Gotta love the new VW Touaregs.....
 

Well one of my friends is a VW mechanic and he told me some very interesting facts about the Touareg....

First of all: When you turn the ignition switch to "start" it doesn't actually engage the starter solenoid. It actually sends a request to the computer to crank the engine....the engine will crank itself for up to 30 second till it gives up.

You need an engine lift to take out the seats...they are that heavy.

He had to replace the starter on one....you have to pull the engine on it to replace it. He say it will be about a $4000 total bill for labor and parts to replace the starter.

He also said your probably gonna see lots of them in junkyards due to the labor on them is so costly for such simple things.

Wow they screwed up big time...that must have been the car a guy at work was talking about, Mexican built shit!

Same thing as the Cayenne basically. Although I wouldn't worry too much about the having to pull the engine. To replace the rear plugs in a 4th gen F-body you gotta drop the engine too, and look how well those did!

sounds like a Volkswagen to me, had a jetta, hated it, but alas, the new 'Phaeton' looks nice.
http://wawawoum.imagesvw.free.fr/ima...phaeton_22.jpg

Shits not built in Mexico, mang;)

Think he was kidding

i'll admit it looks really nice but aren't they afraid of cannibalizing their Audi sales??

damn the seats are that fugin heavy...

I was told by a VW nut there is a VW fatory in Mexico.

almost everything you mentioned is the same on every single car out there,

try change oilfilter and spraksplug on an for example Cryshler Voyager without a car lift? ha not easy


and yes i have an car mechanics degree

sure they hav ea factory in mexico, they manufactured the old beetle there untill a few month ago

ok, now that makes me wonder. if repairs on a touareg are so costly and it's so poorly designed than how the hell did it win motor trends suv of the year?

oh ya the old mini-vans are fun!


They go for looks and performance, not how hard it is to change the starter!

the bug and the jetta are both manufactured in mexico (not the bug anymore obviously)...........not the touraeg though, i can tell you that much for sure

Different range

Audi doesn't cover the S-Class Mercedes market

The new Jettas are being produced in Mexico, along with Gen 5 Golfs will eventually be and the 4-motion systems are also assembled in Mexico as well.

The Touaregs are built in slovakia, and only the first few months of introduction in the United States resulted in Touaregs with many problems. I have heard that ones with a production date past November of last year, have had very few problems, if any at all.

And Atomic Pinkie is right, the Phaeton is meant to compete against the S-Class (more luxurious) and the Audi is to compete with BMW (more sporty).

Follow the money. :) there is no truth in advertising

Re: Gotta love the new VW Touaregs.....
 

This seems a little nit picky. Take for example Chrysler small blocks. I've got well over 2 million kilometres on 318/360s and have never changed out a starter. GM 2.5L/4 and Ford 300/6 on the other hand I can do blind folded. If they make the part good enough serviceablity is a non issue.

Same thing with the seats. Think of everyone you know(parents, lawyer, co workers); Now how many of them have ever changed a set of auto seats? More than once on the same vechicle? With seats that heavy I bet they are plenty stiff and safe in an accident.

Lots of things on new cars are life time or practiaclly so. Sparkplugs is a great example, most are rated for 160,000 Km. Joe average will be unlikely to change them more than once.

Etla those are some good points.