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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Originally Posted by gonetropo

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

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

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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.

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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

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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......

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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.

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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.

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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 !!!!

A Toyota Prius is looking good

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Originally Posted by Maca49

A Toyota Prius is looking good

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i was at an intersection in christchurch last week and herd the "wop wop wop" sound of a rotary, looked around and it was coming out of a prius. faith in humanity restored !

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Originally Posted by 40mm

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

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its not just cars either that use the crap. my father in law often brings me controllers out of access equipment which i have to then resolder/ reflow.
i recently spent 2 hours resoldering the engine management computer from an audi car. i swear there were more bad soldering joints than good ones. unfortunately even a 2nd hand replacement was $650 and i hate to think the cost of a new one

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Originally Posted by gonetropo

i was at an intersection in christchurch last week and herd the "wop wop wop" sound of a rotary, looked around and it was coming out of a prius. faith in humanity restored !

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Are you saying someone has repowered a prius with a rotary? Now that sounds like a practical person...... I wonder what else they have tried. Would be interesting to talk to I expect.

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Originally Posted by ZQLewis

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 !!!!

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OK, if you are going down that track, Suzuki Farmworker would be worth a peek before you get the side by side. Same prize ish, bigger, and a heater and windscreen....

Or rather than the trailer, get the bigger vehicle for towing the trailer on the road that is cheaper to run / repair and get a Vitara or Jimney or similar for a hunting vehicle. The Jimnay is $20k BRAND NEW so plenty of life there, and they are very capable for hunting vehicles. Older 413s are easier to fix (but more likely to need repair / service due to age)

This way when Towing you have the right vehicle fo rthe job and when out hunting you have the right vehicle for the job. You dont end up on a tight narrow track with a large ute squeezing through that is carrying a lot of spare capacity that you didnt need to take.

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Originally Posted by timattalon

Are you saying someone has repowered a prius with a rotary? Now that sounds like a practical person...... I wonder what else they have tried. Would be interesting to talk to I expect.

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yep, rear drive too. by the sound of it i would say it had been ported too and had at least one turbo as the blowoff valve could be heard as it took off.

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Originally Posted by gonetropo

yep, rear drive too. by the sound of it i would say it had been ported too and had at least one turbo as the blowoff valve could be heard as it took off.

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Could be the best prius in the country.

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Originally Posted by gonetropo

i was at an intersection in christchurch last week and herd the "wop wop wop" sound of a rotary, looked around and it was coming out of a prius. faith in humanity restored !

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmy6gh4fvUc

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by JoshC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmy6gh4fvUc

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

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Better choice than a Rotary!!!:cool:

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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.

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+1 but let her keep the VW golf cut down to a 4 day week and go bush!

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Originally Posted by berg243

yeh I like my swb bighorn the only problem the quad doesn't fit in the back only reason I am looking for a cheap 4wd ute.

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Buy a trailer sorted

Flag the Amarok , they are a heap of shit once they have a couple of k's on them.
Have a look around for a Hilux of around the 2012 vintage you will be happy.
Fixed.

i have yet to lay my hands on a newish hilux to sort out egr turnoff. my aim is to build mod kits for most of the major brands.
ok its for financial gain but after fitting one to our mitsi triton it pays for itself in a year or less (depending on miles driven) or for you lot that are metriculated km's

Be careful @ZQLewis mate. I’ve been a VW fan since the mid 80s, I have a 1987 Golf GTi 16v 2-door! Have always had a soft spot for GTi. But I’d never, ever go in for an out of warranty Amarok.

Several comments so far have highlighted the risks. In Aus they were a bit of a distaster once the corrugations and moisture got into them. I seriously recommend doing so Aussie research, find out a bit from those blokes. They are the kind of vehicle that if something serious goes wrong, it’ll be a big decision whether to bother fixing it or not.

You know they’re made in Argentina, right? So are several other cars, some quite good ones! But there’s lot of less than complimentary quality control comments about older Amarok though, random stuff. Also, frequent, short, cold engine journeys are not good for common rail diesels and they are bloody thirsty if you run them like that.

I’d never recommend this as an option... but seeing as how you mentioned it... our spare car that we use to carry anything, inside or on the roof, to pull down old sheds, tension fences (yes, really), go for broke in the bush, I hauled up a 600kg Hereford with it the other day... is a 1993 Toyota Surf 3.0 V6. Unbreakable. As a hunting wagon, can’t go wrong. Who gives a shit if it gets scratched, covered in blood? Love that truck, have had it 20 years.

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Originally Posted by gonetropo

i have yet to lay my hands on a newish hilux to sort out egr turnoff. my aim is to build mod kits for most of the major brands.
ok its for financial gain but after fitting one to our mitsi triton it pays for itself in a year or less (depending on miles driven) or for you lot that are metriculated km's

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How does turning it off pay for itself?

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Originally Posted by Flyblown

Be careful @ZQLewisI have a 1987 Golf GTi 16v 2-door!.

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Pictures please!

Hands down my favourite reasonably priced car ever!

Just been offered this 8v for $5k, trying to get some more details!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8c9fd4750c.jpg


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Originally Posted by Spudattack

Pictures please!

Hands down my favourite reasonably priced car ever!

Just been offered this 8v for $5k, trying to get some more details!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8c9fd4750c.jpg


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@Spudattack Let me know once you've bought it and we can live our glory days.

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Originally Posted by Ryan

@Spudattack Let me know once you've bought it and we can live our glory days.

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You mean burnouts outside Bimbos at 3am? [emoji23][emoji41]🤮


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Originally Posted by Spudattack

You mean burnouts outside Bimbos at 3am? [emoji23][emoji41]��


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One really needs an E30 325is to claim those creds.

An oldie, but a goodie. Bit sad at the moment though, seized fuel pump. I rebuilt the motor from the crank bearings to the injectors, the gearbox, clutch, all new bushes, shocks, basically the entire drive train and important moving bits. Imported all the parts from the US. Folly, but fun. Goes like a cut cat. Used to drive it in the local hill climb club and do pretty well! Will get a respray and reupholster one day.

Attachment 95815

You two sickos need a room and definitely a good tow truck driver
Don’t think iv heard so much dribble

Shit now there’s 3 sickos
Multiplying faster than rabbits

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Originally Posted by Flyblown

An oldie, but a goodie. Bit sad at the moment though, seized fuel pump. I rebuilt the motor from the crank bearings to the injectors, the gearbox, clutch, all new bushes, shocks, basically the entire drive train and important moving bits. Imported all the parts from the US. Folly, but fun. Goes like a cut cat. Used to drive it in the local hill climb club and do pretty well! Will get a respray and reupholster one day.

Attachment 95815

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That’s very cool, looks very close to my ‘91 GTS that I decked out in GTi livery!




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Originally Posted by longrange308

You two sickos need a room and definitely a good tow truck driver
Don’t think iv heard so much dribble

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Here you go mate!

https://youtu.be/txUw6BjEYcc


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hehehe, Somehow I think I'm stuck with the GTI, no way is the wife going to let me trade that away. (6 sp manual see loves it)