VW Amarok

woodylad · Member

VW Amarok

Cloak · Guru

Haven't towed in one but have driven. It was a AWD 5 cly turbo diesel twin cab with a long tray so I guess a LWB.

Had plenty of guts with 5 heads and fishing gear but not too sure about pulling a 4 Tonne rig.

Cheers

Yuglamron · Guru

I wouldn't write them off before doing some research.

I don't think VW would spend the time and money putting up the Amarok against the Hilux if it was not a very capable vehicle.

My son wants to buy the twin cab 4x4 Amarok and he looked at some of the reviews in the caravan and motorhome magazine.

It goes into some detail of their time with the Amarok and it's towing capability and pro's and cons.

Seems it's all to do with the eight speed auto box and it's turbo set up. Always seem to me to be well built and good quality.

Would be worth a second and third look.

By the way apart from a liking of some VW's I have no affiliation with the company or anyone selling them.

Wombat 280 · Guru

I find when researching vehicles I like to go to a forum for that particular vehicle and converse with owners who have been there done that every brand has a site somewhere. Depending on what your travel plans are be careful if going native there may not be the back up you need at least with Nissan and To Jo's every farm and station has an array of spares to get you back on the road, In the world rallies they get a good write but just like motor mag write up's they never tell you what really went wrong, mostly you never hear the bad bits. No Motoring Company ever paid for a bad report, there the ones that go straight into the round filing cabinet.

blaze · Guru

they hate water, had one in broome that went through a 100mm of water on a main road, yes that's 100mm of water. Sucked all the water in the intake and $18 000 later a new engine. Luckly covered by insurance in this case
cheers
blaze

Weedy Pigeon · Senior Member

A German friend of mine who was trained on VW in Germany has bought himself a well maintained 60 series Cruiser which he thinks is the best vehicle ever produced.
He has spoken of the Amarok but didn't seem to be overly impressed. He did mention the manual gearbox was quite a handful to drive and said the auto was a much better option.
Personally I have no experience on them at all.

Oxley · Veteran Member

Weedy Pigeon wrote:
A German friend of mine who was trained on VW in Germany has bought himself a well maintained 60 series Cruiser which he thinks is the best vehicle ever produced.
He has spoken of the Amarok but didn't seem to be overly impressed. He did mention the manual gearbox was quite a handful to drive and said the auto was a much better option.
Personally I have no experience on them at all.

That because the 60 series (and maybe some just after) had a engine that was a copy of very old Chev design and no Sonic Bonic Male Bovine Droppings. The diesel's, once running, you could disconnect the battery and as long as the water wasn't above engine intake height, could handle water like a tank, and just as easy to work on, and repair with fencing wire and a star picket.

It was like some of the early Nissan Patrols, I remember a mechanic in town rolling around on the floor laughing, as he thought someone had put the engine and running gear from an Austin Gypsy into it, but it was a modern copy.

I have known people to drive them with very little oil in the gearbox for months, very noisy, but kept going, the newer one my father had would almost shutdown if the gearbox got to hot, same with a Patrol he had, not very convenient on some big hills while towing.

I think we have given up reliability and longevity for performance, economy and self preservation, traction control and driver assit in the old days was called "driving to the road conditions and your own and your vehicles capability".

I think soon we will have full auto pilot, just watching some of these vehicles with hands free parallel parking features.

Weedy Pigeon · Senior Member

Have to agree with you Oxley. I started my apprenticeship with Toyota in 66, vehicles then were so simple. In my opinion the only improvement that I have seen in nearly 50 years is the move away from leaf springs to coils, much better ride and comfort.
Had an instance in Kununurra where a chap from Sydney got his hair in a real knot because we didn't stock a particular suspension height adjustment switch for his top of the line Range Rover.

jimanjen · Member

I worry a bit about parts availability out on the sticks with some of these European models. There aint too many VW dealerships out there. On the other hand, everyone and his dog have worked on Toyota's at some stage in their lives, and the whole country is awash with parts, both new and second hand. You see these beautiful Fiat Ducato motorhomes around, and they are wonderful looking devices, but if you chuck a rod or fry a transmission in the middle of Upper Cumbucca, where are you going to find a mechanic who knows how to fix them, and how do you get the parts? Maybe I am old fashioned, but for me, Toyotas are the only way to go. This was one of the main reasons I just bought one!

landy · Guru

I have no personal exsperience with them but have heard that thay are a realy strong

tow vehicle and punch way over thier weight. Have also heard of some verry exspensive

repairs with motor and gearbox failures.

Landy.

Oxley · Veteran Member

Thats also my fear. I have had a bad experience with a Ford Focus with parts, and the cost once warranty runs out, and don't get me started on extended warranty.

The Falcon, Holden and Toyota's, wreaking yard is full of them, and if you find someone with a bit of knowledge, some parts from different makes where made in the same factory so can be interchanged.

but what worries me is all the mechanics that where real engineers, and could repair parts, are gone, most today only know how to swap parts out, go ask one to re sleeve a wheel cylinder and watch the face.

rockylizard · Guru

jimanjen wrote:
I worry a bit about parts availability out on the sticks with some of these European models. There aint too many VW dealerships out there. On the other hand, everyone and his dog have worked on Toyota's at some stage in their lives, and the whole country is awash with parts, both new and second hand. You see these beautiful Fiat Ducato motorhomes around, and they are wonderful looking devices, but if you chuck a rod or fry a transmission in the middle of Upper Cumbucca, where are you going to find a mechanic who knows how to fix them, and how do you get the parts? Maybe I am old fashioned, but for me, Toyotas are the only way to go. This was one of the main reasons I just bought one!

Gday...

I can understand the logic of so many who see that Toyota is the "best" because of their "dealer network" and "everyone knows how to fix one".

