Hybrid SUV Shakedown: 2011 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid Vs. Lexus RX450h

I don't do Hybrids so Ill take the Diesel Touareg over the over the Hybrid Touareg or RX.

What's funny is these two are not even in the same segments. One is a luxury and the other competes with Toyota (not Lexus), Nissan, Honda, Ford, etc. If the Q5 came in Hybrid form it would make sense. Your better off comparing the VW to the Ford Escape.

@Whelan

You're better than that.

The Touareg is without question a head-to-head competitor against the RX.

Whelan- Sit in both and you will find that the Touareg is about equal to the RX inside. A scary proposition for Lexus.

As much as I like the new Touareg, it's also about 14,000 euros (~$18k) more expensive than the Lexus.

ROFL

Real Leather & Wood in a Lexus as opposed to the Touareg.

You are definitely as stupid as George Bush.

Correction.

More Stupid than George Bush.

I95SPEEDINGTICKETS - And the Touareg has real wood and real leather as well. So the point exactly was what? The species of the wood used?

It doesn't appear you have even looked at the Touareg.

Agent009

I suggest you read more carefully. My First post stated my dislike for Hybrids in their current form {Prius Induced} so my choice would be Diesel Touareg.

Second was my incredulous response to adamsaf723's statement about superior Leather & Wood Quality in the Lexus.

Not even the Lexus Salesmen in the UK or Europe would try and tell you their leather is superior to that in the German Marques and ALL CAR ENTHUSIASTS laugh at the "Real Wood that is Made To Look Like Fake Wood" that is plastered all over the interior of most Lexus Vehicles.

So no. I do not think Lexus Leather and Faux Wood are of a higher quality than the Touareg.

Lexus uses real wood, however the wood on German cars tend to be twice as thick and the way they treat the wood makes it look more real.

Wouldn't th Tahoe or Escalade hybrid have been a better comparison to the Touareg than the FWD RX? I would guess the VW will out tow or haul the RX in every way imaginable.

Y E S

+1

The Toe-Rag is definitely aiming for not only the RX450h, but likely the X5 and ML as well. Unfortunately, it comes to the eco/hybrid game with just a bigger engine. Ask GM how well that works out. It is also too expensive, coming from such pedestrain roots. (Who really would cross shop a Lexus/BMW/MBZ with a lowly VW?) And as I understand it in order to keep the price down (??!!) it has given up all that great actual off road capability. (Or does this version add those features back that have been stripped from other Toe-Rags?)

So it's faster, but less luxurious, more expensive, and has poorer fuel economy, just what the luxury eco SUV buyer is looking for. Not.

Win for the Lexus, hands down.

(BTW, I'll always call it a Toe-Rag because of VW's lame commercials when it debuted. Ugh, what were they thinking?)

My money if I wanted one of these would be on the RX, im sorry but the last toureg was very unreliable why would I or anyone trust the new version with the addition of a supercharger and electric motor?????? Seriously they arent there reliability wise to even chance such a complex setup...lexus has nailed this several times over enough to trust their technolog in this area. VW is sill working on getting just the engine part right lol. RX

toyota/lexus has established HYBRIDS as being highly reliable, as well as providing better mileage.

these attributes DO NOT automatically carry over to other brands' hybrids. ford's are OK. GM's are still burdened with GM-levels of (generally mediocre to poor) quality.

one has to be especially bold and daring to trust a first generation VW hybrid. especially when it demands a premium price, ON TOP OF a history of spotty reliability.

Not really a fan of either, but would choose the Touareg over the Lexus any day.

RX hybrid VS Touareg Hybrid. I would choose Lexus because Toyota hybrid system is the benchmark.

Regular RX VS Regular Touareg. I would take Touareg as i like it's styling more. Also it's more performance oriented and almost certainly better offroader than RX.

JUGNU

German leather smells like the dead cow that it is...and, as it ripens with age, the smell gets worse. It's horrible! Does anyone else notice this? Lexus leather has a much more mild smell by comparison!