My son has his eye on one of these . Low mileage and all the extras including the cab preheat. My I have your views please ?

It uses an Audi/Porsche 3.0 V6 TDi engine so don't expect any maintenance or repairs to be cheap.

Check VERY carefully how any Amarok your son looks at is registered on its V5. Because of their weight (over 2,040kg) some get registered as Light Commercial Vehicles (category N1), instead of as a Dual Purpose Vehicle.

If it is registered as a cat 1 LCV, it means that lower speed limits on single-carriage A-roads (50mph) and dual-carriageways (60mph) apply to the vehicle. So your son could get speeding fines from fixed and mobile cameras while thinking he's sticking to the posted limits. If it's registered as a DPV, then lower limits don't apply.

In this case, it's simply because vehicle legislation has not kept up with vehicle development. An Amarok is really not much different in equipment and usage to a Range Rover, which also weighs in excess of the 2,040kg threshold that applies for LCVs. But a Range Rover would never be registered as an LCV.

There have been a few posts over on Pepipoo from motorists who have been hit with fines because of their vehicles have been incorrectly registered as LCVs instead of DPVs or car-derived vans. It is possible (but time-consuming) to get the DVLA to change the classification of an individual vehicle, but that won't make any previous speeding fines go away.

A simple check of the V5 before buying could save a lot of hassle later.

On the good and bad section of HJ, it says the type rating depends on the suspension specification. If it has the 'comfort' suspension, it is classed as a car not a commercial vehicle.