I was inspired to write this report having read Tonys recent report when he bought an old Cayenne and nicknamed it ‘Blueberry’. A great read.
My wife Ann-Marie and I have been contemplating buying an old vehicle so that we could tow the village water bowser when required (we run the Village in Bloom group). It would be sat on the drive most of the year blocking it as a turn around for the hundreds of lazy delivery vehicle drivers who can’t be bothered use the end of the cul-de-sac to turn round. Grrrr. We set a measly budget of £4,000.
We looked at old Land Rovers and anything else with a tow bar fitted, but soon ruled them out because they were just not ‘right’ for various reasons. Apart from being very ‘old’ and high mileage, we soon realised that our budget wasn’t going to get us anything near a half decent vehicle.
My wife Ann-Marie has always yearned for one of big American style double cab pickups. Far too expensive just to tow a water bowser for the village!!
So how about we look for a Ford Ranger pickup like our neighbour Mike has, albeit his is only a couple of years old. Searching the interweb and these were coming up at silly prices with 150,000 miles on!!! We found one at a dealer (tripling the budget!!) in Burnley, but after a very short test drive, Rangers were ruled out as being far too tractor like for my tastes!
I wanted something more comfortable and easier to drive at my age.
Why not an early Cayenne? We were at the factory in Leipzig in 2003 just as they had been launched and we were blown away with their capability. We both agreed this would be an ideal solution and we could even use it at Porsche Club events if the weather was bad and thus leave the Targa tucked up in the garage nice and dry.
The first one I checked out with my friend Albert Walsh was a very early diesel that had clearly seen better days. Parked under trees, full of bird droppings and in a sorry state, bodily and mechanically. No thanks. Walk away.
Several prompted my interest on Autotrader and as luck would have it one popped up for sale at a car dealer only 10 miles away in Lytham St Annes. It sounded very promising and a quick call to Albert and we were away, having arranged for a viewing as it was by appointment only.
As soon as I saw it, I was hooked. It looked huge in Silver. A 2010 second generation (958) V6 diesel with black leather and just over 80k miles. A fully loaded launch model, with Panoramic roof, air suspension, Burmeister sound and all manner of toys to play with. Pity there was no tow bar, but this can be fitted later. Its not rust-free underneath as they all came from the factory without much protection, but that will be sorted. Of course, it’s not concours and we could have got one with another 50k miles for half the price, but it seems such a genuine looked after ‘beast’.
A deal was done, and the car was ours.
Far from it being the ‘shed’ we initially wanted to tow the village water bowser around its now become our favourite car to jump into and drive for everyday routine tasks. In just over 3 weeks we have done over 1,200 miles.
First task when I got it home was to clean it to my ‘very fussy’ standards. 4 hours alone on the inside! It looks great and I was very pleased with the outcome.
I thought my years of fettling with cars were well and truly over, given my chronic back problems, but with Ann-Marie's help I have really enjoyed getting it on my ramps and checking it all out. I’ve been underneath and wire brushed it where needed and applied a rust convertor called ‘ Ferro-bet Rust Remover – Rust Killer and Converter’. It worked a treat too. Now its finished converting and dry I will be applying a layer of Lanoguard during this week’s upcoming ‘heat wave’.
With a car of this age nothing is perfect but the dealer I bought it from uses a garage for repairs not too far from where we live and have been excellent in sorting out the issues under warranty.
When Ann-Marie drove it for the first time she said it felt huge and was indeed a beast of a car, but she mastered it easily. The affectionate name of ‘beast’ has now stuck. Quite surprisingly, local driving produces around 34mpg and on a decent run 42mpg can easily be achieved.
Neither of us have had old cars for many years and I am sure that in the fullness of time we may end up having the odd issue which will test our patience and our bank balance, but in the meantime it’s a race to see who gets the ‘beasts’ keys first!
PS I need a parcel shelf if anyone has one.
