Test Drive: 2012 Volkswagen Touareg TDI

Yeti35

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2009
Location
SL, UT
TDI
2010 Touareg V6 TDI
unless you really enjoy buying tires and brakes as a hobby, you do not want one. :D
They are not that horrible, I am on my second one and brakes are not that big of an issue. Tires can be because it is an AWD vehicle that is heavy which puts more strain on the tires.
 

scrubber

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2004
Location
Happy Valley, OR
TDI
2012 Touareg TDI
I thought the tire issue was specific to the early V10 models. Moving a car of that weight, like the V10 was able to, is asking a lot of the tires. Should be less of an issue with the V6s, especially the 2011+ editions.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
^^^ be glad you cannot afford one. :D
No kidding. And half the people that THINK they can, can't. Tires and brakes, over and over and over. Expensive vehicle to operate. And not really all that nice, IMHO. For the same money, I'd MUCH rather have an Audi A6. Too bad we cannot get the TDI versions. I'll reserve my opinion for the 4-chained V6 until I see one with 150k miles.
 

scrubber

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2004
Location
Happy Valley, OR
TDI
2012 Touareg TDI
I'd MUCH rather have an Audi A6. Too bad we cannot get the TDI versions. I'll reserve my opinion for the 4-chained V6 until I see one with 150k miles.
Just comes down to your own needs, I guess. The Touareg and A6 aren't exactly comparable vehicles. You can't even get an A6 wagon right now.
 

MonsterTDI09

TDIClub Enthusiast, Veteran Member
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Jul 3, 2009
Location
NoVa/NJ
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2010 Jetta DSG/ up keep on 2009 Jetta DSG 2006 Jetta Pag 2 in North SEA Green
I saw a Touareg hybrid the other day.I guess another money pit down the road.If you can afford a new one at 60k you should no problem paying for tires and brakes.

Tom
 

suparag

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Joined
Nov 30, 2005
Location
Wichita,KS
TDI
None now.
I need a Tiggy

The amount of money they want for Touraeg is ridiculous, I would rather like a Tiguan with a 2.0L TDI, if that would cut the cost quite a bit. A SE 4motion Tiguan is about 30K, and even if we add a 5K premium for TDI, it will be around 35K.

Suparag
 

grohgreg

Well-known member
Joined
May 22, 2011
Location
Dawson Springs, KY
TDI
2013 Porsche Cayenne Diesel
The TDI Tig is going to generate a lot of interest .
Except for the size, I'd agree. Underneath it's still a Jetta. I started with a long list of European 5 passenger SUVs, and quickly crossed all the compacts off the list (Tiguan, Audi Q5, BMW X3, Mercedes GLK, Volvo XC60, et cetera). The interiors were too confining, it felt like driving around in a phone booth. And to stay diesel, I had to step up to the Touareg, the BMW X5, or the Mercedes M-class. Of those, Touareg had the best fuel economy, the best towing capacity, 3 yrs free service/maintenance, and - best of all - the lowest price.

//greg//
 
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Yeti35

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2009
Location
SL, UT
TDI
2010 Touareg V6 TDI
Tiguan in no way compares to a Touareg. If you have never driven a Treg let alone a TDI version, you will never get it. Tire wear and brakes are not as big a deal as everyone makes it out to be. It is a heavy AWD vehical and it will wear tires. My tire shop told me the Touareg is not unique in this matter a far as tire wear. They said they see it with just about ever AWD vehical.

My first Treg was an 04 V6 which gave me no problems what so ever and I was the second owner on it. It had almost 70K when I got rid of it. Reason I got rid of it was to purchase the current one which is a TDI w/ air suspension. Only issue I have had so far was the water pump seal which was common with all the 3.0 motors regardless if it was VW or Audi. I will be holding on to my current Treg for a very long time since the new ones are nothing more then a softroad crossover now with no air suspension or 4Xmotion, or at least no longer available to us here in NA.
 
