Let's go back a few weeks .... ⏳
Suki was booked into have her annual service, MoT and habitation check. We had stripped everything out of her that might get in the way when the mechanics need to get into all the tight spaces to check the body for damp etc.
Claire took a turn around the used and new vans on the kit and decided that we should see what trade-in we could get....
The figure was pretty decent. We could probably have got a bit more privately but would we have sold when we needed to.
She also saw an Elddis Autoquest 175 on the lot. It's a 2019 model. So only 4 years old in June this year. The 175 is based around the Peugeot Boxer front end. This is the face lived version that was introduced in 2016.
Where Suki is a Majestic model made for a dealer and comes with unique decals and a silver front cab, the Autoquest is plain white.
I looked at a van conversion based on a 2017 Renault. It was in good condition and had the loo/shower that we want but was a little pricey. It would though get us through many height restricted parking 🅿️ places.
In the end the Autoquest was in really good condition. As it ought to be. It's 7.2m long compared to the 115's 5.71m.
So we decided to buy it! Gulp.
A deposit was paid. We decided that as the road tax and insurance on Suki needed to be renewed on April 1st that we should have the handover on the same date.
So instead of leaving Suki for her workshop visit, we took her home again. She is taxed until the aforementioned April 1st and the MoT until March 24th...
I spent a few days trying to get insurance for the 175. What should be easy was nade very difficult. Online and then hours on the phone finally got a quotation we were happy with and paid.
Forward a week. We packed most things back into Suki for our trip to Fen Farm at East Mersea - blogged elsewhere.
Forward another week...
We arrived home too late on Friday 24th March to take Suki to Rye. We spent a hectic hour unloading everything personal and stacking it up in the hall and garage.
I took off the Milenco mirror guards as we will need these on the 175. I almost forgot the Emovis tag from the windscreen. The clip is stuck solid but the tag slides off. I have a spare to put it in the 175.
On Saturday morning we had a quick look around and decided that we would leave the window blinds and the drinks tray that fits into the top of the central locker/glove box.
We have the external screen cover and the 175 has a different central space between the front seats.
The drive down to Rye was pretty straightforward. Parked up. I put the Milenco steering wheel lock on. After all Suki is still ours until the handover.
We went to the office and they brought the 175 around.
It's still waiting to go into the workshop to have the solar panel and reversing cameras fitted. It looks as all Elddis' since 2020 have a camera fitted into the Elddis badge on the back of the van. Not on ours!
We had pointed out a few things that need looking at. One is a chipped step. How the previous owners managed it is a mystery. Hopefully that can be fixed.
I took a last photo of Suki's dashboard to show the last mileage on the odometer.
And that's all for Suki.
So now we have to wait to see whether April 1st is doable. The finance is in place and we need to make a bank transfer when we know things are ready to go ahead.
I have already paid for the cameras to be fitted. The solar system is included in the balance to be paid.
So. What are we going to call the 175?
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