We’re hitting an interesting time in which the initial generations of truly tech-laden cars are starting to “mature,” and we will begin to see how these various forms of packing 10 pound of technological crap into a 5 pound bag will age. At my Bimmer shop, they noted how they love working on the older cars because they are “real,” and most things can actually be repaired. The owner pointed to an early E65 745i sitting outside the shop and lamented that “anything breaks on that piece of s*** and you might as well buy a whole new car.” The Touareg V10 is certainly on the overwrought spectrum of things, and maintenance on this generation of VW/Audi luxury cars is notoriously spendy. I choose to ignore this reality when V10 TDIs come up because they are such beasts. Not the best looking, not the best value, but hell yes it’s a VW SUV with ten cylinders of diesel-compressing fury.