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golftdi140

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 1, 2011
Location
Brockport Ny
TDI
2011 golf tdi
Awd tire wear is nutz. I work for toyota and the awd siennas with run flats are horrible on tires. The Rees smoke off around 35k while the center have 5/32s still. Each tire is $230 plus

Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 2
 

ruking

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 27, 2003
Location
San Jose area, CA
TDI
2003 VW Jetta, 5 M, Reflex Silver: 09 Jetta, 6 Sp DSG, Candy White: 12 VW Touareg, 8 Sp A/T, Flint Gray
Tiguan in no way compares to a Touareg. If you have never driven a Treg let alone a TDI version, you will never get it. Tire wear and brakes are not as big a deal as everyone makes it out to be. It is a heavy AWD vehical and it will wear tears. My tire shop told me the Touareg is not unique in this matter a far as tire wear. They said they see it with just about ever AWD vehical.

My first Treg was an 04 V6 which gave me no problems what so ever and I was the second owner on it. It had almost 70K when I got rid of it. Reason I got rid of it was to purchase the current one which is a TDI w/ air suspension. Only issue I have had so far was the water pump seal which was common with all the 3.0 motors regardless if it was VW or Audi. I will be holding on to my current Treg for a very long time since the new ones are nothing more then a softroad crossover now with no air suspension or 4Xmotion, or at least no longer available to us here in NA.
I would agree, but i think folks that have had mid sized SUV's and small cars might have had a better perspective. Some of this is totally logical, the Touareg weighs 4974 #'s. the Jetta TDI is 2,950 to 3,200#s. To expect same to similar wear rates is from dreaming to unrealistic. So with the the Tiquan being a jacked up weightier Jetta, I would anticipate the wear schedules to be closer to a small crossover SUV than the Jetta sedan.

So for example, I have longer term experience with (5) Toyota Landcruiser's 87-96. The 1987 had app 250,000 miles when I sold it. A 1994 has 200,000 plus. I would expect (reasonably) the Touareg's wear rates (consumables) to be similar to slightly better. I would be ready for slightly worse. Much worse, of course would be a disappointment. Brakes pads can last 40,000 to 60,000 miles. Rotors are generally swapped out every second change 80,000 to 120,000). ( I know that German oems recommend rotor swap at pad swap intervals -1 knock here) Tires have run the gambit of 50,000 to 90,000 miles. (Michelin's tend to LAST the longest) Toyota even paid for a rotor and pad change (1987 TLC)

In contrast, the 03 TDI has gone 112,300 miles on a set of GY LS-H's. @ current mileage 175,000 miles, the second set (Toyo TPT's with 62,700 miles ) is on pace for app the same. The pads and rotors are projected to run to 250,000 +. I did not need an alignment @ 100,000 miles, but got one anyway.

As per Oilhammer's post, add me to the list of interested in the results of a 2012 3.0 L 4 chain TDI with 150,000 and hopefully PLUS miles on it !! I am looking to the Touareg for a longer haul.
 
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scrubber

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2004
Location
Happy Valley, OR
TDI
2012 Touareg TDI
Except for the size, I'd agree. Underneath it's still a Jetta. I started with a long list of European 5 passenger SUVs, and quickly crossed all the compacts off the list (Tiguan, Audi Q5, BMW X3, Mercedes GLK, Volvo XC60, et cetera). The interiors were too confining, it felt like driving around in a phone booth. And to stay diesel, I had to step up to the Touareg, the BMW X5, or the Mercedes M-class. Of those, Touareg had the best fuel economy, the best towing capacity, 3 yrs free service/maintenance, and - best of all - the lowest price.

//greg//
+1
and we did cross-shop the Tiguan. The particular one I was interested in was stickered at >$39K. Granted, that was a loaded Tiggy, but at that point it was an easy decision to step up to the Touareg. More capable, more room, and likely more MPGs.
 

