Volkswagen Touareg Problems

I doubt that replacing the driveline in itself would make any difference, but I would recommend you talk to the dealer about what was done to the driveline and get their opinion on its possible effect.

The problem is that no one can tell you what is fair wear and tear; there is no benchmark that determines what the life of the brakes should be. In the “good old days” when we all drove around in cars with drum brakes it was relatively simple, the brakes would last a long time and no one worried about brake wear, although the brakes were often so poor in those old cars it was hard to tell when the brakes were worn out. VW is correct in saying brakes are made of different materials today to get the braking performance we want, and as a result they wear out faster. Your experience is not unusual, it happens on a lot of cars, particularly those from Europe. I doubt you will have any success claiming against the warranty; your best course of action is to seek legal advice and perhaps claim the car has not performed to your expectations, and VW has not lived up to its end of the bargain when they sold you the car.

It doesn’t sound like the ABS, it does sound more like the diff or something else in the driveline. I would get it checked by a VW specialist.

Cooper makes tyres with tread patterns to suit highway use and others to suit offroad use with more aggressive tread patterns that can be noisy if used on the highway. There are plenty of choices available for an alternative tyre, just make sure the tread pattern is one that’s designed for the highway.

Take it to a suspension specialist, not a tyre place, but someone who knows about suspensions and have them measure the wheelbase on each side and the diagonals to see if something is amiss with the chassis itself.