Originally Posted by FormerTouaregFan

Have been towing a 5000 lb travel trailer as well as a 2 horse trailer on 500 to 2000 mile trips for the last coup,e of years. (Have 65k on the car in 2 years). Biggest problem has been the DPF. It’s my opinion that pulling trailers doubles the amount of diesel that has to be processed and shortens the life of that expensive part. The car went into limp home mode once in the middle of nowhere pulling the horse trailer and was stranded. Land Rover roadside service said they would be glad to send a truck to tow it to the nearest dealer several hundred miles away. Fortunately internet searches on the side of the road found a temporary solution to get me going, but the repeated ECM warning codes that the filter was clogged meant that the car has been in the shop too many times for forced regen. Land Rover corporate did pay for a rental of one 2000 mile trip when it was in the shop for several weeks, and after much complaining to England, they finally replaced the DPF at around 50k so I wouldn’t have to pay the $7,000 DPF replacement cost.

I knew nothing about the DPF issue for all diesels until this. My previous diesel Touareg didn’t have the problem, but I didn’t use it as much with trailers. It was the only other non-huge SUV with a 7500 pound tow rating. I also have learned about how differently you need to drive a diesel compared to a gas car now, due to the DPF. No more short trips. Take the Honda for those. Only take the D5 when necessary and make sure to drive it at constant high speed for a couple of hours every month at least.

I learned that in Japan, if you ask a car salesmen about a diesel option, they make you fill out a questionnaire to make sure you are fully informed. Wish they had done that here. I still would have gone with the diesel, but wouldn’t have had to go through all the hassle and research.

and then there is the biodiesel issue, but that’s in another thread. The factory now supplies me with an additive I have to add every tank and that seems to have fixed the sputtering out issue. I also now know where the non-biodiesel stations are, and if I accidentally hit one on a long trip, I don’t fill up.

Love the torque for pulling in the mountains, and the mileage!