Volkswagen Touareg (03-09) - Review

Review by David Ross on
Last Updated: 10 November 2009
Volkswagen's Touareg has been a steady seller since its launch in 2003 offering a classy and comfortable car with good four-wheel drive ability. It was developed with the Porsche Cayenne, sharing much the same off-road hardware and a V6 petrol engine. However, Volkswagen has a rich diesel heritage, and the Touareg fitted with one of these engines offers the best illustration of what it can do, whether it's the hard-working 2.5 TDI, smooth 3.0 V6 TDI or the brutal 5.0 V10 TDI. Changes for 2007 included a tweaked front end, plus the availability of new technology to make it safer and more accomplished whether on the road or in the wild. There's even a Bluemotion model, offering improved fuel economy and lower emissions, although it's still far from green.

Company Car Costs

P11D Value

The price of the car excluding road tax and first registration fee. This is used to calculate company car tax.

CO2 g/km

The carbon dioxide emissions of the car, which decides the company car tax band into which the car falls.

BIK Band

The percentage band used to calculate company car tax, determined by CO2 emissions of the car.

20% Tax / 40% Tax

The annual amount of company car tax payable based on the drivers income tax level, either at the basic rate or the higher rate.