28th Jan 2009, 17:32

2004 TDI Sport Touran.

Nothing but clutch judder, water leaks in to rear footwells, giving £85+ vat for a known problem for VW to find and not guarantee to fix anything.

VW is in a shambles; what a German disgrace. I think I'll move to the new German "Citroen C4 Grand Picasso" as advertised.

27th Jun 2009, 02:30

I have a 2004 2.0 TDI Sport. It has now done 65,000 miles and in the last 8,000 miles has had the following problems.

Dual mass flywheel, 57000 miles, £1200.

Rear door window motor, 57200 miles, £250.

ABS/ESP Unit, 59000 miles, £1400.

EGR cooler, 61000 miles, £520.

Electric fan sticking on,62000 miles, £430.

Broken EGR pipe at exhaust manifold, 64000 miles £360.

Each time a fault develops I'm told 'this is common on these', It does make you wonder what VW are playing at. For a marque that built its name on reliability, they just don't seem to care any more.

In addition to the above faults there is all the expense of routine maintenance, cam belts, servicing etc. I feel completely let down. I have owned VWs all my driving life and so do the rest of my family, fanatics you may say. However, I will never buy another one and advise others to think more than twice before parting with your hard earned. You just have to search sites like this and other forums to find that VW have serious reliability problems across their entire range.

4th Nov 2009, 04:45

A good friend of mine is a VW master technician, with over 25 years experience servicing and repairing VWs on a daily basis.

He says the engineering quality, and the standard of components fitted to the newer (2000 on) cars is a pale imitation of what it used to be. Lots of cost saving, lowest bidder parts, and so many "common", repeated failures on Golf V's, Tourans and Passats that VW simply aren't bothered about helping owners with.

He doesn't drive a VW, or recommend them to friends.

1st Feb 2010, 13:32

I own a 2004 2.0 PD TDi Sport.

The problem I have with this is electrical. The ESP light comes on, air bag light comes on, ABS light on, loose power steering, engine management light on, oil pressure warning and now the needle on the dials go off then on and flicker. After the engine is turned off for a period of time, all the lights go off apart from the air bag. This stops on constant, the others will come back on after a short period of driving.

VW have fitted a new airbag ECU, which has done nothing, and they have now had the car for over a month and are still no closer to fixing it than the day I drove in.

8th Feb 2010, 00:06

My VW Touran 04 has been with a garage for almost 4 weeks now, leaving me without a car at all.

It started with the electric locking packing up, then the power steering went, not good when your of a slight build like me to try & get it to a garage as the manual says, so closest garage it was.

The steering has been intermittent since they've had it, plus the fan cuts in when not even turned on, draining the battery. It's been taken to a second garage too, as the mechanic was baffled & got no joy from VW. The testing machine picked up 10 faults on one occasion, yet none on another, but the faults continue...

I need a car, can't just buy a new one & don't really want to keep this one if I ever get it back!

11th Feb 2010, 11:57

I bought a new 90PS TDI Touran Highline with the 7 speed DSG gearbox after been loaned one by my local garage - it seemed to meet all our needs.

In general I like it, but I have encountered the 'white smoke' phenomena twice now - the first time after having put only 1800 kms. on the clock. It was quite a frightening experience! The VW breakdown hotline worked well and the car was transported to my local garage (15 kms away). After screwing on their own number plate holders??? I wonder why? - and after checking things out, they told me this was 'normal'.

The second time happened as I drove into my garage - the whole place was flooded with white evil smelling smoke. I really agree with others here that we have a design fault that warrants a recall. Can anybody from VW help? I have never seen this problem on another make of car. My car is booked in again for VW to attempt a repair - I'll report back.

25th Mar 2010, 10:57

I have a '05 1.9 TDi Touran, and it has been a nightmare. I did all the research and decided due to the low tax and high mpg, this car would be ideal. Unfortunately the money I have now spent on this car in the past year is far more than I have saved on running costs compared to a 2.3L automatic petrol Ford Galaxy!!

Air bag light - 4 times to dealer. Warning light still on. Unable to fix permanently. Approx cost £300.00.

Flooded rear and front passenger footwell - apparently due to blocked pollen filter??? Approx cost £120 and 4 weeks worth of "drying out"

Fly wheel and clutch. Decided to pack in after 59K. Cost to repair £650.00.

Brake pedal connector. Brake lights permanently on. Approx cost - £65.00.

At time of writing - the front windscreen wipers have packed in. All fuses are OK, washer works and rear wiper is fine. Probably looking at replacing the wiper motor. Cost -???

This car is a disaster. I haven't even mentioned the "ghost" faults - all the lights on the dash light up during a journey, the front windows pack in, bulb failure light lighting up - all electrical gremlins that have disappeared after leaving the car overnight...

I am currently on Autotrader looking for something else...

Stay clear!!!

22nd Apr 2010, 05:02

I have had my Touran 100bhp 1.9TDI 54 Reg since new. Nice big car. Only problem has been the auxiliary heater. During warranty, it has had software upgrades, been rebuilt and replaced. The smoking issue is a known design fault, which VW have been unable to fix. This cold winter, the smelly smoking has been bad. Now out of warranty, I am paying VW to have one more go to fix it.

5th May 2010, 14:23

Just bought a 2005 1.9TD 90ps - great economy, but boy do rear seats rattle - is this common or should I get the suspension checked out? I think it could be wear in the lever adjusters of the seats; I am going to try and slide them in. Any one had experience?

9th May 2010, 03:10

VW customer care is useless; having had gearboxes explode on my Touran, and received several complaints from other Touran owners, I have taken out a small claims court action against the dealership. Don't be put off by the car being out of warranty; under the sale of goods act, it should be fit for purpose for up to 6 years. Keep pushing dealers.

Bob.