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Volkswagen Touareg 7L Has a Water Retention Problem Thanks to Blocked Drains

People used to say that large SUVs like this Volkswagen Touareg handle like a boat. But it turns out there were only half-right, since it and its sister cars, the Touareg and Audi Q7, are like water tanks on wheels.
Volkswagen Touareg 7L Has a Water Retention Problem Thanks to Blacked Drains 3 photos
Photo: YouTube screenshot
This video popped up online last year and refers to a problem with the first-gen SUV, otherwise known as the Touareg 7L. Since the clip came out, lots of people all over the internet started noticing the slushing sound in their SUV when they accelerate or stop.

It turns out there is a tank that can hold up to about two gallons of water in there. Ironic how they named it the Touareg 7L, right? In any case, these symptoms also affect the first Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne but can be found on many other cars from the 2000's.

Why is there a tank there in the first place? To collect the water. Where is it coming from? Well, in most cases, it's draining from the sunroof. We found a separate video which shows the small rubber nozzle where it's supposed to come out near the front fender. But this can be clogged by debris like leaves or, more often, improper jacking of the car.

It's interesting how the water comes out all clean, suggesting the inside of those tanks is sealed properly and hasn't rusted.

However, we still can't explain why where are secondary drain holes hidden under a layer of tar-like underbody protection. Did they know that the ones at the front would get blocked or are they for something else?

Another video shows water trapped behind the front fender guard. In that situation, it's coming firewall. If that fails to drain well, you will start to notice wet footwells on rainy days.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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