I sold my Trafic to a salvage/auction company the other day. It was '03 with 127,000 miles on the clock. I granted it clemency at the turn of the year - it was resolved eventually with a second hand boost solenoid. This time it was fuel supply. I could have spent £900 having the system cleaned out and pump replaced - which might or might not have fixed it. Where does it end though?
I've replaced with a brand new Citroen Dispatch. The daft thing is that going brand new was easier than second hand. No deposit needed and a big balloon payment at the end whereas second hand would have needed at least 20% deposit with the risk of repair bills. I'm not a great lover of the idea of balloon payments but it gives me another 5 years to sort out my act. It's not the cheapest way of doing things but sometimes it's necessary to delay paying.
I calculated the cost of running my Trafic over the last three years including van hire to cover down time and factored in stuff like tax relief. I reckoned that over the next three years, I will only be paying out about an extra £140a month. However, I forgot to factor in the higher insurance cost for a new vehicle so it will be a bit higher than that.
I barely do 10,000 miles a year and intend to run it after the initial 5 year period. I have to sell it after 5 years but it can be sold and bought for the same price as a paper exercise I believe.