km Passing Lane: 2011 Volkswagen Touareg VR6 Sport

[Kilometer Magazine]

The original Touareg had a bit of an identity crisis. Has the second-generation one found itself?

FULL STORY

[85GTI]

15 MPG. Really? There's just no excuse for that.

[g60_corrado_91]

15 MPG. Really? There's just no excuse for that.

What did you expect with a 4700 pound truck in the city? My dad's 3.6L 4-Motion CC gets 16-18mpg in the city as well. Granted it's a 6 speed automatic, but it also weighs 1000 pounds less.

Plus I'm sure they weren't driving it sanely unless they were paying for the fuel.

[Mosbius Designs]

Only 'a few' electrical glitches for those early adopters?

[87GTi]

15 MPG. Really? There's just no excuse for that.

Just tonight I filled up my 2004 4.2L V8 Touareg. Even with mostly city stop and go driving and some fun zipping along too, and filling with ethanol-enriched (actually reduces my mileage by about 10% when compared to non-ethanol afflicted gas), I still got about 13.6 MPG. And this is with a V8 and I have the air suspension, so that puts my vehicle weight around 5400 pounds. Not bad at all I'd say.

[DGMVW]

I'm sure it's a great SUV but it doesn't have the cosmetic appearance of an SUV that costs that much.

[08CandyWhite]

I'm sure it's a great SUV but it doesn't have the cosmetic appearance of an SUV that costs that much.

Then you have not seen this vehicle in person yet. Especially at night the new Touareg is jaw droppingly gorgeous!! I personally haven't had a chance to drive it yet. But having been able to paw at it's controls for a while I would have no problem making a choice to own a Touareg (which I couldn't say for the first gen). If I had the money to buy it in the first place!

For anyone looking for some additional insight, a VWVortex user wrote a fantastic hands on article about the '11 Touareg TDI!!

2011 Touareg TDI: Still VW's Crown Jewel?

[83Caddy16v]

My previous gen, 2010 TDI Touareg is getting 20mpg in DC Metro traffic. Lovin' the torque.

The T3 has a nice interior.

[CosmicSki]

Wrong price.

[spinnetti]

at $36k my 04' seemed like a bargain (well until the defects popped out like pimples on a teenager).. at $46k? No thanks... I'll wait about 1 year for it to lose $20k in value and pick one up used when my 04 wears out and the first owner works through the bugs

[stealthmk3]

... I'll wait about 1 year for it to lose $20k in value and pick one up used when my 04 wears out and the first owner works through the bugs

So, you'll get another?

[Thumper]

So, you'll get another?

[spinnetti]

So, you'll get another?

Yeah, probably. We bought it new in 04' and I don't think we've gone a single month since without some failure, code or whatnot (airbags, drive shaft, cats, transmission multiple times etc). I can fix most of the stuff myself, otherwise I would have gotten rid of it a long time ago. Fortunately most of the expensive failures were still under warranty. Despite the fact that its been a total quality failure, It rides nice, looks nice, tows my race car nice..... We have 115k on ours now and don't even use it as a daily driver anymore - cost per mile is just not worth it. We both drive A4's daily and only use the 'reg for hauling or when the wife wants a little more luxury. The newer ones are quite a bit better than ours (60 more hp, 5 more mpg), so once somebody else gets disgusted with theirs and gets the bugs worked out, it should be a decent value. A buddy just got a used 08 at a good price (then promptly had a bunch of issues!), so at least I know what I'm getting into.

[definition56]

No thanks.....I'll take a base Q7 for $1500 more and get a WAY nicer car with leather seats standard. You can't buy a Touareg with leather unless you opt for the $3800 Lux package.

See for yourself.
Touareg- http://configurator.vw.com/ihdcc/con...#10009/10009/6

Q7- http://configurator.audiusa.com/acc/...sk=1#equipment

I'm absolutely baffled by VW's logic.

[DaWolfsburg]

That is one heavy, tall and pricey .:R36

[STR3T]

I've been driving the TDI since mid-Jan, at ~7500miles. Very enjoyable ride...power to efficiency is abouta perfect match.

Here's a TDI vs. Hybrid compare: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...mparison_tests

They actually pick the hybrid, whereas most folks have been seeing the TDI as the clear winner.

The Q7 is nice but we already have a 7-seater and I don't want that big an SUV as my daily driver. I was interested in the Q5 and F35 before picking the Touareg. Haven't been disappointed yet.