1. Needs new exhaust, mid & rear.
2. LHM leak at some kind of valve in front of the anti-sink sphere.
3. I'm sure I have warped brake discs somewhere (friends have confirmed by the feel of the braking).
4. 125K miles & still on original clutch.
5. Sinks right down at start-up, but pumps back up after a few seconds. (Accum & anti-sink already done) Could be the leak, could be rear spheres
.6. Air bag light on constantly (a sensor I believe).
I like the car but beginning to feel it's costing me too much. Bought in haste I fear (repent at leisure n'est pas?)
I'll wait & see what the damage is later today, but I've already got my eye on a replacement. Can't believe I'm looking at another Xantia.
This one's N reg TD hatch, 104K, FSH, timing belt done @ 92K, front & rear spheres @ 84K, new heater matrix at 75K, 9 mth tax, MOT to Apr & owner's garage reckons it will need a new front reg plate & the front
offside brake disc and pipe replacing to pass. All for £500
Can anyone recommend me a good psychiatrist in the Glasgow area?
)
) you need to observe the smoke and see the colour. If it's blue it's burning oil and if black or grey you have poor combustion. Black is usually a lack of air or bad injectors whilst grey is unburned fuel from low compression. Oil burning can be caused by bad rings (unusual) or valve stem seals or badly worn stems. To fully diagnose, we need to have lots of details of how much it smokes and under what circumstances. Don't forget if the vehicle has not run much recently, it may just need a good "Italian Tuneup" to clear the smoke. It is remarkable how much soot can gather in the silencer, make smoke and fool the MOT tester 
The O/S one is the worst too, as it is the long one that is threaded all the way in behind the height corrector and antisink gear. They're not too bad if you fit Copper ones, but it took me a long time to persuade the old pipe fittings and bleed nipples out of the calipers, and to get the old pipe stubs out of the K splitter under the car.