wheels are likely to wear even faster. The tires are the price you pay for being able to cruise at very high speed and why the car sticks so well (for an SUV)in corners. If you really did not want a high performance SUV, you should have bought a Tahoe or a Cherokee or a Lexus.
Acceleration: My '04 V6 is not smooth off the line unless you tread real light on the gas pedal. The V8 is even more jumpy. This was clear in the test drives. I've accepted this part of the car's character and I get off the line slowly to avoid it. A suggestion for stop and go traffic is to manually select 2nd gear. That reduces the jump you get with a stab at the throttle and the immediate shift from 1st to 2nd. All things considered, I very much like the way the car drives.
TPMS and electical issues: My TPMS only acted up once, about a year ago, which was fixed by the dealer. The computer itself is a bit of a pain. Within 300 miles of a comfort setting change, it will lose its memory and revert to factory settings, fail to respond to the remote fob, or do something else silly. Happens rarely. The dealer cannot replicate, therefore there is no problem. It's annoying, but not a deal breaker for me. I've heard that 05 and 06 Touaregs do not do this. I cuss when it happens, but I've gone on with life.
I'm on my 4th cd player (Sound System 1). I finally got them to give me a new one, not a rebuild this time. This one has lasted longer than any of the rest. As long as VW stands by the cd player, I guess I'll be ok with it. It sounds great.
This car has been to the dealer way more times than any other car I've ever owned. The dealer treats me great, gets me a loaner or demo if I want one (a W12 phaeton once), or takes me to the office and picks me up. I try to be professional and even tempered and they treat me the same way. Threatening class action lawsuit will get you bupkus. I'm not sure that VW cares, but the dealer at the front line is probably trying to keep his customers happy.
The next fun thing is brakes. It will need rotors and pads all around in a few months. That's a $1400 bill. It's also fairly typical for a heavy european car, based on experience with Volvo and BMW. If you are looking for cheap to keep, forget this car. I have no reason to believe that it is any more expensive to own than a Volvo, BMW or Mercedes. Lexus aint cheap when you show up for service either.
Overall, the only car I can get interested in trading on would be another Touareg, maybe the beefed up V6 in 07 or a V8, because I would like to be better equipped to tow. I expect to drive mine for awhile, though. It's worn in nicely like a catcher's mit. Let's see what the competing cars are (that I've driven):
Land Rover: Talk about problems!
Tahoe: Good truck, big and boring
Lexus GX470: pretty nice, but not too sporty
Toyota 4runner: good truck, would have purchased one, but very uncomfortable seating position for a big american
Toyota Sequoia: good truck, big, boring, good stereo
Expedition: good truck, big, boring
Durango: reminds me too much of a minivan
Grand Cherokee: kind of crude finish, but handles and drives well
Mercedes ML (new one): reminds me of a Grand Cherokee for a bunch more money, the old one is simply dated compared to what's available now.
I left out those vehicles that I have no experience with, do not have low range transfer case, or are not set up for off-roading, such as FX35-45, BMW X5 and X3.
Does anyone else out there like their Touareg?
Me too! We're working on it.
tidester, host
Hell yes. Go over to forums.clubtouareg.com/
or one of the other touareg enthusiast pages and you'll find a bunch. Some of the problems that have been complained about have real solutions. Others not. Not that the Touareg enthusiasts don't experience problems with their vehicles, it's just that they (overall) feel differently about them.
I see you've looked at about as many vehicles as I have to find a suitable on-road/off-road capable, nice SUV. The pickings are remarkably slim in this category. None match the T-reg's style, features, driveability and capability.
I think I'm figuring out why Toyota has such great reliability. I looked at a 4Runner Limited this weekend and couldn't believe the number of features it DIDN'T have. And for $42K- you'd expect a bit more than a reliable SUV.
You might want to check out the new '07 Tahoe's. A little big for my tastes- but a very very nicely done vehicle. I was impressed.
I am in the process of trying to get out of my lease because they still can't fix the tire pressure monitoring system and I've had a lot of other annoying problems. Does anybody know if there are still annoying glitches in the later models?
