Kangoo woes - what to do?

[Zutalors]

OK, so I get an e-mail from my sister, her beloved Kangoo has bit the dust. It's a 2001 1.9D and has suffered a cracked cylinder head. Mileage 120k. It's been recovered to a garage who can fix it for £1024, which is £475 for the head, plus labour, gaskets, fluids etc etc..

Now, she has found a head on eBay for £175, so she could supply it herself and save a bit, possibly by using a one-man band rather than pay garage rates. Or, she could just dispose of it as a non-runner and start again. She is savvy enough to know that as an older van it is less prone to electronic disasters that an HDI could be, but it's the age-old question; is she throwing good money after bad or would the consensus be that the old Renault 1.9D is a pretty solid lump and given a replacement head the van could be good for another 120,000?

Your advice, as always, is greatly appreciated.

Cheers'n'beers

Zutalors

[lexi]

It is a tough one that. For garage price: Only worth it if all else on van is rust free and good. Also assuming that there is not a lot of alternative choices of good vans for sale in your area. Other option is a chance.........only she can decide if worth taking. It always depends if you can take a gamble ......and afford to lose I think.

[Zutalors]

Well, she bit the bullet and got the replacement head fitted. Thanks to a very good bunch of guys at her local independent garage all went well and I must say the van sounds better than it ever did...presumably the cracked head was causing a compression loss and it wasn't developing as much power as it should. Going back for a tighten down in a few hundred miles and so far, it's looking good.