...on a vehicle I'd had for less than 3 weeks and had a relatively good AA Appraisal from the dealer (torn C.V. boot, coolant mix low)
To prove the point the Steamer broke down on Saturday and the mechanic confirmed my suspicions that it's fuxx0red and blowing so much smoke I might as well paint daisies on the side and move to Takaka. So, I'm obviously in the process of getting my money back - but to make matters worse I realised I'd be stuck in the picturesque seaside village of Mapua for a couple of weeks at least with a gammy leg, unable to ride my bike or walk very far with no other transport. Not cool.
As it happened the head mechanic was looking at selling a petrol Estima which had been a workshop project (head gasket) his daughter had been using. I'd done some asking around and the guy had a really good reputation for honesty and good workmanship so after the hospital yesterday I took his Estima into the AA for FULL checkover.
The minor problems that were found (leaky strut) are getting fixed this morning and by the end of the week I should be the proud(ish) owner of yet another Toyota Estima, with a few improvements on the original. Firstly it's a 1997 (versus a 1992) with less k on the clock, and it's petrol rather than diesel. While I have no illusions that it's fuel consumption will be around that of the Interislander (see below) I'm feeling pretty wary and have really started to appreciate the aversion many people have to 90s turbo diesels.
Of course I agonised about buying what I really wanted (a diesel Hiace) but realistically on my sub-$5k budget the only place I'd get a decent choice of such things would be Auckland and I reckon a "sales trip" up there to find a suitable one and drive it back would easily burn $500. That's ignoring the problem that I can only hobble about and am going into surgery on Monday.
The other thing is even if I find a sub $5k Hiace in Auckland that doesn't look knackered there's still a good chance that it will be super high k and do some nasty diesel trick costing loads of dosh 6-12 months down the line. I think I have to accept that to get a decent Hiace you're going to be putting down $8-10k at least. Way out of my budget, so embarrassing minivan it is.
On the flipside there's some things I like about the Estimas
- they're comfortable to drive, have crumple zones (airbags too on this one) and are quite practical/ flexible for setting up as a van, camper or minibus for missions. They are also cheaper than normal vans because tradesmen are too embarrassed to own them. For more fun the Steamer mk2 is a widebody for extra space and I think it counts as the luxury version as it has wood grain, fairly expansive aircon, parking sonar and a frickin' super charger - yep a 4WD minivan with a supercharger 
From driving it yesterday I can safely say "it moves" - not Hearse fast but not bad for 2 tonnes of slug shaped minivan. Hence my Interislander fuel consumption comment
Here's the beast in the flesh. Sorry I don't have a high-res version that you can print out as a poster for your bedroom.
