Like any other car of the brand, the Touareg had a very extensive range of power units: three types of diesel (2.5 TDI, 3.0 TDI V6, 5.0 TDI V10) and four gasoline engines (3.2, 3.6 FSI, 4.2 FSI V8, 6.0 W12). As for monster-shaped V10 and W12, in connection with low popularity, there is almost no information, and buying a car with such a heart in the secondary market, in our opinion, does not make any sense. But the other power units are worth considering in detail.
The diesel engine - 2.5 TDI (174 hp), is very picky to oil and fuel quality. However, it concerns all modern engines and can not be considered as a lack. Moreover, after restyling, the pump of this engine has an iron gasket, not a rubber one, as before. This allowed eliminating the characteristic "bug" - getting of mercury in the oil, which made the weakest engine of the model one of the leaders in reliability.
3.0 TDI was available in two versions - 220 hp and 240 hp. Besides great traction characteristics, both models were distinguished by breakages of the fuel injection system and expensive maintenance at mileages of 150-180 thousand, whereby the regulations it is necessary to replace the chain drive of timing with many tensioning devices. Also, at these mileage values, it was turned to renew hydro-compensators. The most reliable petrol engine turned out to be 4.2 FSI 310 (hp). Except for an incredible appetite, systematic trouble was not found, which can not be said about the younger brethren - 3.2 V6 (241 hp) and 3.6 FSI V6 (280 hp).
As you know, the VW Touareg was equipped with two types of elastic elements: pneumatic struts and conventional springs. It is logical to assume that the last variant is much more reliable and enduring. After the brass nipples of the cylinders were replaced with duralumin ones in 2006, the problems with the pneumatic version were no more than with the classic spring version.
Undoubtedly, VW Touareg has a huge number of positive qualities: it is amazingly comfortable, fast, well-controlled, and feels good off-road. In addition, after the restyling at the end of 2006, a lot of revealed problems were fixed.