What are the Best Years for the Volkswagen Touareg?

When purchasing a car, especially a classic Volkswagon, you want the best so you know it will last and won’t cost you thousands of dollars in repairs. 

But what are the best years for the Volkswagon Toureg?

What are the Best Years for the Volkswagen Touareg?

The best years for the Volkswagon Touareg are the 2002 Touareg V6 TDI, 2004 Touareg V10 TDI, 2005 Touraeg W12, 2008 Touareg R50, and the 2011 Touareg Hybrid. These VW Touareg years have had many modifications and enhancements as new models have been manufactured, making them popular vehicles.

If these years are of interest to you because of reputation, or because you are purely curious, keep reading to dive into the best years of the Volkswagen Touareg.

2002 Touareg V6 TDI

The 2002 Touareg V6 TDI has gained a reputation for being the most basic model of Volkswagen Touareg, but it is the one that is most available and is the most commonly purchased model of Volkswagon Touareg.

Despite it being a standard, practical vehicle with few bells and whistles, some elements increased the quality and demand. 

The car has adjustable air suspension and locking center and rear differentials available. 

This increased its ability and off-roading performance.

It also allowed the vehicle to pull attachments behind it, such as trailers, motorhomes, and more.

Its exterior cosmetics are impressive as well. 

The tires were from the Volkswagen catalog, meaning they are all-terrain so your vehicle is ready for your off-roading adventures. 

There is also a pull bar on the front of the car for an added measure of defense in the event of a collision. 

On the hood of the car, there is a roof basket that you can put larger outdoor equipment in.

2004 Touareg V10 TDI

While the 2004 Touareg V10 TDI has the appearance of a dainty, sleek, and luxurious vehicle, its engine would say otherwise.

This engine had 553 lb-ft of torque and 310HP. 

However, it released a high amount of emissions. 

The inconsistency with the engine caused the vehicle to have an on-again, off-again relationship with the market in the U.S.

It only was sold for a limited time and was later recalled because of its harm to the environment. 

However, you can still purchase it at some used car dealerships.

If you are looking for a heavy-duty vehicle that can do the dirty work while still looking regal and elegant, the 2004 Touareg V10 TDI is a good option for you.

To give you an idea of how much dirty work the vehicle can do, this particular vehicle pulled a Boeing 747 plane and was successful. 

It will have no problem pulling your motorhome or trailer.

As you can then imagine, the general public caught wind of this news and was impressed. 

In this case, the bad outweighed the good. 

The poor performance of the engine and the harm to the environment that the emissions did lead to Volkswagen removing the 2004 Touareg V10 TDI from its lineup.

2005 Touareg W12

The 2005 Touareg W12 is perhaps one of the most desirable models of vehicle that Volkswagen has produced. 

This car is one of the company’s first-generation models, but it was decided they could take a second look at it and see if they could make any modifications that would greatly improve it.

This particular model is extremely interesting because the original model was supposed to be a limited edition. 

The fact that a form of the car was available again was a big deal when the 2005 Touareg W12 was released.

One of the first enhancements they made to the new model was to put a 12-cylinder engine in it. 

The car now had 444HP, 443 lb-ft of torque, and could go from 0 to 60 in 5.8 seconds. 

A unique cosmetic feature that this vehicle displayed was a W12 badge on the back, hence giving the new model its name.

People rarely complain about this car because they haven’t had many issues with it yet. 

However, cars are not perfect and more issues will pop up as the car gets older.

2008 Touareg R50

As the Volkswagen brand as a whole was gaining popularity with great momentum, the company wanted to put out a model that brought a feeling of excitement, specifically regarding performance, to its audience. 

The Volkswagen Touareg 2008 did just that.

The 2008 Volkswagen Touareg R50 replaced the 2007 Volkswagen Touareg R32, which was extremely popular when it was released. 

Although the 2007 Touareg R32 sold well, Volkswagen wanted to push the performance limits, so they made the Touareg R50.

This new and improved model dawned a 5.0 Liter diesel V10 engine with an output of 345hp and an extremely impressive 627 lb-ft of torque. 

Although the numbers credit this engine as one with power and kick, the ride to get from 0 to 60 came in surprisingly slow at 6.7 seconds.

As far as the car achieving what the company set out to do with this new model, they succeeded in creating that feeling of excitement within their audience.

However, a feeling of satisfaction was not as quite so easily attained, especially because of the relatively slow acceleration ability of this vehicle.

2011 Touareg Hybrid

Regardless of this model being fairly new, they haven’t been big sellers in the Volkswagen community.

It is often compared to the Audi S4 and S5 because they all use the same engine. 

The 2011 Volkswagen Touareg has a 3 Liter V6 engine that was extremely popular at the time.

The engine has an impressive 380HP and 428 lb-ft of torque.

The get-up and go from 0 to 60 rate was 5.9 seconds, which was fairly consistent for that particular engine.

The 2011 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid gets up to 19 miles per gallon in the city and 28 miles per gallon, which is a combined gas mileage of 21 miles per gallon.

Although people were interested in purchasing this vehicle when it was released, it didn’t sell well.

It had an MSRP of $60,000 and most people did not feel that the price was fair for what they were getting.