Xantias - a dying breed...

Post by **RichardW** » 15 Jul 2010, 07:55

Monday I drove from Godalming to Lanark and only remember seeing two Xantias - an R plate 2.0i estate NB on the M6 and a Mk2 hatch SB on the M6 - with a canoe on the roof! They are starting to get thin on the ground

I suppose that the yougest are at least 8 years old, so it's not that surprising.

I also saw a smart looking BX estate on the other side - must have been well looked after as it was red (as opposed to pink!) - and a DeLorean under it's own power NB on the M6 near Keele.

Incidentally I was driving the Picasso, not the Xantia...

addo · Post by **addo** » 15 Jul 2010, 07:58

Yes, they are getting rare. I've noticed more and more C5 questions appearing on the Forum.

Myself and the sole other Australian Xantia owner are starting to feel even more smug. (Especially since many of the C5 fault issues are non-events on a Xantia...)

Stempy · Post by **Stempy** » 15 Jul 2010, 08:00

There are plenty left in France

KP · Post by KP » 15 Jul 2010, 08:20

Ahh but the prices there will keep them alive for a very long time...

The local specialist have someone come over from malta once or twice a year with a 40' container and it gets loaded with a few cars, engines and all other sorted of odds and sods and goes back very very weighted!

The price for parts over there is 3 times or higher than it is over here and often the cars that go over are cat a or b because they have been stolen recovered but because the keys used to nick them can't be found they cant go back on a UK road! Eg £2200 for a 2year old HDi 307 hatch rapier, add the cost of 2 new keys and a small pane of glass and thats it! shocking state we are in..

Having said that my xantia has been on my drive for yonks now

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 15 Jul 2010, 09:24

There's plenty around Cheddar

Post by **CitroJim** » 15 Jul 2010, 09:52

Xac wrote:There's plenty around Cheddar

And Somerset in general. Common as muck down that way...

Post by **Peter.N.** » 15 Jul 2010, 10:08

Nothing like as rare as XMs

if I see half a dozen in a year that's a lot, I see Xantia's practically every day - down hear anyway, we are near Somerset

Peter

messerschmitt owner · Post by **messerschmitt owner** » 15 Jul 2010, 13:26

common as muck here in Gloucestershire too - I still see a few BXs about but few XMs - one in Stroud and one in Gloucester plus mine.

I have a smart roadster of which 7000 were imported to britain - they are scarcer than the Xantia. I can go weeks without seeing another at times.

Post by **Peter.N.** » 15 Jul 2010, 14:13

I remember Messserchmitt's and Isetta's and Bond minicars and Hienkel's and ....I'm getting old

HDI · Post by **HDI** » 15 Jul 2010, 14:40

Regularly seen around Worcester and I saw quite a few on a trip up to Leeds this week !

Post by **DHallworth** » 15 Jul 2010, 15:04

It's because good ones are getting thin on the ground and there's nothing really to replace them with apart from a C5 that I've decided to keep our HDi Exclusive now that the blower on it is working again.

For the amount of money a Xantia costs to buy and keep on the road there's very little else which comes close.

David.

Old-Guy · Post by **Old-Guy** » 15 Jul 2010, 15:36

Every older car (not yet a 'classic') that suffers a few hundred punds worth of damage will be written-off by the insurance company (if they get the chance) because that's cheaper and easier than repairs plus courtesy car hire.

the_weaver · Post by **the_weaver** » 15 Jul 2010, 17:01

Xantia's and ZX's are getting rarer. It's a shame that the best cars ever designed are not being made anymore. I would be quite happy driving a Xantia or ZX with an XUD engine around for a long time into the future. However, I wonder how long it will be possible to do it for.

Paul

red_dwarfers · Post by **red_dwarfers** » 15 Jul 2010, 17:42

In ruralish areas Xantias, ZXs, 405s, 205s, 309s are common as muck and will be for a good while yet for many reasons. But mostly because no one can afford anything much more expensive and we don't mind the odd scratch and dent through the backroads

the_weaver · Post by **the_weaver** » 15 Jul 2010, 17:53

The good thing about Xantia's, ZX's etc is that they're good cars, so "old car" doesn't equal "bad car". I'm thinking about 70's and 80's British cars here, where "old car" did equal "bad car". The Xantia's and ZX's are so good that you can keep an old car and you're hardly any worse off than somebody with a new car. In fact, you might even be better off. These cars are a well kept secret and I'm glad I found out about them.

Paul