Should you buy one?

The Touareg sits below the Audi Q7 and the Porsche Cayenne in the hierarchy of Volkswagen Group luxury SUVs and it feels it. With a more low-rent interior, poorer driving dynamics, lack of a luxury image and without a useful cost-saving in recompense it doesn’t feel like there’s a great deal on which to recommend it versus these rivals.

Despite that, it’s still a very likable car to live with. It does ride comfortably at speed and is seriously refined on the motorway. There’s also plenty of space for five, and you get a huge boot as well. But there are better options out there, and that’s especially true if you’re looking at plug-in hybrids.

Of the models on offer, we’d sidestep the oddly appealing Touareg R and save money by going for a diesel model instead.

What we like

It’s a good motorway cruiser with an impressive 3500kg towing rating regardless of engines. Space inside is excellent and the boot is huge.

What we don’t like

The low speed ride is a bit fractious and rivals have the Touareg outgunned. There are more powerful options out there, while the PHEV is rather off the pace these days.