A Reckless V10 Purchase
Discussion
Soon i'm starting a business where I'll need to tow 3.5 ton regularly so I wanted to get a tow car. I didn't have a set budget but the cheaper the better to leave me with more money to get a trailer. I've always been aware of the VW Touareg with the 5 litre V10 engine, so that's where my mind started wandering. It makes 750nm of torque at 2000rpm, a beast of a diesel engine.
Now we all know a V10 Touareg is a stupid idea, they are very thirsty and early Touareg's have unreliable electrics. The V10 is a bit of a maintenance nightmare as lots of jobs require the engine out. I'd be better off with something Japanese (or being more realistic, a van).
The thing is, i've got a mental health problem, I can't buy a mundane car that doesn't interest me. I can always find something I think is interesting, quirky or cool at any budget. With that mind set I was always going to take the stupid option and here it is...
The market for a V10 Touareg seems to start at about £3500 for a ropey one. I usually look for cheap cars that are spares or repair that need some work. There was one for £2000 on ebay that had low oil pressure, didn't fancy that much. I looked at the completed listings and there was one 2 hours away that had been up on ebay auctions twice before (this was before i'd been looking for one). It had sold for £1800 the first time, £1750 the second time. I messaged the bloke on the off chance he still had it and he did, the winner hadn't contacted him. I arranged to come down the next night for a look. He told me he'd take £1700 for it, the fact it was a runner for that money meant I was willing to ignore all the issues with it, and it's got plenty!
The GOOD - matching Goodyear tyres with loads of tread, tow bar, air suspension works, early model so cheaper road tax, engine sounds sweet, gearbox is fine. £950 bill for a pair of rebuilt turbo actuators last year. Long MOT and 2 new batteries fitted recently.
The BAD - 190,000 miles!!! no service history other than a few invoices. Here is a list of the things that are wrong with it (to be fair to the seller he told me about the majority)...
Fuel cap catch broken
Rusted and snapped fuel tank strap (MOT advisory)
Blocked fuel tank breather (hiss when removing the cap)
The dash display stops telling you what gear you're in after a about 20 minutes of driving
The lights in the foot well stay lit up when driving
Parking sensors don't work
Starter button doesn't work
Steering Angle Sensor
Tracking is out
Knocking wishbone
Smashed up mirror casing
Drivers seat doesn't move down, motor runs but sounds like something is jammed under it
Glove box has a broken manual holder inside it so once opened that comes down and you need two hands to close it
Arm rest is missing the clip to hold a drinks holder up, again two hands to close it
A/C doesn't work
Struts to hold the glass on the split rear boot are weak and don't hold
Every interior button is worn, typical VW
Those were the bits I knew about, have got a few extra ones after a vagcom scan which I did before I test drove it.
Engine
18360 - Turbocharger Control Module 1
P1952 - 000 - Defective - Intermittent
Freeze Frame:
RPM: 1386 /min
Torque: 189.6 Nm
Speed: 65.5 km/h
Load: 16.9 %
Bin. Bits: 00000000
Bin. Bits: 00010000
Absolute Pres.: 1132.2 mbar
Absolute Pres.: 1122.0 mbar
This has been replaced recently and probably under warranty still. I cleared it before the test drive and it didn't come back when I checked after the test drive. It had come on by the time I got home and checked again. One to keep an eye on...
Auto Trans
01871 - Steering Wheel Tiptronic Switch (E389)
010 - Open or Short to Plus - MIL ON
It's not got steering wheel tiptronic?!
ABS
00778 - Steering Angle Sensor (G85)
003 - Mechanical Failure
This was a fault that came up before as intermittent and would clear. On the drive home it decided it wanted to be permanent and brought a traction control light up on the dash.
00003 - Kessy Control Module
012 - Electrical Fault in Circuit
This is part of the immobilizer, maybe something to do with the starter button.
HVAC
3 Faults Found:
01592 - Air Quality Sensor (G238)
014 - Defective
01336 - Company Data Bus for Comfort System
004 - No Signal/Communication - Intermittent
01207 - Control Module for Auxiliary Heater (J364)
004 - No Signal/Communication
There are also a load of other codes for the passenger seat, passenger door actuator, speaker not working, and 4 parking sensors out.
Some pictures of the less impressive stuff, taped up mirror, little bit of rust, small coolant leak, exposed +12v jump start post and some rips in the leather.
On the way back home it did 23mpg but I did poke it with a stick a few times. Poor for a diesel but I knew it anyway. It drives really nice, engine is smooth and punchy, gearbox shifts nicely. There is some method to my madness, i've got lots of spare parts in my garage so can sort of the majority of issues cheaply. I won't go over board with it, i'm not bothered about cosmetics, just need it running and driving nicely which it currently does. Anything big goes wrong and that'll spell the end of it. I'm not one for throwing good money after bad.
I'm willing to take bets on how long it lasts. Will it see 200,000 miles?
Now we all know a V10 Touareg is a stupid idea, they are very thirsty and early Touareg's have unreliable electrics. The V10 is a bit of a maintenance nightmare as lots of jobs require the engine out. I'd be better off with something Japanese (or being more realistic, a van).
The thing is, i've got a mental health problem, I can't buy a mundane car that doesn't interest me. I can always find something I think is interesting, quirky or cool at any budget. With that mind set I was always going to take the stupid option and here it is...
