Volkswagen Touran Review (2015-present)

What is the Volkswagen Touran?

While the inexorable rise in popularity of the SUV continues, there’s still a very solid place in the market for a good MPV. When it comes to space-for-your-money it’s hard to top a people carrier, and the Volkswagen Touran has been a strong contender in this part of the market for years. It markets itself on its passenger-hauling capability, while still taking up relatively little space on your drive, as it’s smaller than many other MPVs in the market, being not much bigger than a Golf hatchback. Indeed, in Japan it’s sold as the Golf Touran. But try fitting seven people in a Golf.

The Touran first launched in 2003, sitting below VW’s larger people carrier, the Sharan, and its Caravelle minibus. This is the second generation, launched in 2015 with extra space over its predecessor, and some would say improved looks, although the silhouette is still almost entirely guided by practicality rather than style. That said, all models except the early entry-level S trim ride on alloy wheels, which get larger as you rise up the trim levels, and the top-spec R-Line model has plenty of chrome bits on it to jazz up the look.

How practical is it?

The big selling point of the Touran is its interior space, and considering the relatively small size of the car, it’s impressive. Front and second-row passengers will have more than enough room to stretch out, with plenty of head- and leg space.

Although five-seat Tourans were sold elsewhere in the world, all UK models since 2015 have had seven seats, with a third row of two that folds away into the boot floor when not in use. It’s best to think of these as for small children, or for occasional use during short journeys, as the space in the back is quite tight. If you have a large, older family and need to transport seven every day, we’d recommend you look for something bigger.

With all seven seats up, the boot space is tight at 137 litres, but if you fold them down then it’s pretty huge at up to 917 litres. You can also fold the middle row of seats flat to the floor, which essentially turns the Touran into a small van, with 1,857 litres of space.

In addition, there are more storage areas in the cabin than you can shake a stick at, with capacious door bins and a big glovebox, and higher-spec models have folding tables in the back of the front seats and drawers underneath them. Cup holders and cubby holes are ten-a-penny, which can be ideal if you have small children and all the detritus that they tend to need.

What's it like to drive?

On the move, the Touran is set up to give a comfortable, supple ride and confident handling, although if you’re someone that enjoys your driving then don’t get excited, as it’s not as zippy and fun and Ford’s S-Max. That won’t be a priority for most customers, though, and they should be more than happy with the experience; it’s easy to drive and feels safe whether you’re in town or on the motorway, and that’s all you need.

There’s a choice of petrol and diesel engines. On earlier cars, the petrol range starts with a 1.2-litre TSI unit with 108bhp, and also features a 1.4-litre TSI engine with 148bhp. Both come with a six-speed manual gearbox, and the 1.4 is also available with a dual-clutch, seven-speed automatic, called DSG. In 2019, the petrol range was overhauled. The 1.2 was replaced by a 1.0 with 113bhp, and the 1.4 by a 148bhp, 1.5-litre engine, both with manual or automatic ‘boxes. The 1.0 was later dropped from the range.

For our money, the sweet spot in the petrol range is the 1.4 TSI, as the smaller engines lack grunt, especially if the car is fully loaded. If your budget can stretch to a later car with the 1.5, then great, as it’s slightly more efficient, but you’ll pay more for one and there are also some power delivery concerns that we'll touch on in a moment.

On the diesel side, early customers could choose a 108bhp 1.6-litre TDI or a 148bhp 2.0-litre TDI, both of which came with a manual or automatic gearbox. There’s also another 2.0-litre with 187bhp, which came only with a six-speed automatic. The 1.6 was given a small power boost to 113bhp in 2016. Later on, the more powerful 2.0-litre was dropped, and the 1.6 was replaced with another 2.0-litre engine, this time putting out 115bhp. It was automatic only.

Once again, the 148bhp diesel is the sweet spot here, with plenty of low-down grunt for hauling stuff around. If you’re doing mostly longer journeys then you’ll get better fuel economy than a petrol engine, which could offset the higher purchase price you’re likely to pay for a diesel Touran.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

Inside you’ll find a typical Volkswagen interior, which means an unadventurous but inoffensive design and very decent material and build quality. VW positions itself as the classiest of the volume brands, without quite veering into the premium territory of manufacturers like Audi or BMW, and its interior reflects this. All the main touch points feel rock solid, with leather on the steering wheel and gearstick across the range, and some nice soft-touch plastics.

