Anyone drive a VW touran ? Reviews please…

Review your cars please, thinking of getting one and just wondered what you thought of them?

Had an `07 for 5yrs. 2ltr/140 Tdi. 75k when I parted with it and only ever required servicing.Loved it. Mine had the “sport” pack and some people can find the seats to be on the firm side. Both MrsT and I choose our cars by how comfy the driving position is due to having bad backs/joint problems and found the seats and adjustability of them and controls to suit us fine.7 seats used regularly to carry family/grand kids around, tow caravan and bike duties. Could get 3 bikes inside with all the gear and passengers. The rear seats can be removed to create a van which was useful for house moves or clearing garden waste etc. Current motor does not have the 3 separate seat arrangement and is a pain 🙄

Had one for nine years and it was superb. Just been able to replace it and got a octavia instead. It was a really difficult choice to make as the boot on the touran was vast, the individual seats was brilliant as mentioned earlier, it had a new clutch and single mass flywheel which was the best part of a grand to get done. Up to seventy to the gallon fully loaded and with winter tyres it was unstoppable. The change to the octavia was a circumstance decision, the touran was getting long in the tooth and I was fortunate enough to afford the change. The octavia is incredible with the exception of the individual seats in the back but it’s not an issue for us.
If the octavia’s boot wasn’t as good we’d have had another touran!

We bought a 60 plate 1.9 diesel 110 bhp version in October.
It is the match model so has the big screen telly in the dashboard and parallel parks itself!
Aside from the gadgets, it is a great car.
We looked at the Zafira tourer, 5008, s-max, c-max grand & qashqai +2 and after an awful lot of deliberation, the touran got our vote. While it’s boxy, it means the extra seats are nice and airy. Drives really well and the seats are very comfy on the match.

Have owned an 06 TDI 105 for over 4 years and put over 40k on it. It is probably the most practical car I have ever driven. The driving position is perfect, it has a massive boot, practical seat system, roof rails, reliable, 50mpg on a run, 45 around town. Just dull though!

also interested in these…

what (diesel) engines are best?

i know that the rear seats fold flat and the middle row can be removed. how much space does that give you and is the load area flat and free of gubbins?? could i, at 5´7″ kip in there?

real world MPG?

had a VW Sharan for a few weeks in summer and that was pretty useable as a car for kipping in, but all the seats had to be removed.

i like the idea of removing the middle row and using the car predominately as a van.

Had my 1.9tdi for 5 years and the only problem has been the abs sensor light on so i sent a couple of letters to uk md and problem was done free of charge ,it is great a carrying bikes,diy materials,rubbish and regularly does 50 mpg i would buy another one maybe the 2ltr sport 😀

and does >>>>>>THIS<<<<<< have split foldy seat in the rear?

We have 05 tdi of 105 bhp variety. Bought at 3 yrs old/ 20k on clock. Now at 130k+
Good: practical, great mpg, still going.
Bad: gone wrong more than it should, and when it did, chuff me it costs. ABS (£1200), clutch @35k (£800) were both known issues. Dpf, glow plugs, bits of suspension all went prematurely. Most frustrating wad the boot gas strut saga – the bolt that came off is fitted in factory, and requires cutting the back of the bodywork off to access and replace one bolt…then respray the car. Doesn’t have wiring for rear speakers or tow bar being base model.
To be fair, we have been hard on it with kids, bikes and canoes. But overall I am still ‘meh’ about it, and not sure about buying VW again. It certainly is not as well built as our old Passat that managed 180k and still sold it working just fine…

@alpin- all middle row are three separate seats, rear pair in 7seater are also separate.

I’m on my second one. And my friend has one also. Highly recommended, but like any car there are a few common faults. In my experience, the aux heater usually only lasts 60k before it needs replacing or disconnecting – this happened to my first one and now the second one is showing symptoms. Same happened to my mates.

The second one started to rust a bit prematurely, but the bodywork has a 7 year anti rust guarantee. Annoyingly VW tried to wiggle out of it, but I held my ground and got 80% goodwill payment out of them.

