I would like to borrow 2 Xantia strut tops please

[KP]

Tried Paul on Anglesey?

[c.morewood]

no unfortunately not.. but thank you for all the offers..just changed the front spheres on the young blue one today... a completely different car.. but even she has rust under the rubber on the strut tops.

[chinkostu]

I've been looking for ages myself, short of going to citroen I think i'll just have to take her off the road for a month! The rubbers peeling but they've been that way for 2 years now.

[c.morewood]

I Haven't seen Paul on here lately.. perhaps he's having a well deserved holiday. I'll maybe drop him a pm in a couple of weeks. Perhaps if I can find a pair Stu we can sort something out and I could send you the spare pair down when I've finished with them.. they'll only have done 37k. That'll mean you're only off the road for a day or so. I presume yours are non hydractive as well?

[chinkostu]

Yea none hydractive as well that would be a massive help if it came to it

Citroen are about £150ish each scarily i've lessened the panic as they seem solid enough for the low mileage I do, but definately need replacing!

[superloopy]

£150 each eh? It'll cost a fair whack to send off the old ones for refurb so maybe thats not such a bad price for new.

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

[c.morewood]

£192 per car including postage at last months exchange rates.

[white exec]

If still available new from Citroen, I would buy them while you still can.
XM tops now completely NFP, and were €300+ when last available, so the Cit price above is not half bad.
When Xan tops go as well, good tops for refurb will be both scarce and expensive.
It appears they also rust more quickly than XM strut tops, and many on cars will be beyond refurb'ing.
I would be laying in a spare pair of new now, if the car is to be kept or sold on "well prepared".

[chinkostu]

It would work out cheaper to buy a donor car and send them off then scrap the car! best part of £400 could get you a decent MOT failure and just use the tops from that for refurb i'd say. If i had the room though!

[white exec]

Recovered Xantia strut tops, if originals, likely to be in bad shape, apparently. Unlike the XM type (which were of thicker base steel, and protected by paint, which showed up rust easily on underside inspection), the Xantia types had a thin continuation of their 'rubber' covering the base plate steel. This actually traps moisture under the rubber, both hiding and accelerating baseplate rusting. Rusted enough, the polymer parts company from the steel baseplate, and pops through - as in the photo above.

Given this, it is unlikely that a cheap donor car would provide a good pair of tops.

[chinkostu]

But a donor is also likely to have tops in similar condition to my own if not better. I'm pretty sure kingas can refurb shoddy ones

[Stickyfinger]

If you are keeping a Xantia for a good time scale and have the space, a donor works financially in the long term.

[white exec]

I'm pretty sure kingas can refurb shoddy ones

Only if there's enough steel left on the thin baseplate.
If you are only looking for limited years from your Xantia, then secondhand strut tops may provide a way forward. If you are looking for anything more, then it really isn't the way to go. Lack of serviceable/refurb'able tops could well be what finally takes the car off the road, so it makes sense to make some provision. Fitting new, with simultaneous baseplate rust prevention, has got to make sense, if you have any attachment to the car, that is.