2025 Volkswagen Amarok TDI500 Style review

There's always an urge to go for more. It's part of our human instinct to not settle quickly or easily. This seems particularly prevalent in Australia, where we lean towards top-spec models more often than not. Are we snobby with our brands and labels? Or more discerning and demanding with our hard-earned?

Either way, we've often got the dollars to spend and seem to be willing to spend it. This appetite would certainly be blighted by the current economic conditions, where money seems to be much harder to come by and easier to spend.

But for those who are planning on purchasing a new four-wheel-drive ute, they probably want to go all-in.

And when there is a diesel V6 engine available for the 2025 Volkswagen Amarok Style, along with higher spec levels to consider, there's a good chance that this particular model – the four-cylinder TDI500 Style – could be overlooked by prospective buyers.

Notwithstanding, there is a case to make for this Amarok.

Firstly, it's not exactly a low-spec offering. Style can be seen as the penultimate in the Amarok range, with a two-pronged offering of PanAmericana and Aventura above. But when you dig through the specifications, this lines up closely with the likes of a Ranger Wildtrak, which has been a perennial favourite since around 2011.

The Amarok Style is priced from $69,740 plus on-road costs, which makes it almost a clean $10,000 jump over the lower-specced Life variant with the same four-cylinder turbo diesel engine ($59,490). Buyers can consider opting for the torquier 3.0-litre V6 for a $4000 surcharge ($73,740), while the higher-spec PanAmericana comes with only the V6 at $78,990 plus on-road costs.

Finally, Aventura sits at the top of the tree, and can be had with either diesel V6 or 2.3-litre turbocharged petrol flavour for a range-topping $82,990 plus on-road costs.

So, there is a wide gamut of price points for the same vehicle, which shares a lot with the platform-sharing Ford Ranger.

On the inside, the Amarok Style has leather-look inserts for the dashboard and door cards, dual-zone air conditioning with rear air vents, an insulating windscreen, and microfibre 'ArtVelour' materials cover the seats with heating and electric adjustment for the driver.

Keyless entry and push-button start are included, and there is a full gamut of six driving modes to choose from in Style specification. The impressive 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster is used, and is matched to the larger 12-inch infotainment display.

Although, we don't get the upgraded eight-speaker sound system of the PanAmericana and Aventura here. Instead, we're slumming it with six speakers.

From the outside, a plastic drop-in tub liner is standard fit (although it is missing on this test vehicle). A sports bar and 12V power outlet in the tub round things out at the rear, while matrix LED headlights are a major inclusion for this model.

This comes atop of other standard kit that the Amarok Life enjoys, like rear privacy glass, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, electric folding and heated side mirrors, a locking and lift-assisted tailgate, carpeted floors, leather on the shifter and steering wheel, and tyre pressure monitoring.

Using Ford's latest Ranger platform underneath the Volkswagen-designed sheetmetal, the 2025 Amarok is one of the larger four-wheel-drive utes in the segment.

It's big in terms of exterior size and presence, but also in terms of interior space.

Now, a caveat here. Although a ute is quite big in terms of length and height, the amount of space you get inside still cannot match what you get with a medium-sized SUV – especially in the second row. This is the case for all four-wheel-drive utes, and something that a ute buyer should know and be at peace with.

In saying that, the interior of the Amarok is (for the segment) quite comfortable, spacious and well laid out. It's set apart from the closely related Ford Ranger as well, even if some important points carry over.

For example, the seats are essentially Ford seats, which is necessary to carry over safety elements like whiplash protection and airbag deployment. But in this case, the materials, foam design and densities are to Volkswagen's taste.

The big portrait-style infotainment display dominates the dashboard, but the addition of a sneaky glovebox in front of the passenger helps for storing stuff. For us, the emergency packet of baby wipes fits here nicely.

There's a wireless charging pad, USB-A and USB-C power outlets and a 12V plug, which are housed in a tight little storage nook underneath the infotainment display.

On top of that, you've got a fairly regular glovebox, along with two cupholders behind the rotary driving-mode selector.

In the second row, head room and leg room are in good supply for adult comfort and child seat compatibility. There are air vents available here, as well as power outlets, map pockets and room for bottles in the doors. In the middle, you've got a decent amount of room, but not great, and a pop-down armrest with cupholders. This needs quite a tug using that little fabric tab at the top.