However, that philosophy disappeared with the 60/80 series. The 'basic' 100 series just might squeeze into the "everyone can fix it" category but only just. Even the mining companies are increasingly buying Great Wall utes because they are cheap and they only want them to last a year.

Once away from a major, and by that I mean very major, towns you will wait for a part that breaks/fails, no matter what vehicle you drive. I have met many travellers during my five years on the road and there are stories of having to wait for parts. Here's a couple -

2011 - when in Mackay I met a bloke with a 100 series and he had been there for a week for a brake caliper to be delivered from BrisVegas.

2012 - in Yeppoon - a bloke with a 200 series waiting for a water pump. None in Rocky and had to wait for one from Melbourne coz the BrisVegas warehouse had none either.

2011 - Roma. 2006 Patrol. Needed exhaust header. None in town and had been there a week waiting for one from BrisVegas

2011 - Myself, Discovery 3, in Dubbo, I had to wait overnight for ball joints from Sydney.

No service/repair joint can afford anymore to carry "slow moving - non-regular service parts" on their shelves. They all hold minimum and need to freight them in when required.

And as for "knowing how to fix it" a almost every vehicle manufactured since 2007 will need someone who has been trained in them - no matter where they come from.

To quote Oxley "I think we have given up reliability and longevity for performance, economy and self preservation, traction control and driver assist in the old days was called "driving to the road conditions and your own and your vehicles capability". Interestingly, the majority of modern vehicles are much reliable than 20 years ago. but with so many sensors and 'flash harry' bits on em they sure are complicated. It is even rare these days to get a puncture with modern tyres.

And examples provided by Blaze that "one died driving through 100mm of water" need to be weighed up against what were the facts and surely this would be an isolated incident.

Here's an example of needing to wait for parts/repair away from towns. http://thegreynomads.activeboard.com/t53831625/kiwis-hobbled-again/

Having taken a long time to get to the point. Don't be put off with "European" vehicles because of "dealer network" - vehicles are ALL only machines and will break down and NONE of the today's vehicles will have an extensive parts network away from major, and I mean major, towns.

I have owned Cruisers, HiLux, Land Rover (old and new) Fords, Nissans, Renault and everyone of them have needed to wait for parts at some time. Thankfully, I was able to do all my own work on the Nissans, Renault and the old Landy. Since about 2000 it has been difficult to do much other than change the oil & filter meself hmm cry

Anyway, do your homework, check with every source ya can, visit forums (including the forums of owners of the make), read the reviews and remember they are not always telling you how it is .. but more importantly, find someone who has actually bought one.

Sorry for going on and on but I really cannot see the validity, these days, of "Toyota" are the only one to buy. Every vehicle has a pretty good reliability record and there are 'disaster stories' with every vehicle make as well.

Cheers - John

blaze · Guru

very well said John
cheers
blaze
ps
the amarak I spoke of hit the water at about40kmh not relising how deep it was, the water then splashed up into the intake which is right in the front. The company has now fitted snorkels to them

dazren · Guru

smile VERY WELL PUT jOHN, STRAIGHT TO THE POINT AND VERY FACTUAL, I FULLY AGREE WITH YOUR STATMENT smile

Ron and Shirley · Senior Member

Agree John, though it not just country towns that problems arise with getting parts for vehicles.

Put the vehicle in for a service with a Nissan Dealer and said something is not right with the brakes.

8+ week wait at home in Melbourne (fortunately) for a Nissan Patrol part to come from Japan as there are none in Australia.

In this age of international Internet commerce things can be ordered and delivered from all over the world in around a week, eg diesel heater for Caravans/Motorhomes.

Yet a Vacuum Tank Assembly, from Nissan Japan must come by boat and takes 8 weeks.

Clearly Nissan need to get into the 21^st Century!!!!!

jetj · Guru

A friend has a VW sedan and the cost of a towbar is around $2000, His VW Caddy I think was around $1300 quoted for a simple towbar. Lovely vehicles but!

jimanjen · Member

John aka Rocky Lizard makes very sensible points in his post. Perhaps I should have mentioned that I have actually owned a VW quite recently. My wife and I purchased a VW Eos convertible, brand new, from a large dealer in Brisbane. It had a few issues, one being a very cranky exhaust temperature sensor that left us marooned one night. But the killer for us was a battery failure. Now, the Eos was simply a heavy diesel Golf with a fancy folding roof party trick. Called the RACQ, who arrived, but there was no way he could source the correct battery for it. So, he got it going, and we had to drive direct to a BIG VW dealer in the west of Brisbane...but not far west. Think suburbs.....we thought they would surely have a new battery. Nope. Don't carry them. We would have to leave it until they could source a battery, maybe from Brisbane. We felt it wasn't good enough. This wasn't some obscure part buried deep in the transmission or the engine or something, it was a battery for goodness sake. So, after much discussion, they told us to wait. It turned out they found a battery, which was couriered out to the dealer, and after many hours we were on our way. We found out they had to stealfrom another Eos sitting on a lot elsewhere. Now, if a major dealer in suburban Brisbane cant be bothered to carry such a basic item as a battery for a current model, then what happens to us when a major part lets go down the track? Perhaps I was a little jaded and cranky about this, but we turned off them permanently. We traded it when the warranty ran out. Trim was starting to fall off, and it was only three years old, with 60,000 on the clock. I feel pretty confident that I can source MOST of the bits I might need down the track for a Hiace van, including such a basic item as a battery! But John's points are duly noted. Let me say, the Volksy was a lovely car, but its reliability was, IMHO, a bit questionable. PS...they didn't charge for the new battery!
Cheers Jim.

Esmeralda · Guru

A friend of mine has an Amarok and she and her husband tow their van all over the place with it - and it is not a small van by any stretch of the imagination. They are both very happy with it.

Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.