Amarok - Strong and Weakpoints, Hard or Soft Roader?

[PTA LC 76]

I think I can share some information on my experience with my Amarok and hopefully shed some information on the strong and weak points of the Amarok. Don't be surprised if you like my comments about the Amarok, but also, don't be surprised if you do not like my comments about the Amarok (Did some research on the experiences of Amarok owners as well).

Firstly, I own a 2011 model, 2.O BiTDI VW Amarok D/C 4M Highline which I bought new earlier this year.

Amarok Strong Points: A very comfortable drive on tar and gravel. Upmarket interior for a bakkie.

Weak Points: Lots of owners complain about the gearbox. Serious synchronization problems with the gearbox on some Amaroks. My Amarok's gearbox is one of the problem gearboxes. Paint is extremely soft - one look at it and it could jump off. Some owners complaint about ECU adjustment after 1st service during which power and performance significantly went down. Electrical problems such as fuses blowing. Excessive wind noise from top of rear doors on some Amaroks. Leaking doors on some of the Amaroks. Noisy window operation of front windows. Left front window noisy when open whilst driving (seems to be under stress). Coins, bank cards etc may disappear from center console due to excessive gap between console area and center console box. Large hole underneath handbrake when handbrake has been applied - things may fall into hole and disappear (it happened to me). Dust access to load bin area (when having a tarpaulin etc) fitted due to excessive space between tail gate bottom and load bin area. Very slow turn- around-time from VW on technical issues with Amarok. Off-road accessories on Amarok not easily available such as mag wheels/ rims due to hub holes not same as other manufacturers, wheel off set, caliper, wheel arch, available space on top of wheels, etc . Lifting of Amarok apparently not recommended and extremely restricted due to angle of drive shafts etc. And so the list can goes on and on and on...

I think I know whether the Amarok is a soft-roader or not. Remember, I own one. In my opinion it is a soft-roader. It is not as hard core a 4x4 bakkie as some of the other bakkies. It is more a Sandton type 4x4, but Mom will not be able to drive it because of the gearbox - trust me, my other half refuses to drive our Amarok because of the gearbox. She also struggles to get it into reverse as you have to use physical force for it to go into reverse. But i think i should keep quiet now. And no, I am not going to provide my home address.

[Uys]

Weak Points: Lots of owners complain about the gearbox. Serious synchronization problems with the gearbox on some Amaroks. My Amarok's gearbox is one of the problem gearboxes. .

Just after they were launched VW landed two containers full of gearboxes.....

[JerrydeLange]

So now that you have listed all your problems plus those of the other "lots of" or "some owners", do you feel that you have given a balanced view of the vehicle?

[Vossie]

So now that you have listed all your problems plus those of the other "lots of" or "some owners", do you feel that you have given a balanced view of the vehicle?

Exactly my question as well - see my response here! Yip - he posted this all over the VW section!

[JerrydeLange]

Just after they were launched VW landed two containers full of gearboxes.....

So was this meant to be a negative comment (VW knows that the gearboxes will fail and have ordered a lot of replacements) or as a positive comment (VW have planned ahead and already ordered spares so as not to inconvenience new owners)? And do you think VW will roll out a product which will cost them more money than they will make, seeing that repairs will be done under maintenance plan?

[Robbief]

Is it convenient to have to take your vehicle back to the dealers all the time to have it sorted out. This is not what we pay R400,000 or so for. Please note this not aimed at VW but all manufactures.

Robbie

[Vossie]

Robbie, what you say is true and sometimes that is enough to put one off a certain brand for life. And as you say - it is not limited to one brand only.

However, I seriously doubt that TLC 76 experienced all those problems personally. Also, one can take any make or model out there and do the same. It is - for instance - very easy to do a search on this forum for issues with, let's say, the Ford Ranger, and compile a long list of so-called weak points and very little strong points. Does it make the Ranger a bad vehicle? Or the Hi-Lux, or the Isuzu?

[SarelF]

Aan myself .......staan LC76 nie vir Land Cruiser nie en op sy profiel is niks van Amarok

[Mapome]

I think I can share some information on my experience with my Amarok and hopefully shed some information on the strong and weak points of the Amarok. Don't be surprised if you like my comments about the Amarok, but also, don't be surprised if you do not like my comments about the Amarok (Did some research on the experiences of Amarok owners as well). Where did you do this research?

Firstly, I own a 2011 model, 2.O BiTDI VW Amarok D/C 4M Highline which I bought new earlier this year. I have the same one, so see my comments below.

Amarok Strong Points: A very comfortable drive on tar and gravel. Upmarket interior for a bakkie. That's all you got? Gheez, why did you buy it then?