According to the spec sheet of the Amarok on Volkswagen Australia's website, the Style grade should come with a drop-in style plastic tub liner, which protects the paint in the tub from scratching and damage. However, our tester was supplied without.

This specification Amarok is the first rung up the ladder to receive the larger 12-inch infotainment, while Life and lower get the (still big) 10.1-inch system in the same portrait orientation.

Size is everything, but my experience says you don't miss a whole lot by having the smaller display if you can't stretch up to Style specification. However, this system is still good. The interface is different to a Ford Ranger, even if the hardware isn't. It's a system that is simple to navigate, and houses a lot of your climate controls through the screen.

There are a handful of physical controls lower down, which are a piano-key style. But unlike the Ranger, almost all of the air-conditioning controls are accessed through a climate page on the display, which is inevitably less user-friendly.

Other physical buttons include parking assistance, hazard lights, driving assistance driving modes, and a volume dial.

The 12.3-inch digital cluster in front of the driver is nice and crispy, and something that only Ford Ranger Platinum and Raptor enjoy as standard kit. There's a handful of viewing modes that you can get through here as well, along with some important information like tyre pressure monitoring.

The Amarok is not offered with remote access or a companion app, and can't be logged into remotely.

A five-star ANCAP safety rating applies for the current-generation Volkswagen Amarok, which was garnered through testing in both Australia and Europe. It comes with a stamp of 2022, and the rating will expire in December 2028.

Owing to the identical structure and powertrain underneath the sheetmetal, a lot of the Amarok's five-star rating comes from testing done on the Ford Ranger. This was done in Australia by our local ANCAP, but some supplementary testing was done on the Amarok through the Europe-based Euro NCAP to complete the picture.

An 86 per cent adult protection rating is good, but it's bettered by 93 per cent for child occupant protection. Vulnerable road users (pedestrians) get a 74 per cent protection rating, while the onboard safety systems get an 83 per cent score.

On top of the five-star ANCAP rating, the 2025 Amarok is suitably endowed with safety technology for driving and in the event of a crash. There are nine airbags inside the vehicle, including knee airbags for the driver and front passenger, as well as a front centre airbag between the two front occupants. This is a relatively high number overall.

The 360-degree camera system in the Amarok works well for negotiating tight situations, but we had trouble turning parking sensors off when off-road. Turning them off also turned off the camera vision through the infotainment display, which is frustrating when you want to see what's happening, but not get beeped and bonged to death at the same time.

While there is a wide range of driver's technology available in the Amarok, as evidenced by the table below, the good news is that it doesn't tend to get in the way of everyday driving and scenarios.

The Volkswagen commercial vehicle range is covered by a five year, unlimited kilometre warranty, however vehicle used commercially (as ride-share, delivery or rentals) have a 150,000km distance limit applied. The first 12 months are covered by roadside assist, renewed at each service for a further 12 months.

Servicing the Amarok for three years averages out at $399 per year, which is on par with most others in the segment. Five years of capped-price servicing, which is as far as Volkswagen initially quotes, averages out at about the same at $403 per year. Prepaid servicing is also available with a one-off up-front payment of $1800 for five years

Comprehensive insurance costs $2260.80 for a comparative quote on this specification Amarok TDI500 Style for a 35-year-old male living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

Against an impressive claim of 7.2 litres per 100 kilometres, we saw an indicated average of 9.5L/100km. Our driving included a range of highway and suburban driving, along with a stint of off-road testing in low-range.

And while this four-cylinder engine cannot match the larger V6 for power and torque, it does offer cheaper running costs through lower general consumption. The V6 has a combined claim of 8.4L/100km, but previous real-world testing has seen it around the 10.5L/100km mark.

In isolation, this 2.0-litre is great, and offers enough performance and pizazz to get you around town and country. This is an engine and gearbox combination from Ford that has been refined and fettled over the last five years, and is now a more settled and refined offering than it originally was.

Responsiveness through the twin-turbocharging arrangement is good, and belies the relatively small capacity of the motor in a large vehicle. This situation is also helped by the 10-speed automatic gearbox, which offers a wide range of ratios to smoothly shuffle between. You can tell there are a few in the middle that are closely knit together, but having a short first gear and long, loping tenth for highway cruising is beneficial.

