VW Touareg: V8 or TDI?

The radio in my jetta shit out on the way home from VIR one year. A loud pop and it stopped working for the rest of the ride home. Started working again just fine a few days later. Never bothered to get it looked at or fixed. I figured it wasn't shooting flames and sparks out at me so I wouldn't piss it off.

Had a minor electrical issue with my A3 that got fixed for free. Steering wheel volume control. Once again, it wasn't shooting flames and sparks at me. . .

 

I can't speak to the diesels with personal knowledge but my 04 Touareg V8 tows my 6x12, 3500lb Aluma like it's not there and stops pretty well also with no trailer brakes. Gets 11-12mpg at 75mph towing w/ two bikes and gear. When it's not towing it's my wife's ride and she loves it. I don't want to jinx myself but it's been reliable for me over 75K miles.
The mileage isn't great at it's best and the thing calls for premium gas but diesel fuel is even more expensive and you pay more for the desiel engine to begin with so you've got to figure out the economy for yourself.

 

I had a 04 V8. Without towing something it'd do 13 mpg no matter what speed or in town/highway. Never had any issues and did my own basic maintenance to keep costs down.

Go with the TDI.

 

Buddy has an '08 V10 TDI. It is freaking amazing with 600+ lb-ft torque, auto-adjust air suspension, and about 800 little buttons on the center stack. Totally overkill for towing his small enclosed trailer--you can't even tell it's there.

As an experienced VW owner, he plans to sell it one month before the extended warranty expires.

 

It cracks me up you guys gushing over the VW or Audi. In Poland as far as I can remember they were always regarded as some of the biggest pieces of shit on the road, right up there with FIAT. Over here, they're a luxury car.

And over there, if you can afford a American car you are rolling deep. My brother in law called me gushing over a Ram 1500 his buddy bought in UK. I thought maybe he got the SRT-10, but he just picked up a quad cab Hemi Ram. They were so amazed how fast the thing was.

Funny old world.

 

Have you thought about an ML diesel? Not sure what the tow rating is but I think they are a bit more reliable than the dubs.

 

Can't comment on the VW, except to say the v10 is a beast. I wanted one when I got my MB diesel GL but I couldn't find a new one. Kinda glad I couldn't because I love my GL. 80k miles now and gets 26mpg hwy at 70-75 and 14-16 towing my 17 foot fully loaded trailer (gear, 2bikes, scooter). A few issue but I got one of the first ones and nothing in the last 40k. I plan to drive it til the wheels fall off.

 

It is rated 17 city and 21 Highway. http://www.edmunds.com/mercedes-benz/gl-class/2012/ Did you chip it to get this mileage? Is this what the onboard computer calculates, or did you do it the accurate old fashioned way?

 

I could've been driving a Skyline when I was in Japan. I cheaped out figuring it would fit my budget better later on. Now I sport a car that's considered a POS by a bunch of Pollocks. Funny world indeed.

 

When I'm over there I actually loook to drive Citroëns and other quirky odd ball shit that'd never sell even 5 units over here. The coolest (to me) was the new body A6 diesel wagon. There's something quite insane about driving a oil burning wagon at 120 mph plus.

 

Too bad they don't bring the Audi Q7 TDI V12 over here...!

500 HP - 738 Torques...!!

This Car An Driver article from 2009 does say that it then sold in Europe for $185,000 US....!!!!

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2009-audi-q7-v12-tdi-diesel-first-drive-review

 

Mostly calculated. The 26.5 is from the computer. Mine is the pre urea diesel. The mileage you quoted is from the gas model I believe.