Yeti35

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2009
Location
SL, UT
TDI
2010 Touareg V6 TDI
As per Oilhammer's post, add me to the list of interested in the results of a 2012 3.0 L 4 chain TDI with 150,000 and hopefully PLUS miles on it !! I am looking to the Touareg for a longer haul.
Thing is this motor is not brand new and has been available ROW way before we got it here. Only real addition to it has been we got the adblue system whereas ROW had not until recently. I have yet to read any complaints from people that have been running it for a lot longer then us with chain issues. We see every sort of complaint on Club Touareg and I have yet to read about that issue at all.
 

ruking

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 27, 2003
Location
San Jose area, CA
TDI
2003 VW Jetta, 5 M, Reflex Silver: 09 Jetta, 6 Sp DSG, Candy White: 12 VW Touareg, 8 Sp A/T, Flint Gray
Thing is this motor is not brand new and has been available ROW way before we got it here. Only real addition to it has been we got the adblue system whereas ROW had not until recently. I have yet to read any complaints from people that have been running it for a lot longer then us with chain issues. We see every sort of complaint on Club Touareg and I have yet to read about that issue at all.
Then that has to be both good news and hopefully the engine put in my specific VW Touareg is (statistically) a middle most AVERAGE engine or,.... BETTER !
 

Yeti35

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2009
Location
SL, UT
TDI
2010 Touareg V6 TDI
Then that has to be both good news and hopefully the engine put in my specific VW Touareg is (statistically) a middle most AVERAGE engine or,.... BETTER !
Only real complaints I have seen so far is the water pump issue and the adblue system. The adblue system has been problematic since introduced, but once replacements/repairs have been done, no complaints. This is based off all info I have seen so far on Club Touareg.
 

Trooper81

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2001
Location
Ontario Canada
TDI
2000 New Beetle, 2011 Touareg TDI
30,000 k and no brake or tire wear as of yet. I think you guys are freakin out over nothing. plus if you can't afford the tires why would u be buying a 70,000 vehicle.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
The 'RoW' does not pile on the miles like we do, and that engine is not a super fast seller in other models until just recently, and even then it is usually found in bigger Audi sedans more commonly.

It seems higher fuel prices, closer cities, and far superior passenger rail systems mean folks in Europe don't often see 1/4 million miles on a 5 year old car like we do.
 

ruking

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 27, 2003
Location
San Jose area, CA
TDI
2003 VW Jetta, 5 M, Reflex Silver: 09 Jetta, 6 Sp DSG, Candy White: 12 VW Touareg, 8 Sp A/T, Flint Gray
The 'RoW' does not pile on the miles like we do, and that engine is not a super fast seller in other models until just recently, and even then it is usually found in bigger Audi sedans more commonly.

It seems higher fuel prices, closer cities, and far superior passenger rail systems mean folks in Europe don't often see 1/4 million miles on a 5 year old car like we do.
Indeed on another web site a host posted a reference that the AVERAGE mileage per year for Europeans was 9,000 (not kms) vs 12,000 to 15,000 miles AVERAGE for Americans, or 33% to 67% more. In addition, car ownership is a much costlier proposition even as the Europeans own slightly more passenger vehicles than the USA @ 270 M vs 260 M.
 
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oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
And Americans who drive TDIs easily best that average. I do about 50,000 miles per year collectively all by myself. I do that across several cars, however. But I have many customers that do that all in one car. I have a 2006 Jetta TDI scheduled this week for a 280k service. :eek:
 

ruking

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 27, 2003
Location
San Jose area, CA
TDI
2003 VW Jetta, 5 M, Reflex Silver: 09 Jetta, 6 Sp DSG, Candy White: 12 VW Touareg, 8 Sp A/T, Flint Gray
I think that sooner or later most Americans, either subliminally to objectively start to realize they pay more PER MILE DRIVEN than Europeans. DOING something about it is a whole different issue.

I was (anecdotally) one of those who bought a TDI in 2003 to cut down on the per mile driven costs, as I knew we would do app 25,000 miles per year, albeit 50 mpg (EPA 42/49).

Since owners of TDI passenger vehicles have always been in (literally) an extreme minority, the shift has been slow. The background of this is that 5% of the so called passenger vehicle fleet are diesels. Of that, app 50-60% are so called "light trucks". This is of course meaning , i.e., a Ford F 250 to F 350 turbo diesel being a light truck. In 2003 the passenger diesel percentage was 2% with 75% being so called light trucks.
 
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Yeti35

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2009
Location
SL, UT
TDI
2010 Touareg V6 TDI
The 'RoW' does not pile on the miles like we do, and that engine is not a super fast seller in other models until just recently, and even then it is usually found in bigger Audi sedans more commonly.

