Two decades ago, Volkswagen was a very different company than it is today. Instead of bloated crossovers, it wanted you to buy cars that sounded like Wookies and ridiculous ultra-luxury sedans built to fit an obsessive overlord. Then there’s the Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI, an SUV that remains one of the wildest production vehicles to ever get the VW badge. This thing has a twin-turbo V10 diesel engine, incredible off-road prowess, and oh yeah, they can be found for peanuts today.
One of my favorite ways to pass the time is checking the Internet to see if I can find cheap versions of my dream cars. I still have to experience greats such as the Volkswagen Phaeton W12 and the BMW 850i, but it seems like good examples of those cars remain just outside of my preferred realm of sub-$10,000 hoopties. However, times appear to be changing. Some rides that used to generate headlines are now falling into the four-figure price range.
One of those cars is the infamous Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI. These were once SUVs that were advertised by pulling a Boeing 747. Now, even the Average Joe can buy one for under $8,000, including the one I’m featuring on your screen right now. But, of course, there’s a catch, so temper your excitement.
There’s so much buzz nowadays about burly off-road rigs. It seems like everyone and their grandma is excited about Scout and the Ford Bronco is ensuring Jeep is no longer the default answer for a trail rig. Even EVs are into the whole off-roading thing. A little over two decades ago, the shocking news was that Porsche and Volkswagen were dipping their toes into the arena and their off-roaders spat in the face of convention.
Off-Road Underdogs
Everything about these SUVs is alternative. Engineers liked how reliable body-on-frame SUVs were, but also liked the stiffness offered by a unibody platform, so they tried to make a chassis that was the best of both. As a result, the Cayenne and the Touareg utilize a unibody with an integral frame structure. Porsche and VW are so confident in the structure that they think you can lawn-dart your SUV into terrain without tweaking the unibody.
Porsche and Volkswagen then loaded their respective SUVs with real off-roading equipment. Both SUVs can get on their tippy toes thanks to air suspension, have nearly Jeep-like off-roading angles, and ford around 23 inches of water. Both were designed to conquer slopes as steep as 45 degrees and ride along banks as sharp as 35 degrees.
All of this was supported by a permanent four-wheel-drive system with an automatic center differential. You could also lock the power split to be equal between the axles or crawl your way around with the low range. The Germans were also super serious about limiting slippage, employing a combination of limited-slip differentials, off-road traction control, and ABS to limit unwanted wheelspin. It even had an early form of downhill assist. Volkswagen and Porsche then sold you a package that added underbody protection, sliders, and even a locking rear differential.
Both David Tracy and I can attest to how beastly Touaregs and Cayennes are off-road. They may look all soft like crossovers, but they’re far from it. The fact that both of these cars are filled with luxury features front and rear is icing on the cake.
Both SUVs also serve different roles. The Porsche Cayenne was the spiciest of the two. Here in America, a Porsche Cayenne Turbo S had a 4.8-liter twin-turbo V8 making 550 HP. That thing boogied to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds, or nearly a second faster than my Saturn Sky Red Line.
On the other hand, the Touareg better embraced the burly off-roader role. Its engines never got as spicy as the Porsche’s, but Volkswagen did give us something special with the 5.0-liter V10 TDI, sold beginning in 2004 and bowing out after 2008. This engine is a stupid, corrupting piece of engineering. It’s gear-driven and has two of everything. That’s two turbos, two air filters, two sets of piping, and even two ECUs. This beast sees itself as more or less two five-cylinder diesel engines, not one mean V10. It even sounds ridiculous, combining the best hits of a Cummins soundtrack with that of a Lamborghini.
The fascinating thing about this engine is that all of this complexity did not result in a huge power number on paper. This V10 diesel makes 310 HP and 553 lb-ft torque, or similar numbers to what a 6.0-liter Ford Power Stroke made. However, the V10 TDI’s power hits like a sledgehammer. The power comes on early and hard, putting your head into the headrest and keeping it there until you’re well above 100 mph.
The V10 TDI has a corrupting amount of power and it’s always there, regardless if you’re cruising down a highway or climbing a mountain. It always wants to go fast.
