Kept the C5 Estate

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howiedean
Posts: 448
Joined: 11 Oct 2003, 13:36
Location: Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
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Kept the C5 Estate

Post by howiedean »

Hi,
Well I have kept the C5 estate back in the UK while I'm away in the States for up to 2 years. I struggled to get any decent offers and it will be stored off road in a safe place.

There was no chance at all of finding any Citroen cars out here and to be honest there are very few diesel cars. I purchased a Dodge Durango 4.7 V8 from the guy I have taken over from and just tonight bought a Ford Crown Victoria V8, that has rear air suspension (american taxis and police cars use the Crown Vic).
Fuel is actually expensive when you think how much V8 cars use however we needed something safe!

I'm missing the Citroen already, roll on my return to the UK. :wink:

Regards,

Howie
Howie

2006 Fiat Idea Dynamic 1.3 Multijet
2010 Renault Laguna Dynamique tom tom 2.0 DCI 130
C5 VTR 2l 8v HDI Estate 112000 miles gone
Kia Rio 2007 1.5 CRDI 62,000 miles gone
2001 Dodge Durango 4.7 V8 170,000 miles gone
1999 Ford Crown Victoria 4.6 V8 151,000 miles gone
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Citroenmad
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Post by Citroenmad »

Thats not a bad idea with the C5 and at least you will have a car when you get home without the hassle of looking for one.

Are cars quite cheap in the states?
Chris
07 Citroen C6 V6 HDi Exclusive - Red
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howiedean
Posts: 448
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Post by howiedean »

Citroenmad wrote:Thats not a bad idea with the C5 and at least you will have a car when you get home without the hassle of looking for one.

Are cars quite cheap in the states?
Hi Citroenmad,
It is difficult to find good low mileage cars for anything less than $4000. The heat of the sun makes the paint on cars go off and the heat causes all sorts of problems with rubber hoses in the cooling systems.
There are loads of big engined vehicles and anything smaller tends to be Kia's or Hyundai's; there are not many manual boxes most are autos.
The americans seem to change there engine oil much more reglar than in the UK, 3000 miles or every couple of months.
The last couple of weeks I've been driving a Chevrolet Suburban rental car and even with the lower price of fuel its a nightmare!
Any carbon offset that I have previously acquired with many years running on biofuels has completely gone out of the window now. :cry:

Howie
Howie

2006 Fiat Idea Dynamic 1.3 Multijet
2010 Renault Laguna Dynamique tom tom 2.0 DCI 130
C5 VTR 2l 8v HDI Estate 112000 miles gone
Kia Rio 2007 1.5 CRDI 62,000 miles gone
2001 Dodge Durango 4.7 V8 170,000 miles gone
1999 Ford Crown Victoria 4.6 V8 151,000 miles gone
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addo
Sara Watson's Stalker
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Post by addo »

I'd suggest the oil change interval is a combination of the last vestiges of DIY culture and traditionally lower oil prices.

Been to check out the shops like NAPA or AutoZone yet? It's amazing how far back (in years) the regular stock reaches - like the water pump for a 1965 Falcon will be a shelf item.

BTW our fluid hoses here, suffer heat effects similarly!
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howiedean
Posts: 448
Joined: 11 Oct 2003, 13:36
Location: Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
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Post by howiedean »

addo wrote:I'd suggest the oil change interval is a combination of the last vestiges of DIY culture and traditionally lower oil prices.

Been to check out the shops like NAPA or AutoZone yet? It's amazing how far back (in years) the regular stock reaches - like the water pump for a 1965 Falcon will be a shelf item.

BTW our fluid hoses here, suffer heat effects similarly!
Hi Addo,
I have not had chance yet with the 1st two weeks being taken up with finding a house, sorting utilities and buying cars.
There are many old cars on the road and with no MOT requirements this is quite scary! The only requirement is a SMOG check.
I will have a look at the stores that you have mentioned above when I get chance.

Howie
Howie

2006 Fiat Idea Dynamic 1.3 Multijet
2010 Renault Laguna Dynamique tom tom 2.0 DCI 130
C5 VTR 2l 8v HDI Estate 112000 miles gone
Kia Rio 2007 1.5 CRDI 62,000 miles gone
2001 Dodge Durango 4.7 V8 170,000 miles gone
1999 Ford Crown Victoria 4.6 V8 151,000 miles gone
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addo
Sara Watson's Stalker
Posts: 7098
Joined: 19 Aug 2008, 12:38
Location: NEW South Wales, Australia. I'll show you "Far, far away" ;-)
My Cars: Peugeot 605
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Alfa 147
x 93

Post by addo »

If you do pick up an old car to noodle about with (as a second car/hobby), don't trust the parts counter blokes in aforementioned shops.

Incompetence and indifference are global in these aspects, and you have the added fun of questionable rebuilt items; basically beadblasted and then kitted by migrant labour working under the pump... Rockauto is a far better supplier (as you get more choice), and very reliable.
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howiedean
Posts: 448
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Location: Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
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Re:

Post by howiedean »

addo wrote:If you do pick up an old car to noodle about with (as a second car/hobby), don't trust the parts counter blokes in aforementioned shops.

