Volkswagen Touareg review

The Volkswagen Touareg offers buyers of big, posh SUVs a less ostentatious alternative to the premium-badged rivals.

Indeed, the Touareg shares lots of parts with the Bentley Bentayga but costs much less, so it promises the best the VW Group has to offer but without the hefty Bentley price tag. You'll find the same car platform under a Lamborghini Urus too.

This third-generation Touareg should be the most compelling version to date because Volkswagen has updated the tech, adding features never before seen on a VW. For example, you can even park it using your smartphone. You can't, though, have it as a seven-seater (if that's what you're looking for, check out the VW Tayron).

Volkswagen Touareg video review

The latest Touareg also gets upgraded suspension and a choice of two 3.0-litre V6 engines: a petrol plug-in hybrid and a diesel. Unless, that is, you go for the "hot" R version, which you can read about in our VW Touareg R review.

As a pricey and luxurious family SUV, the VW Touareg is up against some impressive rivals. You might also, for example, be considering a BMW X5, Land Rover Discovery or Porsche Cayenne. Is it a better buy than those cars? Read on to find out...

The most affordable VW Touareg is the Elegance plug-in hybrid (PHEV), which combines a 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine with an electric motor and a battery pack for a total output of 376bhp.

That power makes the entry-level Touareg pretty quick – it can sprint from 0-62mph in 5.9 seconds – and it has enough instant oomph to mitigate any hesitation from the standard eight-speed automatic gearbox. It's official electric-only range is 29 miles, which falls well short of most PHEVs.

We think most buyers would be better off making the small price jump to the Black Edition diesel, which comes with the 3.0-litre TDI V6 engine. With 228bhp, it allows for 0-62mph in a still-respectable 7.7 seconds. However, more importantly, it comes with air suspension as standard (as does the 456bhp VW Touareg R).

As well as improving ride comfort, the air suspension allows you to increase the ride height for off-road driving. The diesel Touareg is impressive off-road, tackling much trickier obstacles than you might expect given that it looks less rugged than some 4x4s.

Instead of air suspension, the PHEV gets traditional springs that make the ride a bit firmer. It doesn’t thud over road imperfections, but you’ll find your head is tossed from side to side more as you drive along. Even with air suspension added as an option, the Touareg Elegance doesn't ride as well as the equivalent BMW X5 (the xDrive50e).

The Touareg's automatic gearbox changes smoothly, but can be hesitant when you're trying to accelerate briskly away from a standstill, even in the sharper Sport mode. That's not great when you're overtaking, and the effect is nost obvious in the diesel.

For such a big machine, the Touareg steers neatly, with a better sense of connection between you and the front wheels than you get in a Volvo XC90. Combined with the masses of traction from the standard four-wheel drive, the Touareg feels more nimble than the XC90, especially with the Black Edition’s optional four-wheel steering. 

You’re still very conscious of its weight during fast changes of direction though. The BMW X5, Porsche Cayenne and Porsche Macan handle even better.

“A V6 diesel engine is a bit old school by today’s standards, but I found it made driving the Touareg a refreshingly simple, smooth experience.” – Will Nightingale, Reviews Editor

Finding a comfortable driving position in the VW Touareg is pretty easy. The Elegance version gets manually adjustable seats, while Black Edition electrically adjustable front seats, adjustable lumbar support and a handy memory function.

You sit high up in the Touareg, with a great view out in all directions. Meanwhile, parking is made easy by standard-fit front and rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera, and the option of Parking Assist Pro, which allows the car to park itself whether you’re sitting inside it or not (using a smartphone app).

The third-generation Touareg is the first VW car model to get the brand’s new Innovision Cockpit, which combines a 15in touchscreen with one of the best digital driver's displays we've seen. It's a good size – 12in – and is clear and very customisable.

Likewise, the touchscreen is really crisp and has large icons to make hitting them on the move easy. Annoyingly, though, the physical knobs and dials that are used to control the climate control have been replaced by on-screen controls – they’re pretty easy to use, but we’d still rather have physical controls.

VW infotainment systems have been a bit of a sore spot in recent years, with a lot of systems proving buggy and unresponsive, but the Touareg is definitely an improvement. For the most part, it responds to your prods really quickly and rarely pauses as you switch between each bit of the system.

