Im in the market for a 4x4 dual cab ute. I have narrowed it down to Amarok high line and Hilux SR5.
Any opinions?
Im leaning towards Hilux at the moment as i like the shape, has reverse camera standard which will be useful in a big car and also has capped price $170 servicing. Im thinking that VW as it get older will lose value quicker than hilux as parts and servicing are expensive and will put people off. Also VW servicing is more.
If it was me , a Ford Ranger / Mazda. Drove a SR5 between Iron Knob and Glendambo (all dirt) and everyone complained about the seats and how much they sagged under load.
Overpriced and living on past reputation. My opinion only for what its worth.
Interesting, do you know what year model it was? The seats look good in the current model. They are sports style seats.
Not sure about over priced, i thought they were expensive compared to others too until i went and looked. Its currently on sale cheapest out of Ranger and Amarok. About $5k cheaper than ranger XLT.
I havnt driven any of them yet, that happens tomorrow. I sat in ranger, amarok and hilux and found the ranger interior uninspiring. The sat nav screen in the ranger is tiny. Ranger does come with a tow bar standard which is good, but they are not expensive to add. The amarok has the nicest interior, but i find the shape of the body a bit boxy.
I will be doing very little off road driving. Only a bit on the beach when i put my boat in on a sand ramp. I want the ute for carrying soil, building materials, rubbish to the tip etc as i am renovating a house and will be for the next few years. Im sick of messing up my SUV throwing stuff in the boot and also borrowing trailers. I have two young kids so need the dual cab to fit them.
Day to day will be driving around town seeing clients. Thats why i like the reverse camera in the hilux and also that it is narrower which will help parking. Hilux is good on fuel too compared to Ranger.
Its a tough decision as they are all pretty good! Its mostly the servicing parts and resale value putting my off Amarok.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by spookypt
Amarok has no low range. I test drove a ford ranger wildtrak and its driver ergonomics were woeful.
Spookypt
i have a 2013 ranger and jus completed a couple of thousand ks over a few days ive got a really buggered back and I felt pretty good after 8 hrs or so in the seat . I test drove a few 4x4 when looking for a new rig I drove the Isuzu .and hi lux and a couple of others around the same price range im stoked with the ranger so far .
pulls the car trailer and race at ease but I suspect others in this category would as well.
im averaging 9.8 litres per hundred mixed country and city driving . all I can suggest is sit and drive in as many different ones and make your own mind up but personally I love the ranga :-)
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I have also been checking out dual cab utes late;y, I understand the Hilux is to be replaced with a new model this year with better payload to match the others on the market, I like the Mazda bt50 myself which has Ranger underpinnings but more economical to purchase.
Just to play Devil's advocate here - have you checked out the ISUZU D-MAX? I used to work at a dealership (Service Department) and the number of people we had coming in after checking out the Hilux's (next door to us) and buying the D-Max was amazing.
ISUZU have just introduced Capped price servicing (have not even advertised it yet!) for all vehicles sold after January 1 2015!
M@
I have a bt50 as well had a redeo sent it back piece of **** wouldn't pull my trailer then Isuzu d max is a poor cousin to the redeo
amarok doesn't have kid seat [ harness unless you special order them this was 2 years ago
so I still have the bt50 & pull a trailer all day everyday & never had a problem except the battery died about 6 months ago
rob
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Amarok has 3 anchor points for kids seats on the ones I looked at.
Dmax has a pretty good looking special edition at the moment but there cap price servicing is a bit expensive. To me cap price servicing is one price for every service. I have it like that on my Mitsubishi and that's what's on the Hilux. Dmax have a different cap for each service, that's not capped price it's just publishing the standard service cost.
I didn't get to test drive today. I'm going on Thursday to test ranger, amet ok and Hilux.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by renovationinnov
I have a bt50 as well had a redeo sent it back piece of **** wouldn't pull my trailer then Isuzu d max is a poor cousin to the redeo
amarok doesn't have kid seat [ harness unless you special order them this was 2 years ago
so I still have the bt50 & pull a trailer all day everyday & never had a problem except the battery died about 6 months ago
rob
Have to agree reno, ive never driven a bt50 but my son in law is a builder in Brisbane and owns one and he travels all the way to the Gulf and Cape for building jobs, loaded up towing a trailer over some of the roughest roads you can imagine and he loves it, he put heavier springs in the rear and better shocks all around and it does the job for him, he wouldnt buy anything else for the money, i think they are under 40K.
The in-laws just bought a new Amarok fully loaded with the canopy. Very sedan-like on the back roads to our place but I haven't been off road. Interior is pretty good, very comfortable and they said good on fuel (TDI).
On a 4WD camping trip a few years ago I saw the previous model Amarok climbing Billy Goats Bluff up near Dargo. Fairly impressive for a first generation Volksy offroader.
To give you an idea...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Modena
Navara? I assume you are talking turbo diesels here?
yes . over the yrs ive avoided diesel's till I started going around the country side racing and using a mates turbo navara it completely changed my mindset on them . they are no longer slow oil burning rattles of engines of the past . the ranger can come up to a semi with the race car on back pull out and be doing 140 ks by the time you need to get back into your lane actually it will go faster lol.
around town and some country driving with no trailer im averaging around 9.8 lt per hundred with the aircon on mine has bull bar and canopy and on a trip with the trailer I can get it to around 12.6 lt per hundred been light on the foot . best ive got just as the fuel light comes on is just over 800 ks out of a tank .
cheers dean
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My company car is a D40 Navara, it has done some extremely hard trips 4WDing (rocks) has had many different people driving it, heavy trailers (3.5t) and has done 217,000 klms with out an issue, very comfortable on long trips, but can be skitich on corrigations. enough power for overtaking trucks without being scared.
Does the Amarok have reliability / build quality issues like some other VAG products?
I had issues with a 'VAG product' myself; issues were eventually sorted under warrantee, but took a long time and the dealer's attitude was not something I want to experience again. I've heard similar stories from other ex-owners.
Go with a Hilux.
Cheers,
Glen
Chalk and cheese to drive. The hilux was like driving an old truck in the desert, the Amarok is like driving a luxury SUV.
I test drove both on the same day and set out that morning with full intention to the buy the hilux. I knew pretty much as soon as pulled out of the driveway in the Hilux i wasnt going to buy one. Hilux just felt old. There is a new one coming out at the end of the year which hopefully for Toyota will be a big improvement, but I'm not wanting to wait till then. It was also interesting to find that when i spoke to a few friends who are tradies, they all said Hilux quality has gone down hill.
As far as reliability goes with the VW, it doesn't seem to be an issue from the research i did. I spoke to one person who said they had trouble, but that was in a car with over 250,000kms on it which i won't get even close to. Also found some complaints about clutch issues, but in all of them the people had be wading through salt water and probably pushing the car beyond its limits.
They had a trouble with belts early on, but this was sorted out pretty quickly.
Navara is a great car, but they have a new model coming out around May so i didnt want to have the car become old that quick.
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Any opinions on 4x4 utes?
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