VW Touareg - Unseen Ebay Purchase!
Discussion
I always run a second car. One nice one and a banger. Up until today, my banger was an old 2002 Ford Mondeo. Not had it long but got a bit bored of it. I bought it at a good price so managed to sell at a slight profit.
Given the winter months are approaching I fancied a 4x4.
I’ve always liked the look of the early VW Touaregs. Just the boxiness of them and the utilitarian interior. I’ve kept an eye on Autotrader and most facelift post 2007 ones are around £4K upwards. Then I started looking on Ebay and a silver one popped up. December 2007 with 130,000 miles. Full service history and the current owner has had it for 12 months. 2.5 diesel which isn’t the popular choice. I think the 3.0 V6 is the preferred option. I’m not too bothered about that. I did however want a decent spec and this one is the Altitude spec.
I wasn’t the highest bidder but was second highest. The auction winner didn’t make contact with the seller. I’d already been messaging the seller about the car and he approached me to see if I fancied it for my highest bid. I said yes so will go over tomorrow to collect.
A single picture from EBay for now until I collect tomorrow and view the true aftermath of my actions…

Given the winter months are approaching I fancied a 4x4.
I’ve always liked the look of the early VW Touaregs. Just the boxiness of them and the utilitarian interior. I’ve kept an eye on Autotrader and most facelift post 2007 ones are around £4K upwards. Then I started looking on Ebay and a silver one popped up. December 2007 with 130,000 miles. Full service history and the current owner has had it for 12 months. 2.5 diesel which isn’t the popular choice. I think the 3.0 V6 is the preferred option. I’m not too bothered about that. I did however want a decent spec and this one is the Altitude spec.
I wasn’t the highest bidder but was second highest. The auction winner didn’t make contact with the seller. I’d already been messaging the seller about the car and he approached me to see if I fancied it for my highest bid. I said yes so will go over tomorrow to collect.
A single picture from EBay for now until I collect tomorrow and view the true aftermath of my actions…

We ran one for a couple of years, mileage around 70k. Propshaft centre bearing, front wheel bearings, bonnet cable, unknown coolant leak and oil light coming on occasionally on tick over, confirmed as low oil pressure with a manual oil pressure gauge. That was an 04 v6. Nice drive when all working.
Collected the car this afternoon. Managed to chip another £100 off the price as there was a scrape on the bumper which wasn’t shown in the seller’s pictures.
Had a quick carvery lunch with my pal who took me over and then made the trip back up the M56 from Chester to Manchester. The car performed well but didn’t drive perfectly. There was a slight knocking which I was told by the seller would be the front subframe bushes on the way out. It also needs a four wheel alignment as it drifts to the left if the steering wheel is straight. The 2.5l engine is definitely underpowered but I knew that already.
I plan to address all of the above as well as giving the car a full service.
I did intend to take the car for a valet but unfortunately the valeters pressure washer hose split half way through the wash so I had to make do with half a wash albeit a free one.
The car was put straight into action by ferrying me and the other half to Costco. This is where I managed to grab a few quick pics…



Also for those in the area, I’d recommend the Green Oak Farm pub at Ellesmere Port for a cheap carvery. This plate with loads of meat was £9.75 😋

Had a quick carvery lunch with my pal who took me over and then made the trip back up the M56 from Chester to Manchester. The car performed well but didn’t drive perfectly. There was a slight knocking which I was told by the seller would be the front subframe bushes on the way out. It also needs a four wheel alignment as it drifts to the left if the steering wheel is straight. The 2.5l engine is definitely underpowered but I knew that already.
I plan to address all of the above as well as giving the car a full service.
I did intend to take the car for a valet but unfortunately the valeters pressure washer hose split half way through the wash so I had to make do with half a wash albeit a free one.
The car was put straight into action by ferrying me and the other half to Costco. This is where I managed to grab a few quick pics…



Also for those in the area, I’d recommend the Green Oak Farm pub at Ellesmere Port for a cheap carvery. This plate with loads of meat was £9.75 😋

The 2.5 tdi responds well to a remap....we had an 05 plate one when it was 6 months old & the dealer remapped it before we picked it up & it made a real difference in day to day driving. It was replaced by a V6 version and we were doing about 25k miles a year back then in them!!
If it wasn't for the mpg we'd have one today. They're great cars & very underrated.
If it wasn't for the mpg we'd have one today. They're great cars & very underrated.
MrC986 said:
The 2.5 tdi responds well to a remap....we had an 05 plate one when it was 6 months old & the dealer remapped it before we picked it up & it made a real difference in day to day driving. It was replaced by a V6 version and we were doing about 25k miles a year back then in them!!
If it wasn't for the mpg we'd have one today. They're great cars & very underrated.
I'd love to get a remap but given that the the car has done over 130,000 miles, I think it might kill it!!!If it wasn't for the mpg we'd have one today. They're great cars & very underrated.
It’s been an uneventful couple of days. The cars been fine however I’ve not driven any major distances in it. I’ve bought a service kit. In true bangernomics style, I’ve ordered a full kit from EBay for the princely sum of £80.

Once this get’s delivered, I’m planning on carrying out the service at my pal’s garage.
It’ll also need two new front tyres. They’re at around 3mm at the moment so I’m planning on ordering a couple of Uniroyal Rainsport 5 from Camskill.

Once this get’s delivered, I’m planning on carrying out the service at my pal’s garage.
It’ll also need two new front tyres. They’re at around 3mm at the moment so I’m planning on ordering a couple of Uniroyal Rainsport 5 from Camskill.
I’m sure the engine in these is the same one that is in the t5 transporter and it had a thing for knackering up the camshaft?
https://www.ads-automotive.co.uk/transporter-t5-2-...
Something to keep an eye (or ear) on?
https://www.ads-automotive.co.uk/transporter-t5-2-...
Something to keep an eye (or ear) on?
A bit of an update to this thread. Whilst giving the car a service a couple of weeks ago, I decided to have a poke around underneath whilst it was on the ramps. There was a bit of a knocking whilst driving on uneven ground so I wasn’t surprised to see one of the bushes one of the bottom arms had failed. Also two of the four main bushes on the front subframe looked a bit worse for wear. Also, when warm, the car sometimes refused to start first time. We’ve diagnosed it as a lazy starter.
So in light of the above, I went ahead and ordered a new front sub frame, near lower arms and a new starter motor. The car is currently at my pal’s garage having the work done. I’ve instructed him to renew any other parts that might need doing as and when they come up eg ARB bushes, droplinks etc etc.
A picture of the old subframe having been removed this afternoon:

Once I get the car back which will hopefully be next week, I’ll get a four wheel alignment on a Hunter machine and also have a couple of new tyres fitted to the front. I’ll probably run it over the winter and maybe think about a remap and possibly a new double din unit with DAB radio, Bluetooth and CarPlay.
So in light of the above, I went ahead and ordered a new front sub frame, near lower arms and a new starter motor. The car is currently at my pal’s garage having the work done. I’ve instructed him to renew any other parts that might need doing as and when they come up eg ARB bushes, droplinks etc etc.
A picture of the old subframe having been removed this afternoon:

Once I get the car back which will hopefully be next week, I’ll get a four wheel alignment on a Hunter machine and also have a couple of new tyres fitted to the front. I’ll probably run it over the winter and maybe think about a remap and possibly a new double din unit with DAB radio, Bluetooth and CarPlay.
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