That's a matter under serious discussion. First and foremost is wether or not we seriously want to consider upgrading tow vehicles. We're already at the limit for towing with the van, and we were looking at a hard body trailer (like we can afford one now). Upgrading to a small SUV would give us the capability to do that. But the other side of the coin is gas. More towing later means spending more on gas now.
Then there's the point that, when we bought the van, we had a big ol' dog, and needed the room. Now we've the three kids, but no dog, so moving to a sedan would give us some good gas savings.
Then there's the idea of the missus taking over the Mitsubishi Mirage, and I put the couple of hundred into gettting the pickup back in shape and using that until the debts from this are cleared. That would cost me a little more in gas sitting in traffic, but we'd save with her using the 4 banger for her running around compared to the van.
Then there's the whole trouble of "pretty much any work on the van requires pulling the engine" and wether we really want to prolong that suffering, or cut our losses. If we do repair it, do we go scrap, or rebuilt engine. A rebuilt comes with a good warranty ... in country. A scrap is pretty much replacing a blown, troublesome engine with one that's almost as old and has yet to blow ... and an unknown repair history.
It's a circular argument.
