VW Touran - why so many being imported?
Discussion
I’m looking at getting another family bus to free up some money for something less practical.
We’ve had a Touran previously (2013 vintage) which we ran for 8 years with very little beyond wear and tear costs, which is pretty decent considering how much abuse it got.
Looking on AT, a whole load of them have been imported. Considering it’s a very dull family wagon, why, WHY are people importing these? They’re low value (relatively) and less exciting than magnolia paint.
Just a bit surprised… also very annoying I can’t filter out imports when searching ads.
We’ve had a Touran previously (2013 vintage) which we ran for 8 years with very little beyond wear and tear costs, which is pretty decent considering how much abuse it got.
Looking on AT, a whole load of them have been imported. Considering it’s a very dull family wagon, why, WHY are people importing these? They’re low value (relatively) and less exciting than magnolia paint.
Just a bit surprised… also very annoying I can’t filter out imports when searching ads.
The exchange rate is making japanese imports look like good value just now. GBP is almost 40% stronger than 5 years ago, https://www.xe.com/en-gb/currencycharts/?from=GBP&...
(edit, or the yen is almost 30% weaker, choose your version
)
Majority of petrol or auto Tourans are imports, as are virtually all the "Cross" versions. 1.6tdi with a manual? UK.
(edit, or the yen is almost 30% weaker, choose your version
)Majority of petrol or auto Tourans are imports, as are virtually all the "Cross" versions. 1.6tdi with a manual? UK.
Imports are higher spec, we bought our 2019 imported Touran February 2024…
Love it.
If we’d bought it new it would have been over £50k in the UK
If you spec’d one up new over here you’d still be missing some bits off the Japanese version.
The Jap interior is a much nicer place to be, looks alot nicer.
Love it.
If we’d bought it new it would have been over £50k in the UK
If you spec’d one up new over here you’d still be missing some bits off the Japanese version.
The Jap interior is a much nicer place to be, looks alot nicer.
I bought a Touran last summer, a 2008 2.0 PD with no DPF. In the course of looking for the right model I did also notice a few imports and even more surprisingly some petrol models too. Presuming the petrols are for people in LEZ areas but I took couldn't see the point in importing a car already sold in the UK.
This is interesting, we have 3 kids under 10 and are having a real issue of moving on/up from the Grand Picasso purely because there are barely any cars out there with 3 decent rear seats.
In some ways I'm not really surprised, the team behind the new 5008 have changed it from 3 seats at the back to a more conventional 2+ middle as their research showed the middle seat wasn't used very often. I'm sure that's the case, but there's a lot of people that for 10+years, such things are hugely important.
In some ways I'm not really surprised, the team behind the new 5008 have changed it from 3 seats at the back to a more conventional 2+ middle as their research showed the middle seat wasn't used very often. I'm sure that's the case, but there's a lot of people that for 10+years, such things are hugely important.
Bookmarked.
I too had a 2013 2.0TD Touran which suited my three kids very well for those 500 mile+ (each way) missions that we end up doing.
Show me a 7-seater that has a better second row that isn't a Sharan/Galaxy and/or Discovery?
I was hoping to replace mine with the current model, but gave up when I couldn't find one with any spec. on it.
I found it hard enough to find one with a Winter Pack, let alone those LED premium headlights...
The 2.0TDI served us well but we ditched ours when the DM flywheel started playing up and it was going to be painful to get it done.
I ended up in a D5, hardly an economical choice, but I can't stand it as it reminds me on a daily basis how much 'better' the D4 was (we had one before the Touran)...
It's a shame that the current Touran is, as you say, so dull as they could be great/ much better with some spec. and perhaps some better colours, and they got quite expensive through the pandemic (like most cars to be fair) and no doubt due to the relative scarcity of them (certainly when compared to the previous generation which was ubiquitous) they have held their values annoyingly well in recent years.
This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise given that's the case across the board, but it still hurts when considering paying so much for so much dullness and the engine choice: the trusty CR diesel which many will be allergic to, or that 1.5T which has its own issues is less than inspiring.
I just had another look and lo and behold the first one I picked had the imported marker against it.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202409194...
My assumption is that the vast majority of them will be poverty spec. ex PCP
Have you made any inquiries as to what the back story is?
Are you seeing evidence of personal imports, or was there some funky grey market back channel feeding the PCP machine?
I may try and get back into one in the spring...
I too had a 2013 2.0TD Touran which suited my three kids very well for those 500 mile+ (each way) missions that we end up doing.
Show me a 7-seater that has a better second row that isn't a Sharan/Galaxy and/or Discovery?
I was hoping to replace mine with the current model, but gave up when I couldn't find one with any spec. on it.
I found it hard enough to find one with a Winter Pack, let alone those LED premium headlights...
The 2.0TDI served us well but we ditched ours when the DM flywheel started playing up and it was going to be painful to get it done.
I ended up in a D5, hardly an economical choice, but I can't stand it as it reminds me on a daily basis how much 'better' the D4 was (we had one before the Touran)...
It's a shame that the current Touran is, as you say, so dull as they could be great/ much better with some spec. and perhaps some better colours, and they got quite expensive through the pandemic (like most cars to be fair) and no doubt due to the relative scarcity of them (certainly when compared to the previous generation which was ubiquitous) they have held their values annoyingly well in recent years.
This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise given that's the case across the board, but it still hurts when considering paying so much for so much dullness and the engine choice: the trusty CR diesel which many will be allergic to, or that 1.5T which has its own issues is less than inspiring.
I just had another look and lo and behold the first one I picked had the imported marker against it.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202409194...
My assumption is that the vast majority of them will be poverty spec. ex PCP
Have you made any inquiries as to what the back story is?
Are you seeing evidence of personal imports, or was there some funky grey market back channel feeding the PCP machine?
I may try and get back into one in the spring...
Edited by Mogul on Monday 24th February 16:02
Slammedorion said:
Imports are higher spec, we bought our 2019 imported Touran February 2024…
Love it.
If we’d bought it new it would have been over £50k in the UK
If you spec’d one up new over here you’d still be missing some bits off the Japanese version.
The Jap interior is a much nicer place to be, looks alot nicer.
How are you finding insurance? I used to pay a decent premium for running Japanese imports "back in the day"Love it.
If we’d bought it new it would have been over £50k in the UK
If you spec’d one up new over here you’d still be missing some bits off the Japanese version.
The Jap interior is a much nicer place to be, looks alot nicer.
krisdelta said:
Slammedorion said:
Imports are higher spec, we bought our 2019 imported Touran February 2024…
Love it.
If we’d bought it new it would have been over £50k in the UK
If you spec’d one up new over here you’d still be missing some bits off the Japanese version.
The Jap interior is a much nicer place to be, looks alot nicer.
How are you finding insurance? I used to pay a decent premium for running Japanese imports "back in the day"Love it.
If we’d bought it new it would have been over £50k in the UK
If you spec’d one up new over here you’d still be missing some bits off the Japanese version.
The Jap interior is a much nicer place to be, looks alot nicer.
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