Other than that, I think they are great cars, hence why I’m on my second.

Are you buying new or second hand?

Mine is rusting all over as well.

Interested to hear more about the wiring not been in place for a tow bar, this could potentially be an issue…

Had a 58 plate 2.0 tdi for about 2-3years. Love it, uber practical, comfy, nippy enough. Yeah it’s more dull and efficient than exciting but we bought it for family use not track days! 🙂

Get mid 40s mpg up to 55 + on a motorway run.

@popps
According to vw dealer, not all Touran’s had “proper” wiring in place. There is possibility of a way round, using the 12v socket in the boot and a clip on kit to the rear light clusters.
Properly doing it was a good few hundred quid (£1000 at dealer) or cheap kit was about £60 iirc, but with possible electrical issues due to delicate nature of modern electrics.

We have an 04 2.0 FSI (petrol) for family duties. It fits the bill very well, I don’t drive it often but enjoy it when I do. The wife seems to like it.

maxray – Member
Had a 58 plate 2.0 tdi for about 2-3years. Love it, uber practical, comfy, nippy enough. Yeah it’s more dull and efficient than exciting but we bought it for family use not track days!

Get mid 40s mpg up to 55 + on a motorway run.

Can’t understand the “dull” bit? Managed to out drag/embarrass the odd boy racer at traffic light get-aways 😉 on wet roads wheels could be spun up in 3rd gear!! Could be hustled along quiet country roads with a low fuel consumption of 25mpg 👿 Best mpg seen was 63. Towing a caravan lowest mpg was 35mpg.
Certainly not a car to buy if you are worried about looks over function. We only parted with ours having bought a bigger caravan and needed an appropriate tow car, a Sorrento.

Towing a caravan lowest mpg was 35mpg

What van? Didn’t think that was possible!

+1 matt_outandabout

ours is a 54 plate 1.9 turbo diesel, owned from new, now on 90,000 miles. Towbar fitted as aftermarket.

pros – great mpg, lots of space, seven seats can be useful

cons – when it goes wrong it is VERY expensive. Each service (it’s needed four services so far on a long-life service schedule) has cost around £1,000. Turbo blew up which was another £1,000 to repair. Suspension busted at 70,000 miles. Electrics have always been a bit suspect – blows front and rear bulbs regularly, rear wiper works intermittently, heater sometimes sets itself to full heat and cannot be switched off, electric windows stopped working intermittently.

Tyres lasted around 20-25,000 miles per set before replacements required.

Seven seater has no spare tyre (and there’s no space for it either) – it has the latex repair glue. Great if there’s a nail in the tyre, pish if there’s anything bigger that caused the puncture. If you want a spare (space-saver) tyre you are limited to the five-seat version.

Seat combos for the seven seater:

2 up front
3 middle – fold down but not flat, when removed leaves uneven floor with connector bars remaining exposed. Can remove middle seat and reposition the two remaining to give a little more elbow room.
2 rear – do fold completely flat. Not removable.

I would not buy another one, although a mate of mine has just replaced his older touran with a newer one.

molgrips – Member
Towing a caravan lowest mpg was 35mpg
What van? Didn’t think that was possible!

Normal driving was 45+ depending on how much above 70 I drove on motorways or having “fun” on local roads would drop below 40….. When “acting” my age 50+ was easily obtainable. Close to being the best car I have owned, ’68 Cooper and 1.8 Mk2 Jetta being the other contenders 😆
Old van was a Fendt. Current ‘van is a 6 berth Bailey Pageant which was on the limit for the Touran re weight.
I can when I want be very gentle on the throttle 😆
A wee tale from when I was a mechanic, an apprentice at the time! We had a customer complaining about poor fuel consumption in his new Triumph Toledo. We had a calibrated 1pt tank which we connected to the fuel pump after disconnecting the cars fuel tank. Drive the car till calibrated tank runs out x8 = mpg per gal. With me driving I got 42. With customer complaint of low 20s how does a teenage apprentice tell a mature customer it is his driving technique that is at fault, not the car!! I got him to drive and he was horrendous!! Holding onto gears far too long and using far too high revs etc…..

