MOT Result... Ouch...

Xantia2.0 · Unread post by **Xantia2.0** » 21 Jul 2010, 15:48

Well I got a call a few minutes ago... Here's the list:

Rear O/S Shock Absorber Perished/Leaking
Rear N/S Shock Absorber Perished/Leaking
Front O/S Track Rod End has excessive play in ball joint
Rear N/S Fog Lamp not functioning
Front N/S wiper not clearing windscreen effectively
Front N/S seat belt anchorage corroded
Front O/S seat belt anchorage corroded
Rear N/S seat belt anchorage corroded
Rear O/S seat belt anchorage corroded

Total bill - £717 including Labour.

I'm really dissapointed about that

. Looks like I bought a Lemon eh ?

andmcit · Unread post by **andmcit** » 21 Jul 2010, 15:57

Na'h, strip away the MOTspeak BS and look at the list again:

Rear spheres rusty - if they're leaking you'd KNOW about it!!
Didn't think this was an MOT fail having rusty Citroen canonballs.
Lorry suspension units were known in the past to fail and act like a
bomb flying out the back of them so this may have MOT men nervous.
If it is the spheres not a bad/expensive job. 50quid DIY following help
from this forum sticky written by Jim.

Track rod - well less than a tenner to buy and not a difficult thing to fit
- just be accurate/fastidious with measurements of the before/after and
adjust accordingly - follow up by garage tracking check.

Fog light bulb/wiper blade gone. Self explanatory and covered in handbook.

Now the fun bit; seat belt anchorage corroded

What? All 4 of them!? Did the tester expand on this?
Do you have an idea what he's on about from knowing the car yourself?
Xantiae don't make a habit of rusting, especially at seat belt mounting
points. This would need to explored further to offer accurate advice!

Andrew

brmartyn · Unread post by **brmartyn** » 21 Jul 2010, 16:00

That's why you only paid £350 for it!!!

Xantia2.0 · Unread post by **Xantia2.0** » 21 Jul 2010, 16:09

andmcit wrote:Na'h, strip away the MOTspeak BS and look at the list again:

Rear spheres rusty - if they're leaking you'd KNOW about it!!
Didn't think this was an MOT fail having rusty Citroen canonballs.
Lorry suspension units were known in the past to fail and act like a
bomb flying out the back of them so this may have MOT men nervous.
If it is the spheres not a bad/expensive job. 50quid DIY following help
from this forum sticky written by Jim.

Track rod - well less than a tenner to buy and not a difficult thing to fit
- just be accurate/fastidious with measurements of the before/after and
adjust accordingly - follow up by garage tracking check.

Fog light bulb/wiper blade gone. Self explanatory and covered in handbook.

Now the fun bit; seat belt anchorage corroded

What? All 4 of them!? Did the tester expand on this?
Do you have an idea what he's on about from knowing the car yourself?
Xantiae don't make a habit of rusting, especially at seat belt mounting
points. This would need to explored further to offer accurate advice!

Andrew

I have seen it, he showed me (just drove the car back 2 seconds ago), the sills (I think that's their name) are completely rusted out and flexing. The rear shocks are leaking though. The car sags down at the rear if left in the drive way for over 1 hour, and takes ages to level out again once the engine's running. And the rear feels spongy when driving. I can do the wiper blade and light myself, and the track rod end too. As I used to be a mechanic. But I'll get the garage to replace the shocks. That is if I decide to get it through the MOT. Ironically it has NO advisories! Hahahahaha!

What do you think ? Scrap or Fix ?

andmcit · Unread post by **andmcit** » 21 Jul 2010, 16:29

Wow, the sills rust sounds bad - could be a poorly repaired accident
damaged car or maybe it's spent it's life driving on salted roads in your
neck of the woods? Flexing though? Are you sure!!???

'Rear shocks' could mean either the cylinders the sphere is attached to
or the spheres. The spheres are not difficult to change though the rams
will be a fiddle (more to get replacements as the car is an Exclusive using
rarer specc'd top of the range suspension) but still DIY'able.

The sinking at the back/spongy when driven and trouble with the leveling
actually sounds like the Achilles Heel of Xantiae - rear height corrector.
Covered at length on the forum here.

How often do you hear cycling of the suspension pressure feed pump being
driven off the engine - the hiss/click providing pressure?

Unread post by **Old-Guy** » 21 Jul 2010, 17:06

'Spongy' suspension at the rear sounds like a Xantia should be compared with conventional cars. This together with reference to shock absorbers sounds like tester has no knowledge of Xantias (which don't have shock absorbers) - damping is built-in to the gas spring units (spheres).

KevMayer · Unread post by **KevMayer** » 21 Jul 2010, 17:22

Spongy at the rear could be non hydractive spheres on a hydractive car due to a faulty rear electrovalve. So, a previous owner may have fitted the softer spheres to overcome the hard rear.

Xantia2.0 · Unread post by **Xantia2.0** » 21 Jul 2010, 17:57

Well I drove it back into the garage at 4.30 and it will be finished by Friday. The tick or hiss sounds every 40 seconds I think. But I don't really listen out much. By shock absorbers the tester meant the whole rear suspension system, after asking him. And he showed me the leak. So should be Citroen-ing again in a couple of days! And that suspension shouldn't sag again, cos I'll be much lighter after taking 700 quid out of my wallet!

Xantia2.0 · Unread post by **Xantia2.0** » 21 Jul 2010, 18:12

It's not all bad though! I got a 2004 Citroen C5 3.0 V6 Estate courtesy car!

Citroenmad · Unread post by **Citroenmad** » 21 Jul 2010, 18:15

I hope i have a much shorter list than yours when i take the C5 SX in for its MOT tomorrow.

A 04reg C5 estate with a V6 engine, that must be one of only a few in the UK!

andmcit · Unread post by **andmcit** » 21 Jul 2010, 18:31

I reckon you'll be begging to have the Xant back! All those migraines from having to look at the C5 all the time!

Andrew

citronut · Unread post by **citronut** » 21 Jul 2010, 19:27

i would get a second opinion, as this tester has definatly failed in the fact the N/S rear FOG lamp is not a failable item,

as its only the O/S is failable,

secondly hydrailic citroens do not have shock absobers as such,

this tester obviosly dose not knoe the first thing regarding hydralic citroens,

or maybe any other car for that matter,

regards malcolm

Unread post by **myglaren** » 21 Jul 2010, 20:12

Seems to be one of the pitfalls of living in Scotland. I cite the experiences of boristhespie.

Homer · Unread post by **Homer** » 21 Jul 2010, 21:06

I think the phrase is "done, you have been."

Xantia2.0 · Unread post by **Xantia2.0** » 22 Jul 2010, 18:22

Well I just drove it back from the garage an hour ago and maybe they don't know much about Citroens, but the rear end handling is SO much better now! Not spongy, not saging, and you can enter corners at much higher speeds now without spinning out!! And it was the O/S fog lamp that failed, I got it wrong!

Though it just passed the CO test by the skin of its teeth! (Tester pointed that out to me and asked if I wanted them to investigate it further, but I didn't want to shed out any more money on the car!) So I am a bit worried that will fail next year

Oh, and there was one advisory: Front O/S wheel bearing grumbles on take off. Though I've never heard it. Must be Citroen's good sound proofing

So, should my Citroern be reliable now after getting all those things replaced ?