BlueWagon

I think you answered your own question... At the back, low down. Look there and you will find it. I'd suggest cleaning the engine well then checking once you have driven a bit.

Maybe the matrix does have flow all the time, but I think having the temp set to hot but the fan OFF would be fine. Every cooling system Ive filled I have left the heat up high and just have the fan off. You won't get much cooling with fan off. No idea why people turn it up full blast when trying to bleed system.

Sounds reasonable then. Service history is over rated really. Condition would mean alot more to me when something is out of warranty. Obviously it has been serviced or it would be dead already. Seems a good deal to me

That's a big difference. Maybe the man with a van is not understanding the complexity of the job. Has he / she done one of these before? Suspect it will be harder to get a warranty if it goes bad from a fly by night dude in a van....at least a garage is a fixed address and you don't have to search the entire country to find them again. I'd be worried old mate in a van will just disappear into the ether if it goes wrong. Google part price. Can't be alot of margin in 250.

I think your local panel shop could fix that pretty cheaply as a cash job. Just a bit of surface rust and paint degradation. Small area, easy to mask and blend.

Almost sounds like a big lot of air in the system. An air lock could stop the heater working and could well lead to overheating. What Is it oil temp when it's overheating. That will be fairly tell tale. I'd be thinking a thermostat issue if air is ruled out, or blocked radiator even. The problem may have been there a while and masked by the flat spot in the temp guage.

This should be the case. I'd suggest getting an alignment done. Maybe the 350 one is better and will solve the issue. What caused the damaged wheel? Certainly sounds like a damaged suspension component/s are the likely cause.

Loose battery terminal. Flat battery

I would get the t piece and a few new Clamps as a start. You might be able to drill the broken piece of plastic out of the hose but if not, replace that hose too. Twist the Hoses a bit before you ease them off the plastic fittings so you don't break more barbs off

It almost looks like the bottom of a coke bottle that someone jambed up there. Maybe one full of sand or something. Seems like an odd thing to make fake but still join to rear muffler

Does gas come out of both when running?. Probably the most obvious way to tell yeah

I think the reported wear is not very accurately measured. The slight mismatch is probably within the limit of error in the measurement. Wait till they are really worn and I think you'll get a more accurate result. Of note, the rear pads on the landcruisers I used to run always wore about 3 times more than the fronts. They were smaller pads by a long shot and simply didn't have enough meat on them to last as long as the fronts

I think what Ootohere is saying is that with such high Mileage, if you re map it and up the power you will hasten it's death. In standard form it may have another 100K in it. Once you up the boost and fuel you may only see 10-20K before the donk, clutch or turbo bite the dust. Entirely up to you but you may end up spending alot of money on a car which is then dead in a few months. I'd just fix the things that anoy you for a minimum cost and run it out for a few more years in standard format.

Have a look underneath. Does the right tip join up to the main exhaust system?

It might I'd charge the battery at the very least

That's not that solid.... Pretty flat really

What does the mechanic say? Maybe more injectors are on the way out? What were the symptoms when it "broke down". Maybe something else was also wrong

Which transmission are you doing?. If the DQ 200 then maybe you drainage the Mechatronic unit which holds 1L....

How gradual is gradually. Was it 3 months ago it showed 12??? Did you get it serviced then and it reset to 12? Clearly a 12 month service interval in that case.

Press the accelerator a bit a second or two before you release the brake, and release the brake slowly. This isn't great for the clutch but it will probably give you the instant movement you want. Unfortunately the idea of crawling with the brake slightly engaged isn't really a thing with DSGs. You can do it but at the expense of clutch life. Much like a manual, you can't hold the car with the clutch for more than a fraction of a second without burning the clutch. They are not like traditional autos where you can allow slip of the tourqe converter.

I think if you disabled that function you would very rapidly burn out the clutches. The clutch needs to disengage otherwise it will be slipping and just cook very quickly. How else could the wheels stop turning with the engine running and transmission in gear? Either clutch slips or it is disengaged. I am pretty sure the DQ250 was the same, just it probably engaged a bit earlier as it could slip more without damage (because it was lubricated and cooled by the fluid - wet clutch).

So how low is the oil level and how much is needed to get the level back to where it was after the service? Maybe 0.5L? I wouldn't assume the oil level was at the max mark after the service unless you checked yourself. At 200,000 miles the engine is likely a bit worn and some oil consumption is expected. If you confirm exactly how much is being used someone can tell you if it is a problem worth fixing or not. I wouldn't expect much more than 250-300K miles from a 2L diesel engine before it needs some overhaul work. Burning 0.5L per 3000miles isn't so bad and a heap cheaper to just top up every week than a rebuild. The taxi's I drove used about 1-2L per week. Just keep topping them up. Oil is cheap.

Sounds like something loose like exhaust shroud or belt tensioner. Does it go away after warming up? Suggests exhaust. What about if you rev it up a fraction. The vibration frequency would change a bit and the loose part would stop resonating.

Not sure what you need the engine on for but can you power whatever you are running from an auxiliary battery? Idling for long periods probably not so good for the engine? What happens if you turn it off for say 1 hr and sleep then start back up to recharge/warm cabin.

Just post a decent picture of the belt you can see. Someone will tell you if its the timing belt or not