2005 citroen jumpy day van conversion

Hi all, I’m new to forums full stop and pretty IT illiterate, so please forgive me if I do something wrong. In 2014 I bought my first ever vehicle – a 6 seat 2005 citroen dispatch window van. At that point we had three small children, now we have four, so the 6 seats are essential. I pulled out all the manufacturers trim at the back, insulated, ply lined and carpeted the rear third, and built my own little seating area at the back – which allows all the kids to sit round a table, and when not in use it divides the height of the back roughly in half. When you fold the middle 3 seats down, a bed frame folds over them. We’ve only slept in it once, when there were two adults and three kids -and that was a squeeze. Its 150cm wide.

Anyway, I just had it MoT’d and the garage said its starting to rust on the bottom, and the engine is running dirty. Since we got it the heating/fan is dodgy, and the cable by the passenger footwell needs to be tweaked to make the connection – the mechanic said it is a common fault to all Dispatch that the plug for the heater which should be like a kettle plug is more like a lamp, and they just burn out.

His advise is to sell it, its now got a year MoT and he reckons it is fine, but he also predicts it will just need more and more done and spent. It has 110,000 on the clock, over the last 3 years that we have owned it we’ve only out on about 15,000, and that mileage is likely to continue (if the van runs).

I had hoped we would be able to keep it for a lot longer than 3 or 4 years, and I like the idea that things should be able to be fixed -but i’m no mechanic and am looking for some advice? Any thoughts from anyone more knowledgeable than me!