Thank you for your comments. The actual cost of the three radiator repairs was £275(I kept all the receipts)not £300 as you state and in fourteen years of ownership that seems quite acceptable to me.You state also that it "dont not make sense to me....." A new radiator in the particular circumstances of our ownership might not have been the most cost appropriate option, please allow me to explain which maybe of benefit to you before you comment without having the facts available in future.

We acquired the vehicle at two years old with 88,000 miles covered and a FSH at Brook Daihatsu Huddersfield. Our average annual mileage then over 14 years of ownership was 1500 (fifteen hundred) miles per annum with an average journey distance of under 2 miles (two) miles so you can roughly calculate the number of journeys from that, if you are struggling with the mathematics I will do it for you. One year through a family illness the vehicle covered 10 (yes ten) miles , this was in one journey to an MOT test centre and back home.The retained MOT certificates corroberate the annual mileages.The engine therefore never achieved its correct operating temperature and whilst the vehicle was stored in a heated garage the high frequency of short journeys did not allow the cooling system to operate effectively. Despite flushing the radiator system every six months and refilling with the Daihatsu recommended antifreeze the short journey cycle took a toll on the cooling system in particular the radiator and as soon as any weeping was noted from the matrix fins we had it recored rather than suffer a failure. It may have lasted longer but we needed the vehicle available every single day and investing in a new radiator was an expensive alternative at the time especially as it may not have lasted significantly longer than the repaired unit when the journey cycle was taken into account. The engine oil and filter were changed every two to three months so the engine was relatively easy to care for. The bodywork was as showroom when we sold the vehicle last year and I am pleased to say the vehicle was spotted recently and looked every bit as good (and was running) as the day Daihatsu built it, dare I say it a credit to its previous owner!

I do hope the explanation offers an insight into the rationale of a recore vs new radiator in my particular circumstances.If you require any advice on Fourtraks in the future I will be pleased to assist.I still have an original Daihatsu Fourtrak workshop manual(not for sale at any price)and I am currently looking for a very late model Y plate Fourtrak Independant for a complete nut and bolt restoration to as showroom condition for long term storage but all I have viewed to date have been poorly maintained and grossly overpriced for their condition.