The strengths of this car are in its faultless handling. My wife and I have been to both Bondurant and Barber driving schools. We have collected classic cars and have enjoyed lapping on many a track day. This Touareg puts big smiles on our faces when we manually take it up through the gears. This gearbox is outstanding. We feel we've bought the Cayenne Porsche 'S' at a fifteen thousand dollar discount, and all delightfully hidden under the cloaking device of those front and rear salad plates proclaiming V-W.

Specific shortomings of this Touareg are; 1) Highly awkward seat folding drill. 2) Poor quality control on interior fittings. We've had three pieces fall off and two others break. And no, we do not have unruly children, large playful dogs, or marital spats to over-nudge these brittle delicacies. Also, the warning chimes are much too pro-active. The engineers did their jobs splendidly, then the lawyers showed up and stayed too long. (The parts and service managers have yet to arrive.)

My wife and I find the Touareg to be a fine piece of engineering and styling at a competitive price among the high end SUV's. Although a large vehicle, we find it handles with ease. Although heavy, it sprints through its six melodius gears. We use it for local errands as well as longer 'weekend' trips. It carries root balls from landscape nurseries in the afternoon and our guests to dinner in the evening, and does both tasks well. The biggest problem with the car concerns the very subject we are cautioned not to discuss on this forum. In polite terms, the complexity and sophistication of the Touareg's systems far exceeds its supporting North American infrastructure. But for the experiences we have had, I would have awarded this car five stars. Should I find a responsive, supportive dealer who can get access to spare parts, we may be able to keep this car. It is so close to superb it is regrettable that we may not be able to keep it maintained and servicable. I feel we have a micro-parallel to the situation with Iraq. Only a month into 'engaging' with the purchase of this car, we gave ourselves high fives and proclaimed, "Mission Accomplished". Two months further along, our difficulties are growing alarmingly. Although none of the faults are grievous, no solutions or parts are forthcoming. Although none of the serious problems others have mentioned on other web-forums have happened to us, we are somewhat apprehensive. (We did have a BiTurbo Spyder that actually never self-destructed.) In short, the car is magnificent, but aren't we really buying more than a car? These latter elements which we should not discuss are markedly inadequate for maintaining a relationship with this car beyond the honeymoon.

Similar Products Used:

Over the years we have owned a number of wagons and SUV's among them: Volvo 850 Turbo wagon, Land Cruiser, Lexus RX330, and a BMW 540i Touring. Before we bought this Touareg we tested the Cadillac CVX and found its dashboard reminiscent rental cars. We had to trade in our Lexus RX330 due to my wife's discomfort with the front seats. I felt it was a brilliant feat of product engineering to turn the mechanical underpinnings of a basic Camry into a $50,000.00 Sport Ute. We were underwhelmed by the placid Volvo XC90, and not quite ready to spring for a $60 K 4.4 X5 with all the options we wanted. In 20/20 hindsight, that's the car we should have bought.