Weak Points: Lots of owners complain about the gearbox. Serious synchronization problems with the gearbox on some Amaroks. My Amarok's gearbox is one of the problem gearboxes. It has been mentioned many times here that the Amarok's gearbox needs to be run in. If you have a serious problem, I am sorry, melons happen.
Paint is extremely soft - one look at it and it could jump off. I look at my Amarok every day, never seen the paint jump off, did you smash yours that you know this?
Some owners complaint about ECU adjustment after 1st service during which power and performance significantly went down. This has been discussed many times on the forum, please see those threads.
Electrical problems such as fuses blowing. Never experienced this.
Excessive wind noise from top of rear doors on some Amaroks. It's big, wind makes a noise blowing over it. It's still one of the quietest bakkies around.
Leaking doors on some of the Amaroks. Mine is perfect.
Noisy window operation of front windows. Left front window noisy when open whilst driving (seems to be under stress). Define noisy.
Coins, bank cards etc may disappear from center console due to excessive gap between console area and center console box. Why are there loose coins and cards in your car? I have no idea what gap you are referrring to.
Large hole underneath handbrake when handbrake has been applied - things may fall into hole and disappear (it happened to me). Like disappearing into the great abyss? What hole are you talking about?
Dust access to load bin area (when having a tarpaulin etc) fitted due to excessive space between tail gate bottom and load bin area. A problem on most bakkies.
Very slow turn- around-time from VW on technical issues with Amarok. This is true of most manufacturers.
Off-road accessories on Amarok not easily available such as mag wheels/ rims due to hub holes not same as other manufacturers, wheel off set, caliper, wheel arch, available space on top of wheels, etc . Lifting of Amarok apparently not recommended and extremely restricted due to angle of drive shafts etc. And so the list can goes on and on and on... Not sure if I agree, have seen loads of Amaroks on the net fitted with various offroad accessories, also see the Voetspore Amarok.

I think I know whether the Amarok is a soft-roader or not. Remember, I own one. In my opinion it is a soft-roader. It is not as hard core a 4x4 bakkie as some of the other bakkies. It is more a Sandton type 4x4, but Mom will not be able to drive it because of the gearbox - trust me, my other half refuses to drive our Amarok because of the gearbox. We are two women in the house who drive the Amarok - I don't see the problem here. Sure it's different from other cars, but it is definitely not undriveable. I actually really like the gearbox.
She also struggles to get it into reverse as you have to use physical force for it to go into reverse. Never experienced this.
But i think i should keep quiet now. And no, I am not going to provide my home address.

What exactly was the purpose of this post? To tell everyone how much you hate your Amarok? Did you not test drive it before you bought it?

I love my Amarok, it is an awesome ride! I am sure most other Amarok drivers also love theirs.

[gavinlg]

This is definitely not a toyota marketing team troll...

[Sawdust]

This is definitely not a toyota marketing team troll...

Speaking of which...

[HannesS]

Dink die Amarok is 'n great bakkie maar ek sal maar wag vir generasie 2 voordat ek ene koop, met enige nuwe reeks sal daar maar foute wees en ek is seker VW sal hulle uitsort.

Ek sal verwag het dat brandstof verbruik ook 'n sterkpunt sal wees want dis waar die Amarok ver voor is klink dit.

[Vossie]

This is definitely not a toyota marketing team troll...

What makes you so sure, Gavin?

[stephenplumb]

Well if this owner has had a bad experience I guess it is his right to complain. I have had much grief with mine and got crap service from VW. I do now have a letter from VW stating that the vehicle is covered with a 120k warrantee. This may yet come in useful.

I also had a huge fight with VW until I got hold of a reasonable person. (Bodin seems to be the regional sales manager for VW commercial in JHB) Once he was on board I was sorted out to my satisfaction right smartly. Since then things have been going well. Toyota seems to have very bad rep wrt to customer service based on posting on the forum, and my Ford experience was no picnic, so I don't think this is unique to VW.

I would also agree re the soft roader. It is too close to the ground and the sheer size of the thing means it is not in the discovery/defender level of ability, but for me it can get to the places I need without getting stuck in soft sand etc. so I am happy.

I think the dust in the canopy is an issue. Haven't has time to have a proper look into this yet, but it has huge gaps around the tailgate. These gaps are definitely bigger than competitors and my previous vehicles.

Re the trim, I nearly lost a business card between the gaps mentioned, now I am more careful where I put things.

As for the gearbox, this is a fairly high torque engine running without a torque convertor. What are you comparing it to? Compared to a defender/serIII this is like silk. Compared to a toyota tazz I guess it is a bit clunky. It is certainly better than its predecessor for me a 4lt V6 Ford.

