VW Amarok... Wheel oprions??

Why will costs be higher - costs for Toyos and Patrols etc are already over the top and will not be any worse. Finding a dealer in any given area might be an issue though.

Take a Toureg in for service and then a Prado and tell me who pays more? Parts will be dearer and harder to source imo.

Terrafirma,
You might want to go to check a few numbers.
Toureg TD servicing will cost $6442 over the first 150,000kLINK HERE
Prado TD servicing will cost $10,028 over the first 150,000k LINK HERE

2 reasons:
#1 VW servicing is every 15,000k or 12 months while Prado servicing is 10,000k or 6 months.
#2 VW parts are actually cheaper - eg diesel oil filters are $20, fuel filter $60 (my Tiguan uses the same filters and I service all my vehicles)

I agree that it may be harder to get it serviced outside the capital cities.

Cheers
Phil

Ok surprising there arent more VW 4wds on the road? Servicing is one thing, show me the figures on reliability ? I can tell you recent survey last week was world wide and Toyota finished 3rd Lexus 2nd, VW was well down. I think VW make a nice product but your stats dont convince me on overall running costs.

Terrafirma,

I'm not looking for an argument. But put it simply, I'm a Toyota and Nissan man - have been for 35 years - I've owned almost every series Landcruiser since 1976 and we've owned at least 6 Nissans. But I wouldn't buy a new one these days - the diesels aren't what they used to be. So I'm hanging onto my 2002 Landcruiser TD for the remote desert trips.

But when it came to updating my wife's car, we went shopping for another Xtrail or RAV and even looked at a second hand Lexus RX350.....but did our research and came away with my first European car - a VW Tiguan.

We bought the VW because it has the best safety features, better comfort, and better quality finish than the Japanese. None of the Japanese 4wds I looked at had a 5 star ANCAP. And we looked at the cost of ownership and the VW (we were surprised) comes out ahead. So we went for a VW.

Running costs:
Servicing: As above, VW is cheaper than Toyota, especially if you do less than 15,000k per year, as servicing is only required yearly. And with VW you get fully synthetic oil.
Tyres - the Amarok (205R16, 245/70R16) uses same sizes as the Hilux.
The Tiguan uses same size as the Xtrail - 215/65R16.
Insurance: the Tig cost $495 per year to insure for $38,000 - a fair bit cheaper than the Xtrail it replaced.
Fuel: Amarok uses less diesel than the Hilux (7.7 vs 8.3); The Tig uses 6.6, but VW specify 51 cetane, so BP Ultimate is preferred (costs a few cents more per litre).

Reliability....Toyota diesels aren't what they used to be....so much so I reckon if I were to buy a new Prado or 200series I'd consider a petrol one. They have had their fair share of injector failures, oil consumption problems, even holed pistons. But many other common rail diesels including VW have had injector/diesel fuel problems.

When it comes to reliability, I've scoured the VW forums, and have found nothing significant - VW have been making diesels a long time. I haven't found any Australian reliability surveys since 2006, and the American surveys have very few diesel vehicles. But the VWs have a lot of electronic gadgetry which is always a worry on remote desert trips - so I'll be keeping my Toyotas for that.

Your 2002 Cruiser is the car to have, ask the service managers? I agree on everything u say , just this thread started on the VW Ute, like the others trying to cash in on the Hilux success, ok fine but prove yourself. Common Rail diesels are vulnerable because u cant repair them .

I've just noticed this chit chat!

As I've mentioned before I own a 2006 Cruiser ute and will always stand by it for reliability and capability. For station work I think you can't go past them.

I am trying too steer my mate away from this Amarok and the he should have something more proven for bush work and as we know many more factors too as you both have mentioned. And with Phil's feedback I hope this will convince him!

And believe me I think he is crazy for choosing a VW for mine/ surveying related work! And for thinking that split rims would fit the Amarok. CRAZY!!

I do agree about common rail systems issues - U just can't BEAT an old diesel donk!

Again cheers for ya feedback

Matthew

PS, have you seen the Australian VWwatercooled forum - it has a section on the Amarok.
http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/forum.php

PCD?

I know I'm not the brightest bet wha does PCD actually stand for?

I know this has to do with the wheel description, number of holes, offest from center etc .

Thanks in advance,

Michael

Gday Michael,
If you google it, you'll find it stands for Pussy Cat Dolls.......but that's not right :-)

It stands for Pitch Circle Diameter which is the diameter of an imaginary circle drawn through the centre of the nut/stud holes in the mounting face of the wheel.

Thanks to snoopy2 we now all know what PCD means.
I hate it when people use abbreviations, jargon or some other form of shortened venacular to describe something. I think that it is an ignorant attitude when people use these terms in every day conversation assuming that everyone understands what they are talking about, in some circumstances they may as well be speaking russian.
Their use in situations where those privy to the conversation are well versed or experienced in their use such as relevant trades, business or profession is quite accetable. It is even worse when those who are trying to explain or describe how something works doesn't know what the jargon means, tried buy a computer, mobile phone, big tv or a car recently and you will know what I mean.
Whille I'm at it why do designers and or manufacturers use convoluted terms to describe something then use a series of letters that further confuses. The above is a good example, why not call it what it is, the wheel stud diamater or should that be the WSD?

There got that of my chest!!!

So you hate TLA's then?



(Three Letter Acronyms) just so you don't blow a gasket :-)

Gday Dindy,
Fair comment which I accept. Glad you've got it off your chest :-)

But "wheel stud diameter" would be 14mm.......if it actually had studs.
But VW's don't use "studs" - they use "lug bolts" as in the picture below.

Just the way it is!

Cheers
Phil

nice one Mike!

Gday Matthew,

The other difference that stops you from putting most aftermarket wheels is that the VW use 14x1.5mm ball lugs rather than tapered nuts. So the wheels you buy have to have a seat that is ball shaped. Also the length of the lug nut needs to matched to the thickness of the wheel. So a steel wheel will need shorter lug nuts than a mag. The following photo lifted of Ebay shows what I mean:

Hi Matthew, I do not know if you have seen the Amarok in the flesh? But the under side of them is pretty impressive, I have test driven one, they might be IFS but the bash plates are unreal, plus the chassis is huge and also the axle/diff housing.
I was keen until they told me the Trendline starts at $53K instead of what was put out at $47K, they is also a couple of other thinks I did not like the clutch, takes up to early for me and there was more turbo lag then I thought it should have, but then again I chirped the rear wheels when I worked the clutch a bit hahahaha.
But your right when you say it is not good for your mates jog........to blood nice to go getting scratches all over it hahaha

Afternoon Bruce,

We did have a look underneath and was impressed with the underneath protection and yes the chassis is decent. I didn't drive it but the I saw how the clutch worked. A bit poor in my opinion. I don't like push button 4x4 activation and the bloke showed as some thing that you don't need the accelerator pedal for steep climbs. some new technology thing...

But it looks great inside and plenty of room too.

I think they will sell like hot cakes but the new generation of 4x4 vehicles make it too easy. But this will make 4wding easier for the CITY folk!

thanks

Your right about being built for the City Folks Matthew, we will probaly buy a new D.Max, I have had such a great run out of our two Isuzu MUs hard to go past the Isuzu.
Have a nice Sunday arvo mate