It's not so much the mechanicals that I'd be worried about... it's the bodywork falling to pieces over time. I had that J-plate and used it daily for a couple of years, it was a good one. BUT little niggly things still went wrong with it and there were still little bits of bodywork which were starting to need attention before they got too bad.

Realistically B5 is gonna be stuck on a decent but not concourse condition car, so it'll really struggle with all the salt and shite on the roads if used as a daily... while you might not use it for work daily, you'll use it to nip around in at evening, go see Brucey and Annie, etc etc...... you'll have to start chasing the car cancer mate and once you start that, it's almost always a never ending chase to save it.

Keep the Focai, get a project you can work on in the garage... that way you'll not be in the same position you've been in with the Cabby/Van/ESi etc before. I know of a belting '3i that you can have VERY cheap if you pick it up quickly.


Cheers,
Grant