It sounds like you’re chasing a problem that is a bit elusive. If your initial suspicions were that the centre bearing was worn, what makes you think the rear universal joint is now the problem? You could spend a lot of time and money replacing things that, ultimately, don’t fix the problem.

The best advice is to take the car to a transmission specialist who will be able to diagnose what’s really going on and replace or repair those things. Even if the universal joint is worn out, replacing it can be a bit tricky as you have to maintain the driveshaft’s original alignment to avoid introducing new imbalance dramas into the equation. It’s not, therefore, as straight-forward as it looks on paper.

But don’t rule out a damaged, bent or unbalanced driveshaft as this can also cause the sort of symptoms that a worn universal joint can contribute.

You haven’t given me a lot to go on here, Matt. Is the vehicle a dual-cab, single-cab or cab-chassis? Is it two or four-wheel-drive? What trim level are we talking? Anyway, I’ll take an educated guess (based on the price) and suggest it’s a dual-cab all-wheel-drive. At which point, the price being asked seems about right for a vehicle with those kilometres. It does, however, sound like the licensed-dealer price, not a private-seller price. But again, I’m stabbing in the dark here.

Because some Volkswagen products from this era have a reliability cloud over them, the distance travelled is a big determinant of the asking price. More so than the year of manufacture, in fact.

Things to watch out for are gearbox problems and electronic glitches but, since the Amarok is an off-roader (and a pretty good one) you also need to learn how it’s been used by the previous owner. A heavily modified Amarok or one with a lift-kit, mud tyres and a dirty big winch bolted to the front of it is probably one to avoid when there are clean, never-been-off-road examples about for similar money.

You haven’t given me a lot to go on here, Matt. Is the vehicle a dual-cab, single-cab or cab-chassis? Is it two or four-wheel-drive? What trim level are we talking? Anyway, I’ll take an educated guess (based on the price) and suggest it’s a dual-cab all-wheel-drive. At which point, the price being asked seems about right for a vehicle with those kilometres. It does, however, sound like the licensed-dealer price, not a private-seller price. But again, I’m stabbing in the dark here.

Because some Volkswagen products from this era have a reliability cloud over them, the distance travelled is a big determinant of the asking price. More so than the year of manufacture, in fact.

Things to watch out for are gearbox problems and electronic glitches but, since the Amarok is an off-roader (and a pretty good one) you also need to learn how it’s been used by the previous owner. A heavily modified Amarok or one with a lift-kit, mud tyres and a dirty big winch bolted to the front of it is probably one to avoid when there are clean, never-been-off-road examples about for similar money.