Volkswagen Amarok FAQs

Check out real-world situations relating to the Volkswagen Amarok here, particularly what our experts have to say about them.

• Volkswagen Amarok 2014: Do Amarok's age well?

  You haven’t given me a lot to go on here, Matt. Is the vehicle a dual-cab, single-cab or cab-chassis? Is it two or four-wheel-drive? What trim level are we talking? Anyway, I’ll take an educated guess (based on the price) and suggest it’s a dual-cab all-wheel-drive. At which point, the price being asked seems about right for a vehicle with those kilometres. It does, however, sound like the licensed-dealer price, not a private-seller price. But again, I’m stabbing in the dark here.

  Because some Volkswagen products from this era have a reliability cloud over them, the distance travelled is a big determinant of the asking price. More so than the year of manufacture, in fact.

  Things to watch out for are gearbox problems and electronic glitches but, since the Amarok is an off-roader (and a pretty good one) you also need to learn how it’s been used by the previous owner. A heavily modified Amarok or one with a lift-kit, mud tyres and a dirty big winch bolted to the front of it is probably one to avoid when there are clean, never-been-off-road examples about for similar money.

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• What do you recommend for towing a horse trailer and large draft-horse?

  None of the vehicles you’ve listed are exactly low-maintenance units. They all have complex all-wheel-drive drivelines (which will be appreciated when towing a heavy trailer across a wet showground) and they use the latest common-rail diesel technology which is fairly intolerant of poor servicing.

  As for a power tailgate on a ute, I’m afraid you’re out of luck. But some of the wagon versions of these vehicles can be optioned with powered tailgates. The catch there is that these vehicles use coil sprung rear axles (as opposed to the leaf-sprung ute versions) so they’re not as adept at towing. The Toyota Fortuner, for instance can’t match the HiLux’s 3.5-tonne limit and makes do with 2800kg; not enough for your requirements. The Ford Everest (based on the Ranger) is a little better at 3000kg, but still trails the Ranger’s 3500kg towing capacity and is right on your self-imposed minimum.

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• Volkswagen Amarok 2019: Which model is best for highway driving?

  It depends what your priorities are, but I’d be going for the 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 version; it has good performance, decent fuel consumption, is well equipped, and comfortable on road.

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