Every Touareg comes with DAB radio, built-in HD sat-nav plus Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring.

Interior quality is quite impressive, with all surfaces covered in leathers and glossy plastics, and any scratchy plastics hidden low down. However, the Audi Q7, BMW X5 and Range Rover Sport are even plusher inside.

“In terms of opulence, the Touareg feels like a clear step down next to some alternatives.” – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

The VW Touareg is a five-seater only so it can't carry as many people as seven-seaters including the Audi Q7, Land Rover Discovery and Volvo XC90. It is very spacious though. Front space is verging on palatial and even the tallest and broadest driver and passenger pairing won’t have any complaints.

In terms of places to store oddments, the Touareg has two big cupholders and storage under the front armrest, as well as a big cubby in front of the gear selector that can include wireless phone-charging.

Rear space is very impressive too. There's enough rear leg room for six-foot-plus adults and head room is equally generous, even with the standard-fit panoramic roof. There's a wide hump in the floor in front of the middle passenger, but it's not as big as in some luxury SUVs.

The Touareg’s rear bench can be reclined to three angles, ranging from upright (to prioritise boot space) to seriously chilled – useful if your rear-seat passengers fancy a snooze. You can slide the rear bench backwards and forwards, depending on how much cargo you’re carrying and how long your rear passengers’ legs are.

The vast boot can swallow up to 10 carry-on suitcases – the same number as an Audi Q7 and two more than the Mercedes GLE. The load area is a square shape with virtually no loading lip, and on models with air suspension (most Touaregs), there’s a function that lowers the back of the car to aid access.

If you fold down the 40/20/40 split rear seats, you’ll have 1,800 litres of storage capacity. To put that in context, think of a small van.

“If you want seven seats, you’ll have to look at the new VW Tayron instead.” – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

If you buy the VW Touareg outright as a cash purchase, it’ll cost you more than the Volvo XC90 and pretty much the same as the equivalent Audi Q7, BMW X5 or Range Rover Sport. 

The Touareg is predicted to depreciate faster than the X5 but at about the same rate as other rivals. That can have an effect on monthly PCP finance payments and should keep the amount you pay competitive (you can check for offers on our New Car Deals pages).

You get plenty of equipment regardless of which Touareg you go for. The cheapest Elegance trim, which is tied to the 376bhp petrol PHEV engine, comes with 20in wheels, heated front and outer rear seats, four-zone climate control, an electrically operated tailgate and a panoramic sunroof.

The Black Edition, which comes with the diesel engine, is a very reasonable step up in price and gets 21in wheels plus black styling elements. It also gains air suspension as standard (something that’s an optional extra with Elegance). 

The R ticks every box and gets a more powerful petrol PHEV engine but is not exactly cheap, costing almost as much as a Porsche Cayenne S, and is hard to recommend. To read more about it see our Touareg R review.

Official CO2 emissions from the diesel Touareg is higher than some rivals'. In terms of fuel economy, it’ll manage around 34.5mpg, officially – on par with equivalent versions of the Audi Q7.

The Touareg Elegance's disappointing 29-mile electric-only range means that if you get one as a company car, you’ll pay more in BIK tax than you will with most rival PHEVs. On the plus side, it's officially capable of 126mpg – although you won't get near that without keeping the battery charged up all the time.

Speaking of which, the PHEV has a maximum charging speed of just 7.2kW. It’ll charge from 0-100% in around two and a half hours from a home wall box charger.

The standard Touareg received a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating in 2018 – the rating has since expired. There were issues over chest injuries for adults in the front, which gave it a lower adult occupancy score than many rivals, including the Volvo XC90.

Still, it is a very safe SUV and comes with automatic emergency braking (AEB), driver attention monitoring, traffic-sign recognition and lane-keeping assistance to help you stay out of trouble in the first place. 

The Touareg wasn’t included in the 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey but VW as a brand was. It came in 18th place out of the 31 included manufacturers, above Audi and Land Rover but below Lexus, Volvo and BMW.

For some peace of mind, VW offers a three-year/60,000-mile standard warranty, which is pretty standard for the class.

“The PHEV's poor electric-only range would put me off recommending it to company car users.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer

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