It’s also just nice to have this kind of power in a mid-size SUV format. Sure, its power output on paper isn’t impressive, but you’re getting it in a relatively small SUV and not the big trucks you had to buy to get a 6.0 Power Stroke. Sadly, I’m talking about small only in size here because a V10-equipped Touareg weighed 5,825 pounds before you added any passengers.
Still, this is a diesel SUV that can hit 60 mph in 6.6 seconds, conquer Moab, get 23 mpg, or tow up to 7,716 pounds. It does darn near everything you’d want an SUV to do!
They’ve Gotten So Cheap
I bought my 2006 Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI in 2021 for $5,000. At that time, I thought I basically stole it. I saw similar V10 TDIs selling for around $15,000 on auction sites. How did I get mine for so cheap? Put simply, the lady selling it didn’t know what she had. I haven’t put a ton of miles on my V10 TDI, but it’s still one of my favorite purchases to date.
I’ve been monitoring the market for these SUVs and while I’ve yet to find a deal exactly like the one I got, I’m beginning to see V10 TDIs show up for sale in running and driving condition for under $10,000. I don’t know if the market is cooling or what, but it seems like now is a great time to get into these SUVs if you’re willing to roll the dice.
The white V10 TDI I’ve featured in this article is currently for sale in Evansville, Indiana for just $7,950. It looks pretty clean, doesn’t show any fatal errors on its display, and it even has what appears to be a Chinese-market VW stereo with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Is that not cheap enough? Alright, here’s another in Beaumont, California for the tantalizing price of just $6,800.
This one is said to run and drive well. It’s even had a common 2000s-era VW problem fixed. These cars get really droopy headliners, but this one has a new headliner.
If you’re feeling daring, there’s another V10 TDI for sale in Westminster, California for $4,450 (below). But it apparently leaks fluids and keeps falling into limp mode, so that’s a mystery for you to solve.
Finally, there’s one more V10 TDI for sale in Kirkland, Washington for all of $2,800. This one is described as “will run and drive but barely.” I like the honesty there. The interior is in pieces and something is causing a heavy leak and a misfire at idle. But if you can fix it, you will get to enjoy the rare rear-locking differential option this one has.
These things are all over America with lower prices, but I chose the West Coast here so you won’t have to worry about rust. German luxury car depreciation is real. These SUVs were at least $67,750 when new ($115,476 today), now they’re just a fraction of that.
A Cheap Down Payment To Future Misery
Over the past couple of years or so I’ve been seeing lots of Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDIs showing up with lower prices like this. Yes, all of these SUVs have well over 100,000 miles, but believe it or not, these old TDIs can last a while. But wait, aren’t these things known for hilariously expensive repair bills?
Yes, and that’s the huge catch that comes attached to vehicles like the Touareg V10 TDI and the Volkswagen Phaeton, which aren’t the easiest vehicles to work on. In the Touareg V10 TDI’s case, wrenching on the body and the suspension isn’t too arduous. The V1o’s body is identical to the other same-gen Touaregs, and similar to other VW products of the era.
What’s different is that powertrain. The 5.0-liter diesel fits so snugly in the engine bay that there really isn’t room to work on much. You could get to the diesel tandem pump through the top and you can get to the starter through the right front wheel. If you need to go any deeper you’re most likely looking at an entire drivetrain removal procedure. VW techs use special equipment to do this job and it automatically means that a repair like a turbo replacement starts at thousands of dollars before the actual repair is even conducted.
Oh, and that’s before you even get to the weirdness that is the parts for the V10 TDI. So, the alternator? Yeah, that bad boy is water-cooled, which means extra complications during replacement. Alternators for V10 TDIs cost hundreds and their fittings are also expensive.
So, before you buy a Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI you need to know that it’s not for the faint of heart or light of wallet. Thus far I’ve been lucky. My V10 TDI hasn’t failed on me. I do baby it, however, and drive it like a stereotypical Corvette owner. It goes to the beach or does a highway cruise before coming back to a climate-controlled mini warehouse with two battery tenders. I don’t treat it like a real car.
Still, if you’re a bit of a masochist like I am, one of these beasts is waiting right around the corner, and they’re seemingly getting cheaper each year. Once you drive one, you’ll understand why weirdos like me even take the chance. The power is corrupting and, at the same time, it’s also a good representative of what used to be. I miss the days when Volkswagen was insane just because it could be.