Having owned a Volvo in the past that had a similar appetite for brakes, I got pretty good at doing the pad and rotor thing in the garage. I'm looking into the cost of the parts to do this myself.
I took it into the dealership and of course was given the run-around. Called VW of America and they instructed me to go back to the dealership and ask for the service manager. He met me with obvious disbelief and consternation...but 5 seconds into the test ride he exclaimed, "Wow, that's terrible! Never heard that before." So we turned around and jumped into a brand new '06 on the lot and guess what -- same thing! A day later he called and said that he test drove another Touareg and same thing.
When I lease or purchase a $40k+ vehicle, I do not expect to have to roll the windows down to use the sunroof. There must be other Touareg owners out there that have this problem? VWofA said that while this is an inconvenience, it's not something that makes the vehicle undriveable. Nice. So I am stuck. I am going to write a letter to the president of VWofA, but I know that will do little good. The best thing would be for other owners who have this problem to begin calling their dealerships to complain so that VWofA is forced to deal with this issue.
I am not sure if they forgot to wind tunnel test this thing or just didn't care, but I have owned a BMW and Mercedes before and never had any issues with having my sun roof open. Any help or ideas would be appreciated! Thanks, Jae
tidester, "Volvo XC90 SUV" #930, 3 Jan 2003 9:19 pm
If they all do it, I think you're going to be stuck with having to crack a window.
Steve, Host
It's a VERY minor inconvenience and certainly nothing worth getting all bent out of shape over.
There probably is but this is not the place to solicit and hire attorneys.
tidester, host
I came to this site to check out potential problems with a Touareg because I was planning on buying one. After reading about problem after problem, I think I will keep looking for another vehicle. If I had spent $45,000+ on a new Touareg, I would be pretty mad to have the kind of problems that I am reading about.
VW expects that the vast majority of the public will not get a lawyer and hold them responsible and will just sell their car at a loss rather than fight them in court. Lawyers handle these cases on a contingent fee basis - you pay a percentage if you win, no attorneys fees if you loose. Seems like more people ought to stand up for what is right and stop taking this from manufacturers that don't stand behind their products!
p.s. other car I am considering is the BMW X5 but don't like the body style as much; any thoughts there would also be appreciated
thanks
http://forums.clubtouareg.com/
it appears that the '06's are a bit better. The other issue with the Touareg initially, other than it being a totally new design, was that the dealers didn't know how to fix this new and very complex vehicle. They appear to be learning.
What I've surmised about the T-regg is that:
1. There is no other SUV that comes close to it in handling, feel, style(subjective), luxury and 4wd or towing capability... for the price. It's an enthusiasts SUV.
2. Its reliability is in direct proportion to its complexity. Sure a 4Runner will be more reliable, but sit inside it and you'll know you're in a completely different class of $40K vehicle. The V-dub comes standard with more features than are even options on the best outfitted 4runner Limited- for about the same price.
Also- and this is arguable, as it's only my impression- that Touareg drivers are a bit more obsessive about their vehicles than Toyota drivers, and are more likely to report and complain about little problems.
Anyone have a suggestion for what it could be? Am I safe to drive it in the meantime?
Thanks!
The only complaints would be mileage 17-19 mpg,and the substandard Continental tires which I am going to replace with Bridgestone AA Duelers.
I a;so change my shift points depending what I,m doing,ie cross country trips I try to get into 6 th gear asap.Towing the boat I let it wind up to higher RPM,s.Towing the boat I get about 14 mpg.
Thanks
we have restrictions on our fuel composition ,most others use large %of ethanol to get in compliance.
I have never used less than premium in my T'reg.
thanks again
Ultimately, you can use lower grade gas if you drive the car at an elevation that is so much above sea level.
What is compelling though, is that the engine adjusts to lower octane by making the mixture richer, which explains the lower mileage, but it also seems to make more carbon deposits in the tailpipes, because combustion is less efficient. I can only imagine what's accumulating in the head. I'm guessing that's only a problem for people that plan to keep them past the normal lease period. If I was leasing it, I would run regular for 20 cents a gallon less.
thanks