Complicated? 5 gears + reverse.....

I mean that the heath robinson contraption to take the movement from the
dash mounted gear stick to the gear box itself was complicated, which gave
it a somewhat temperamental reputation. One that I haven't run into
personally, however.

* 3 new driveshafts.

Ouch! Was there common cause for this? Perhaps an overheated bearing that
was taking out the rubber boots or something?

* The door holder openers never held the front doors open.

Mine stay nicely open!


* 1 new ECU.
* 1 new other ECU type thing, just as expensive as the main one.
* There was a fairly major wiring fault with the vehicle (...)

Ah, this sounds like your major trouble, then. What was the wiring fault?
Something wrong with the voltage regulator or something?

* The back doors would never shut without a good slam, the same with
the side door.

Yes, my new one likes a good slam, but the doors have clearly been reversed
into at some point. The old one (before shunt) was not like this.

It certainly doesn't sound like you had a good time! Sounds like you got the
Friday afternoon model.

Christian.