Incompetence and indifference are global in these aspects, and you have the added fun of questionable rebuilt items; basically beadblasted and then kitted by migrant labour working under the pump... Rockauto is a far better supplier (as you get more choice), and very reliable.
Hi Addo,
Its been a few months now that we have been here in the States.
I've found a local Autozone store with great staff thank god as the Garage repair prices are shocking here in Vegas. I like the way you can borrow tools for free, they recycle your waste oil and they will print off instruction guides.... Halfords take note!!! To be honest there are many people who just can't afford to take their cars to garages, the stores like Autozone provide a way of being able to repair your car cheaply. With no MOT inspections required you see some shocking cars on the road, it feels like a third world country sometimes.
My 1st big job was changing the intake manifold on the Crown Vic, the one fitted was spraying coolant everywhere when the revs went about 3000rpm. I've had to do numerous other car jobs but with each car having over 100,000 miles, it is to be expected I guess.

Howie
Howie

2006 Fiat Idea Dynamic 1.3 Multijet
2010 Renault Laguna Dynamique tom tom 2.0 DCI 130
C5 VTR 2l 8v HDI Estate 112000 miles gone
Kia Rio 2007 1.5 CRDI 62,000 miles gone
2001 Dodge Durango 4.7 V8 170,000 miles gone
1999 Ford Crown Victoria 4.6 V8 151,000 miles gone
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addo
Sara Watson's Stalker
Posts: 7098
Joined: 19 Aug 2008, 12:38
Location: NEW South Wales, Australia. I'll show you "Far, far away" ;-)
My Cars: Peugeot 605
Citroën Berlingo
Alfa 147
x 93

Post by addo »

Vatozone, as it's known in the Hispanic speaking areas... As opposed to the general tendancy to call it Autozoo, in reference to their clientele. :?

Going to enter the Crown Vic in any of the "run whatcha brung" legal drags? Timeslips or ban!
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KP
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Re: Kept the C5 Estate

Post by KP »

Did you find out about exporting as you could get some decent euro box to run over there and still sell on when the time comes with little loss?? Think avantime or c6 and you wouldn't go far wrong, Saab, BMW, Audi... All still sell well over there, specially if a big petrol or diesel as their running costs are very small compared to yank tanks!!!

I remember having a Chevy astro rental. Did 21mpg on. A run once but never really above 14!! The run was from LA to Scott's dale ;)
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howiedean
Posts: 448
Joined: 11 Oct 2003, 13:36
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Re:

Post by howiedean »

addo wrote:Vatozone, as it's known in the Hispanic speaking areas... As opposed to the general tendancy to call it Autozoo, in reference to their clientele. :?

Going to enter the Crown Vic in any of the "run whatcha brung" legal drags? Timeslips or ban!
I see what you mean about Autozone, a couple of guys from work (Americans) said to me that they prefer to take their cars to garages that are located in the Hispanic areas as they know that they wont get ripped off!

The Crown Vic has to do 90 miles a day and it runs ok however thrashing it down a drag strip may not do it any good lol. I still have to nurse it through the next 18 months. :twisted:

It is not easy to organise anything here in America and I can only imagine trying to import a Citroen. For some reason Citroen and Puegeot cars do not meet the American standards, does anyone know why that is?
We chose to run a couple of clunkers for 2 years and then buy something decent on our return to the UK, luckily I get an allownace for fuel. :wink:

Regards,
Howie

2006 Fiat Idea Dynamic 1.3 Multijet
2010 Renault Laguna Dynamique tom tom 2.0 DCI 130
C5 VTR 2l 8v HDI Estate 112000 miles gone
Kia Rio 2007 1.5 CRDI 62,000 miles gone
2001 Dodge Durango 4.7 V8 170,000 miles gone
1999 Ford Crown Victoria 4.6 V8 151,000 miles gone
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Chris570
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Re: Kept the C5 Estate

Post by Chris570 »

IIRC in the 70's the US introduced a law about how much a new car should dive when braking hard and with the hydro Citroens (the only ones they sold out there I think) they dived too much so Citroen just stopped selling them in the US. Doesnt apply to imports I think. I don't think peugeot ever tried to export. (could be wrong)
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KP
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Re: Kept the C5 Estate

Post by KP »

They didn't bother as the market was too saturated(so they say) and they had their own issues to deal with still :D

Citroen should start pushing cars out there again and IIRC back in the BX days the international map you got in your handbook even had 2, maybe 3 dealers/repair centres in the states....

Exporting would be better as im sure you could turn them round for a profit considering how cheap they are over here.

buy a £500 HDi Exclusive from the eurozone, spend another £300 getting it good, £1000 on shipping(i think thats about right!) then some import tax(say another £500) and move it on for £5k you'd easily see profit and they would start popping up nice and quick and with some from spain and the like having little rust issues they could live for a long time in some states :)
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