My High Pressure Fuel Pump had a catastrophic failure. Apparantly, this is more common than one would think about a diesel with VW. I was driving on cruise control and it just shuddered and died flat. It wouldn't restart, it was just dead. I get it towed to the VW dealership in North Haven and it takes them a week and a half and they tell me, "I have seen this before. The High Pressure Fuel Pump had a catastrophic failure. It sent metal chips throughout the entire fuel system and into the engine. It has to have every piece of the fuel system replaced and the engine must be cleaned. The cost will be $10,000."

I was leaving for a military course for the next 3 weeks and my ride to get there is now dead and to top it off, it is going to take wayyyyyy more than I can afford. So, instead of charging me a couple grand in labor diagnosing this, they offered to cut me a deal on an Atlas. So, now I have a dead truck; $50,000 more in debt than I wanted to be; a truck I didn't want and my favorite vehicle is dead. I put in an exception to the extended warranty that exists now but it is only until 120,000 miles. The problem with that warranty is it cuts out just before these TDIs have this problem, which is mid-100,000 miles. So, essentially they haven't done anything to help the customer fix a catastrophic problem on their faulty part. Another reason to stay the hell away from VW. They will put anything and everything on you!

First time it happened I was passing a truck on the highway, when I hit passing gear the engine lost power and I almost got hit by oncoming traffic. I managed to get control and over to the side of the road. The light was flashing saying check engine. I shut it down, checked oil and it was OK. I started the engine and everything worked OK. I drove home and figured it was OK now.

Next day the same thing happened. I took it into VW dealer and they said the high pressure diesel fuel pump probably was the issue, as they had repaired 3 of these vehicles for the same problem in the last few months. I ask if there was a recall for this repair and they said no and the repair consist changing the high pressure fuel pump, complete fuel rail, all hoses and all 6 injectors as everything is contaminated from the metal filings found in the pump.

The estimate for this repair is $11,000 + tax. There is only 63,000 kms on the vehicle and the warranty expired as it was over 5 years old. I argued with them but they had no symphony for me and I had no choice but to have it fixed. I complained to VW Canada and they paid half the cost. It still cost me $5500.00 + tax, but now works good. I am waiting for a recall for this issue so I can get my money back but am only hopeful.

I love this 2010 Touareg Diesel but it is very expensive to keep on the road, the VW dealers don't care for there customers much and I probably will never buy another VW for my next vehicle.