Never-Sold Volkswagen Touareg Diesels Now Cost $70K

And that is far, far too much

written by Nick Yekikian^{Senior News Editor
Nick Yekikian has worked in the automotive industry since 2019. He has written close to a thousand car-related articles and tested and reviewed more than 200 vehicles over the course of his career. Nick is the Senior News Editor at Edmunds and has also contributed to MotorTrend, Automobile Magazine and Super Street. When Nick isn't zipping around town in his latest used-car find, he's probably making digital art in Photoshop or playing disc golf with friends.}
1/10/2022
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Some dealerships are asking upwards of $60,000 and even $70,000 for never-sold Touaregs.
The eye-popping prices are the result of some pretty interesting factors.
That said, we don't think any old diesel Volkswagen is worth that kind of money.

Remember dieselgate? We do, too. The well-documented scandal that rocked the Volkswagen Group was a result of cheating on emissions tests in its diesel-powered cars. Volkswagen was fined billions and stopped selling diesels here in the United States after 2016. Before the scandal, you could get Golfs and Passats with the four-cylinder TDI diesel engine and Touaregs with the TDI V6, and that neatly brings us to today.

Now, some dealerships are asking $60,000 to $70,000 for 6-year-old diesel Touaregs with virtually no miles. Why? The first reason is the scarcity that's being caused by the ongoing chip shortage. Used cars are pricier than they have been in a long time because new cars simply aren't filling dealer lots. Not only that, but Touaregs aren't sold in the States anymore, diesel-powered examples are relatively rare, and these cars are still technically new (they were never sold). While these might all be technically valid reasons, they simply don't justify the exceptional asking prices.

Top-of-the-line 2016 Touareg TDIs stickered at around $64,000 when they were fresh off VW's production line in Slovakia, but that was the rarely seen Executive trim. Most examples on the market today are either the base Sport trim or the midlevel Lux, which went for about $50,000 to $55,000, respectively. And yet, as of this writing, the link above shows that the 12 most expensive Touareg TDIs in the country are all more than $60,000, with the winner checking in at $73,900. That one's a Sport, by the way. Not even a Lux.

To be asking for more than MSRP for a car that has a reputation damaged by a massive scandal and that's been sitting for six years at this point is, simply put, too much. Keep in mind that allowing cars to waste away without being driven is bad for all of the rubber parts, including seals and hoses, meaning these cars are real wildcards in terms of how they'll hold up to regular use going forward. Also, consistently replacing the fuel filter is important on the V6 TDI, and it's a safe bet that never-sold Touaregs haven't been getting that kind of love.

Dealers marking up new and used cars is nothing new. It's the reality we live in at the moment, but this takes it to an entirely different level we think borders on just plain wrong. A diesel Touareg is a novel thing, sure, but it's not worth $15,000 more than a brand-new Tesla Model 3 Performance that, you know, doesn't damage the environment every second it's running.

Edmunds says

To be fair, there's a lot to be said for a refined SUV with monster torque that gets 30 mpg on the highway and can tow 7,700 pounds. The Touareg TDI is an impressive machine. But whatever you do, don't entertain dealerships on insane listings like this. We can't believe anyone is paying $60K-plus for a 6-year-old Touareg, although these days it's getting easier to believe just about anything.

by Nick Yekikian

Nick Yekikian has worked in the automotive industry since 2019. He has written close to a thousand car-related articles and tested and reviewed more than 200 vehicles over the course of his career. Nick is the Senior News Editor at Edmunds and has also contributed to MotorTrend, Automobile Magazine and Super Street. When Nick isn't zipping around town in his latest used-car find, he's probably making digital art in Photoshop or playing disc golf with friends.