We had one Espace for a long time ('96 2.0 J63), and this fall we bought another ('07 2.0DCI). The immediate reason for getting the second, was that service/maintainance of the first was beginning to involve long waiting periods for parts (it took almost 3 weeks before our mechanic got the injectors he needed). Then the clutch wire broke one day and I realized we finally needed some
Espace redundancy in order to keep the groceries arriving and the kids getting to practice.
One implication of this was that our two-car garage could no longer be half-devoted to the bicycles, tools, and miscellaneous stuff which long had filled it up to the point that you could hardly close the door entirely.
This is leading me to some useful Espace-related advice for anyone like us, situated in a cold climate, Norway in this case.
Last winter (at its coldest) the J63's windshield washer fluid needed refilling, but upon pouring the fluid in I soon noticed that it was continuing to run down to the garage floor... While considering what I had to do to get at the washer fluid tank, I noticed that on top of the air filter housing there were a few fresh rat droppings. A rat was not only climbing up on the comforting warm engine, he or she was also having a nibble here and there on various parts nearby. I admit I felt some sympathy for this Espace-friendly rat, in the depth of winter.
Out with the air filter housing, and I was able to see the bottom of the washer fluid tank. Oh no! The rubber hoses there had been gnawed off, and the rat had evidently drunk our washer fluid...
I fixed the hoses, and we never saw another sign of that inebriated rat in the engine compartment. But this winter I'm delighted that we can properly shut both garage doors so when the weather gets cold no new rats will be enticed by warm Espaces.