In what alternate engineering universe does a water cooled alternator make a lick of sense?
Alternators generate significant heat. Most applications they are of size and load spec that they can maintain safe operating temp through internal fans and/or external heat sink fins. This alternator likely sees very high loads due to all the electrical systems used in this “luxury” vehicle. Hence, it requires greater cooling via water. In terms of pros and cons it’s really not much different than an air cooled vs water cooled engines. Or, perhaps a better comparison is a low voltage/low power air cooled motor/generator vs a high voltage high power water cooled motor.
Seems like an over-engineered and
likely expensive solution to not a problem. VW doing VW as per usual.
Honestly, mine still has some electrical gremlins (it’s a Piëch era VW lol) but it’s never left me stranded and it’s comfortable as hell.
I was basically in an anxiety coma for the first two months I owned it, just waiting for it to ruin me financially and otherwise..
That was over 2 years and ~14,000 miles ago. And I’m still waiting. Yeah it throws errant codes and has random electrical uh.. “moments” occasionally, but even still, it just chugs and clatters along.
It’s truly a testament to VWs VWishness. That is, the ability to overbuild basically everything. Prime example of this is I have a cooling fan, that for as many parts and as much solder and coding as I’ve thrown at it, refuses to spin past the lowest setting. (I’ve since diagnosed it, but haven’t had the time to pull half the engine bay out to fix it) I was worried sick that the car was going to overheat in our 105 degree summers when I had to drive it… Drove with VAGCOM plugged in for two straight weeks monitoring every temp in the car. The coolant never got over 210, in 100 plus degree weather, in stop and go traffic with the AC blasting and without a fan. The radiators are just that efficient. That ethos rings true throughout the vehicle. Yes, when things go truly wrong, it is expensive and or time consuming, but letting fear rule your life is worse.
Was told the W8 was going to ruin me. It’s the second best car I’ve ever owned (and still do- multiple, in fact). Was told the V10 was going to be the worst decision I’ve ever made. It’s just a damn good SUV. Like, really, really good. Still waiting for that 4 seater Phaeton W12 though. Maybe that will finally destroy my life.
I’m pretty sure BMW’s first V-12 used in the 850i was similarly engineered (minus the two turbos.) Also an engine famous for not being the easiest or cheapest to maintain.
It had to sets of everything… because it is actually two engines in one. The 2.5 litre 5 cylinder diesel powered this same first gen Touareg in Europe and several similar vintage EDM VW commercial vans.
On this side of the pond we’ ve got the version with half of this engine that’s not half bad (pun intended). Still, it’s got all the electric gremlins one could ask, but it should be powertrain vise rather good offroad build base.
The 2.5 TDI first gen Touaregs (with 6-speed manuals) were the default choice for local emergency services.
I’ve always loved these (from afar), but every time I’ve run across one for sale I remind myself of encountering one at our friendly local indy VW repair shop a couple years back, where it was undergoing replacement of the watercooled(!) alternator to the tune of $7500.
Nope.
V10 TDI? Child’s play. In only 10 more years you can commit the ultimate sin and import an Audi Q7 with the 6-liter V12 TDI. Think about the maintenance on one of those for a moment. Or don’t.
With the extra fun of sourcing all the bits that were ONLY used on a vehicle that was not ever sold here. Good times!
Indeed. Kei trucks got nothing on low-volume German Diesels
I’m assuming the listed prices are how much I’d be paid to take the thing off the seller’s hands? Because that’s ridiculously low.
If I had a lift in my garage, I’d totally jump on one of these. I love em.
The build of them doesn’t bother me. I spent 18 years wrenching on commercial diesels, so I know stacked & gear driven accessories well.
I can understand why so many others shy away, though.
The title suggest there is a vintage Volkswagen SUV
I think the old Vanagon Syncros optioned a little 4cyl diesel in them. Or I might be thinking of someone’s YT video of a diesel swap into a Vanagon.
There was a diesel Vanagon from the factory, but I don’t think those were ever Syncro-flavored (or at least, not for the US-market vans).