All models also get a touchscreen infotainment system, measuring 6.5 inches across in earlier models, and 8.0 inches later on. All versions of VW’s interface are easy to use and look good, too. All have Bluetooth and DAB radio, but not all have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so if you want the latest smartphone connectivity, check the specific car that you’re looking at.

Volkswagen Touran running costs

Purchase prices for the Touran largely follow age and spec rules; the newer and better-specced the car, the more you’ll pay for it. You’ll have to offset this against the day-to-day running costs, as the newer, updated engines will consume less fuel, although the differences are likely to be small enough for it not to be a major factor.

But if you want to pay the least amount possible at the pumps, then the diesel engines will be your best bet. The newer engines were measured using a different lab test system (known as WLTP), so they may appear less efficient than older ones that used a system called NEDC. But the later official figures are more realistic in everyday driving, so the newer engines will be more efficient in reality.

Using official figures, the 1.5-litre petrol engine will give you up to 42.8mpg with an automatic gearbox, and the 148bhp 2.0-litre diesel up to 52.3mpg. The older generation of engines claimed up to 49.6mpg for the 1.4 petrol and up to 62.8mpg for the 148bhp diesel, but again, this is likely to be unattainable in real life. Rest assured that the newer engines will be slightly better.

When it comes to Vehicle Excise Duty (VED, often known as road tax), much will depend on when your car was first registered, as the rules changed on 1 April, 2017. Cars registered before this will pay according to their CO2 emissions, which will put them in a band. Early Tourans emitted between 111 and 133g/km of CO2 depending on model, which means annual VED bills of either £30, £125 or £150. Go for a diesel if you want to keep in the lowest group. For cars registered from April 2017 onwards, you’ll pay a flat rate of £150, whatever engine you go for.

Insurance groups for the Touran are between 9 and 21 of 50, which means premiums should be pretty affordable.

You’ll need to get your Touran serviced every year and 10,000 miles, or every two years and 18,000 miles, depending on what kind of driving you or the previous owners have done.

Volkswagen offers fixed-price servicing at its dealers for cars between three and 15 years old, which could be an option if you want to keep a dealer full service history on the car. At the time of writing, a minor service cost £184, and a major one £354. Diesel-powered cars will need a new cambelt every five years or 120,000 miles, which cost £494 at a VW dealer. New front brake pads cost £169. As with almost any brand, you’ll pay less at an independent specialist, which is worth considering if you need work done, especially for older cars.

Volkswagen Touran reliability

Volkswagen might make cars that look and feel solid and dependable, but that’s not always backed up by its reliability record. Warranty Direct’s Reliability Index, which monitors cars that are out of manufacturer warranty, ranks the brand below average.

VW fared better in the JD Power 2019 UK Vehicle Dependability Study, with an above-average score, but the Touran didn’t figure in the top three models in the segment: those honours went to the Ford Grand C-Max, Vauxhall Zafira and Citroen Grand C4 Picasso/Spacetourer. However, it shares much of its mechanical bits with the very popular Golf, which sat 50th of the top 75 models in the 2020 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey and 50th out of 50 in the 2024 Driver Power survey.

If you’re considering a Touran with the 1.5-litre petrol engine, you should be aware of some ongoing issues with this unit in a range of different models. Many owners reported problems with power delivery when the engine was cold, and VW issued a software update to try and fix it in 2020. It’s worth checking that a potential purchase has had this fix applied, although some owners have reported that the problems have continued.

Should you have any issues, the Touran was covered by a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty from new, so plenty of used models will still be covered.

There have been several recalls on the Touran since this generation was introduced, to fix issues such as a fuel tank wall problem, potential short circuiting in an LED light module and a concern that airbags and seatbelt tensioners might not work in the event of an accident. Most affected cars should already have been fixed as the original owners would have been contacted, but it’s still good practice to check. You can do so at any VW dealer.