Bent Xantia - Now what?

DervDonkey · Post by **DervDonkey** » 02 Jan 2005, 06:34

Well, my new year has come in with a bang! Some drunken reveller from the pub over the road took a joyride down the lane, swiping parked cars in the process – and my Xantia was among the victims. Scrapes, gouges, assorted dents from back to front, door mirror and trim wrenched out, smashed to pieces and dangling by the control wires, lots of damage to driver’s door. Must have been one of those 4x4 things. I hope the b@$tard responsible hit a tree and died slowly. I’m just a tad upset.[:(!]
The chances of this idiot being caught are virtually nil (if he/she made it home in one piece) and only being TPF&T covered, I can’t make a claim for the damage. The car has been “resting” for a couple of months and was due to be repaired and generally made roadworthy again next week, which would have involved an HP pump swap, new spheres, new discs and pads, a new headlamp lens, a full service and some other odds and sods. Fortunately I haven’t parted with any cash yet…[:)]
Now I’m in a quandary. With all the other little bumps and scrapes the car has picked up in its 200,000 mile life, it now looks like a refugee from a demolition derby. The gearbox has some trouble getting into second gear (but only from first, not third), a cambelt change is looming, the matrix is iffy, and I’m not sure if the clutch is going to last much longer (it’s not heavy, but takes up near the top of the pedal travel). These are just the big things, there are other niggles too. As a result of all this, I’m now minded to scrap the car and get another – it’s not due me anything financially, and has lasted rather longer than I’d expected, although another 12 months would have been nice. I don’t have a great deal of money to throw around, so my budget for a replacement is between £500 – 1K for a car which will last 6-9 months and maybe 15-20,000 miles without needing major attention. I don’t know what the opinions of you guys are, but I think I’d rather spend the money buying a reasonably sound replacement than sinking it into what is realistically an end-of-life vehicle, bodywork wise at any rate. Agree/Disagree?[?]
Now to the fun bit – what to get? Considering my mileage is higher than average, a diesel is the obvious choice – LPG is probably out of my budget anyway. Over the years I’ve come to really like the Citroen hydropneumatic suspension, so that’s another must-have. Looks like another Xantia then – or should I live dangerously [8D] and get a BX? Or even an XM? I’m prepared to do some work on the car myself but not having a garage (or even a driveway!) sort of limits the things I can do and when I can do them – anything requiring major dismantling is out.
Sorry about the length of this post – I’m still foaming at the mouth [}:)] over the prat who bent my Xantia, and trying to think through the options open to me. I’d appreciate any advice/discussion!

oilyspanner · Post by **oilyspanner** » 02 Jan 2005, 14:40

Drunken prat. Sounds like a parting of the ways is coming, I would save the engine as they can fit a BX, as can the wheels etc and then go shopping.
Look on the bright side.
Stewart

Post by **martyhopkirk** » 02 Jan 2005, 14:57

Break your car for bits - or eBay it as spares / repairs which will add a few pennies to your fund. (Then hire the A-Team to hunt down the twunt who dented your car and hang him up by his gonads.....)
Or.. Go S.H.O.P.P.I.N.G!!!
Its got to be French! (really for the VFM of it all - a Citroen Xantia will cost a lot less than the equivelent Ford Mundane)
Its got to be Diesel.( Then you can take advantage of the fuel economy and ability to run on tesco value cooking oil @ 45p/l)
The Hydropneumatics are good - but in comparason over the year with the ZX I ran and teh Xantia i could find little to sepparate them except at the time of towing... Soooooooo....
The world is your oyster... The Pug 405 (abundently cheap and plentiful - avoid ex taxis)Or even the barge like 605. The 406 might just scrape into your price range if its a monster miler. You would have no problems finding a Xantia (plus you have a car full of spares) or you could pick up a ZX (surprisingly fun to drive - I just let mine go for £250 plus the tax and it was MOT'd to September).
An AX / 106 (small) will give you upwards of 60 - 65 MPG, or you could source a BX - plenty of variants to choose from just have a good look for the tin worm.
Best to avoid Renault Lagunas unless you enjoy taking the dashboard out of cars, or indeed fixing gearboxes, though again can be had for silly money and are very comfy.

Post by **martyhopkirk** » 02 Jan 2005, 15:03

BTW - got a back shelf with the built in blind you want to sell?

