FaultScore

Volkswagen Touareg engine problems

134 of the 945 complaints filed about the Volkswagen Touareg are about the engine — 14% of everything owners reported. The worst model year for it is 2004.

134

Complaints

14%

Share of all complaints

1

Crashes

5

Fires

Engine & Cooling complaints by model year

2004 Touareg 29 21.6%

Median failure at 31,000 miles

2005 Touareg 4 3.0%

Median failure at 54,750 miles

2006 Touareg 4 3.0%

Median failure at 74,143 miles

2007 Touareg 3 2.2%

Median failure at 69,000 miles

2008 Touareg 7 5.2%

Median failure at 115,346 miles

2009 Touareg 2 1.5%

Median failure at 90,125 miles

2010 Touareg 8 6.0%

Median failure at 55,000 miles

2011 Touareg 4 3.0%

Median failure at 100,032 miles

2012 Touareg 6 4.5%

Median failure at 80,000 miles

2013 Touareg 4 3.0%

Median failure at 46,175 miles

2014 Touareg 7 5.2%

Median failure at 47,900 miles

2015 Touareg 15 11.2%

Median failure at 41,000 miles

2016 Touareg 22 16.4%

Median failure at 21,565 miles

2017 Touareg 19 14.2%

Median failure at 12,346 miles

What owners said

2008 Volkswagen Touareg South Gate, CA Fire 1 injured

ENGINE

I was driving the vehicle and noticed smoke coming out from under the hood I pulled over immediately and the whole engine compartment was on fire I tried to put fire but Fire department showed up and extinguish the fire, fire was due to a fuel leak

NHTSA complaint #11627551 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2013 Volkswagen Touareg Ridgefield Park, NJ

ENGINE

The weld broke at the rear pre cat connection

NHTSA complaint #11609208 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2017 Volkswagen Touareg Memphis, TN

ENGINE

I purchased a 2017 Volkswagen Touareg V6 in October 2023. A problem with the vehicle revealed itself right away. It was consuming too much oil. Oil splatter is present on the hood, the car doors, the back bumper and built up oil residue is present in both tailpipes. Oil has to be added in about three week intervals. The vehicle is displaying the same issues as the vehicles recalled under recall number 21V321000 and I believe this vehicle should be added. I have taken the car to two shops that have confirmed the over consumption. Please evaluate.

NHTSA complaint #11562874 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2013 Volkswagen Touareg Dayton, OH

ENGINE

So there’s a campaign to add a bracket to one of the catalytic converters. That’s great except I never knew about it and the thing they added the bracket to prevent happened to me. The exhaust pipe from the catalytic separated from the flange connecting to the manifold. It’s a 2000 dollar part from the dealer. Luckily I found a mechanic who is welding the flange and fixing what I got. Just another example of a car company knowing there’s an issue but not really attempting to fix it, only in a policy no one reads.

NHTSA complaint #11562529 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2012 Volkswagen Touareg at 124,000 miles Canton, MI

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

The contact owns a 2012 Volkswagen Touareg. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, he smelled an oil odor and smoke odor in the interior of the vehicle. After a visual inspection, the contact observed oil leaking from underneath the engine compartment. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined the diesel particulate filter needed to be replaced but was unable to locate the part. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 124,000.

NHTSA complaint #11548067 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2017 Volkswagen Touareg Ladson, SC

ENGINE

The vehicle has an internal oil drain system that slowly leaks oil past the pistons into the combustion chamber of the engine causing the engine to burn oil. This is very dangerous when smoke exits the vehicle from the exhaust and into the air that could be inhaled by others. This same issue over time can cause an engine fire after the exhaust system is entirely clogged by the burned oil residue in the exhaust system. I have spoken with other 2017 VW Touareg owners who have the same exact issue and the problem is widely reported online by other drivers in forums.

NHTSA complaint #11538024 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2015 Volkswagen Touareg at 78,500 miles San Diego, CA

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:CATALYTIC CONVERTOR

The contact owns a 2015 Volkswagen Touareg. The contact stated while her husband was stopped at a traffic light, he started to hear an abnormal sound. The driver stated no warning light was illuminated. The driver was able to continue driving to his destination. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the catalytic converter to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired due to the parts not being available. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 78,500.