Alright, so I LOVVVE my lifted AWD Astro with locking diff, but I’m so, so tired of 13mpg. What do these get? And is the Porsche TDI more efficient? I want to move into a diesel SUV or van at somepoint, and I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet, but the Astro will be sold eventually.
That Astro sounds awesome. Don’t just think of MPG, think about reliability (or lack thereof), cost of parts & repair, fuel cost, and purchase price. I bet you’d never be able to drive the TDI enough to make it worth it. Most modded 4Runners and Tacoma’s are in the 13-15mpg range, so you’re not really far off.
RE diesel, IMO it’s more trouble than it’s worth these days.
Idk man… Porsche Cayennes are getting 25-30mpg at 80mph. That’s a HUGE improvement. I tend to drive from Wisco to CO and back quite a few times a year, and it’s roughly $600 in fuel per trip. If I had something getting 25mpg it would be around $300 in fuel.
She’s a thirsty pig lol. Here’s a vid if you wanna see it. Cheers!
My V10 TDI gets 21-23 mpg, but I drive pretty hard and fast. I’ve heard some gentler drivers say they get closer to 25 mpg. I definitely didn’t buy it for the fuel economy so I never really cared about that aspect!
Buying one of these is like going to the hooker with all the STD’s (and hoping the condom is enough to save you).
But you can’t just look without actually experiencing everything!
Now that is a great analogy
Oh god, I love so many things about this Piëch masterpiece. It’s an a bonkers celebration of his engineering ambition. Owning one though.. hard nope.
I have been reading several automotive journalists, over several websites, for several years that have been warning all of us to stay away from these wallet killers. One could guess who all is on that list.
“Volkswagen’s Craziest Modern SUV Has A V10 Twin Turbo Diesel And You Can Buy One For Dirt Cheap BUT FUCKING DON’T“
No. it is like two engines, twice as much to go wrong. It was the luxury version. The Cayenne Turbo had the option of sway bars disengagement (PDCC). The better choice for serious off roading. Also the anchor of the diesel is soooo heavy. I almost bought one when it kinda? made sense. so glad I didn’t. Over complicated under engineered piece of garbage. VW at its worst, makes the Phaeton seem sensible.
It is like 2 engines, because it is actually 2 engines. The five cylinder version powered the first gen Touareg and some commercial vans in Europe.
The best time to have bought one of these was 20 years ago when it had a warranty.
“Roll the dice”
According to Einstein, God does not play dice. According to others, God does play dice, and the dice are always loaded.
When I buy used trucks, my dice roll is nearly always a natural 1 roll.
Hell to the no. Not even for free.
No, ‘cuz “free” means “a $5,000 repair bill within 500 miles of acquisition”
Heart says yes, but head says no. I know…. I’m giving mixed signals here.
Ah yes, the V10 TDI Touraeg. The one vehicle that requires THE POWERTRAIN BE DROPPED OUT OF IT for EGR valve replacement.
Or 02 sensors, but if good you can do them in place
I feel like every Piëch era VW was made with the idea that it was “so amazing it would never need to be serviced”, so don’t worry about how you’re going to replace that part!
They are just like most modern cars. Designed for ease of assembly at the factory first, with ease of maintenance repair roughly 235th in line of the things the engineers care about.
no, it doesn’t.
Bullshit son. I worked at a VW dealership parts counter and watched our techs do it, hell, I still have pictures somewhere.
Girl, I have one and have taken all the parts out myself. The EGR VALVES are literally right on top of the motor and are the very first thing you see beside the engine cover right after the throttle bodies. Even the EGR cooler, though buried, is just in the V of the motor between the intake manifolds. The pipes run down the sides of the heads to the manifolds, but even those are accessible without service position. You can remove the entire EGR SYSTEM on an 04 or 06+ without engine removal. Try again.
Sheesh.
NO, just no, never, nyet, non, run…run away as fast as you can. If you have the wallet to service that thing, just go buy a Land Crusher and be done with it.
“Just be like everyone else and buy a Toyota” is the default answer in the Autopian comments section.
And is it bad advice? I don’t think so. I know that you’re one of our biggest, if not our biggest VAG fan but a lot of people don’t have the time, patience, money, or wrenching skills needed to deal with their absurdly complex products.
You do, and you enjoy yours. I’ve also driven a lot of Audis over the years and liked all of them. I loved my GTI when it wasn’t in the service bay. But for probably 95% of people “just go buy a Honda or Toyota” is good advice.
I’m just saying. For a site that’s supposed to champion car culture and bring light to the oddballs the comments section attitude is more cars.com than weird car nerd website. And it’s not just VAG. Essentially any time an article comes up that’s not about Toyota, the comments section is lit with “Why? Just buy a Toyota”. It feels more like we’re all trying to give each others parents advice on which crossover to buy instead of a “close knit automotive community”. “Oh, that thing is crazy, unique and interesting, I hate it”. Super fun.
I don’t want to go to a cars and coffee and see endless rows of Land Cruisers, 4Runners and IS’s. Good job making a safe choice, Chad. Enjoy your Lexus. I’m gonna walk over to see the brave soul dailying a V10 TDI Toureg, a BMW 850, something with a Wankel, someone who’s tuned a Genesis to the moon.
They can’t even write about something like the GM 3800 without half the comments being like “The Toyota 1FE-2GUZ is better in almost every way”. It gets old.
If we all took the comments sections advice and bought a Toyota instead of whatever interesting car a writer has chosen to highlight, this site would either have no reason to exist, or absolutely thrive. I’m not sure which.
That’s a fair point
I personally don’t find VAG’s innumerable engineering failures interesting in the slightest. If this was some exotic car, then sure, I get it, but you’re going to be spending Porsche levels of upkeep money on a Tourueageueagg only to have a regular old SUV at the end of the day.
Yeah this is really the key point.
Buy Toyotas for appliance cars, because they’re the best at it.
Buy interesting stuff where it makes a difference.
Exactly. This is the same reason I ditched my VW after two years. I don’t mind putting up with quirks if it’s something special…like a 911, a full M car, a legit exotic, etc.
…but in an affordable daily? Absolutely not. I don’t have time for that shit.
I put a 1971 Travelall on a 2003 Tahoe floorpan and chassis (as in I fully cut the floor and firewall out of the travelall and did the inverse to the Tahoe). Does that buy me any “oddball cars” cred? 😀 I’m with you though. There are many who only want to comment on practicality, not love, enjoyment, the pleasure of successful risks taken etc. And those are all things as worthy of investment as practicality.
This is why I’ve mostly abandoned this site lol. I check in every once in a while, but yeah.. it’s this.
-That brave soul dailying a V10 TDI Touareg
Like honestly this isn’t even about VAG. Yes I have two but before this I’ve had Cadillacs and Alfas and Kias and Fords, you name it. I like mine but I’m not a vag Stan. This is about this comment section turning into the r/cars Toyota circlejerk. Literally nothing can exist without being compared to a Toyota or Lexus. It was the same when they wrote about the G90, the Impala, and countless other articles.
I don’t necessarily want a V10 TDI Toureg but the difference is I can read an article like this and be like “man, the Piech era was wild, that’s a cool car and I’m glad people like you and Mercedes are keeping them alive” instead of dribbling out the same “something something reliable [insert comparable Toyota nameplate here]” line over and over.
Idgaf if it’s not an “exotic”. It’s a weirdo. It is valid. People are allowed to own them and drive them and keep them going and enjoy them even though it’s not another goddam Toyota.
I’m with you 100%. I AM a VAG fanboy, I fully recognize they aren’t for everyone, but just admitting you like them gets you flamed by the same 5 people and it’s exhausting.
Also, I work for said “reliable” car company, and, uh, the emails I get on the daily show me why I will never own a modern car that they make. And even if they were still reliable and well built (they just aren’t), we don’t all want to drive an econobox every day and THAT’S OKAY. Just as okay as wanting to. People seem to take a differing opinion as a personal insult and it’s exhausting.
Also, the lack of education is actual clown shit. Somewhere in these comments some dude was raging that this car has Porsche maintenance costs but it’s just a boring SUV without understanding that 1. it isn’t a boring SUV and 2. it’s a literal Porsche. But if you have a contrary opinion (or even fact), you’re dumb for not driving a Rav4.
I personally think Ferraris are an unoriginal and poorly made waste of money, and I have less than zero desire to own one. But, when I see a nice Ferrari, I still admire it for the mere fact that someone cared enough to buy it, that they drive it, that to them, that’s perfection. It doesn’t have to be for me, and it isn’t, but I can fully appreciate that it’s everything to someone else, instead of being a cliche hating ass bitch.
But god forbid I mention the EA888 in these comments or I’ll get a dissertation on why I’m a fascist narcissist who is singlehandedly the downfall of humanity.
That was a very long-winded way of saying you’re exactly correct. I thought the entire point of this site was basically “keep cars weird” and instead it’s just turned into “if you don’t have x cars from this predetermined list of acceptable cars or something so weird we don’t even know what it is – or if you have a contrary opinion in any way–fuck you.”.
I’m too tired for all that, so I come back every few weeks, check out what unc and mercedes have been up to, and go back to minding my own business elsewhere.
Also, I’m nearly done, but the fact that Nsane called you out for being the “biggest VAG fan” or whatever like he’s keeping tabs is uh.. all you need to know to see the problems here. Like girl, Hyundai needs to put you on salary all the shilling you do for them, but someone likes their Audi and they’re a pariah? No hate intended to Nsane, I just think that lack of self awareness is hilarious. His Kona ever goes wrong and he’ll spend every second of the day telling us how shit it is as well, I presume.
I’m no Toyota fanboy (never owned any Toyota actually), but there’s a good reason “everyone else” buys Toyotas. The only off-roading and crawling a V10 TDI Touareg will be doing is crawling up the back of a tow truck to the VW shop.
Well, no, that’s not significantly better. But hey, GM and Ford build some really nice large SUVs that will do almost everything this thing can. And will run until the end of the universe.
mostly because it is a 10 cylinder diesel FFS
Hey now, the Land Cruiser isn’t that big! Unless you mean a GMC Hummer EV, in that case, carry on. 😛
Also, get outta here with your smart buying advice! I’d only be substantially richer if I bought sensible cars!
As would I as I renovate the 86 VW Cabriolet, and literally had the entire tub A pillar on back replaced on the Del Sol, had a Saab 900 Convertible, and one, only one Toyota ever a Tercel Station Wagon AWD with the Inclinometer. Oops Lexus Camp Car qualifies as a Toyota so 2. Lest you think I am anti VW: I have owned an 84 GTI bought new, a type 2 Squarback and fastback, Vanagon Camper brought new, Original VW Van in Europe, 2 Bugs and my first car was a Karmann Ghia, a 98 Cabriolet bought new, and somewhere in the family was a type 3 sedan. The Peich stuff? Not on your life.
Old Land Cruisers really aren’t any cheaper to run than these are, even if they don’t need fixing as often. For one thing, you can fix a HELL of a lot of stuff for the difference in price of comparable ones.
In only 14 more years you can import the V12 TDI. Then you can finally form Piëch-era TDI Voltron.
Also, tight fit is an understatement. They must of coated the block in lube to slide the sucker in. Then just haphazardly attached all the components at random. I’ve only put my hands on a few of these. But nothing Piëchwagon let fly on this side of pond makes you think “fuckin’ Volkswagen”, more then this glorious monstrosity. Serious makes the timing chain of doom 4.2 in the S4 look like an ALH in complexity.
They assemble the truck around the pre-assembled engine of course because ziss is zee vay.
I’m on to you Mercedes! You’ve been talking about thinning your fleet, and this is a CLASSIC pump-and-dump! You’re telling us how great this car is riiiiight before you try to unload it.
You gotta get up pretty early in the morning to put one over on me!
I admire the absurdity that was the Piëch era, but I know to do so from afar.
These are rare and interesting cars for other people to own, and preferably not any of the people who call me with car problems.
I wanna see that engine in a Lambo now. That would be hilarious!
Vaguely related; I recall Audi putting their V12 TDI in an R8.
Theeeeen it burnt to the ground.
Oh my gosh. That would have probably been my all-time dream car. Sounds like Audi got a little close to the diesel sun. 🙂