Any tips for buying used Amarok?

[iamaRok]

Hi all, I'm new here and currently in market for late model Amarok & would appreciate some tips on what to look out for.

Also, any comments on these 2 I've found?

Option 1: 2016 (MY17) 4x4 Core - located at VW used car dealer, low kms, car previously owned by "VW Australia Fleet" - what does this mean?

Option 2: 2018 (MY19) 4x4 Core - private sale, very low kms, only issue was DPF warning light came on - took to dealer who revved/warmed engine to clean it out - is this common for low use? and would I anticipate further issues with DPF with this issue happening so soon?

cheers,
Jim

[doinitsideways]

V6? 2Lt? manual or auto??


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[winchy]

Run a mile if the DPF light came on.

[Lucas_R]

Regarding the DPF light on the 2nd option - this is common on cars that do mainly city driving as the DPF often does not get the opportunity to clean itself properly before the engine is turned off. We have had a few issues with the DPF on our car in the 18 months or so that we have owned it - a bit of a pain in the butt if im honest but something VW/Audi could fix by having a warning come up on the dash when the DPF is doing a clean (like Toyota and several other brands do).

[Sharkie]

If you want to use it for some more adventurous off-roading, get the manual.

In the Core 2.0TDI it has a proper low range function on the manual. Also, as of end Jan 2020, the V6 Core is now also available with the low range manual gearbox. $50K for the V6, less than $38K for a new Core 2.0TDI.

None of the auto's have any form of low range.

[iamaRok]

Thanks, yeah a warning light that tells you to keep driving while its cleaning itself sounds smart, rather than a light that tells you something is already wrong.

So when the Amarok DPF light comes on, does that mean a good run down the freeway will fix it; or does it require a visit to the dealer to repair/fix and clear codes?

trying to gauge how inconvenient and costly this could potentially be.

[iamaRok]

looking at 4cyl 2Ltr auto...
more of a recreational vehicle (not serious off-road); and wont be towing..
so i reckon the auto 4motion will suit our needs

[Lucas_R]

Thanks, yeah a warning light that tells you to keep driving while its cleaning itself sounds smart, rather than a light that tells you something is already wrong.

So when the Amarok DPF light comes on, does that mean a good run down the freeway will fix it; or does it require a visit to the dealer to repair/fix and clear codes?

trying to gauge how inconvenient and costly this could potentially be.

I've had both scenarios with mine. Basically (in my experience) when the light comes on your dash its time for a drive to let the DPF self clean (takes a good 15-20mins to clean once it starts, but you never know when it starts!!!) but its a fine line between a highway drive and a visit to the mechanic. I have had 2x trips to the mechanic to have the DPF burned off using software because the car simply refused to self clean.

Personally i will never buy another modern diesel again - I have had quite a bit of inconvenience and frustration with DPF issues on mine in the past 18 months. Although i shouldn't have to in a 4 yr old car (only done 45,000km mind you), i now use an app on Android called VAGDPF and a Carista OBD dongle to check the DPF every few days to see how full it is.

Now that the VAGDPF app tells me when the car is doing a DPF clean, I will go for a drive until it is finished (pretty annoying when you are 2 mins away from home when it starts though as is quite often the case) rather than turning the car off mid-clean.

Thankfully my costs have been low, but it's certainly an inconvenience having a new car that's having issues. And every time it happens you lose more trust in it.

[doinitsideways]

2018 v6 auto from new. 45000km here.

Never had an issue with dpf, however I drive 50km to work each day each way on the freeway.

I haven’t altered my driving to suit the DPF, but I notice the burn as the revs pickup at idle from 800ish to 950ish. But if I get home and it’s doing a burn I just turn it off... zero f’s given.

But if the dpf light has been on before, I’d run a mile or get someone with obd2 reader and vagdpf to check the status of the dpf.

Early model 2 litres had an issue with the timing belt cover, the serpentine belt would fail and get under the cover and throw off the timing belt... resulting in f’d engine. This was rectified in later models.

The early model 2L also have a problem with the AC pulley. You can get an upgraded pulley to replace it if it fails.

That’s about all I can think of at the moment.




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[Lucas_R]

2018 v6 auto from new. 45000km here.

Never had an issue with dpf, however I drive 50km to work each day each way on the freeway.

I haven’t altered my driving to suit the DPF, but I notice the burn as the revs pickup at idle from 800ish to 950ish. But if I get home and it’s doing a burn I just turn it off... zero f’s given.

50km on the freeway each way to/from work is perfect for a DPF burn off so its unlikely you will run into problems with that kind of driving.

My wife's work is about 25-30km away which isn't long enough for the engine to get up to temp and then trigger the burn off and then to allow the burn off time to finish which is why we have issues with ours. I have heard many people say they notice the idle RPM's are higher when doing a burn but my car (also V6 TDI but in the Audi SQ5) is no different to normal. Before i had the VAGDPF app, the only way i knew we interrupted a DPF burn was that the fans would be running like crazy when you turned the engine off (but you cant hear them with the engine running).

My car does a DPF burn off much more regularly than I was expecting (based off reading peoples experiences with other TDI cars). When stock it was approx every 500-600km, but now that it's got a stage 1 tune it's producing more power = more soot so it's filling up more quickly, so it's now approx every 400-500km.

[doinitsideways]

It is a bit deceiving though... of all manufacturers... not just VW.

Not once did the sales team advise that the car had to be driven for X amount etc to maintain functioning of the DPF.

Of course, if they did, we probably wouldn’t buy them... haha.


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[iamaRok]

The hunt continues... does anyone know if there's a test/report the VW dealer can do to let me know if a used Amarok (low kms) has had any DPF issues? I have a report that tells me the current ash level is 0.01L and soot level 10.5g. Is that enough info, or should i ask for something else?

[Transporter]

The hunt continues... does anyone know if there's a test/report the VW dealer can do to let me know if a used Amarok (low kms) has had any DPF issues? I have a report that tells me the current ash level is 0.01L and soot level 10.5g. Is that enough info, or should i ask for something else?

The numbers are good. You can have and independent prepurchase inspection done rather than relay on the selling dealer.

[iamaRok]

Thanks, yeah have been considering that, will look into whether they inspect these types of issues and what kind of information they can provide.

[Lucas_R]

The hunt continues... does anyone know if there's a test/report the VW dealer can do to let me know if a used Amarok (low kms) has had any DPF issues? I have a report that tells me the current ash level is 0.01L and soot level 10.5g. Is that enough info, or should i ask for something else?

Soot level/mass of 10 grams is quite low which means it must have done a regen recently (or not been driven much since last regen). When my car does a full regen the soot mass goes down to about 8.5 grams but within 100km or so its up to 10 grams again and keeps climbing. Generally when the soot level gets to around 20-22 grams is when my car will start a regen.

Good thing on the V6 TDI engine is that the DPF's (2 of them, side by side) are very easy to remove (no more than 15-20mins if you are even remotely handy) and you can either blast it out with a pressure cleaner (or even a hose will help) or use one of the chemical cleaners like Liqui-Moly etc to do a clean on it. I had to do this to my V6 TDI a few months ago after my DPF failed to regen and car went into limp mode.

I would be very surprised if any pre purchase inspection would give you specific DPF information. I can only imagine this might happen if you specifically ask for it (and no doubt pay extra), or the inspection is done by a VW/Audi specialist and the inspector has VCDS or another suitable device to obtain that level of information from the cars ECU.