NHTSA complaint #11531414 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2017 Volkswagen Touareg Baltimore, MD

ENGINE

Exhaust line for cylinders 4-6 developed crack immediately before catalytic converter. Problem has occurred in other Touaregs, there is even a recall for 2014 models. Crack allows exhaust to leak nearby air intake to cabin. Noticeable exhaust smell inside cabin, especially when stopped. No warning, just check engine light after the crack. Crack along thin weld, leading right into the catalytic converter. Also environmental concern that exhaust gasses are not being treated. Potential fire hazard.

NHTSA complaint #11522797 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2016 Volkswagen Touareg Waldof, MD

ENGINE

Random engine hesitancy reducing acceleration while driving. Vehicle maintained by the dealer for all scheduled maintenance and service visits. Within 30 days of a manufacture's repair that dealt with the HVAC and air filter AND a service visit to change oil and rotate tires, the hesitancy during driving was more pronounced. The dealer's service center stated the air filter was flooded from an HVAC leak and a clog. I have found similar owners have had problems like this and VW will not address it systemically. I otherwise enjoy my vehicle, but am concerned that it will not accelerate when needed and is potentially dangerous without warning. It should not take loss of life or property to have this corrected.

NHTSA complaint #11458770 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2014 Volkswagen Touareg Everett, WA

ENGINE

Wet Air intake filter. Clearly showed water damage and rot on the air filter. This is a repeated issue.

NHTSA complaint #11458241 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2004 Volkswagen Touareg Birmingham, AL Fire 1 injured

ENGINE

Leaking gas caught on fire put it out but now I have no head lights no high beams replaced everything still nothing. All lights on dash go crazy kills battery all the time and had to replace something in the rear end. Overall it has cost me $2500 and I still have no headlights at all and leaking gas. It’s my only vehicle I hope next time it doesn’t catch back on fire could have been worse and still could be. Somebody could get hurt and I have kids.

NHTSA complaint #11441658 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2011 Volkswagen Touareg Whitefish, MT

ENGINE

On my 2011 VW Touareg TDI there is an exhaust leak. Can be smelled within seconds of starting it. A turbo/EGR pipe cracks and the result is a serious exhaust leak under hood right next to where air is drawn into the cabin for HVAC. Parts are backordered with no ETA. Even though when driving there is exhaust getting into the car the dealer and VW corporate just says "sorry for the delay of the parts". This part failure seems to be a known issue- The VW dealer was told by corporate that installing a used part is not acceptable either. Currently been waiting 11 months on this part. The leak was noticed right after VW had to "fix" all the TDIs for the emissions scandal.

NHTSA complaint #11439401 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2015 Volkswagen Touareg Sunny Isles Beach, FL

ENGINE

Today, engine completely cut off in the middle of traffic (20-30 MPH), loss of power steering and breaking power. Engine dashboard yellow message appeared. I experience this several times before and previously brought to the attention of VW service department and some ECU repairs and engine sensor repairs were done - but the problem continues to happen. Sometimes engine cuts off simply at idle (e.g. waiting at traffic light) but loss of engine power together with power steering and breaks is very concerning when driving.

NHTSA complaint #11432008 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2017 Volkswagen Touareg Washington Island, WI

ENGINE

While driving the power train was seriously impacted, it is no longer operational and available for inspection at the dealer now. This is absolutely a safety risk as there was power loss and inconsistency which could have been very dangerous depending on the level of control required by the traffic conditions. The dealer has diagnosed and insurance is scheduled to inspect. the manufacturer has been requested by us to do a root cause but no response from them - this is apparently a known issue (class action lawsuit) that has not been official recognized as a recall. a transmission warning came on prior to the failure.

NHTSA complaint #11429708 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2010 Volkswagen Touareg Manchester Township, NJ

ENGINE

my 2010 vw touareg tdi 3.0 have 2 service campaign 23r3 and 26k2 which is commonly known for vw tdi diesel scandal. i took my car to vw they said they will replace the catalytic converts and knox sensors. and the ad blue box. today i got a call stating that my car will not get a catalytic converter that's epa compliant. and they can only do computer software and replce 2 glow plugs out of the 6 and that's cant be done before i replace a knox sensor which is the service campaign is for then when the check engine light is off i can take it back to vvw to replace the parts and program the computer. or pay then $900 for that sensor.

