Volkswagen Touareg Review (2010-2017)

What is the Volkswagen Touareg?

As with all brands, the Volkswagen badge has its desirability ceiling and because prospective buyers saw the Touareg as a prohibitively expensive VW, it tended to get overlooked in in favour of glossier models such as the BMW X5, Land Rover Discovery and Mercedes ML.

Adding insult to injury, the Touareg even got beat-up by in-house rivals like the Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7.

Of course, none of this matters a jot to used cars buyers, and in fact, it is distinctly advantageous, as that relative lack of kudos hit used prices hard, turning the Touareg into a super attractive pre-owned buy – even more so since it was replaced by the third-generation model in 2018.

How Practical is it?

VW obviously had the waxed-cotton and green-welly sector in mind when designing the interior, as the pedals and automatic gear shifter are tractor sized, while all the switchgear can be operated wearing chunky-knit mittens.

The Touareg’s lofty ride height, imperious driving position and large glass quota provide excellent visibility all-round, while the kids will love the eye-spy view out over the neighbourhood’s hedges and fences, thanks to the comfy, elevated rear seats. With an abundance of head- and legroom throughout, you can escape the kids for an afternoon and ferry four burly Barboured bods in fine style, although the middle rear seat is rather narrow, so it’s probably best reserved for Jack Russell.

Two of the things that make the Touareg such a practical family car are its huge 580-litre boot (1,642 litres with the rear seats folded down) and a rear bench that slides backwards and forwards. Consequently, without too much in the way of folding or disassembly, a couple of mountain bikes will fit right in, while the large up-and-over tailgate provides the perfect shelter for re-fuelling pit-stops, or when exchanging Lycra for leisurewear.

What's it like to drive?

Underneath, the Touareg shares its basis with the much more expensive Porsche Cayenne, but its nowhere near as focussed, offering an entirely softer set-up. While the ride is generally well-controlled, it can feel a wee bit flustered at traffic crawling speeds, evidenced by a fair amount of side-to-side head-tossing shimmy.

Up the ante, however, and the Touareg bundles along with imperceptible ease, soaking up most imperfections with impunity. Given its sheer size, it is unlikely you will ever feel too eager to hustle things along but if the occasion were to arise, the Touareg feels surprisingly nimble in corners thanks to sweetly judged steering efforts and the high levels of grip and reassuring traction.

Given it's such a bluff-fronted, heavy beast, road- and wind noise are surprisingly well suppressed at motorway speeds, and it’s easy to attain those speeds thanks to a strong V6 diesel engine. Although the motor can sound a wee bit agricultural at times, it is reasonably fuel-efficient and provides loads of horsepower, so along with the all-wheel-drive traction, if gymkhana-ing is your game, then a Touareg could fit right into your paddock.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

The various clocks and dials in the Touareg are big and bold, and although the infotainment system looks quite antiquated by modern standards, its large icons and positive reactions make it far easier to use when driving than many newer, more complex systems.

Equipment levels are pretty generous across the range, whether you’re looking at an SE, an Altitude or Escape model, or one of the later R-line or R-line Plus cars.

The first rung up the ladder brings 19-inch alloy wheels, an eight-speed automatic gearbox, permanent four-wheel drive, xenon headlights, electric windows, electrically folding and heated door mirrors, alongside cruise control, parking sensors and automatic wipers. Inside, there is dual-zone climate control, leather seats (but you will have to crank these up and down manually) and an 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system, complete with satnav, DAB radio and Bluetooth.

Upgrade to R-line and you’ll ride around on bigger 20-inch wheels and sports suspension and gain the added visual attraction of an extended body kit, while niceties like electrically adjustable front seats, a full-length sunroof, keyless entry and start-up and a heated steering wheel are also included. Top-dog R-line Plus adds enormous 21-inch alloys and a 360-degree reversing camera with a birdseye overview.

Volkswagen Touareg running costs

Even though it shares many of the same basic underpinnings and powertrains as its more illustrious siblings, the Touareg isn’t in the same league as the Audi Q7 or the Porsche Cayenne when it comes to residual values. Even when these cars were new, their predicted 38% retained value after three-years with around 36,000 miles on the clock was pretty shocking compared to the mid 60% that the Q7 and Cayenne retained. Obviously, one person’s loss is another’s gain, which is why second hand Touareg’s offer so much car for so little money.

In respect to fuel economy, the 3.0 TDI engine is by some margin the most economical, with a claimed average 42.8mpg, although, this figure was established under old NEDC tests, so you can probably expect to achieve low- to mid-thirties in the real world. You can only imagine that will be a whole lot better than the V8 TDI, which officially manages 31mpg or the hybrid, which is claimed to do 34.4mpg. With this in mind, even if you could find one, you’d have to question the wisdom of owning a hybrid or a V8 Touareg

A fixed priced service from a main dealer is available for all Volkswagens up to 15 years old. The recommended service interval for the Touareg is every 12 months or 10,000 miles (whichever comes first) and VW dealers guarantee to price match any like-for-like quote.

A minor service will cost £204 or £239 )at the time of writing) when combined with an MOT, while a major service interval is every 24 months or 20,000 miles (whichever comes first) and costs £404. Once again, another £35 will be added to your bill if done at the same time as the MOT. This comprehensive pit stop includes an oil and filter change, replacement pollen-, air- and fuel filters and a brake check. Checks and tension adjustments of all drive belts are included as is a gearbox oil level check. This being a four-wheel drive, differential oil levels are also assessed, and a vehicle inspection including all lights, instruments, bodywork, glass, locks, battery, coolant levels, steering, hoses, driveshafts, suspension and exhaust system is also carried out. This is followed up by diagnostic check, a re-set of the service interval display and a road test. Every four years, a cambelt and water pump replacement will be required at a cost of £549.

Insurance groupings range between 36 at the bottom of the Touareg range to 43 at the top end.

Volkswagen Touareg reliability

You’d be pretty cheesed off if you read all the above only to find the Touareg turns out to be a reliability time bomb. Well, relax because the Touareg has an excellent reliability record.

Owners have reported some issues relating to the parking brake release sticking and some high-mileage cars have suffered fuel pump failures and steering angle sensor glitches, which can affect the traction control system, but these problems are rare. If the car you’re looking at has a tow bar fitted, be sure to check it is a factory component because Touaregs fitted with this feature came off the production line with an uprated cooling system to help the driveline cope with the additional stress of towing heavy loads. This could also explain some rare cases of transmission jerkiness experienced by some owners.

According to OSV, the average cost of repairs across all Volkswagen models is £382.04, which is not unreasonable when taking into account the number of models produced by the manufacturer that are included in the report. Surprisingly, the average time that Volkswagens spend off the road when they are in need of repair is relatively low, at an estimated 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Where VW isn’t so hot, though, is on the warranty it provides. Don’t get us wrong, a two-year unlimited mileage warranty or a three-year/60,000-mile isn’t the worst arrangement we know of, and the cars we’re considering here will be well past this initial warranty period, but it does give you an indication of how much or how little trust VW has in its vehicles, especially when Toyota and Hyundai offer five-year/100,00-mile cover, while Kia extends its warranty period to seven years.