VW Touareg owners

Dave - I'm now on my second Treg.  The first one was two years old when I bought it in 2013 and had a dealer-fitted towbar but no cooling fan upgrade.  I towed our TA Barcelona with no issues whatsoever and not a hint of over-heating - even when working hard over a prolonged period.  That said, I didn't keep it long before swapping it for a brand-new Treg Escape in 2015.  That had a dealer fitted towbar and electrics (cost £1200!!). By then I was aware of the cooling fan issue and raised it with the dealer before completing the deal.  They told me that it would cost £850 to fit it and I also found out (via VW Head Office) that towing anything without the fan upgrade would invalidate the warranty for relevant faults.  I argued that nowhere in any of the technical specs was there anything to say that the 3.5 ton towing limit was subject to a fan upgrade and VW relinquished and paid for the fan upgrade themselves.

Probably not the hard evidence you were seeking but relevant if there is any sort of warranty involved.

So, what's the upgraded cooling consist of? Bigger fan? An extra fan? Different temp sensor? Bigger radiator?

Thanks Richardandros. I had one of the original petrol 3.2 V6 petrol Tregs and towed 1750Kgs without any problem. It was only when I looked at upgrading to the 2011 diesel that I came across the issue of cooling fan upgrades. Quite honestly, I found it difficult to believe that a vehicle that was originally certified for a tow weight of 3500Kg needed a tow bar plus additional cooling system modifications to achieve it. Not really what was stated or implied if buying new. It would be unfair to single out VW as the only German manufacturer that does this, there are others. What really annoys me is that the cost of the higher wattage cooling fan must be neligible to fit in production. The retrofit VW dealer cost is horrendous due to replacement part and labour costs. Hence my interest to find out what has happened to owners that have decided to ignore the VW advice and tow without the cooling system upgrade. As an engineer, I do wonder what reserves the VW engineers were working with when deciding on sizing the cooling system. In short, has the experience of owners proven that the upgrade is/is not necessary?

Dave - you're correct on all counts.  Cost of factory fitted towbar, electrics and cooling fan was £750 whereas retrofit by dealer was almost £2000.  If I had waited for a factory fitted model as opposed to a stock car, I would have lost out on a deal which saved me almost £9500 on list price - so it was a no brainer. I had noticed in the handbook that there was a statement which said " if towing, VW recommend the fitting of a higher grade cooling fan". I believe the spec is 850 watt motor as opposed to the standard 600 watt.  Through both the dealer and my local Bosch service centre, I got them both to query with VW exactly what they meant by "recommend" and both came back and said that it meant that the warranty would be invalidated for relevant faults if anything was towed without the upgrade. On a new car, I couldn't afford to take the risk.  This is when I started banging the table and muttering about Sale of Goods Act etc, pointing out that nowhere was this mentioned in any of the specifications.

The only other information I can give you is that I have noticed that the cooling fan on the new one does seem to cut in more often than previously, so I suspect the sensor is different as well.  That said, with that amount of power under the bonnet, the engine is hardly working hard at all and it tows our TA like a dream.  It's a far better tug - and more reliable - than any of the 4 Discos I have owned!

Whilst I feel that there is an element of VW covering their backs, I can't help but conclude that the requirement must be there for a reason, although how likely the chances are of an issue, is anyone's guess.

I don't know what the conclusion was in the thread as I have just come across it. However I bought I Touareg 3 years ago when it only 9months old and practically brand new. I wasn't aware of the cooling issue at the time and got an after market tow bar fitted. The Touareg pulls a lunar lexon 650 like it isn't there. I sometimes have to to check the mirrors to remind myself I am towing. Everything is fine if I do a 2 - 3 hour journey which takes in most of the carirngorms etc so is most of my journeys, however if I venture further I have had to stop to let the car cool down. The last time I went to Edinburgh, the car water temp hit 100+ On the climb out of Perth. Last year I went to York. Everything was fine heading south but problems on the way home to north Aberdeenshire once I was north of Dundee. The coolant system works fine most of the time but every now and again it doesn't. I am looking to upgrade as the cost of a fan is nothing compared to an engine. A work colleague just had to replace a BMW X6 engine at a cost of 16k! ..... where BMW only covered half the cost even though it was their fault as they had missed an oil change in a service !!! 

Just to let you all know there is problem with some Touareg's with a factory fitted tow bar. It would appear that model year 2015 onwards the wrong fan has been fitted to some cars (mine included) when it was manufactured. Vw are changing mine at their cost (not cheap) if you have a Touareg with a factory fitted tow bar  get it checked. There is a lot more about this on the my treg forum.

It’s a couple of years since this thread on VW Touareg cooling fans, but I’ve just agreed to buy a late 2017 Touareg with factory fitted tow bar and mentioned to the dealer about the problem with the correct fan rating. I didn’t think he was taking me seriously so asked him to check the fan. I was due to collect the car tomorrow, but he’s just called to say it’s got the wrong fan. He offered to retrofit the correct fan, but I declined. The deal is now off. I couldn’t purchase a car that may been used for the last 3 years towing a horse box around the country with insufficient cooling. The wear and tear and possible damage is too risky. Thanks for the heads up.

but you take a risk of sorts when even you buy any used vehicle. It might have a full dealer service history etc but has been ragged from cold every day of its life .... you just never know. The car you've rejected would have shown some kind of problem by now if the wrong fan had been such a big deal. I'd suggest that most vehicles when having had an after market tow bar fitted have had no modification to any of its cooling system.

I have never heard of any problems from VW about this and my brother in law works for them. If we lived with constant temp of 30deg plus then yes get it upgraded but we don't so why bother. 

I suppose it depends where and when you are planning to tow. If on the Continent 30c is common. We do up to 2,000+ miles a year in France and these temperatures are fairly typical. We have seen 40c+ when towing on several occasions.

With our lightweight 1200kg Eriba this was not a problem, even with a small [1500cc] petrol engine. With a large van I think it would be a different matter.

Colin