NHTSA complaint #11426705 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2014 Volkswagen Touareg Zebulon, NC

ENGINE

After recently purchasing this vehicle I noticed the car be long more and more sluggish. While driving one morning I experienced loss in power and an flashing check engine light and glow plug light on the dash. The car went into “limp” mode and I could not accelerate past 40 MPG on a busy road. I pulled over slowly and let the car sit. After turning the car on off and back on, the CEL went away . I attempted to pull out into traffic and with my foot to the floor, the car has no acceleration leaving me going extremely slow into traffic. The cars acceleration has been terrible and really not safe to drive. I have several CEL codes including P0402. After having the car inspected we found that the intake filter had Completely deteriorated at the bottom. Almost as if water had been sitting in the bottom of the air filter box. After removing the old filter and replacing it with a new one, we also cleaned the mass airflow sensor, unplugged it and plugged it back in. This did help the vehicle drive much better. Unfortunately, this only lasted for a very short time. Within several miles later I’m driving a vehicle acceleration issues persisted again. Some fluid was found to be inside of the oil as well. The car vehicle Is now scheduled to go back to have a full examination in service. Based on some recent finds it also seems that there have been many others who have experienced the same issue. Reference the lawsuit in China. https://www.caixinglobal.com/2018-03-16/volkswagen-apologizes-for-engine-defect-101222386.html

NHTSA complaint #11422465 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2016 Volkswagen Touareg Jacksonville, FL

ENGINE

2016 Touareg was towed to OStein VW service after engine would not accelerate and ran rough when got onto the interstate. OStein VW diagnostic was water into the air filter that got into engine and now need to replace engine block because of water getting into the air filter from the rain drain system system getting clogged for the Touareg. VW Service says can hear engine valves chattering. I see at NHTSA that at least 60 other complaints have been filed about this problem of water getting into the air filter.

NHTSA complaint #11421686 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2017 Volkswagen Touareg Tarrytown, NY

ENGINE

In a non-driving environment rain water drains off the hood of the vehicle, down the right headlight and drains directly into the vehicle's intake pipe. In turn, this rain water collects in the intake air filter box, destroys the air filter and allows water to enter the combustion chamber causing erratic engine performance and untold engine damage due to the violent shuddering and erratic idle. This is a safety issue when driving in rain because the condition can be exaggerated causing the engine to lose power at highway speeds. This is a known safety issue and has been addressed via recall in China and Europe.

NHTSA complaint #11419485 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2016 Volkswagen Touareg Elizabethtown, KY

ENGINE

There is an ongoing issue with the drain from the air cleaner box clogging and water collecting in the box and then being ingested into the engine. On other occasions I had drained water from the box and changed the wet air filter to a dry one. Today (5/26/2021) I pulled out of my driveway and car started stalling. I got a transmission fault notification and immediately returned to my home. After raising the hood I noticed a noise from the left side of the engine bay and checked the drain for the air cleaner box. It was of course clogged. I opened the air cleaner box and approximately 6" of water ran out of the box. I restarted the engine and no longer had a transmission fault but an engine management warning. The engine while running was running roughly. I contacted the nearest VW dealership and they stated that this was a known issue, that there was no recall, that VW had come up with a "fix" for the issue and that, of course it was not covered under the powertrain warranty. The vehicle is not driveable and will be towed to the dealership for diagnosis and repair.

NHTSA complaint #11418651 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2011 Volkswagen Touareg at 100,032 miles Canton, MA

ENGINE

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 VOLKSWAGEN TOUAREG. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING 45 MPH, THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO VOLKSWAGEN OF NORWOOD (1280 PROVIDENCE HWY, NORWOOD, MA 02062) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED WITH THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER NEEDING TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE HAD BEEN REPAIRED UNDER AN UNKNOWN RECALL HOWEVER, THE FAILURE OCCURRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS INFORMED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 100,032.

NHTSA complaint #11403910 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Other Volkswagen Touareg problems