My wife and I have been looking for another vehicle since the twins were born a few weeks ago. The F550 cc is just not working out as a daily driver with the boys. Since I could not bring myself to buy a minivan we've been looking at the car size SUVs Freestyles and the like. The other day I happened to stop by the VW dealership and they had a Touareg TDI that was back off lease. My God that little suv is awesome. A 310hp twin turbo V10 diesel that pumps out over 500 pounds of torque just for starters. The other features are tip-tronic 6 speed transmission, adjustable suspension, adjustable ride height, and all wheel drive. Down side is its way out of my price range even used. The thing sold for 65k brand new and it only dropped to the high 40k range used. I did a bad thing and took it for a test drive now everything else feels under powered. That is one little SUV that would turn anyone into a diesel lover.

 

They are pricey, but I'd love to drive one. Also, If i'm not mistaken, VW has stopped making them for the US market.

 

I've seen quite a few v-8 gas Touaregs running around the Seattle area, but no TDI's. It's my dream car right now. I would love to be able to get one for my wife. I just don't want to refinance my house to get one.
I just spent the last 10 minutes trying to find a video that I saw on the internet last year of a journalist standing on a felled tree talking about the Touareg. The tree was being dragged along a dirt road at about walking speed as he was doing his dialog. It was a very dramatic display of the VW's torque. It was just idling along dragging this tree with the journalist and the camera man standing on it.

 

It's my new dream car as well. I had a big grin on my face the whole time I was behind the wheel. There was a dirt road well it is really just a trail that alot of people use for a road behind the dealership. The salesman insisted I drive the Touareg on. This thing handles and rides like nothing I'd ever driven before. This is the first time I've looked at VW in 20 years and I must admit I'm impressed. Now I just need to win the lottery.

 

The Touareg TDI is an excellent piece of equipment. But by the way, what the hell were you thinking in using a 550 as a daily (non-work) daily driver? It is a work truck, not a grocery getter. The VW sounds like just what you need.

-mike

 

We had the 550 before the twins came. It's the only truck we own with enough room for the car seats the others being an extended cab Ranger and a regular cab F150.. I would have liked to get something before the boys came, but it was not an easy pregnancy or cheap. We also have a lot of extra cash tied up in building a new house lost the other one in hurricane Charley, so buying a new car was not on the top of the list of things to do. The 550 used to be only used for pulling the trailers.

 

Batgeek have you driven a Jetta TDI? It's way more affordable and just as impressive as the Touarag, minus six cylinders. You can upshift at 2000 rpm and the engine will simply torque the car ever faster. All the time getting 45 mpg and very quiet. A perfect car for your wife. They come in station wagon as well if you need a lot of interior room.

 

I have considered the Jetta TDI myself. Diesel cars are appealing, and 45mpg is VERY appealing to me from ANY car. wouldnt mind if I could get that from an F350.

 

So you went to the Tuetonic side- where V and W mesh together inside the circle of light. I myself have gone there - its impressive and some would say affordable in comparison to its sister companies Audi and Porshe. Dont forget the shared technology of Mercedes and BMW. Yes they share Bosch manufactered boards, controllers and electrical gizmos. VW has cornered the market on cornering too. Both my Golf and my Passat Wagon will do 60mph U-turns without a problem in any weather. Neither are 4 motion but both have traction control , antilock brakes and 8 airbags. I drove the TDI in both models and it seems to be an impressive powerplant, not as head snapping as the VR6 but just as nimble as the 1.8T which is pound for pound one of the best engines ever made. The acceleration is phenomenal and milaege is decent with the 5spd Tiptronic Auto - 30+mpg @70 and 20s around town for a wagon is not bad. Its very heavily made with those door beams an such and makes the Ford Focus look, feel and sound like a tin can. Again personal experience, Once my wife was germinated and Psspoilt I had to sell the brand new Focus. The Tiptronic auto is the way to go, it has ESP, it learns the way you like to drive or you teach it by switchin to manual (yes manual w/o clutch) and it then Emulates your Shift Pattern. When you switch back to auto it will continue to shift YOUR WAY. However one warning: Make it a racecar it will get racecar mileage, constant turbo use (3-7K rpm) will make your mpgs # into kpgs. Take out the horses you gotta feed them.
Hey they sound great and my Golf gets over 30mpg blended but
DONT BUY A VW. All of their engines- the good ones 1.8T & TDI are interference engines. What is that you say? Its an engine thet completely destroys itself when a rubber belt breaks or skips a tooth. They are so tightly designed that the pistons will contact the valves unless the valves are moved out of the way by the camshaft(s) which rely on a rubber belt to rotate them. This belt costs over $700 to replace and should be done every 50-75K. VW only warranties 2nd owners to 50K and will not pay for damage if this "wear item" is not replaced under schedule. The Tiptronic trans- expect to pay out $1800 every few years for control modules that corrode under the carpet- they call this 'outside influence'- not covered. Coil Packs, ICM,ECM,MAF,O2 all fail, good luck finding someone other than the dealer who can diagnois and repair it (requires a special code reader) .Then there is maintenance- the TDI costs over $1 a mile, the 1.8T .35-.40. That does not include any failures. Thats the cost of the reccomended services, oil,filters,fluids lube, tires, brakes, check/clean,adjustments and tuning done by the only person authorized- the dealer. Incidentally the Toureg and the Porshe Cayenne are the same vehicle and the handling comes at a cost: VW feels its normal to wear out brakes and high preformance tires every 10-15K. At over $500 a tire and did I mention- VW ROTORS MUST be replaced every time the pads are since they are too thin to turn/cut- you do the math. Buy a E-350 SD Minibus and leave the VWs alone.

 

We have a 2002 VW Golf TDI with 74K miles on it and it has been virtually trouble free (except for a couple of burned out light bulbs front and rear). VW recommends to change the timing belt at 80K, so I will do it in a couple of months. Our TDI is a 5speed manual, and I cannot image a better daily driver. Wait - actually I can imagine a better car. It would be a 2007 VW Golf TDI, but VW has not commited to bring TDI in 2007. So may have to wait until 2008 or later. It's hard to find a new or used TDI right now, but some of the VW and TDI forums have nice used ones once in a while.

VW maintenance is not cheap, but I have not had as bad of a time. I currently run Potenza tires with 35K miles on them ($100 per tire at Costco), and the brakes lasted me a Long time. I got the pads changed at Midas and the rotors are still original. I use synthetic oil at 8500 mi intervals (VW recommends 10K mi intervals but that sounds too long). And I am still running on the original factory battery. So the maintenance is not bad for me.

2FastDre.

 

Bussed home,

I think the dollar a mile figure is hyped. I have 75,000 miles on my jetta and it hasn't cost me 75,000 dollars to keep I doubt if I've spent 1000 dollars, in total maintenance. that includes the second set of tires I have had to put on this car. I'm getting 25,000-30,000 miles on tires.

nice post though it was very creative

 

We traded an 04 Jetta TDI on our new F-150. Maintenance is a little pricey, the required oil by VW can only be found at VW in my area. The nearest dealer was 50+ miles away which made a day for an oil change. It was a very nice car. Fun and easy to drive 40+ MPG. It was a little small for us and too far to get serviced or we would have kept it. As for the Touareg we started out looking at them, but at $65,000+ for what I wanted just wasn't going to happen. They are very impressive. Just think for the money you can get a new Freestyle and F-150 and still have change!
Good luck on your new ride, whatever it is.

 

Check with captchas...Charlie worked on them until just recently.

Good luck