@edyvw
I don’t hate VWs, in fact I like them a lot, but I find it very frustrating that the company cannot deliver a consistently reliable product, particularly when the driving dynamics and styling is often so much nicer than what comes out of Japan or Korea. And they are a good corporate citizen in the U.S., having invested heavily in U.S. production in TN- another reason to root for the company, in my opinion.
Fwiw, my views on reliability are not just anecdotal; historically they have not been well rated in reliability surveys. And having worked for a number of large industry suppliers earlier in my career it is really no surprise why - they have the cost structure of a large German domiciled industrial concern with the associated labor costs, but unlike for example MB and BMW, they cannot spread that cost more effectively at the premium end of the market. So they get stuck cutting costs in ways that often come back to bite them and the consumer down the road. They are now focused on electrification as the path forward but the WSJ just reported the other day that it is proving more difficult than expected and so what was the first thing they did? They got the unions to agree to what amount to about a 20 percent cost cut - again this has always been the issue. Think GM pre 2008 - same issue basically.
The final thing I will add is another reason I root for VW to get itself straightened out: the only reason my lovely bride ever agreed to date me is that I could keep her late 1980s Jetta coupe running. Crappy car with nice driving dynamics wrapped around a good motor, but everything on that car broke! But it was my ticket at that time!
Good luck to the Toureg owner. These are gorgeous SUVs (we looked at them when they came out but my wife was firmly in the “no VW” camp and we were married at that point so I had no real desire to fix another one) and when they are running right they are very nice machines.
Take care.