DervDonkey · Post by **DervDonkey** » 02 Jan 2005, 20:16

Just had a quick look on Auto Trader - there's very little about at the moment, it would seem. Turned up a couple of TD Xantias that seem worth a look next week, both with a lot less miles than my present one. No BXs or XMs, locally at any rate. I just read your post, Marty, and I'd forgotten about the 406 and although I've never driven one it might be worth a try. I doubt I'll get anything at all with less than 100K anyway, and the Xantia had 160K when I got it! I'll pass on the smaller cars - although they're cheaper to run, they couldn't take some of the loads I occasionally carry. I have some bad experiences of Renaults, especially Safranes, and wouldn't touch 'em with a 10ft pole. Ditto Frauds.

tomsheppard · Post by **tomsheppard** » 02 Jan 2005, 20:22

BXs are cheap and plentiful and can be found on ebay.
Only choice for £500. You'll get a good one for that (Worth waiting for a TD, they're best.) Resists rust well in general and will last more than a year. Go for later than H reg, check the HG before buying and avoid heavy clutches.

tomsheppard · Post by **tomsheppard** » 02 Jan 2005, 20:47

Diesel estate on ebay now in Luton looks like what you're after.

ACTIVE8 · Post by **ACTIVE8** » 02 Jan 2005, 21:04

Yes I saw that one also while looking around ebay, here's the link :-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 91705&rd=1

DervDonkey · Post by **DervDonkey** » 02 Jan 2005, 21:41

I probably missed that one because I was looking for a hatch - I'll keep my eye on it though, and get in at the close of auction tomorrow morning if the price hasn't gone into orbit and his reserve is less than the £750 he seems to want - Luton is a fair distance from me (Telford area), so I can't just pop over to have a look, and the car has almost as many miles as mine although that's not necessarily a problem. There's a similar car I've seen locally (Hatchback with 120K) up for sale at £495 with a new MOT, might have a look at it tomorrow if it's still there...

tomsheppard · Post by **tomsheppard** » 02 Jan 2005, 21:53

No, I meant the BX for
£52 with 8 month ticket...

bxbodger · Post by **bxbodger** » 02 Jan 2005, 21:57

Does it actually, really, truly need a new pump, spheres, etc? If not get a new mirror, discs, and pads, fit them yourself and drive it until the clutch goes- you should then have more time to save up a bit more money.If it does, however, then its time to get out and spend your £500 on a years MOT with a car attached!!!
£500 is way too much to spend on a BX, but it should get you a very good Xantia from the local paper-don't bother with ebay.
Mind you , for that money you can't be picky over what car you get-just get the best for the budget, citroen or not!!!
My BX cost me £400 with a years MOT and that was 3 yrs ago-I don't know about other people who buy at this end of the market but I have learned over many bargain bucket cars and many years to keep the spares, jump leads, tools, etc in the boot all in a big cardboard box so when it does finally expensively die I can just scoop the box, pull the stereo, get the bus home and hit the cashpoint!!

beezer · Post by **beezer** » 02 Jan 2005, 22:09

I think Tom was referring to this car:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... eName=WDVW
It seems to have British Leyland suspension!

tomsheppard · Post by **tomsheppard** » 02 Jan 2005, 23:40

That's the one! Bodger is a plutocrat! £400 for a BX! Must have been New old stock! Three years in, I'll bet it is fine. The reason for trying Ebay is that it is hard now to find BXs anywhere else. THe local rag costs more than a BX is (Notionally) worth to advertise and any BX that is in daily use these days probably belongs to one of the Party Faithful who would sooner part with their spouse and offspring than their BX.

DervDonkey · Post by **DervDonkey** » 03 Jan 2005, 00:06

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Does it actually, really, truly need a new pump, spheres, etc?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Unfortunately, yes. It's too dangerous to drive, that's why it's been resting for a while - the pump has been rebuilt once already, but sprang a new leak a day later. It's bearings are shot. Accumulator is flatter than a pancake and front suspension is rock solid - no "give" at all. It needs a new MOT, and doesn't stand a chance with the above stuff. If it was safe to bodge, and the car had a decent length ticket, I'd do it, but it's not, it hasn't, and I'm not going to[:0]
As I said above, I was going to do it properly until this boozed-up berk wrecked the bodywork.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Mind you , for that money you can't be picky over what car you get-just get the best for the budget, citroen or not!!!<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
For the money, the best car available is probably going to be another Xantia - the warp drive depreciation helps a lot here. Having said that, there's a 406 in my price range locally...
I tend to agree with bxbodger re Ebay, I've seen some cars go for really silly (high) prices, often more than you'd pay for the same thing from a local garage with a warranty. I'll keep an eye on it just in case that elusive bargain actually appears, but I don't hold out any great hopes[:(].

Stuart McB · Post by **Stuart McB** » 03 Jan 2005, 00:14

Just going back to the drunken driver who started this quest. May be you should have speed camera out side the bub as this'll propbaly catch more super d**k heads than the local cops. As for what to get. Have been trying to soften the Mrs up as we're maybe going to possibly have a little McB this year, with "look how cheap Xantias are on E-bay" and "look at the Xantia spec" Had a look last night on E-bay and there were 5 good looking / sounding motors from a top of £3K down to about £300. But that may have changed. As for the old one, E-bay for spares.