02 Apr 08
With two thousand miles under its belt, the Caravelle's 128bhp 2.5-litre engine seems to be loosening up nicely. The gearchange is quickening too. But one part of the Volkswagen's suspension seems to be loosening up a little too much: there's a faint knocking noise over speed bumps that suggests there's some play in the suspension bushes. We'll get it checked out in time for the next report.
Then, just when we thought we'd exorcised our minicab demons, another, more sinister, comparison was made with our Caravelle.
While parked in a church car park, it was mistaken for the private ambulance that normally picks up passengers who have permanently checked out from the hospital up the road. It was an easy mistake to make: the hospital used black VW Transporters, almost identical to the Caravelle and, since our car has darkened glass in the rear, from a distance it looked like the hearse.
Now this might be a bit Harold and Maude, but to my mind this revelation has added a degree of coolness to the VW's ownership and has fully justified our choice of black metallic paint and dark tinted windows.
Not that our VW Caravelle stays black for long. For some reason unbeknown to us, it's a magnet for dirt, barely staying clean for more than a day. This is a problem for a vehicle this big. Keeping it in sparkling condition requires nothing less that a team of car cleaners. Well, that's my excuse for not getting busy with the sponge and soap, anyway...
