What do you think I should do?

[Dave_Obsession]

OK so in 2011 the AU didn't receive too much love...

My circumstances have changed a bit over the course of the year just gone, and now I'm left wondering what course of action I should take car-wise in 2012....and I was hoping for a few opinions from my fellow AUvians...

Basically for me to keep the AU going, it needs to have a decent bit of $$$ thrown at it in the short term...which isn't really a problem, but I'm just wondering if it's the wisest choice I could be making...

As some of you may or may not be aware, I recently left my previous job and the detailing has now gone full-time.

This has me thinking that I should be trying to get my hands on more of a 'work' car - I'd be wanting a nice ute for practicality / promotional purposes. Budget would be around the $13-$18K mark, would love to get into a BFII XR6T or XR8 with the ZF, otherwise I'd even consider a VZ SS. I would possibly even consider an AUIII, BA II or a VY SS, but then they'd have to be manual, and if it was a Ford it would have to have a hard lid...

However it isn't an essential thing at this stage to get the ute, more of a personal fetish that I'd just like to have one. Combined with the fact that it's almost not worth getting rid of the AU as I reckon I'd only get $4-4.5K and even less for a trade in....this leaves me a bit unsure as to what I should do!

If I were to keep the AU, I'd want to do a few more things to it to freshen it up a bit. I would be wanting/needing to do the following things soon:

- New tyres all around + fitting & alignment
- get MACE manifold insulators installed (have them already)
- replace coilpack
- install Whiteline 27mm front swaybar (have it already)
- new brake pads (have them already)
- replace coolant and change hoses (got a brand new Gates set for cheap)
- would love to get a 3:45 diff from an XR (might be able to get this soon as well) - if this happens I'd get some new rear wheel bearings for it as well. (QUESTION - Would I need to replace the speedo transducer as well if I got the shorter diff?)

Would also potentially be wanting to replace the front ball joints (not sure if they actually need doing but I'd be surprised if they didn't)...

As well as a full service, I'd say around $2K for purchase and installation of everything to get it to a point where I'd be happy with it again (I think).

But, am I wasting my time (and money) on the AU?

Should I just cut my losses? The car has been nothing but fantastic since I've had it, not a single thing gone wrong with it except for the drivers side mirror glass (a clip fell out and now it's hanging loose), a lot of things have been replaced or upgraded ahead of time (ie leads, brake rotors & pads, trans reguarly serviced, diff oil).

But I'm now really wanting a car that's faster, plain and simple. Not to go doing any stupid stuff, but I just want more grunt under the foot when I want/need it. Will the additions I could make on the AU be enough to satisfy my craving? I don't know...

What should I do?