My new/old toy - marmite but I love it.....

[spreadsheet monkey]

MadDad said:

Porker demo plus one owner for 13 years, 3.2 V6, full history ...a lot of car for less than £6k!!

That's a helluva deal. Keen to see how you get on with this car.

I'm hoping that the Panamera follows a similar price trajectory.

[BuzzBravado]

These now make a lot of sense for the price point they are in. I wonder how well they would suit a DIY'er.

[spreadsheet monkey]

BuzzBravado said:

These now make a lot of sense for the price point they are in. I wonder how well they would suit a DIY'er.

I would imagine it's comparable with maintaining a big-engined German exec saloon of a similar age. People manage to do their own servicing and maintenance on those, but obviously they are more complicated than the average car.

As others have said, the engine is the 3.2 VR6 from VW and is well understood. Assume there is no air suspension, so no air bags or compressors to worry about.

[MadDad]

spreadsheet monkey said:

BuzzBravado said:

These now make a lot of sense for the price point they are in. I wonder how well they would suit a DIY'er.

I would imagine it's comparable with maintaining a big-engined German exec saloon of a similar age. People manage to do their own servicing and maintenance on those, but obviously they are more complicated than the average car.

As others have said, the engine is the 3.2 VR6 from VW and is well understood. Assume there is no air suspension, so no air bags or compressors to worry about.

I think it depends on what work you would undertake as a DIY-er; servicing, brakes etc all straightforward, things like prop-bearings (which fail) are easy to do, ancillary belts and tensioners all easy enough to access, wheel bearings seem straightforward (not that I'm planning on finding out) - I am sure there are some tasks you wouldn't want to undertake but the majority of service items seem straightforward! Unlike my wifes Meriva (POS) where everything is 'leccy and even changing the brake pads required a 'chat' with the ECU!

Given the heart of the car is a VR6 engine with parts being widely available I'm hopeful it won't turn into an emotional journey of ownership but I'll let you know!

[scottos]

Thought it must be the same engine, looks like it's got a posher inlet manifold though! I've had a mk4 r32 and currently have a mk5, the noise those engines make is awesome. Even at low speeds and part throttle you get a lovely noise, im sure you're finding the same with the bus!

[TheJimi]

That's tremendous value for money, if it's as good as it looks.

Is it? What's the overall condition?

I'll be honest - I don't have the requisite fortitude to buy something like this.

[MadDad]

scottos said:

Thought it must be the same engine, looks like it's got a posher inlet manifold though! I've had a mk4 r32 and currently have a mk5, the noise those engines make is awesome. Even at low speeds and part throttle you get a lovely noise, im sure you're finding the same with the bus!

Oh ,yes, on tickover it's throaty but not 'rude' and under pressure it shouts a bit! - I spend a fair bit of time sat in traffic to/from the office, no need for the radio! ;-)

[TwistingMyMelon]

My father has a similar vintage V8 one, nice car, I really like it

[andye30m3]

I've recently occasionally found myself looking at Cayennes, I'd never seen the appeal until a couple of years ago when an OPC gave be the big engined Diesel one as a loan car whilst they serviced mine and I was really impressed.

I can't stretch do a diesel but at £5-6k the petrol cars are appealing, although as with most people the MPG is a bit of a concern, how bad is it on the V6? I could stomach low 20's as my BMW 330 only does 26mpg but wouldn't want to be doing much less

[MadDad]

TheJimi said:

That's tremendous value for money, if it's as good as it looks.

Is it? What's the overall condition?

I'll be honest - I don't have the requisite fortitude to buy something like this.

I'd describe it as 'honest' for a 13 year old family car, couple of scratches on the passenger side but nothing major, 'graze' on the o/s/f bumper where it's scuffed a post or something but not really noticeable but cleaner than most 2-3 year old cars. Inside is full leather, there are a few marks and a tiny hole in one of the rear seats - looks like a child has pushed a pencil through the leather or something, and a few areas where the trim has been worn through 13 years of use but overall it's as clean as it looks in the pictures. I'm torn on getting the little scratches fixed, at the moment it does not look like it's ever had any bodywork so all of the paint is the same age, I don't want to get the blemishes blown over and end up looking like a patchwork quilt!!

[MadDad]

andye30m3 said:

I've recently occasionally found myself looking at Cayennes, I'd never seen the appeal until a couple of years ago when an OPC gave be the big engined Diesel one as a loan car whilst they serviced mine and I was really impressed.

I can't stretch do a diesel but at £5-6k the petrol cars are appealing, although as with most people the MPG is a bit of a concern, how bad is it on the V6? I could stomach low 20's as my BMW 330 only does 26mpg but wouldn't want to be doing much less

It is extremely easy to live with, 3.2 gives 20-22 around town unless you pull away from junctions etc like you're being chased by a bear - then it's less frugal - I've not done many M'way miles yet but was averaging 24 mpg last week, that said I wasn't 'hanging around' so I think you could improve on that...

[AndySheff]

As many have said, including myself previously, I thought these were gopping when they came out but they've aged really well. Definitely a lot of car for the money.