I acquired my TD5 "Millennium Limited Edition" back in May 2000. It was previously being used as a demonstrator by a dealer. It cost £28k and probably cost about £33k after I'd finished paying for it! I took the decision to sell her on last summer. Basically, in the 18 years I've had her anything that could go wrong, HAS gone wrong!! Everything from head gasket, turbo, clutch, fuel pump, air bags, gear box etc, etc. I've been on the back of more recovery trucks than I care to mention. This was on a vehicle that never missed a service and has only done 141k miles. Despite advertising her as "spares or repairs" I got no serious offers.
So, three weeks ago, I bit the bullet. She's had a third of the chassis replaced, towing equipment re-installed, both sun roof leaks repaired, new front bumper and repairs to front headlight washer jets, new auxiliary towing socket, dents removed from front bonnet and re-sprayed, port side rear door dent repair and re-sprayed, new dashboard lamps, welding to n/s/f wheel arch, diesel leak from fuel regulator repaired, bush on front suspension replaced, rubber boot on front suspension ball joint, new battery, air con pump repaired and re-gas, welding to o/s/f inner wheel arch area and sill area, renew leaky water pump, drivers heated seat element replaced and an MoT.
The invoice is enough to make your hair curl bearing in mind it wasn't worth £600 when we started!
But, She's good for another ten years now........hopefully!