Volkswagen Touareg 2020 Long-term Test #3

People often talking about forming a bond with a sports car or a vehicle that has been handed down from generation to generation.

What about a German SUV? You’d figure a hulking, high-riding contraption full of Teutonic technology wouldn’t be conducive to emotional attachment, especially when so many are derided for being soulless behind the wheel.

But Volkswagen’s Touareg Launch Edition could be an exception. At least, that’s the feeling walking away from EBN-70T one final time, as it sits gleaming in the front car park of Volkswagen Australia’s head office this week.

After several months, our long-term Touareg Launch Edition has been handed back.

It has been an overwhelmingly positive experience, a feeling underlined by a Highly Commended placing at this year’s carsales Car of the Year awards. Living with a Touareg for several months has simply been an extension of the COTY success, owed in part to learning and understanding its idiosyncrasies, plus coming to love its brutish diesel engine, abundance of space and small ‘one per cent’ touches.

The positive impression hasn’t taken away from the fact the $90,000 Touareg is not particularly cheap in isolation, but when cross-shopped against established European rivals, it has strong on-paper credentials and a considerable amount of relative value.

The impression is reinforced with the arrival of two new permanent models which replace the fang-dangled Launch Edition: the 190TDI and the 190TDI Premium.

To finish our long-term series, we go over the Touareg’s infotainment and internals, plus its ownership prospects.

Plenty has been made of the Launch Edition’s 15-inch centre display, matching Virtual Cockpit, head-up display and flashy fitout, facilitated when you tick the optional $8000 Innovision Package box.

Happily, our long-term experience confirms form and function cohabitate with all the technology, too. At first, the screen can be imposing, with myriad submenus and a points of navigation when you go to do something as simple as adjusting fan speed.

The difference with living with the Touareg reveals navigating those features soon becomes second nature. You learn, for instance, how to remotely adjust the fan-speed for the second row of seats, which are accessed by face-level vents in the centre console and B-pillar.

There’s also shortcuts to change from one screen to another in a singular step. The system is not completely fool proof – we found a minor issue with re-connecting to a Spotify list after taking a phone call – but in large part it integrates well into daily life.

The Virtual Cockpit display is another boon, offering clear and legible readouts along with configurable displays. The sub-menus are likewise easy to navigate, bringing more focus on navigations, speed or the car’s status depending on the driver.

Interior presentation ranks as one of the true strong points throughout the ‘ownership’ experience, offering equal parts cosmetic appeal, ample storage and pockets, excellent materials and craftsmanship.

The Touareg’s most resounding feature for families is arguably its spatial proportions.

The absence of a third row is soon forgotten for smaller families, thanks to acres of space across the first and second rows, both accessed by big door apertures, and a boot area that will happily swallow a designer pram or a three full-size suitcases.

Little ones are afforded a clear outlook from the second row, helping mitigate car sickness, and the integrated sun shades should be an automatic inclusion on more vehicles in this segment. They’re a no-brainer.

Measuring about 1000mm long and 1200mm wide, the 810-litre boot is easily accessed via a large rear aperture, a process that is streamlined with the option to lower the car’s loading height via air suspension, which can be done via a button at the rear. The boot is bolstered by a luggage blind that keeps objects from prying eyes, plus levers which quick stow the split-folding second row down, but not flat.

The wear-and-tear test that is built into living a car reveals the Touareg is well put together, too. After nearly 10,000kms, the interior is intact, with no emerging squeaks and rattles, leather seats that have retained their shape and form, and carpets and contact materials that are easy to maintain. Sure, the pretty gloss black highlights and centre screen require constant wipe downs, but nothing deal-breaking.

The Touareg is backed by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre factory warranty, which is excellent given the company it dabbles in.

Spreading your costs over the first five years/75,000km at Volkswagen will set you back $3248. That final figure comprises the following services: 12-month/15,000km ($380), 24-month/30,000km ($752), 36-month/45,000km ($446), 48-month/60,000km ($1224) and 60-month/75,000km ($446).

According to Volkswagen Australia, each capped price interval incorporates labour, replacement of parts, lubricants, sunrise such as oil and waste recycling, plus “such other items as determined by Volkswagen from time to time”.

What’s not included in the services? Tyre rotation and balancing, additional maintenance due to fitment of non-approved parts, normal wear and tear consumables (clutch linings, brake discs and pads, brake linings, wiper blades, globes, fuses, diesel particulate filters, belts, water pumps, tyres and sat-nav updates.

According to cost of ownership data supplied by Redbook around the time of our 2019 Car of the Year testing, the Touareg Launch Edition would cost $64,587 to own over three years when taking in depreciation ($42,359), insurance ($3126), finance ($10,554), servicing ($1400), fuel ($4958) and tyre replacement ($1920).

In a word, yes. The Touareg has shown comprehensively that it can match the established luxury players for quality, comfort, driveability and, in fairness, on-road cache.

That it doesn’t have the traditional badge to match those traits is in many ways a good thing; it tells the world that you’re happy to enjoy your luxury ride without having to suffer the full extent of the luxury price.

How much does the 2019 Volkswagen Touareg Launch Edition TDI190 cost?
Price: $89,990 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 190kW/600Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 7.4L/100km (ADR Combined); 8.0L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 194g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star ANCAP (2019)