Touareg

[FSETH]

Great looking SUV. If I were going to go with anything other than the X5, I think it would be the exact car you got. Enjoy it!

[Alan Smithee]

I bought one of the first Touaregs in the country in 2003; at the time, I had been shopping for an X5 4.4, but the Touareg VR6 was about half the price and I could not resist. (It was a short-lived affair.)

Ironically, when comparably equipped with diesels and considering incentives in December 2011, it was the X5 that was the better deal. I think that is why you don't see many around - while BMW is trying to win the luxury-brand sales race with incentives and discounts, VW is charging luxury-brand prices for a pedestrian badge. (Not that it isn't a good vehicle.)

[Meiac09]

Originally Posted by Alan Smithee

I bought one of the first Touaregs in the country in 2003; at the time, I had been shopping for an X5 4.4, but the Touareg VR6 was about half the price and I could not resist. (It was a short-lived affair.)

I had the first in Maine with air suspension. After about 75K in warranty work, and 97,000 miles, we went through an amicable but timely separation for the E53. Looking forward to seeing the long term reliability as well, it was a fantastic car, even with a V6 gasser.

I am still trying to get into the 4.2 V8 TDI sometime soon

[4MoJoe]

I was an unfortunate fool that bought one of the first 2004 V6 Treg's here in Idaho. And after 3,500 miles and 7 months of non stop warranty work VW bought it back as a 'goodwill' gesture. It was a cool car, when it ran, otherwise I wanted to push it off a cliff which is what I'd have had to do since driving it was a crapshoot. I had had such great luck with my Passat and the Treg completely turned me off to any VW/Audi product. Funny that at the time I was torn between a used X5 and the new VW...and I ended up in a X5 after the VW debacle and never looked back.

Hopefully VW has more fully vetted out the car.

[isellpower]

Very nice, love the white. My only complaint is that they are a bit of a snoozer. Constantly having to remind myself and everyone else that my 70k vehicle is underrated would start to wear on me.

[spyderdoc]

Thanks for the comments!

So far 1000 mi, and no problems.

A few other things I found I like:

Normal PRND shifter, pull it back and it goes to sport mode (aggressive shifting points), pull it back again and it goes back to normal drive mode.

I can open and close rear hatch from the inside switch without having to get out of the car. I can also open and close rear with the key fob.

I can have the driver's door open ajar when moving. In my X5, if the door was ajar, it would put transmission into park and grind the gear until the car stopped.

So far my average fuel consumption is about 23.5mpg all around driving, usually 70% city. My X5 was around 20mpg with the 20" wheels, 21.5mpg with the 19" wheels. The VW has 20" wheels....

It feels like it has more pull off the line than my X5d had. The 8-speed transmission does not shift around excessively and is silky smooth.

The fact that it is a VW does not bother me one bit. I really don't care what other people think of the brand of car I am driving.

I found out that for the executive model, I get a loaner when I have mine serviced, and they also offer pick up and drop off service for the vehicle....I don't see myself using this though......

Thanks again for all the comments. Although I am very happy with the VW, I do miss my X5 as well.

[blue dragon]

Looks like a nice enough SUV. Whats the tow rating? Does it have a 3rd row option, and self levelling suspension? How much worse it the handling compared to your AD equipped X5?

I am not a fan of touch screens, how is the audio compared to premium sound or individual sound? I hope you don't mind the questions, my '09 will be out of warranty next year, and this could be a possible replacment.

[spyderdoc]

Originally Posted by blue dragon

Looks like a nice enough SUV. Whats the tow rating? Does it have a 3rd row option, and self levelling suspension? How much worse it the handling compared to your AD equipped X5?

I am not a fan of touch screens, how is the audio compared to premium sound or individual sound? I hope you don't mind the questions, my '09 will be out of warranty next year, and this could be a possible replacment.

Tow rating per owner's manual....
Trailer with brakes: 7716 lbs
Trailer without brakes: 1650 lbs
Tongue load: 617 lbs.

No 3rd row seat option. No self leveling suspension.

Handling. As I said above, my X5 had AD, so less lean. Overall, the X5 handles better, if I must say, but the VW is no slouch. The VW is not as firm of a drive in that you do not feel every nook and cranny in the road. The VW is a bit more plush feeling. However, it feels well planted and rock steady on the road. No vibrations or pull. It does lean more than X5, but still handles very well. The steering damping varies by speed. At slow parking lot speeds, it is very light and easy to turn wheel. As you get over 20-25mph, the steering firms up quite a bit. Still get good road feedback, but not as good as X5. In VW, when going around a bend in the road and I hit some bumps, it does not feel as sure-footed as the X5, but it still handles them well. Maybe a bit of a shuddering feel going over bumps....May be due to a higher profile tire on the 20" wheel than the X5 had?....

The audio is much better than my X5, but the VW has the premium sound and my X5 did not. I can not compare to X5 premium sound since I did not have it. The touch screen NAV screen is awesome. So much easier to input addresses, but you do have to wipe off fingerprints every now and then.

Any more specific questions, feel free to ask.

[blue dragon]

^^ Thanks for the feedback.

[OneFastX5]

What speed do you get on the touareg at 2000rpm on the 8th gear ?
Thanks