2017 Volkswagen Touareg

No clear pattern

0% of complaints about the 2017 Volkswagen Touareg arrived in its first year of service. That is an unusual figure for a 2017 vehicle, but with only 34 complaints on record the sample is too small to call it a pattern — the margin of error covers the range where ordinary vehicles sit. The figures below are reported without a verdict. The most-reported system is engine (19 complaints), typically at 2.9 yr or about 12,346 miles.

Complaints: 34
Median age at failure: 3.3 yr
Median mileage: 11,000 n=20
Crash / fire / tow: 0% of reports
Safety recalls: 1

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

21V321000 2021-05-05

Other

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2017 Touareg GP, Tiguan, Golf A6, E-Golf GP, CCF, 2016-2017 Passat GP, 2018-2019 Golf R GP, and 2018 Atlas vehicles. These internal-use vehicles were sold without confirmation that they were built to all applicable regulatory requirements and may have been modified prior to sale. As such, these vehicles may fail to comply with the requirements of various Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

Vehicles that do not meet all regulatory requirements may have an increased risk of injury, crash, or fire.

In owners’ own words

Engine 11,000 mi 1.7 yr in service

WATER WAS FOUND IN THE AIR FILTER AND ENGINE. SERVICE ADVISER STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS IN WATER. I REPLIED THAT THE VEHICLE HAS BE DRIVEN IN HEAVY RAIN AND SITS OUTSIDE IN THE WEATHER. ACCORDING TO THE SERVICE ADVISER THE ENGINE NEED TO BE REPLACED. I HAVE RESEARCHED ONLINE AND FOUND SEVERAL MORE SIMILAR SITUATIONS. THIS SITUATION HAS CAUSED THE ENGINE TO SEIZE AND SHUT DOWN.

Engine 450 mi 1.8 yr in service

THE TOUAREG HAS A DESIGN FLAW THAT HAVE THE ENGINE AIR INTAKE UNDER NEATH THE FRONT HEADLIGHT, WHICH, UNDER HEAVY RAIN, WILL LET WATER FLOW THOUGH TO THE INTAKE PIPE AND GET INTO THE ENGINE. I HAVE PERSONALLY VALIDATED THIS AS MY AIR FILTER GETS SOAKING WET AFTER A HEAVY RAIN. THERE HAVE ALSO BEEN NUMEROUS BREAK-DOWN-IN-THE-ROAD REPORTS TO VOLKSWAGEN BUT THE MANUFACTURER HAS YET TO TAKE ANY ACTION.

Engine 11,000 mi 2.0 yr in service

AIR INTAKE SYSTEM LETS WATER INTO THE ENGINE WHICH CAN CAUSE DESTRUCTION OF THE ENGINE, LOSS OF POWER, LOSS OF POWER STEERING, AND LOSS OF POWER BRAKES WHILE DRIVING. I INSPECTED THE AIR FILTER ON MY CAR TO EVALUATE IT FOR THIS ISSUE AND THE BOTTOM OF THE FILTER WAS SOAKED AFTER A CAR WASH. IT WAS COMPLETELY DRY BEFORE THE WASH. VOLKSWAGEN HAS RECALLED THESE VEHICLES DUE TO THIS ISSUE IN GERMANY AND CHINA BUT NOT IN THE USA.

Other Touareg model years

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

2017 Volkswagen Touareg

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

In owners’ own words

Other Touareg model years

How to read this