So, I've had the current steed for 4 years and quite simply its the best car I've ever had, in fact its the car I always wanted. In my ownership something major has gone wrong each year (failed fuel tank sender, egr fail on rhs bank and failed fuel pump) and the car now has 75k miles. I gave it a good clean yesterday and found small areas of corrosion in the upper tailgate - not uncommon. So with that and the dread of something big going bang in the next year, I'm tempted to trade her in for something more up to date.

Apart from those issues, its been a joy, been all over Europe and the UK and never really had a problem on the long trips. So the problem I have is two fold; to get anything close to the spec I currently have on a 405 with sensible mileage and an Approved warranty is about £55k. That is just a tad too much even for my deepish pocket. The other issue is that each time I get into the car I see past all those worries and think what a lucky so and so I am to have such a great car. I do about 10k miles a year, with the car standing idle for long periods, so its a bit of an indulgence really. There again, I drove a 4.4 at LRE Eastnor recently and came away thinking I'd rather like one!

I could stretch to a newer one, but should I?

You are a long time dead, so if you can afford one I'd personally do it. Honestly don't be put off the 3.0 V6 because its as fast as the V8 322 but suits the car so well. If you haven't had an extended drive in one ask your local dealer for a weekend test drive. Failing that a D4 HSE Lux is still a lot of car and if you pick the right one up you won't lose ten fortunes