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RPM TV Website | March 25, 2024

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Long-term Update: Volkswagen Amarok 2.0 TDI Trendline 4MOTION

Volkswagen Amarok
Adam Schoeman

Working car

Every few months, you realise that it is time to build or repair something in the house.

The urgency can depend on how much water is leaking from the geyser, or how much extra space is needed in the garage before a spring clean makes a trip to the rubbish dump necessary.

But I really only have two choices; phone an expert or do it myself.

I wouldn’t classify myself as the DIY type. I am good at other things and find that, through some skill barter where I tend my expertise in my field for money and then pay that money to plumber, I achieve some form of DIY.

But DIY projects aren’t billed by the hour, so sometimes it is impossible to avoid them, and this was the case with a trip to a large DIY chain store to buy some timber. Luckily I am currently the custodian of our Amarok 2.0 TDI Trendline 4MOTION long-termer, and after sussing out the dimensions of the load area I was ready to find some wood, or a wood substitute.

I am no fan of DIY stores, but this time there was something different about the experience; every piece of wood that I looked at could, with very little resistance, be loaded into the back of the Amarok. The cargo bay of the German bakkie is 1 222 mm wide between the wheel housings, and every piece of wood that I looked at was either 610 mm or 1 220 mm in width.

It was almost as if the loading bay was built with this sort of thing in mind.

I also needed to buy some extra-long rails which measured 2 700 mm and had no chance of fitting them into the load bay without an angle to tame some of the length. This means that they would not be secured by the confines of the back of the Amarok and would need to be tied down.

Once again, the Amarok offered a solution before I could even articulate the problem, as the loading area is littered with anchoring points.

All of a sudden I found myself walking past a geyser and thinking, hmm yes that I could fit it in the Amarok. Maybe we did need to put in that second geyser after all ..,

This bakkie does that to you: it reminds you that there is a world of casual DIY projects out there that you have not been able to tackle because you just don’t have the hauling capability. But now I do, and the house is in real danger of seeing some of the projects that I have been threatening to do, actually being done.

Of course there is an even bigger danger of my DIY enthusiasm losing momentum, in which case the Amarok has a 12V outlet and a rear-mounted light so I could still use it as a raised platform for a braai …

Own a Volkswagen Amarok? Let us know and we could be asking you to present what you like and dislike about the car on the show!

Check out more postings on this long-termer here

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