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January 11, 2012

Well, the Previa I bought 3 or 4 years ago is starting to show its age - 183,000 miles and just gone in for its annual MOT.

I knew the shock absorbers were at the end of their life - right enough - a s et of 4 needed.

A bit of the bodywork chassis supporting the rear suspension needs a plate welded on - anyone here had anything similar?

Other wee bits and so on of repairs.... nothing major by themselves.

Its been overheating and losing water so thats been traced to a new radiator (£200) required. The oil leak is a new rocker cover gasket required. Then a service is well overdue as its done 30,000 miles since the last service :eek: :eek: .

All in the cost may grow to £600- £800. So I look at the sale prices of 1996/7 Previas and they are selling at £600 to £900 !!! As my pals at the garage said, picking another previa may be a cheaper option but then again you don't know what problems the car may have..... so do I go with repairing the existing car or strike out and buy another, keeping the 1997 one for spares ?? At the moment my gut says stick with the car you know and have spent a couple of thousand on over the past 4 years getting it to a state that I wanted.

January 11, 2012

Well, the Previa I bought 3 or 4 years ago is starting to show its age - 183,000 miles and just gone in for its annual MOT.
I knew the shock absorbers were at the end of their life - right enough - a s et of 4 needed.
A bit of the bodywork chassis supporting the rear suspension needs a plate welded on - anyone here had anything similar?
Other wee bits and so on of repairs.... nothing major by themselves.
Its been overheating and losing water so thats been traced to a new radiator (£200) required. The oil leak is a new rocker cover gasket required. Then a service is well overdue as its done 30,000 miles since the last service :eek: .
All in the cost may grow to £600- £800. So I look at the sale prices of 1996/7 Previas and they are selling at £600 to £900 !!! As my pals at the garage said, picking another previa may be a cheaper option but then again you don't know what problems the car may have..... so do I go with repairing the existing car or strike out and buy another, keeping the 1997 one for spares ?? At the moment my gut says stick with the car you know and have spent a couple of thousand on over the past 4 years getting it to a state that I wanted.

Better the Devil you know I say mate! Keep the car. I was gonna change my 209k Polo TDi for a newer one but the engine is a sweet as a nut and I've always used the best oils I could get my hands on for the old girl! It needed 2 new bushes to pass its last MOT (About 2 weeks ago) and that was it! Not bad really as this was the 1st one its ever failed. Gotta have 2 new wings as they have started to rust but VW are giving me 70% towards the cost of them. I changed the rocker cover as it was leaking and thats about it really apart from discs and pads.

Or keep your car as a donor for a new one! Thats if you can pick up another one for cheap money :thumbsup: