VW Amarok...Would ya?

My brother in law just returned from Honduras and rented one of these with the diesel engine. Says he would trade in his Taco in a heartbeat if they were available here.

http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2010/04/volkswagen-amarok-pricing-starts-at-around-35k/comments/page/2/

 

not me

 

absolutely not

 

why not? Looks? or just the fact that it is a VW?

 

I like the mpg stats but that's about it. Maybe if there was a nice aftermarket engine support....

 

Its mostly looks lol. Plus is it unibody?

 

Why not a Toyota Hilux (Tacoma) Diesel... These vehicles get 30-35 mpg, can tow 5000lbs., and will last 300000+ miles. Also, they cost about the same as a comparably equipped gas Tacoma. That way beats the $40k+ VW sissy truck.

The real problem is that neither the Toyota or the VW diesel trucks are available in the US market. In fact there are no small diesel trucks available in the US market.

Sigh.

 

X10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 

The real problem is that neither the Toyota or the VW diesel trucks are available in the US market. In fact there are no small diesel trucks available in the US market.

X2 - WTF?

 

No.

 

ugh, i hate the girly look these companies are coming out with...

 

Lame, wouldnt even consider trading my taco for it. Also looking at the prices I am glad I don't live in Europe, wow talk about overpriced

 

You've got the price range wrong there. Outside of the US cars sell for a ton more due to the fact that they heavily taxed by the government. If it were to be produced in Mexico or in the US (to by pass the chicken tax) it would sell for the same if not less than the Tacoma. It is impossible to directly compare prices by conversion due to the taxes so you have to compare prices locally not across countries with simple exchange rate conversions like they lazyily did in the Pickuptrucks.com article... That was just bad reporting in my book.

I am originally from South Africa where these are sold where they cost less the the comparable Hilux. When I was there earlier this year I saw a bunch of demo models and they look really nice.

The Hilux Raider Doublecab (2.5 4 cyl diesel) starts at 320,000 ZAR compared to Base Amarok Doublecab (2L 4 Cyl diesel) at 316,000 ZAR.

Additionally the Amarok can handle a lot more weight than the Hilux. Braked trailer max of 2800kg vs 1500kg s well as having a higher payload capacity.

Lastly in comparing these two the Amarok at 90Kw puts out more power than the Hilux at 75Kw. (I'm too lazy to convert all these figure to Imperial units right now but if it interests you please feel free to google it)

Note that these were also used in the most recent Dakar in their stock settings as support trucks and survived.

It would be great that if before starting to bash products they have never seen or tested they would do some research and actually provide facts as opposed to useless mis-information. That's the reason people get these false facts to begin with.

Personally if it was offered in the US I would trade my Tacoma for it in a second. I can't wait to actually get to test drive one when I go back this Christmas.

 

no thank you...

i for one hate vw... have worked on so many of them, so many stupid little problems that turn into crazy big expensive problems...

 

Yeah, it is a bit difficult to compare the Toy Hilux to a vehicle that is not out yet and hard to obtain accurate specs. But I did get some specs from the manufacturers websites and made a little table (converting everything to USA measurements for ease of understanding for us Yanks)...


Specs Compared Toyota Hilux VW Amarok
-----------------------------------------------------------
Price (US dollars) $28,404.00 $41,303.00
Engine 3.0 litre 2.0 litre
Towing cap. (US lbs) 4961 6172
Torque (Foot Lbs) 252 @1400rpm 295 @1500rpm
Fuel Economy (mpg) 34.03 28.57

** VW Amarak prices and specifications will be confirmed nearer the Amarok’s launch (according to VW disclaimer).

Sources for the information in this table: Toyota UK VW UK

So now what do you think?

 

I'd rather have a the 3.0L diesel out of the Grand Cherokee.

215hp, 379ft/lbs of torque from 1600-2800rpms and 20-25mpg.


Fuck yeah!

 

It's not quite an unreleased vehicle as it already available in a number of other countries. Hence why I used prices from VW.co.za and Toyota.co.za where both vehicles are currently available and have prices listed for all comparable options.

Second that is a completely unrealistic price for the 3.0 litre DC. Where did you get your numbers the correct "retail" value is ~23,000 GBP which converts to 36282 USD. You used the price for the absolute base single cab 2.5 diesel to get to 28404. Please use accurate facts.

Third no where did I see a number on VW.co.uk's site where they list a prospective price. If am incorrect, please correct me.

Here's a little chart based of information from the South African sites:
Note that cars in South Africa cost roughly double of their US counterparts.

I am comparing the two base DC models of each for the comparison below.

Amarok DC 2.0 TDi Hilux DC 2.5 Diesel D-4D (both are 4x2)
Price: R316800= $45000 R320100=$45400
Power: 90KW = 120HP 75KW = 100HP
Torque: 340 Nm = 250 Ft-lbs 260 Nm = 191 Ft-lbs (1500-2500rpm)
MPG's: 30.55 mpg Couldn't find (combined avg.)
Towing: 6172 lbs 3306 lbs



I am not trying to start a war here, just using facts. I am not a VW fanboy what so ever, Hence the fact that I own a Tacoma myself but if this were on the market here given the gas mileage of the Tacoma in comparison to a Vehicle that other then acceleration seems to match the DC Tacoma beat for beat, it would be hard not to want it.

Clearly though VW has positioned this vehicle to competitive in its selective markets and if it were to sell in the US would do the same, they woudl be stupid to price it so far above the frontier and Tacoma.

The reason that they will not sell it here is two fold.
1st. the chicken tax. A 25% tax on any "light trucks" originally imposed under President Johnson in '63 that has since not been repealed.
2nd. for it to be economically viable to sell the Amarok here in the US, they would need to be able to sell 100,000 units a year. This is roughly the same as the number of Tacoma's sold every year.
Therefore we will likely never see an Amarok in the US making this a fruitless argument.
(I can't find the original article now though unfortunately)

Sources:
http://www.toyota.co.za/VehicleSpecification.aspx?VehicleModelID=38
http://www.vwcommercial.co.za/models/amarok/prices-and-options/
http://www.vwcommercial.co.za/models/amarok/specifications/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax

 

Personally I wouldn't want a diesel with only 122 hp. The flywheel torque is high, but you can gear to get any torque value you want.

 

I agree it looks like a jetta.........
i hope the new tacoma looks like the 5th gen 4runner ......not the hilux!