Seven seater has no spare tyre (and there’s no space for it either) – it has the latex repair glue. Great if there’s a nail in the tyre, pish if there’s anything bigger that caused the puncture. If you want a spare (space-saver) tyre you are limited to the five-seat version.

Been driving for 40yrs, never had a puncture.
Have you?

stimpy – Member
+1 matt_outandabout

Would appear that I have been lucky then 💡

My current car/4X4 also has no spare just like most modern cars.

And once you put the latex in the tyre, its new tyre time. Had a touran for 3 years now (3 kids under 5). Good car, good mpg for its size, but often wish I’d bought sonething bigger!

Twenty years of driving, I’ve only ever had three punctures and they’ve all been on the touran. The latex has only managed to fix one of those three punctures – twice I’ve had to have repair vehicles recover the touran because it’s had a puncture that the latex couldn’t seal.

As sheeps says, once you use the latex to repair a puncture you cannot get the tyre repaired – you’re buying a new tyre. It’s complete pish.

My ’08 plate Toyota has a proper spare wheel, although I’ve never needed to use it. I much prefer having a proper spare wheel that I know will work instead of a tub of “will it/won’t it work” latex in the boot.

I would not buy another touran.

I carry a space saver strapped down in the boot. Not had to use it yet.

Had my 2.0 tdi sport dsg for 6 years and 90k. Turbo went recently but that’s about it. It’s been brilliant. Remapped and is quick enough for me. Avg 45mpg. Wife just got a golf gti which seems to avg 23…! 😐

Also consider the Altea XL?

Bought a used Highline spec one with 160k on it. Moving from a 220bhp T5, it is as dull as a very dull thing and still is.

It is very practical and has done 2 trips back to Edinburgh from Germany, no problem. Highline spaec is good as it has cruise control etc etc. Deliberately looked for a 1.9tdi non dpf model after having teh same engine in an Audi A3 and Fabia VRS and these just kept rolling.

Replaced items that are expacted, pads/discs, front springs. Thats all. Averaging 5.8l / 100km

Likes
Clever seating in the rear.
Heated front seats
Cruise and trip computer
Does seem robust and economical

Dislikes
Dull
Bikes “just” go in, wheels on, saddles dropped, no seats in the rear
Has big plastic stash space tray in the rear which reduces the load area height, now removed
Was hoping it was a cheap bike van, its a car with bike carrying ability, it sort of is
A rear rack on the back door will break the rear auto wipe blade arm which triggers when reversing
Dull
Loads of plastics in the rear to mash and scratch. The side panels take up space
Interior is not too tough. All the tactile rubbery coating is wearing badly

Next vehicle will be a Caddy Kombi if I can find one at the right price on the right non-dpf engine. The load area is a wee bit higher. Looked at Caddy Life but the price is crazy and if I’m putting bikes in it, I don’t want too much plastic trim in the back. Ex Deutche Post Caddy vans are available but SDi non turbo motors are the drawback.

Take a clean bike to a dealer and try a Touran for size. A bike fits much better, wheels on, in a swb Caddy which has the same rear seat config as a touran. FWIW the Yeti is snaller inside than you would think.

I looked at a Touran at the same time I looked at the Smax.

I bought the Smax.

To many horror stories about tourans breaking down or needing big money repairs.

Im sure they’re a great car and very practical. But I just get the impression, as I do with people carriers too. That the owner seems to have given up a bit 😆

2nd one here, had an 09 plate, was great until it came out of warranty, cost £2.2k in repairs, power steering failure, air bag ecu flooded (mounted in a stupid place) and something else which I can’t remeber. Got shot before the ABS fault appeared. Did buy a second one though (13 plate) because it was a very practical car (and we got a very good deal as we know the local VW garage sales manager). Will defo extend the warranty though when the dealership is running out. Get around 55 to 60 mpg commuting to work on the motorway.