There is a moment somewhere past Ballarat, cruise set and the diesel barely audible, where you realise you have not thought about the car in over an hour. That is what a 2015 Volkswagen Touareg V6 TDI does to a long drive. It gets on with the job and lets you get on with the conversation, the podcast, or the silence.

Towing is where it stops being a pleasant SUV and starts being genuinely useful. Rated to 3.5 tonnes braked, the boat or the van or the horse float is not a stretch. Plenty of large SUVs claim that number on paper. Fewer stay this settled when the tow ball is actually loaded and you are climbing a hill at dusk.

Credit for that goes to the 3.0 litre turbo-diesel, which delivers its torque low and holds it there, and to the 4MOTION system that stays entirely out of the way until the road turns wet or gravelly. Then you notice the car simply did not slip. The 8-speed Tiptronic goes about its work without ever hunting for a ratio.

The cabin has aged the way over-engineered things tend to. Doors still close with weight, switchgear still sits exactly where it was designed to, and the black leather has held up against the Canyon Grey paint outside. Insulation is good enough that highway noise never becomes a topic of discussion.

At 104,000 km with September 2015 compliance, this one is well and truly run in with a long stretch of road still ahead. For a Melbourne buyer who wants the capability of a large SUV without advertising it to the entire street, the Touareg has always been the quiet answer.

This car shares its underpinnings with a Porsche and a Bentley. It has never once brought that up.

All prices displayed exclude government charges. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided, MM Carz recommends you confirm with one of our consultants to confirm specific specifications/features about the car. Please also note our vehicles may not always be on display, as they may be in for detailing--please contact us in advance to confirm availability before visiting our showroom.