Faults:

Alternator drive belt pulley sheared off its mounting. Replaced under warranty with newer design, plastic, pulley.

Emissions sensor failed. Replaced under warranty.

Required software upgrade that improved responsiveness of the gearbox. Done under warranty.

When new it used >0.5lt oil/1000 miles. It gradually settled down and now uses ~0.5lt/2000 miles.

Tailgate never closes "first time" unless one of the other doors or window is open.

A minute or so after removing the keys, leaving the car & closing the doors, the central locking sometimes automatically locks all the doors, and sometimes it does not.

General Comments:

DSG gearbox is good, although was originally hesitant to pull away or change into reverse until software upgraded.

Fuel consumption isn't bad, 40~45mpg, for such a heavy car.

Servicing is surprisingly cheap and rarely required, averaging once per 18,000 on the "computer calculated" service intervals.

Local VW dealer is excellent.

Handling & cabin noise are not bad for the type of vehicle, but not as good, nor as quiet as a normal Golf or Golf Plus.

Climate control works very well. Normally just leave it on 22° and Auto.

Faults:

Fly wheel recall.

Smoking, from the clutch & heater.

General Comments:

We have always purchased VW's because of there preceived safety and solidness, this purchase has however been a nightmare.

The general quality of the interior was poor, the car constantly had servicing issues, the most disturbing thing to happen was that before the dealer could replace the defective breather pipe assoicated with the fly wheel recall, our Touran caught fire, the smoke our family inhaled was toxic!

It may have seven seats and deliver a reasonable drive, but at what price!!

Faults:

This car is absolute rubbish. From taking over ownership (through company purchase) it has been a catalogue of disasters:

1. Faulty passenger door locking;

2. Intermittent operation of driver's electric window (sometimes bounces back down when closed on one touch operation) ;

3. Nasty vibration through cabin, seats, rear view mirror at motorway speeds. Have had tyres swapped and balanced, but to no avail really - jury is still out on this one;

4. Disconcerting shudder/judder on tick-over;

5. Loose rear view mirror;

6. Split CV boot etc etc.

And not to mention that fact that the car doesn't come with a spare tyre. Two punctures have resulted in lengthy waits for a VW mechanic, and since there is no tyre you have to leave your car to go and buy a new one! The tyre glue it comes with is absolute rubbish. Crazy.

Faults:

I've had 2 burst tyres caused by potholes. Probably because of a combination of the weight of the car and the speed I was doing.

General Comments:

Stepping up from a Peugeot 306 there is so much more room and I've used the full 7 seats nearly every weekend. Rarely have adults in the back 2 seats though.

There is a universal law that your tat will expand to fill all your available space and the myriad Touran cubbyholes are no exception. Only the under floor ones for the middle row are never used because they're under feet / mats most of the time. Even the two drawers under the driver & passenger seats are full.

The Touran is very relaxing on long journeys once the seat is adjusted right, though the seat adjuster can rub your left ankle if the seat is not pushed back far enough. I'm 6'3" and I keep the steering wheel at full reach because of this. I've yet to hear complaints about lack of room from any adult behind me though.

Fuel consumption cannot be faulted - I've gotten 55mpg on a 25 mile journey averaging 60mph. My average for the last 2700 miles is 46.8mpg and that includes a fair bit of motorway driving.

The back windows boom and hurt your ears if opened at speed so I generally keep them locked.

The 1.9TD engine combined with the 6 speed gearbox provides effortless acceleration and reasonable power. With all 7 seats full and luggage up top you are not going to go rallying in it, but it has handled all the twisting country roads I've thrown at it and gives you that "on rails" feeling of security, taking corners tightly with little body roll.

I've yet to have the traction control kick in except when accelerating out of junctions. The ABS is solid and has already saved me from one maniac driver coming into my lane.

I love this car.