"A man should never marry his mistress"

[Citroënbender]

- As it immediately creates a redundancy. That quote is ascribed to the late Sir James Goldsmith, father of Jemima.

So - one car having departed my stable in the name of rationalisation and recapitalising, I am now considering filling the void with another, rather than feeling the serenity of less cars to worry about.

Nothing flash, nothing new, in keeping with my general inclination to share things around it will probably be an AU ute. I've spent many hours learning the intricacies, the quirks of their trim and wiring - why waste that knowledge and jump into another model?

A vehicle has been tentatively selected, the problems are several.

(a.) It will start, but won't stay running
(b.) It's almost 400km away in a small town
(c.) the owner is not a mechanic and doesn't trust the local one (apparently it ran fine until he took it there)
(d.) It's e-gas with an unknown swapped-in converter
(e.) My obligations increasingly tie me down in Sydney

How could this not end well?