I must say that on balance I am pretty happy with mine and love the large interior, huge load bin and general refinement. I just wish I had an auto shifter as the whole changing gears thing is so passé.

If I were to nit pick, I also prefer the way with manual locking hubs you could select low range for slow speed operations without winding up the diffs, but this is common to most part time 4wds.

Cheers
Stephen

[Cobus80]

I would also agree re the soft roader. It is too close to the ground and the sheer size of the thing means it is not in the discovery/defender level of ability, but for me it can get to the places I need without getting stuck in soft sand etc. so I am happy.

Interesting, despite the SRA, low range, diff lock, and TC ? What do you consider to be a real 4x4?

Can you ever have enough clearance?

BTW the Disco3/4 is an enormous vehicle! It weighs in at something like 2.6 ton!

[idea40]

PTA LC 76 must be seriously p'd off about something, because his post (1st one on this thread) is so biased, that the one or two points he may have had, got lost in the noise and the tone of his post.

I own a 2010 model, 2.O BiTDI VW Amarok D/C 4M Highline which is due for its 45 000 km service now. It has had none (NOT ONE) problem of any kind so far. It is by a large margin the best vehicle I have ever owned. Even still, it is not perfect and I can think of a few things they can improve on the next version. Having said this, none of them are serious issues, while I can think of a list of strong points longer than my arm.

Two of my friends have bought Amaroks after experience with or driving in convoy with mine, the Amarok having recovered their vehicles (apparently 'serious hard roader' 4x4's) en route, some more than once while having used much less fuel for the trip.

And to those who think the Amarok is a soft roader... I'll just smile. :-)

[RiaanR]

I think I can share some information on my experience with my Amarok and hopefully shed some information on the strong and weak points of the Amarok. Don't be surprised if you like my comments about the Amarok, but also, don't be surprised if you do not like my comments about the Amarok (Did some research on the experiences of Amarok owners as well).

Firstly, I own a 2011 model, 2.O BiTDI VW Amarok D/C 4M Highline which I bought new earlier this year.

Amarok Strong Points: A very comfortable drive on tar and gravel. Upmarket interior for a bakkie.
...

I think you need to try harder on the strong points, you can do better

I love my Amarok, but then there 2 things I hate about mine.

1. Mine needs more power at higher speeds especially inclines.

2. It stalls very easily. Places where I should be able to idle up in 1st gear easily, it just loses power and stalls.

But no problems on the gear box, and reverse is very easy to select. I guess you have a problem gearbox .

O ja, and I did complain about my paint as well. I got one small chip that pealed a bit on my door. The dealer said they probably will have to respray the entire car, so I told them to rather leave it.

[KEKPIET]

Guys the dust issue is easy to fix. Go and visit Safari or any other offroad shop and for less than R500.00 fit a dust kit. The wind noise and water leaks above the front doors is true. Just go and see your dealer and they will fix it. The stiff clunky gearbox will smooth out soon, and mine is now as smooth as a baby's bum.
I also had issues with the dealer where I bought mine for crab service. My vehicle had its 45K service today at VW Menlyn, and what an experience. I even felt like go and buy all the service staff some drinks for appreciation for the super service. Please remember you can take your vehicle to any VW dealer for repairs or service. You don't have to settle for crab service from a dealer.

[stephenplumb]

I think the point re stalling is true. I have not tried the defender puma but they apparently have a very effective anti stall. There is a you tube video of it pulling a truck without a driver. I am sure that this is just a software thing that would be easy to sort out. You shouldn't have to apply the acc with a diesel, until the clutch is fully out, even up hill etc, and once it is out you should not stall on a hill in LR first no matter how steep when you are idling.

Re the Disco vs Amarok. The disco is a small vehicle. It may be heavy, but go and park next to one and see how much larger the amarok is. This coupled with the low clearance and long overhangs means that it is not in the same league. Sorry!

You need to decide is that sort of off roaring is your thing. For me I like the enormous load bay of the rok, and mostly I want to get to out of the way places like Kozi Bay and namibia where sand will be the main issue, which it deals with pretty well.

If you want to go toe to toe with a serious off roader, rock hopping etc, then you will be disappointed with the amarok because that is not its thing.

Cheers

[Vossie]

If you want to go toe to toe with a serious off roader, rock hopping etc, then you will be disappointed with the amarok because that is not its thing.

You are 100% correct here, Stephen. The Amarok was built/has the required features/abilities - to suit the bulk of the bakkie market and not for the few who has special requirements for an off road vehicle. (And this applies to nearly ALL 4x4 bakkies and SUV's). In essence, a D/C is basically a passenger car with a load bin instead of a boot - with the durability/capability of a commercial light truck/bakkie - and 4 wheel drive options.