So if you're umming and aahing between four-cylinder and V6, it's easy to go in thinking 'big donk or nothing'. I certainly have those thoughts myself when considering what I would personally do. And if you're towing regularly, the additional torque and higher-capacity ease of the V6 would be beneficial.

For everyday driving, even with a loaded-up tub or middle-weight trailer, this smaller twin-turbocharged engine performs admirably and provides an edge of efficiency, value (and even refinement) over the V6 that needs to be considered.

Otherwise, this Amarok TDI500 Style offers a driving experience that is refined and elegant in comparison to the rest of the segment. There's still a bit of unladen jiggle from the ride, which is par for the course when you've got a circa-1000kg payload at the ready.

A small amount of weight in the tub of the Amarok would likely settle this down a bit, and you need to ask yourself this: If you're going to be driving a ute around unladen all the time, why the bloody hell are you buying a ute?

Steering and body control are good for the segment, and important elements of refinement that elevate the Amarok above some in the segment. But still, take this with a grain of salt, because no ute is as good as some of the best medium-sized SUVs in the segment.

This is just a fact of life when you have a vehicle designed to haul loads and tow trailers.

Off-road, the Amarok is mostly quite impressive. Some calibration of the cameras and sensors, in terms of the interface and control, could be improved to make the Amarok easier to drive through the bush. Particularly, easily controlling your parking sensors separately to the camera system would be an improvement.

Another improvement would be to allow the employment of some driving modes outside of low-range, just for some added flexibility. But good ground clearance, a locking differential, and an adept off-road traction-control system mean this Amarok is a solid off-road performer.

Its 3500kg of towing capacity is a good asset to have, and puts the Amarok on par with key competitors in the segment. However, buyers need to be aware that previously quoted payloads for the Amarok aren't necessarily accurate for real-world useage.

Instead of calculating the Amarok's payload from the kerb weight or unladen mass – something the Amarok's competitors do (as well as the previous-generation Amarok) – Volkswagen originally calculated this number from the vehicle's tare mass.

This calculation – of a 2271kg tare mass and 3280kg gross vehicle mass – yields a 1009kg payload, which is impressive but unlikely to be achieved in the real world.

Volkswagen has since recalculated its numbers, with the tare mass of this specification Amarok recently moving to 2286kg. But more importantly, we now have a listed kerb mass of 2345kg. This means you have an available payload of 935kg.

For those who want to tow the full 3500kg, keep this in mind because the towball downforce of a heavy trailer could easily account for one-third of your available payload.

And further to that, a 6350kg gross combination mass means the available payload of the vehicle is effectively reduced even further to 505kg when you're towing a 3500kg trailer. If you have 350kg of towball downforce on the vehicle, you only have 155kg of vehicle payload to spare.

There's a lot to like about this specification grade Amarok, which would likely be the most pragmatic choice in Volkswagen's range. Style adds plenty of specification punch, which suits the Amarok's positioning without going to the additional expense of PanAmericana or Aventura.

Life specification is available as well, for a significant drop in price compared to this Style offering. However, you do lose the likes of LED lighting, matrix headlights, an upgraded interior, larger infotainment display and the digital instrument cluster.

And while you might yearn for the V6 upgrade, this four-cylinder offering is competent, capable and neat.

While the Ford Ranger continued to sell its utter socks off in 2024, the Volkswagen Amarok is yet to see such levels of demand in Australia. And it's doing the German twin a disservice, because in just about every area, it's just as adept and compelling, while bringing its own flavour to the experience at the same time.

If you aren't wedded to the idea of a V6-powered Amarok, either the Life or Style TDI500 will be the variant you'll want to pick. However, Style is the only variant in the range where V6 power can be optioned up for a total of $4000.

And don't forget, Style lines up with (and in some cases exceeds) the Ranger Wildtrak for spec, whereas Life is closer to what you'll see with an XLS or XLT Ranger.

The next step on the purchase journey is to check the Volkswagen website for stock of your preferred Amarok variant. You can also find Volkswagens for sale at Drive Marketplace.

We strongly recommend taking a test drive at a dealership before committing because personal needs and tastes can differ. Find your nearest Volkswagen dealer via this link. We’d also recommend test-driving the Ford Ranger, as well as the Isuzu D-Max.

If you want to stay updated with everything that's happened to this car since our review, you'll find all the latest news here.