My wife Ann-Marie and I have been contemplating buying an old vehicle so that we could tow the village water bowser when required (we run the Village in Bloom group). It would be sat on the drive most of the year blocking it as a turn around for the hundreds of lazy delivery vehicle drivers who can’t be bothered use the end of the cul-de-sac to turn round. Grrrr. We set a measly budget of £4,000.
We looked at old Land Rovers and anything else with a tow bar fitted, but soon ruled them out because they were just not ‘right’ for various reasons. Apart from being very ‘old’ and high mileage, we soon realised that our budget wasn’t going to get us anything near a half decent vehicle.
My wife Ann-Marie has always yearned for one of big American style double cab pickups. Far too expensive just to tow a water bowser for the village!!
So how about we look for a Ford Ranger pickup like our neighbour Mike has, albeit his is only a couple of years old. Searching the interweb and these were coming up at silly prices with 150,000 miles on!!! We found one at a dealer (tripling the budget!!) in Burnley, but after a very short test drive, Rangers were ruled out as being far too tractor like for my tastes!
I wanted something more comfortable and easier to drive at my age.
Why not an early Cayenne? We were at the factory in Leipzig in 2003 just as they had been launched and we were blown away with their capability. We both agreed this would be an ideal solution and we could even use it at Porsche Club events if the weather was bad and thus leave the Targa tucked up in the garage nice and dry.
The first one I checked out with my friend Albert Walsh was a very early diesel that had clearly seen better days. Parked under trees, full of bird droppings and in a sorry state, bodily and mechanically. No thanks. Walk away.
Several prompted my interest on Autotrader and as luck would have it one popped up for sale at a car dealer only 10 miles away in Lytham St Annes. It sounded very promising and a quick call to Albert and we were away, having arranged for a viewing as it was by appointment only.
As soon as I saw it, I was hooked. It looked huge in Silver. A 2010 second generation (958) V6 diesel with black leather and just over 80k miles. A fully loaded launch model, with Panoramic roof, air suspension, Burmeister sound and all manner of toys to play with. Pity there was no tow bar, but this can be fitted later. Its not rust-free underneath as they all came from the factory without much protection, but that will be sorted. Of course, it’s not concours and we could have got one with another 50k miles for half the price, but it seems such a genuine looked after ‘beast’.
A deal was done, and the car was ours.
Far from it being the ‘shed’ we initially wanted to tow the village water bowser around its now become our favourite car to jump into and drive for everyday routine tasks. In just over 3 weeks we have done over 1,200 miles.
First task when I got it home was to clean it to my ‘very fussy’ standards. 4 hours alone on the inside! It looks great and I was very pleased with the outcome.
I thought my years of fettling with cars were well and truly over, given my chronic back problems, but with Ann-Marie's help I have really enjoyed getting it on my ramps and checking it all out. I’ve been underneath and wire brushed it where needed and applied a rust convertor called ‘ Ferro-bet Rust Remover – Rust Killer and Converter’. It worked a treat too. Now its finished converting and dry I will be applying a layer of Lanoguard during this week’s upcoming ‘heat wave’.
With a car of this age nothing is perfect but the dealer I bought it from uses a garage for repairs not too far from where we live and have been excellent in sorting out the issues under warranty.
- Both back doors would intermittently remain locked.
- Both actuators replaced
- Rear wiper failed to work.
- A complete new rear wiper motor, arm and blade fitted.
- One engine mounting replaced due slight vibration felt on steering wheel.
- This still needs to be resolved unfortunately.
When Ann-Marie drove it for the first time she said it felt huge and was indeed a beast of a car, but she mastered it easily. The affectionate name of ‘beast’ has now stuck. Quite surprisingly, local driving produces around 34mpg and on a decent run 42mpg can easily be achieved.
Neither of us have had old cars for many years and I am sure that in the fullness of time we may end up having the odd issue which will test our patience and our bank balance, but in the meantime it’s a race to see who gets the ‘beasts’ keys first!
PS I need a parcel shelf if anyone has one.
, perhaps because I had the same style on my previous one [
