Thread: Thinking about a new to me 4x4. Ute VW. Anything to watch out for

Thinking about an early VW Amarok. 2012-2014 sort of age 4x4 highline spec about 150-200K. $25k
Use is short runs to and for work plus a little 4x4 up farm tracks (deep washouts at times) hunting.
Wife has to be happy driving it and 99% of use will be on road.
It won't do a lot of k's. Looking at the VW as supposedly it has the best on road manners in the Ute market.
Previous ute was a 2005 courier we sold a couple of years back. Wife hated driving it. (She has VW Golf gti)

Any things to look out for??
Zq

Other option is a petrol V6 ute as they are cheap and it won't be doing a lot of milage.

That km bracket is where things are going wrong in them. Nothing big typically, just usual European stuff, like anything electrical. Parts are EXPENSIVE, even secondhand, try $400+ for door lock actuator (the part only not fitting).
Yes they are very nice to drive. The manuals are less forgiving clutch and gear/revs wise than a Jap ute.
There are much better choices if you think you will be towing regularly.
Had one for 5yrs loved it but hated it too gave up at 144K on the clock

A friend of mine works for orix lease. I asked him the question a year back on ute reliability. He said that the VW were the worst mechanically, and the main issue with the Ford was body rust, they rarely leased Toyota due to the fact that they were too expensive as the factory discount to them was non-existent, but that some of the larger corporates were then moving back to Toyota due to the lower "total cost" of the lease package (ie the fix ups when they handing the vehicle back were less).

Personally I would stay away from any of the diesels at those KM's and get a petrol. Service and repair costs on a petrol in the higher KM's is way cheaper. If you have to do a set of injectors and a fuel pump it will cost you over $10k.
A work colleague just had his Ranger serviced at 75km and 3 months outside the warrantee and was told the fuel pump was knackered - not happy when the bill arrived.

My hard-won experience with Euro cars is Don't own them out of warranty as has been suggested above. It's always a lottery when you buy high mileage stuff- dealerships make more money on servicing and repairs.

I've had various ute brands and have driven Amoroks various times while the Audis were being serviced. They sure have nice road manners with a car-like feel but the long term costs shouldn't be ignored. One thing to definitely avoid is manual Rangers- my son had no end of issues with his, was off the road multiple times. The autos are fine.

watch out for anything with electronics, a good indication that it may be equipped with electronics would be: led headlights, airbags, abs, traction control (aka training wheels) electric mirrors, electric seats (WTF?) and or any other item not necessary for drive, braking, steering and suspension.

good luck.

Mate, I own a 2017 Amarok for the misses. I drive a Landcruiser 79 series(v8). The Amarok is a great car for going up the ski field, chucking the mtb's on the back and trips to the supermarket. I wouldn't take it 4 wheel driving. A mate drowned his in a puddle.
If that's what you really want then make sure you keep enough money aside for a motor bike to go out hunting so you don't wreak the city Ute.
Also Shit for towing. They do drive well but.

most euro electronics uses lead free solder, its farkin awful stuff thats brittle and tends to disintegrate with vibration.

If your dropping $25k on it why don't you put $10k more on tick and get a new mitsi or Nissan?

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Originally Posted by berg243

just buy a 20k car and get a 4x4 for hunting like a terrano or Isuzu bighorn.that way you have a nice on road and if ( when ) there is a whoopsy out off roading missus wont be going on about how you wrecked the good vehicle in ten or twenty years time and you wont have to clean it at the end of the weekend after hunting.

The Bighorns are excellent off road and not too bad on road. But get in quick as they are going up rapidly in price now people have cottoned onto how good they are, and they're not making new ones any more.

Originally Posted by 40mm

watch out for anything with electronics, a good indication that it may be equipped with electronics would be: led headlights, airbags, abs, traction control (aka training wheels) electric mirrors, electric seats (WTF?) and or any other item not necessary for drive, braking, steering and suspension.

good luck.

My heated seats and mirrors still work perfectly after 28 years. The seat thing is bloody nice when you're freezing cold and damp and the engine cooling system is so efficient that there's bugger all heat for the cabin.

Originally Posted by gonetropo

most euro electronics uses lead free solder, its farkin awful stuff thats brittle and tends to disintegrate with vibration.

id not call that solder, Iv never heard of that crap before!
sounds like the euro cars have gone full inbred.

Originally Posted by gadgetman

The Bighorns are excellent off road and not too bad on road. But get in quick as they are going up rapidly in price now people have cottoned onto how good they are, and they're not making new ones any more.



My heated seats and mirrors still work perfectly after 28 years. The seat thing is bloody nice when you're freezing cold and damp and the engine cooling system is so efficient that there's bugger all heat for the cabin.

maybe I should get a heated seat for my van, the heater is piss weak. have to get the trans etc warm too to get the cabin nice.

Will sort it one day......

I've said it before this comes down to a personal choice as to what you like the most. All cars no matter what brand will have issues if not serviced and looked after. I've been fixing cars long enough to know that.

I'd much rather buy a higher km I'm car that's been serviced and looked after over a low km one that hasn't. I personally don't buy into the European cars are unreliable philosophy. And the whole they're far more complicated than other cars is crap. All the brands use the same technology.

Remember that there's 2 sides to every story. Just because some bloke says his fell apart at 50000km doesn't mean it was cars fault.

Personally I think the amaroks are the best. I bought one with higher kms and love it. Will it break down at some point? Probably but no car goes through it's entire life without ever failing.

Like I said. It's a personal choice

Originally Posted by 40mm

maybe I should get a heated seat for my van, the heater is piss weak. have to get the trans etc warm too to get the cabin nice.

Will sort it one day......

A weak heater is very unusual for one of those vans. Usually turning the heat down about 2km after take off in every one I've been in, probably 50-60 of them, petrol and coal burner. That includes much sub zero weather.

Originally Posted by gadgetman

A weak heater is very unusual for one of those vans. Usually turning the heat down about 2km after take off in every one I've been in, probably 50-60 of them, petrol and coal burner. That includes much sub zero weather.

its done 360k so I think its time for a dash out job..... the rubber heater hoses behind the front grille have a lot of scale in them, so im guessing the heater core is full of it too. I priced new hoses and thats as far as that will ever go, ill make some instead.

Thanks Guy's
The other option is a new wider trailer and a side x side. Current trailer is about 4'3" inside.
I know what you mean re servicing costs. 50,000km service for my subie turbo including pollen and air filter was just over $600. Thought that was pricey. Then we got the bill for a my wife's Golf GTI service at 25,000km, it was over $900 !!!!