Touareg V6 2.5 TDI

[SLW79]

Hi Guys
Im in the market for a Touareg and have about £6k to spend.
Is there anything i should look out for eg) common problems?
Having viewed a 2004 the other day all seemed ok apart from very small vibration when sitting in passanger seat and the steering wheel was slightly offset. Also engine on tickover sounded erm kind of tinny but perfect when rev'd.
We need a 4x4 for 12 months that wont depreciate loads and cost a fortune to run
Thanks
Steve

[custardkid]

Sounds like it needs the tracking sorted


As far as I can tell they are robust, but have been known to have electrical gremlins if they haven't been used very much or parked on dealer lot for a while.

[Kell]

The only experience I have of them is driving a 3.0TDi on a test drive. Talked to a mate of mine who had one (3.0) and he recommended that the 2.5 is to be avoided as it just didn't have the power it needed.

[Deva Link]

How many miles has it done? The centre prop-shaft bearing failing is very common on these - don't know how big a job it is.

A colleague has just got shut of his 2004 2.5 V6 - his indie told him to get rid of it. To be fair, it's done 160K miles but he's spent chunky amounts of money on it, including £4500 to have everything to do with the fuel system including the intake manifold swirl flaps, glow plugs, injectors and high presure pump replaced - neither VW or his indie would take the job on (difficult to start from stone cold) unless he did this as so many little things together could cause the same fault. That was at about 80K miles.

He's also just spent £1500 on some kind of drive shaft issue but I don't know the details.

His is a manual and he got £4K in p/x for it against a new BMW, but he did get a VERY big discount on the BMW so it's difficult to know for sure how they valued the Tourareg.

At £4K or so his car might have been a good buy but his BMW was delayed a couple of months and he was crapping himself in case something else went wrong.

[custardkid]

You'll get c20 mpg from a petrol and no more than 25 mpg from a derv.

You may be better getting a 3.2v6 it'll probably be a better car, cheaper to run and only 15% more expensive on fuel

[ModernAndy]

There was a 2.5 v6? I thought it was a 5 cylinder

[Adrian E]

ModernAndy said:

There was a 2.5 v6? I thought it was a 5 cylinder

Ancient old school diesel lump also to be found in various Passat and Audi A4/6 models in the 90s-00s. It's prone to camshaft wear and various niggles, also pretty juicy for its size.

[ModernAndy]

So when did they go from v6 to 5 cylinder or vice versa? Or we're they offered at the same time?

[Gurbinder]

Never had a V6 2.5tdi, the later 3.0tdi was a V6 the 2.5 is a in line 5 cylinder.

We have had one since new and it's been very good to us.

[Deva Link]

Gurbinder said:

Never had a V6 2.5tdi, the later 3.0tdi was a V6 the 2.5 is a in line 5 cylinder.

In that case I'm not sure whether my colleagues car was the 2.5 or 3.0. I think it was the 2.5 and I just assumed it was V6.

[Hereward]

SLW79 said:

Hi Guys
Im in the market for a Touareg and have about £6k to spend...the steering wheel was slightly offset...

May be a tired nearside front upper wishbone ball joint; suspension parts get a good workout. But, as said already, check tyre geometry first. Is tyre wear consistent across the tread?

Centre propshaft mounts get tired - very common Touareg/Cayenne issue. 300 quid to sort.

Check the carpet in front left footwell is bone dry. Remove any mats and press down HARD with your hand. Walk away if wet.

Check everything works - complicated beast.

[cheddar]

I drove a friends low miles 2.5tdi and it just didn't the grunt to shift the weight, very noisy too.

They're the runt of the litter, neither quick, refined or economical.

At your budget the 3.2 would be a better bet.

[MJK 24]

custardkid said:

You'll get c20 mpg from a petrol and no more than 25 mpg from a derv.

You may be better getting a 3.2v6 it'll probably be a better car, cheaper to run and only 15% more expensive on fuel

Utter nonsense. Mine does 37mpg at 70mph and has done so numerous times over its 140,000 miles. 2.5 6 speed manual.

[MJK 24]

Adrian E said:

Ancient old school diesel lump also to be found in various Passat and Audi A4/6 models in the 90s-00s. It's prone to camshaft wear and various niggles, also pretty juicy for its size.

Utter nonsense. Shared with the T5 van and nothing else before or since!

[Adrian E]

MJK 24 said:

Utter nonsense. Shared with the T5 van and nothing else before or since!

Indeed - always thought it was the v6 just from when the toureg was introduced so happy to have been corrected lol

[MJK 24]

Adrian E said:

Indeed - always thought it was the v6 just from when the toureg was introduced so happy to have been corrected lol

Two diesels at introduction - 2.5 inline 5 cylinder and 5.0 V10 which is effectively two of the former - cylinder head design is the same as is timing and fueling. V6 diesels arrived in 2005 I think.

[SLW79]

Thanks for advice
The car is on eBay and still on the starting bid of £5500
If no one bids I may offer 5k
To be fair it drove nice and was plenty quick enough for my Mrs and 3 week old son.

[SLW79]

There is a nice 5.0 v10 for 6995!
Why so cheap? They seem to be cheaper than the lesser powered 2.5?

[MJK 24]

SLW79 said:

There is a nice 5.0 v10 for 6995!
Why so cheap? They seem to be cheaper than the lesser powered 2.5?

They're expensive to run as fuel economy is poor and the vast torque of the engine puts the transmission under a lot of strain which can lead to gearbox troubles.

The 2.5 is a decent prospect and much cheaper to run than other variants due to fuel economy and a completely different braking system. I've just done the brakes on mine. Front discs £36 each and front pads £70 plus VAT. Genuine Volkswagen parts bought from Volkswagen themselves. All other variants use a different braking system and the prices are approx double.

No timing belts or chains on the 2.5 either. The cam is gear driven from the crank.

[custardkid]

37mpg, that's an amazing achievement

The manual must make a huge difference, most people seem to get 25 ish.
http://www.thempg.co.uk/mpg_volkswagen_touareg_25_...


You are right on the brakes, the V8 has huge brembos!
Auto car review, they obviously aren't a fan of the van engine:
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/volkswagen/tou...

Custard