The market for a V10 Touareg seems to start at about £3500 for a ropey one. I usually look for cheap cars that are spares or repair that need some work. There was one for £2000 on ebay that had low oil pressure, didn't fancy that much. I looked at the completed listings and there was one 2 hours away that had been up on ebay auctions twice before (this was before i'd been looking for one). It had sold for £1800 the first time, £1750 the second time. I messaged the bloke on the off chance he still had it and he did, the winner hadn't contacted him. I arranged to come down the next night for a look. He told me he'd take £1700 for it, the fact it was a runner for that money meant I was willing to ignore all the issues with it, and it's got plenty!
The GOOD - matching Goodyear tyres with loads of tread, tow bar, air suspension works, early model so cheaper road tax, engine sounds sweet, gearbox is fine. £950 bill for a pair of rebuilt turbo actuators last year. Long MOT and 2 new batteries fitted recently.
The BAD - 190,000 miles!!! no service history other than a few invoices. Here is a list of the things that are wrong with it (to be fair to the seller he told me about the majority)...
Fuel cap catch broken
Rusted and snapped fuel tank strap (MOT advisory)
Blocked fuel tank breather (hiss when removing the cap)
The dash display stops telling you what gear you're in after a about 20 minutes of driving
The lights in the foot well stay lit up when driving
Parking sensors don't work
Starter button doesn't work
Steering Angle Sensor
Tracking is out
Knocking wishbone
Smashed up mirror casing
Drivers seat doesn't move down, motor runs but sounds like something is jammed under it
Glove box has a broken manual holder inside it so once opened that comes down and you need two hands to close it
Arm rest is missing the clip to hold a drinks holder up, again two hands to close it
A/C doesn't work
Struts to hold the glass on the split rear boot are weak and don't hold
Every interior button is worn, typical VW
Those were the bits I knew about, have got a few extra ones after a vagcom scan which I did before I test drove it.
Engine
18360 - Turbocharger Control Module 1
P1952 - 000 - Defective - Intermittent
Freeze Frame:
RPM: 1386 /min
Torque: 189.6 Nm
Speed: 65.5 km/h
Load: 16.9 %
Bin. Bits: 00000000
Bin. Bits: 00010000
Absolute Pres.: 1132.2 mbar
Absolute Pres.: 1122.0 mbar
This has been replaced recently and probably under warranty still. I cleared it before the test drive and it didn't come back when I checked after the test drive. It had come on by the time I got home and checked again. One to keep an eye on...
Auto Trans
01871 - Steering Wheel Tiptronic Switch (E389)
010 - Open or Short to Plus - MIL ON
It's not got steering wheel tiptronic?!
ABS
00778 - Steering Angle Sensor (G85)
003 - Mechanical Failure
This was a fault that came up before as intermittent and would clear. On the drive home it decided it wanted to be permanent and brought a traction control light up on the dash.
00003 - Kessy Control Module
012 - Electrical Fault in Circuit
This is part of the immobilizer, maybe something to do with the starter button.
HVAC
3 Faults Found:
01592 - Air Quality Sensor (G238)
014 - Defective
01336 - Company Data Bus for Comfort System
004 - No Signal/Communication - Intermittent
01207 - Control Module for Auxiliary Heater (J364)
004 - No Signal/Communication
There are also a load of other codes for the passenger seat, passenger door actuator, speaker not working, and 4 parking sensors out.
Some pictures of the less impressive stuff, taped up mirror, little bit of rust, small coolant leak, exposed +12v jump start post and some rips in the leather.
On the way back home it did 23mpg but I did poke it with a stick a few times. Poor for a diesel but I knew it anyway. It drives really nice, engine is smooth and punchy, gearbox shifts nicely. There is some method to my madness, i've got lots of spare parts in my garage so can sort of the majority of issues cheaply. I won't go over board with it, i'm not bothered about cosmetics, just need it running and driving nicely which it currently does. Anything big goes wrong and that'll spell the end of it. I'm not one for throwing good money after bad.
I'm willing to take bets on how long it lasts. Will it see 200,000 miles?
BIG DUNC said:
You are a brave man, but I am really interested in how it goes.
Assuming you don’t throw it away for something trivial I reckon over 300k Miles, but it will be pretty Ropey by then.
Good luck with the business.
Thanks. It's pretty ropey now! The issue is the engine is massive which means there are loads of trivial parts that can fail which will require the engine to be pulled, I feel like that might be the line in the sand where I decide not to bother. Time will tell, maybe i'll have bonded with it and want to fix it.Assuming you don’t throw it away for something trivial I reckon over 300k Miles, but it will be pretty Ropey by then.
Good luck with the business.
Brave.
Coincidentally just read this.
http://jalo.ps/kQRcKKU
Takes you down a rabbit hole of info if you follow the links.
I’m sure you’re aware of all this as it seems you have gone all in with your eyes open.
Coincidentally just read this.
http://jalo.ps/kQRcKKU
Takes you down a rabbit hole of info if you follow the links.
I’m sure you’re aware of all this as it seems you have gone all in with your eyes open.
As scare-mongering headlines go, 'The Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI Was More Of A Nightmare Than You Can Possibly Imagine' takes some beating!
Good luck OP, enjoy the torque.
Good luck OP, enjoy the torque.
Nunga said:
Awesome; I thought this would be for towing the Boxster but glad that was the wrong assumption. Only better tractor would be the Q7 V12, but that’s impossibly reckless, right?
They are another league completely. Very rare and they've held their value quite well. A used engine is 10k on ebay. Now that really would be a crazy prospect to own. If you needed spares you'd struggle to source them. At least VW sold lots of the V10. Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff