So long Jeep Wrangler...

[Nor_Cal_Todd]

Well, it was a quick 4 month ownership of our 2010 Jeep Wrangler. We can't feel like buying this car was a bad thing as it brought us back to camping and our Scamp. It just turns out that towing the scamp and getting out there trumped top down spins around town.

Sadly, it's kind of hard to find a nice tow vehicle that meets all the needs of what our car and Jeep did together for us. We ended up getting back into a VW Touareg. This car is more than capable of handling all our needs and provides the same level of comfort and features we enjoyed in our Passat Wagon. Let's not talk about the gas. In the end, we eliminated a extra vehicle in our drive way and got a tow rig that we are excited to take on some long trips...

First stop is Lake Camanche this weekend. I will report back with pics and impressions.

[mcbrew]

Originally Posted by Nor_Cal_Todd

Well, it was a quick 4 month ownership of our 2010 Jeep Wrangler. We can't feel like buying this car was a bad thing as it brought us back to camping and our Scamp. It just turns out that towing the scamp and getting out there trumped top down spins around town.

Sadly, it's kind of hard to find a nice tow vehicle that meets all the needs of what our car and Jeep did together for us. We ended up getting back into a VW Touareg. This car is more than capable of handling all our needs and provides the same level of comfort and features we enjoyed in our Passat Wagon. Let's not talk about the gas. In the end, we eliminated a extra vehicle in our drive way and got a tow rig that we are excited to take on some long trips...

First stop is Lake Camanche this weekend. I will report back with pics and impressions.

Did you get the V6 turbo diesel? That engine is a monster -- it puts out 406 pounds of torque at just 1,750 RPM. The gasoline V6 has more than enough power to pull a Scamp... but who doesn't like a little overkill? Not to mention 25 MPG highway rating.

[Nor_Cal_Todd]

Originally Posted by mcbrew

Did you get the V6 turbo diesel? That engine is a monster -- it puts out 406 pounds of torque at just 1,750 RPM. The gasoline V6 has more than enough power to pull a Scamp... but who doesn't like a little overkill? Not to mention 25 MPG highway rating.

The towing capacity of the gas and diesel models is the same but yeah the diesel has lots more torque. With end of year incentives, a diesel would have run us about $9K more than gas. It was also very hard to find a Diesel that had Nav and a Tow Package so we went the regular gas powered V6 which still has good punch. Our old V8 Touareg was quicker of the line but also ate much more premium fuel.

Yes you can add the tow package, but much more pricey. The Nav is part of an overall technology package that also gives a rear camera and very nice iPod connectivity. Sadly, the have yet to add the nice regular radio with this functionality to the Touareg.

The new 2011 T-reg comes out soon but we weren't wild on the new styling and even used Diesel T-Regs are almost as much as new. They know that inventory is low and they can just wait out the last few new ones to sell before used prices jump up a bit.

All in all, the thing tows beautifully. Much more confident with this. And when we upgrade to a Airstream Bambi in a few years, the T-reg can pull that too!

[Carol H]

Droooling! I know all to well how hard it is to find the one car that tows, will be easy to park in the city and not compromise on a smooth ride and handling with a truck base that so many of the SUV's have.

Off to buy my LotoMax ticket.

[Sam and Jess]

So glad to hear your good towing review, and envious that you're already putting it to good use. We're mighty impressed with the '05 V8 we bought this week, but will need to install an aftermarket hitch before it's technically ready to haul. Oh yeah, and we'll need to completely reassemble that camper of ours too.

[Nor_Cal_Todd]

Originally Posted by Sam and Jess

So glad to hear your good towing review, and envious that you're already putting it to good use. We're mighty impressed with the '05 V8 we bought this week, but will need to install an aftermarket hitch before it's technically ready to haul. Oh yeah, and we'll need to completely reassemble that camper of ours too.

Does your '05 have air suspension? Our 2005 did and I LOVED it. Much smoother ride. I guess people have had problems with the bladders which is why is much harder to get T-regs today with them....

[Sam and Jess]

Nope, we missed out on the air suspension. Our wants were simply: V8, reasonable mileage/price, and NOT maroon. Even with that short list though, we still had to have one shipped to us from Connecticut to fit the bill.

I know we might have enjoyed tinkering around with the suspension, but it was probably smart in the end to have one less potential maintenance issue. We are still amazed at how well it drives and the features that are packed into this thing. Since we started the search at different ends of the spectrum – I was all for a [fill in any European carmaker here] wagon, while Sam was throwing around words like "Hemi" and "offroad" – I think the Touareg was a darn good compromise. And sticking with VW's design quality has also softened the blow (slightly) of trading in our GTI.

[B and TW]

Nice unit, i'm a big fan of the diesels myself though.

My Cherokee with 3.73s pulls my 17 footer pretty well, i'll be regearing to 4.10 this winter to make it work a bit better though.

That being said, I saw a Miata pulling a 13 footer up and down BC mountains so I think you are good to go
- Bill

[Nor_Cal_Todd]

Originally Posted by Tina Whitman

Nice unit, i'm a big fan of the diesels myself though

We really wanted to go with the TDI version of the Touareg. We already have a TDI Jetta Sportwagen and love it.

The problem is that with all the incentives on gas powered T-regs the TDI was $9K more in price. At 5 MPG more for the TDI, that's a lot of gas. They tow the same weight (7700 pounds) though the diesel has more torque off the line.

Our long term plan is to jump to an airstream at some point and it's nice to know T-reg won't have any problem when we plan to move up in size...

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by mcbrew

Did you get the V6 turbo diesel? That engine is a monster -- it puts out 406 pounds of torque at just 1,750 RPM. The gasoline V6 has more than enough power to pull a Scamp... but who doesn't like a little overkill? Not to mention 25 MPG highway rating.

Originally Posted by Nor_Cal_Todd

We
The problem is that with all the incentives on gas powered T-regs the TDI was $9K more in price. At 5 MPG more for the TDI, that's a lot of gas.

Which one of these is getting the 25 MPG? That 5 MPG difference is about a 20% difference in fuel efficiency. Over the life of the vehicle that is a lot of fuel. Not to mention the power/efficiency of a diesel in the hills. I'm trying to get a grasp on the actual numbers, from this side of the border the costs look to be about the same over the life of the vehicle.

[Nor_Cal_Todd]

Originally Posted by Roy in TO

Which one of these is getting the 25 MPG? That 5 MPG difference is about a 20% difference in fuel efficiency. Over the life of the vehicle that is a lot of fuel. Not to mention the power/efficiency of a diesel in the hills. I'm trying to get a grasp on the actual numbers, from this side of the border the costs look to be about the same over the life of the vehicle.

The TDI quotes 25 MPG versus 20 on the gas powered. My calculations show that would take about 75K miles to recoup the $9k premium. Diesel and Premium tend to go step in step pricing wise where we live (we also have a TDI Jetta Sportwagen). I love the TDI Touareg. I drove it but did not find it to have a ton more torque off the line but I wasn't towing. I also wasn't worried about towing a 1500 pound trailer or even a 4000 pond trailer when the vehicle is rated for 7700 pounds.

To me, the biggest reasons to buy a TDI are resale value and the quiet engine. For me, I couldn't pull the trigger on the deal. I even tried to go used but people want too much money for them. There were some nicely priced new TDI's for sale locally but they didn't have enough equipment for me. If the pricing was more of a 3K delta, it would have been a no brainer....just my $.02.

[mcbrew]

Todd, the beauty of it is that you don't have to recoup the diesel premium in fuel costs... you'l recoup it when the vehicle is sold. Also, people don't talk about recouping the premium for a 6 cylinder over a 4 cylinder, or a V8 over a V6. The diesel is the premium engine option... not necessarily the economical option. I am a long-time diesel driver... in fact, my Scion is my very first gasoline-powered car. I can say that I am taking a vacation from VW at this time, though... VWoA does not know how to keep diesel on the road. They really don't seem to have much of an interest in selling and maintaining TDIs. Things are better up in Canada and most of Europe when it comes to diesels. I miss my Mercedes diesel days... you couldn't kill those cars. The last one I drove had 410,000 miles on the clock when I sold it, and it has well over 600,000 miles on it now. It is still a daily driver... and still has the class III hitch that I had custom made for it!