There are 2 stored owner reports matching the lighting leading-label group for the 2008 Volkswagen Touareg in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 2 of 2 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)WHILE DRIVING, FIRST SIDE MARKER AND RIGHT SIDE TURN SIGNAL BEGAN TO FAIL, THEN WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT HEADLIGHT FAILED. UPON INSPECTION ATTEMPTING TO REPLACE FAILED COMPONENTS, INSULATION WAS CRUMBLING & NON- EXISTENT. IMMEDIATELY CHECKED THE LEFT SIDE HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY. SAME CONDITION OF WIRE INSULATION FALLING OFF WIRES, CAUSING SHORTING OUT OF COMPONENTS. REPLACEMENT OF HEADLIGHT HOUSING ASSEMBLY, BULBS, BALLASTS AND CONTROLLERS WAS REQUIRED TO OPERATE VEHICLE CONDITION. WE CONTACTED THE LOCAL VW DEALERSHIP (PRESTON VW, BOARDMAN, OHIO), THEIR RESPONSE WAS THAT THEY WERE NOT AWARE OF ANY PROPLEMS WITH THE TOUAREG RELATED TO WIRING OR THE HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLIES. TOTAL COST TO REPLACE W OEM THROUGH ROCK AUTO AUTO PARTS (MOST COST EFFECTIVE) WAS TOTAL$1,314.82
I PURCHASED AN '08 VW TOUAREG 2 V8 WITH THE MUCH LAUDED BI-XENON AFS II HEADLIGHTS. I FULLY UNDERSTAND BI-XENON BRAND HEADLIGHTS AND HIDS IN GENERAL ARE IN DESIGN TRANSITION AND ARE SUPPOSED TO OFFER MORE ILLUMINATION, AND THUS BETTER SAFETY, THAN PRIOR HALOGEN HEADLIGHT DESIGNS. HOWEVER, MY REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE WITH BI-XENON HEADLIGHTS STRONGLY SUGGESTS THAT NHTSA OVERLOOKED SOMETHING THAT HAS PLACED MANY MOTORISTS, MYSELF INCLUDED, AT RISK. BECAUSE OF THE "VERTICAL CUTOFF" PRESENT IN THE LIGHT PATTERN OF LOW BEAM BI-XENONS, THE UPHILL SIDE OF ROADWAY DIPS AND VALLEYS ARE NOT ILLUMINATED. THIS IS AN EVER-PRESENT DANGER FOR THOSE OF US WHO TRAVEL RURAL, COUNTRY ROADS, AT NIGHT, WITH ABUNDANT WILDLIFE PRESENT (OR PETS, CHILDREN OR JOGGERS). OF COURSE, UTILIZING THE HIGH BEAMS CAN COMPENSATE FOR THE BLIND SPOTS CREATED BY THE VERTICAL CUTOFF. HOWEVER, WHEN ON UNFAMILIAR COUNTRY ROADS, TRAVELING THE SPEED LIMIT, I FIND THAT I AM CAUGHT OVERDRIVING THE HEADLIGHT ILLUMINATION WHEN ENCOUNTERING DIPS AND VALLEYS, AND CANNOT REACT QUICKLY ENOUGH WITH HIGH BEAM RESPONSE TO MAKE ME FEEL SECURE. THERE IS ALSO THE ISSUE OF BLINDING ONCOMING MOTORISTS WITH MY HIGH BEAMS OR EVEN THOSE I'M APPROACHING FROM BEHIND. I BELIEVE THE NHTSA APPROVAL OF BI-XENONS HEADLIGHTS ON THE VW TOUAREG WAS A MISTAKE. THE VEHICLES NEED TO BE RECALLED. THE ALLEGED ADDED ADVANTAGE OF BI-XENONS ON LEVEL OR ASCENDING ROADWAYS IS NEGATED BY THE BLIND SPOTS CREATED IN DIPS AND VALLEYS WHEN THE VEHICLE IS DESCENDING. I WOULD GLADLY RETURN TO HALOGEN TYPE HEADLIGHTS FOR RURAL SETTINGS. *TR
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Apr 28, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.