Should I consider high mileage Touareg?

[Golf cart man]

Recently found a 2011 Touareg 3.0 TDI executive and it’s quite clean runs great sounds great. The thing is that is has 265k miles on it. I don’t think I’ve seen that many miles on a tdi Touareg in my life. Its maintenance history shows a good record of regular oil changes but it’s doesn’t show any major repairs such as the timing chain being replaced. I’m not worried about most maintenance as I can handle most everything myself. Though, doing the timing chain if need be is intimidating. Would you say it’s worth the 6k he is asking? Is the 3.0 tdi engineered to the same level as an ALH so it can just eat 500k miles no problem? There definitely seems to be a shortage on long term, high mileage information on the 3.0 here in the states. What is you opinion?

 

[Leroy71]

People are tight lipped on this forum. I have a 2014 Touareg TDI sport with a 159K miles. I have had no problems whats so ever with the engine or drive train. I go 7-8K between oil changes and I never add oil. I would guess it uses 0.6 qts in that interval which hasn't changed since new (28K) to me. I had a cam phase check at about 145K miles and it was in acceptable range -3.5 Deg. I have seen a video of changing the timing chain and it involved pulling the motor. I love mine and hope my good luck continues.

 

[showdown 42]

I will add that I have had 2 TDIs 2012 and now a 2018 TDI. I have had no serious issues ,the ones I have had were covered under the emissions setlement. The car with 265K miles is uncovered by any warranty so when you have a problem, you will have some big expenses.
Make sure you have someone who knows these cars give it a good inspection. Make sure the price reflects age and mileage.
I personally would not buy a car with that mileage no matter how good it looks.

 

[Tom_B]

We are on our 3rd Touareg TDI. They have all been great vehicles but they are complicated and expensive to repair and maintain. We sold our first one back to VW with just under 150k miles, the others have not traveled that far yet. Personally I would not consider one with that high of mileage unless I were a diesel mechanic or enthusiast and had a substantial dedicated repair fund. Even then, parts are still expensive. Good luck in your decision.

 

[TurboABA]

As long as you use VCDS to check for important things, I say go for it.
Being intact or deleted will also be a factor.
It all comes down to what service history\records it has, how it was used, etc.
I wouldn't expect it to last 500k on original injectors as they wear. Pump may last if it's well taken care of.
If not deleted, the emissions stuff will surely let go soon if all is original. Otherwise, I'd expect between 100-150k of lifespan out of most of its components. (once again, assuming that proper maintenance or PM is kept up with)

 

[oilhammer]

Well the good news is, the CATA engines are marked down 11% currently, probably will drop further as I think they are the next on the purge list. So if any are left, they're only $14k, no core. But when they're gone, they're gone. They'll certainly go cheaper, though. The BKWs (V10 TDI) dropped down to just under $9k before they went away. They started at $31k.

I only know this because I just priced one last week for someone. The reman CATA was $12k, but they are NLA.

 

[TurboABA]

and now a 2018 TDI

How did you manage that?

 

[redbarron55]

When you buy an older high end high dollar car cheap be prepared to either pay a lot (cost of repair based on the new price) to fix the thing or the write the thing off for residual value of what is left.
When I bought Connie the 2012 Touareg TDI Exec it was the Dieselgate warranty for a while and then you just take a chance. So far so good...
If you can fix things yourself and are lucky you could come out OK, If you have to pay the dealer full price for repairs then you might be unhappy in the future, but then you got the car "cheap"
I have put 50 K miles on our Touareg without too many issues, but the tomorrow???
We paid $13,000 for it so it has cost us on a per mile of purchase price about $0.26 per mile if we wrote it off today. Every mile that goes down. If we had bought it new for $65,000 and with 150,000 miles it would be $0.53 per mile so letting the original owner buy it and use it for about 94,000 miles (and selling it back to VW per Dieselgate). saved us a little money.
Your money, your choice and risk.
Since for 2023 the US tax allowance for a car is 65.5 cents per mile and our fuel cost is around 20 cents we are at a cost per mile (today) of 46 cents or 19.5 cents per mile to the "good". Being retired thst figure is useless, but there it is.

 

[showdown 42]

My car is actually a 2016 that was mothballed for 2 years due to the emissions issue,so it is technically not a 2018 but I was the first owner registered and it came with 500 miles. You are correct it is a 2016 the last of the breed let into NA. Car now has 30K on the clock.

 

[JiveTurkey]

My car is actually a 2016 that was mothballed for 2 years due to the emissions issue,so it is technically not a 2018 but I was the first owner registered and it came with 500 miles. You are correct it is a 2016 the last of the breed let into NA. Car now has 30K on the clock.

Very cool Showdown…. I’m jealous.