Touareg TDI : keep it and swallow high maintenance fees or throw away and exchange for 2 cars instead of one

[jflemieux227]

I have a 2014 TDI execline bough used after Dieselgate. Prior, I got BMW x5 F15, E70, E53, Got a 2009 F-150 , Porsche Cayenne 2017 gas, 2 Golf TDIs 2012 and 2015

I do very high mileage yearly (80000-90000km / 56000 miles). Prior to try a Touareg TDI, I always used 2 cars in parallel to do the job : one for business trip and a SUV to tow and family usage

I sold my Cayenne and my Golf TDI, trying use one car able to do both job for my needs and lower insurance and depreciation for mileage: Touareg TDI. Good handling (not a Cayenne, but...), very good towing vehicule for 5000-7000 pounds: high torque at low rpm, good engine and it sips fuel on highway unloaded. Honestly, I love this car.
Now he got 210000km, I hoped to keep it to 350000-400000km / 250000 miles like my Golf TDIs. Engine, transmission, body, interior: all is perfectly fine.

I owned german cars for 20 years. I am used to high maintenance fees and complicated electrical and mechanical issues, but THIS one got a new world record: it beats my Cayenne and all my X5. (of course, I never tried to do more than 30000 km/year on thoses cars to avoid bankruptcy!)


I just changed oil cooler (3000 $ CAD). I got an other coolant leak in the front of the engine, job is estimated by 2 different mechanics to ±3000$ including water pump and housing replacement, even if they are still fine, but the job to get there is so huge they want to change it in the same job to avoid to get it back there

I have a small oil leak on turbo oil pipe: hard to work at this position: again 1000-1300$


I talk to a VW dealer mechanics : it says (and shows me 2 car with the issue) Touareg tdi got an issue with oil pan seal, must remove all engine and transmission from the bottom to replace it. He talked about a 9000$ job



My question : Am i unlucky or it's the normal maintenance behavior for a touareg TDI ?. All answers I got from dealers is VW and customers doesn't care yet, cause in Canada, they increased the VW warranty to nearly 200000KM since DieselGate (and that's the reason I bought the car at this moment) and they didn't saw yet Touareg go higher than this mileage.

The answer will determine if I'm get rid of the car and by 2 new car : one Golf sportwagen 4motion gas for business road and a F-150 or GMC 1/2 ton pickup for weekend. But I HATE pickup. Like a boat rolling : i'm seasick running into a pickup. My friend got a 2020 RAM, I got seasick after 25 minutes onboard.

Experience ?

 

[showdown 42]

I have had 2 TREGs 2012 and currently 2016 LUX. I don't drive the same amount as you so I can only describe my experience . 60K miles on the 2012 and no issues with anything except AD Blue heater under warranty and a failed filler door also covered by warranty. My 2016 only has 17K MILES And no issues. I owned both new so it may be different with a pre owned car. I will keep thos one until things start to add up. These cars have a great extended warranty thanks to the diesel gate disaster. If I were going to use this car for all my mileage I might get 2 for the price of one,even though they won't be anything like the Touareg. You might consider an extended warranty to back stop serious issues in the future.

 

[Mythdoc]

did the dieselgate settlement in Canada not include a warranty for future repairs? On my Audi with the same engine in the US I am covered over engine problems until 2024

 

[redbarron55]

I bought the Touareg (2012 TDI Exec) at 94,000 miles because it was clean, highway driving and maintained by Ellis VW and the added warranty.
Without the added warranty and the low acquisition cost I would have NEVER bought one.
The possible repair cost can be catastrophic and easily be a high percentage of what I paid for the car.
In my opinion you have the be able to just walk way from it and try to recover salvage value.

 

[showdown 42]

You can buy an extended 5-7yr warranty from a reliable insurance Co for around $3000, at least when I did back 5yrs ago which will cover everything that isn't covered in the Diesel gate fiasco. At least you are covered for a disaster type repair cost. If you go that route make sure you check the fine print on the policy.

 

[TurboABA]

LMAO... for those who are still on the forum that I was banned from, I'm guessing this sounds like zambony's new ride!

 

[Savageman69]

first no i dont believe your having normal issues at all...and 2 i think your pay stupid money to have it repaired....a leak on the turbo feed like 1000+ dollars are you serious...not sure who is doing the work but id find someone else. the entire turbo comes out in less than 40 mins...how is it 1000+ dollar job

 

[Golf Wang]

LMAO... for those who are still on the forum that I was banned from, I'm guessing this sounds like zambony's new ride!

you got banned from ClubT? Or Vortex? You’re familiar but I don’t remember you being problematic!

 

[jflemieux227]

To answer to @Mythdoc. Yes dieselgate got an extended warranty in Canada, but it's +-190000km OR 5 years (or something like this). But, I broke the millage a long time ago


Finally, my turbo oil leak was easy to repair, a local machanic did it for a few hundred box.

But I got an other leak into the flexpipe just behind the turbo (exhaust leak)

The real issue with thoses cars are they are over-engineered and german non-compromise mind : There is so much stuff packed under the hood that there is no place to work at all. About my issue, I discovered the most costly part is the procedure supplied by VW to their dealer to limit THEIR own risk to break something else or to not respect the workorder (and increase non-approved cost by the customer). For my leak into the flexpipe, the standard VW procedure is to change the flexpipe, precatalyser, particule filter and a buch of seal and other related. I got to my local garage, (european specialized at least), I said to them I'll take the risk if he brokes a stud or a sensor: he removes the flexpipe and the precatalyser, replaced the flex by a generic one. Cost 700 $ for the job, mostly 5 hours to remove the parts and put it back on place. I didn't have others issues since. I checked the guy working there is no place to work it's insane how many pipe around thoses engines


Last info for US guys: US got lemon law on cars (I don't know the exact name, sorry), not Canada and while US market is for 380 000 000 peoples, Canada market is 38 000 000 peoples. Vw is more scared from a US lawsuit than a Canadian one.

Finally, I didn't have others issues for a while, probably it's cyclic and I hope I'll be good fine to 300 000km, now 280 000

 

[TurboABA]

you got banned from ClubT? Or Vortex? You’re familiar but I don’t remember you being problematic!

CT.... Haven't visited vortex in decades.

 

[Golf Wang]

CT.... Haven't visited vortex in decades.

is that place a bunch of stuck ups or what? It’s like 3 condescending dickheads and a bunch of crickets