New owner of 2013 VW Amarok TDI420

[baskey]

Hello,

I recently purchased a 2013 VW Amarok TDI420 (at auction, no inspection, risky I know). It has an issue and I've been scouring the web trying to diagnose it, which is how I came across this forum. Anyway, I'll save that for a post in an appropriate section.

I bought this, lightly dented, dual cab ute to do some significant reno work in my house over the next year or so. I'm fairly handy/practical, don't mind getting my hands dirty under the hood or in a workshop, but this is my first time owning a VW and I don't have any specialist tools or any time to do the work myself (due to renovations). I'm no mechanic, and a bit of a newbie in some areas, but I can find my way around generally.

The first car I bought was a 2000 Alfa Romeo 156 (manual), and yes, clearly I'm glutton for punishment. All I can say is, I got it cheap and that it was a lot of fun to drive, until the gearbox stuck (occasionally). Luckily, I could wiggle myself under the front, undo one of the top gearbox (oil?) plugs, wiggle a long-handled screwdriver around and flick the stuck gear-drive/shifter(?) into neutral, and all would be good in the world again. When I bought it, the airbag-ECU had a fault. Found a replacement unit at a wreckers, swapped it out and all was good. Happy days.