It seems higher fuel prices, closer cities, and far superior passenger rail systems mean folks in Europe don't often see 1/4 million miles on a 5 year old car like we do.
Aussie members are putting miles on them since their main cities are so far apart and they travel a lot to get from one to the other. No complaints at all from any of those members. I also know they are using their Tregs offroad as well to play in the Outback. I personally am not worried about it, but then I don't put many miles on a vehical ever. I have a 10 I bought new in 09 and only have 23K on it, but drive it daily. I just don't drive long drives other then when I moved from UT to PA and did that drive on 3 separate occassions.
 

Tarbe

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2002
Location
USA
TDI
Touareg and Sportwagon Sold to VW
This is a funny thread.

Comparing a TDI Touareg to an A6 and a Tiguan? Would either of those vehicles tow the 4,000 pound camper 720 miles from Houston to Romance, then down 3 miles of muddy roads to my property in the Ozarks? And get 20 mpg doing it?

Didn't think so..........

Yeti is right....at least compare somewhat similar vehicles.


Tim
 
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Fourdiesel

Veteran Member
Joined
May 19, 2003
Location
SW Wash. USA
TDI
'04 Touareg V10 TDI
I think that sooner or later most Americans, either subliminally to objectively start to realize they pay more PER MILE DRIVEN than Europeans. DOING something about it is a whole different issue.

I was (anecdotally) one of those who bought a TDI in 2003 to cut down on the per mile driven costs, as I knew we would do app 25,000 miles per year, albeit 50 mpg (EPA 42/49).

Since owners of TDI passenger vehicles have always been in (literally) an extreme minority, the shift has been slow. The background of this is that 5% of the so called passenger vehicle fleet are diesels. Of that, app 50-60% are so called "light trucks". This is of course meaning , i.e., a Ford F 250 to F 350 turbo diesel being a light truck. In 2003 the passenger diesel percentage was 2% with 75% being so called light trucks.
Don't forget that the Mercedes GL (and M class)? are also legally 'light trucks' for EPA certification purposes. I don't know if enough of the CDI power plants on these (and the E class) have been sold to change the statistics much but it would be wrong to ignore them. The CDI engines appeared on the SUVs in 2007 and on the E-class a couple of years earlier.
 

ruking

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 27, 2003
Location
San Jose area, CA
TDI
2003 VW Jetta, 5 M, Reflex Silver: 09 Jetta, 6 Sp DSG, Candy White: 12 VW Touareg, 8 Sp A/T, Flint Gray
Don't forget that the Mercedes GL (and M class)? are also legally 'light trucks' for EPA certification purposes. I don't know if enough of the CDI power plants on these (and the E class) have been sold to change the statistics much but it would be wrong to ignore them. The CDI engines appeared on the SUVs in 2007 and on the E-class a couple of years earlier.
No, the MB "light trucks" are neither ignored or forgotten. Defacto, they are counted as such. They are however a minority group within an EXTREMELY small minority group. So the (now) 5% of the passenger diesel fleet has always included them. PVF counts change of course from year to year. The year to year figures are normally expressed 1 to 3 years in arrears. So for example, the CURRENT PVF (passenger vehicle fleet is @ 258.9 M (as I remember 2009 NHTSA statistics) registered passenger vehicles would put 5% @ 12.945 M diesel vehicles. http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov Given 50-60% diesel light trucks (6.473 M to 7.767 M) the left over percentage is more like 6.473 to 5.178 M diesel cars. Diesel cars in this country are truly an extreme minority group @ most 2.5%.

When I got the Jetta TDI in 2003 it was smaller than that. As I recall the diesel PVF had just fallen 33% from 3% to 2%.

VW Jetta's TDI 2009 SALES targets for the IRS.gov clean diesel tax credits were 60,000 units, albeit good till fulfilled. Just using that target metric alone, 60,000 ( they did NOT sell 60k units that year but nonetheless it was a TDI banner % and profit sales year) units were barely even MEASURABLE @ .0002317. So for example, to say it was one half of one percent would literally be a GROSS inaccuracy.
 
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