All Things V6...

[DHallworth]

Thanks Alasdair I'll give that a go.

The car is ready to be collected from Citroen tomorrow morning. Evans Halshaw have been given a bill for £697 from Glasgow Citroen. Unfortunately Evans Halshaw couldn't pay it until Monday when the accounts department opens again. Citroen won't release the car until they're paid for the work which is understandable. As the car is booked in for detailing on Monday and I didn't want to miss that appointment I'm having to pay the bill and EH are going to reimburse me.

Credit where it's due, Evans Halshaw haven't once questioned the repair, they acknowledged that it needed work doing to it and when the quote was sent through from Citroen Glasgow they gave the go ahead immediately for the work to be done.

Seeing prices like that makes me glad that it came from a dealer as the spheres retail at £750 for the set before any labour is added! With discounts they come down to around £550, even still, it's a huge amount of money.

I'll report back tomorrow after having driven it with a new set of spheres

David.

[CitroJim]

Gosh! How many spheres does it have David?

They seem expensive...

[Stickyfinger]

It does not need that many at dealer2dealer prices Jim:)

[DHallworth]

It's got 7, Jim. However that bill is only for the 4 corners!!

Genuine spheres are £88 quid each or thereabouts!

David.

[CitroJim]

Oh gosh David... Mind you, that was the price for genuine Xantia/XM spheres not so long ago...

Seven you say.. Four corners, two Centre Hydractives and one more? Some sort of accumulator?

[DickieG]

Two Centre Hydractives at the back and one at the front that you can't get to,,

[CitroJim]

Why two at the back Richard?

and one at the front that you can't get to,,

Shades of the XM

[Stickyfinger]

How is the car with the new spheres going ? improved ?

[DickieG]

Why two at the back Richard?

I don't honestly know other than I presume to give a softer ride when in soft mode.

[CitroJim]

Yes, I suppose two will double the volume and double the potential softness... Nice!

[Stickyfinger]

And make up for the low output from the electric LDS pump ?

[CitroJim]

And make up for the low output from the electric LDS pump ?

Shouldn't be a problem Alastair as the system should not need topping up very often.. The Xantia pump is quite low output too on the suspension side...

[DHallworth]

All has been really quiet on the car front here due to the cold and incredibly wet weather we've been having.

The C5 is behaving perfectly and has settled into daily service without batting an eye lid at it. On the daily commute Cheryl is averaging 35mpg in it which is more then respectable.

Today I put a new set of tires on her 207 so that it can be MOT'd tomorrow before being given to the detailer to be cleaned ready for sale. If it looks like the other cars have I'll not want to sell it when it comes back.

The Activa, both XM's and the 406 Coup have been getting started to warm through regularly but haven't been out on the road for a while due to the poor weather and the salt. I really need to try and set more time aside for cars this year as the XM and 406 Coup both did less then 300 miles last year, in fact the 406 did 260, 120 of which were done in one day going to Edinburgh and back, and the XM did similar in a day going to a car show. The Activa actually did over 1000 miles last year for a change though!

Fingers crossed now the light nights are coming that the weather will start to improve and then the tinkering can start again

David.

[Stickyfinger]

I do hope the weather gets better for you soon David.......one question however that has always niggled me

Why the 406 coup ?, in seems "wrong" in your garage considering your other cars choices.

[DHallworth]

My dad bought the 406 Coupe when it was 3 months old to replace his Activa. It's one of the last V6 manual cars and is actually a really nice car to drive. It's a stunning car to look at and the red car with the black leather is a really pleasing combination to look at.

It was my dads daily car until he retired and he's kept it lovely, it was resprayed to get rid of the stone chips and a couple of parking marks that it incurred in the hospital carpark where he worked, the wheels have been refurbished and every year it goes for it's MOT it gets compliments from the main dealer on it's condition.

Dad doesn't use it any more, the only time it tends to get taken out is when I take it for a run or a blast. It's worth so little to sell now that it's worth more to us to keep as it takes so little to keep on the road. Insurance for it is circa £168 a year fully comp!

I'm pleased to say the 207 now has an MOT. It failed the first time around as both front CV gaiter clips were corroded and loose, thankfully the lad I took it to put 2 new clips on it and it had a pass without a single advisory which I'm pretty chuffed about on a 136k mile car. It's now sitting with the detailer to have a good going over so it can be advertised for sale.

I drove the C5 today for the first time in a few months, every time I drive that car I cannot get over how well put together it is and that 3.0 HDi is the first diesel engine I've driven in years that I really like. It's a cracking engine. It's such a shame PSA don't make any 6 cylinder cars now. If that engine was still available in the C5 I'd factory order one in my own spec before production ends, I'm that impressed with it

David.