Volkswagen Amarok review

Pickup trucks like the Volkswagen Amarok are getting more and more popular. Gone are the days of people putting up with stripped out, mud-plugging off-roaders. No, pickups these days also need to handle things like taking the kids to school and carting home the weekly shop. The Nissan Navara, Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger are all also out to do just that.

The Volkswagen Amarok gets off to a good start by being, well, a VW. It looks butch but classy outside, while inside you’d be hard-pressed to tell it from an (admittedly last-generation) VW Golf. It has the same dense, soft-touch plastics, silver and chrome accents and nicely damped switches. It really does feel a cut above most other pickups.

It gets a better-than-most infotainment system too. As standard, the Amarok gets VW’s 6.3-inch touchscreen system flanked by menu shortcut buttons. It features DAB radio, Bluetooth, a CD drive, SD card slot, USB and aux connections and is easy to navigate if not the sharpest to look at. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto come as standard too, making it even more familiar if needed. You can upgrade to a large system with built-in sat-nav, but we wouldn’t bother.

Unlike a lot of pickups, the Amarok comes in four-door double-cab form only, although most people buy this anyway. Importantly, four adults will sit inside with no complaints, while the driver gets a generous amount of both manual seat and wheel adjustment as standard. Things only become a little less comfortable if you add a third adult across the rear bench because shoulder room becomes tight.

There’s a reason you see lots of VW Amaroks about. Firstly, they have that classy VW badge on the bonnet, but inside they don’t look or feel much different to a Golf.

The Amarok’s load bay is good rather than great. That’s to say it’ll take a euro pallet between its wheel arches and carry up to 1146kg, which for the vast majority of buyers will be more than enough. However, if you’re often filling your pickup to the brim then there are alternatives that’ll ultimately carry as much as 100kg more.

However, the Volkswagen Amarok’s engine range is stronger than all its alternatives’. Rather than being four-cylinder engines, the Amarok comes exclusively with V6 diesel engines, which provide more low down pull for the toughest task. There are two to choose between – either a 204hp or 258hp 3.0-litre V6, both with an eight-speed automatic gearbox and all-wheel drive.

There isn’t a huge difference in the engines’ performance and both are smooth, but if you regularly tow then you might be glad of the 258hp versions slightly improved towing limit (3000 vs 3100kg) and greater low down pull. Whichever you buy, the Amarok is one of the comfier pickups on sale as well as having good grip and precise steering, although it still falls sort of a traditional SUV to drive on road.

If you like the sound of Volkswagen build quality, good space for a family and a decent set of hauling and towing figures then check our deals pages for the very best Volkswagen Amarok prices.