Day 154 – 16/10/2019 pausing a Midlife Adventure.
Well the morning started well with the RAA Roadside team arranging a rental car for me so off to the Airport to pick up the rental car whilst I find out what is happening with the Prado.
So into the mechanic who had already had it up on the hoist and inspected it and the news is well… crap!
There is a hole in the piston what has been pulling oil up from the crank and the motor is at best in need of a major rebuild at worse needing replacement.
So by 9:30am I am aware that today is not going to be a good day.
This is followed by more calls with RAA Roadside about the options with regards to transporting everything back to Adelaide and sort it out there.
Then I discover that due to a gap in my Roadside there is a $3000 annual limit on my total claim value with some of that already chewed up by yesterday’s transportation the cost to transport everything being estimated at around $8000.
Some quick maths suggests
$8000 to get the car/van home
$6500 to get a replacement motor
$4000 to fit new motor
The car being worth about that value I think time to contact insurance, also provided by RAA.
Suggesting this call didn’t go well would be an understatement.
One of the probable causes for the vehicles failure is contaminated fuel, something that is well out of the control of the humble human who just fills their tank. It isn’t confirmed as the cause but is a likely possibility.
So with RAA having successfully avoided any responsibility for their insured responsibility my day isn’t getting better.
I do have to take my hat off to mates in both Adelaide and up here at Fitzroy Crossing for keeping me sane today it’s been greatly appreciated.
In Broome is pretty much one car dealer a Toyota Dealership, so I headed there really just to waste some time and think.
Out front was a 2016 200 Series GXL Toyota Landcruiser for sale, it looked pretty cool and I chatted with the sales person and we took it for a drive. Again really I was just looking to waste some time while I worked out what to do with the Prado.
The drive went really well, the car was really good and setup ready to go as a tow vehicle.
So I enjoyed the drive returned the car and came back to camp.
Hitting up Google I quickly realised the price was comparable to anything else with similar age and km and it meant not having to stop the journey.
So with some more calls and discussions with mates and a review of the bank balance it was back to Toyota to sign some paperwork.
They arranged to buy the Prado, install the equipment from the Prado into the 200 Series and well at day’s end I signed the contract and now are the owner of a 2nd hand Cruiser.
The delays however have caused me to change my plans a little as the delay means heading south would have been a big rush and Toyota need the car for some time to get things sorted out for me.
So with a side trip scheduled for the 2nd November for 20 days, I am now staying in Broome until then. My mate has agreed to look after the van whilst I am away however I wont be doing any touring over this period.
As a result I have decided to postpone further updates whilst I remain here in Broome unless something particular occurs that I wish to update. I will resume Midlife Adventure again on my return at the end of November.
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