GiveMeABreak wrote:Just look at all the fun and challenges you're missing out on Chris!
Agree with you, Marc, that a challenge is always good. Heaven knows, a hydractive XM/Xantia is pretty good at giving the grey matter a workout from time to time. I think several of us here have enjoyed a good few on-line 'trips to the gym' together to nail how things actually work.
But, when it comes to choosing replacement cars, I now expect the next one to be significantly better than the previous, and so to read about bursting reservoirs and over-sensitive electrics and ECUs is all a bit depressing. I wouldn't even choose a washing machine with those flaws, so why a car, on which I would depend when hundreds or thousands of miles from home? Absorbing hobbies are one thing - entirely optional; temperamental and costly transport is something else.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy making improvements to manufactured goods where sensible and properly understood, and where the manufacturer had seemingly done their best to get it as best as they could in the first place. Under that heading, over the years, I've replaced 4-speed boxes with 5-speed, added interval wiper controls, electronic ignition, electric cooling fans, improved lighting, fitted alternators to replace dynamos, built digital speedos, and improved audio systems. In many of these cases, the new bits were not available to the manufacturer at the time the item was built.
I do expect the clock to go forwards, not back. It is not unreasonable to expect to have roadside assistance now and again. This could well involve a jump start, or jacking the vehicle up. We now know that both of these simple and basic operations can give rise to unforseeable damage and complications in the hands of the average mechanic or owner, maybe necessitating transfer of the vehicle to a dedicated Citroen workshop. There are no
effective warnings (and by this I mean unmissable stickers) fitted, only the requirement to read and remember every last detail of the Owner's Handbook. No, it won't do. The cars should possess a dependable basic level of robustness, and the inability to withstand jacking or jump-starting is just not it. Both of these bits of idiocy could have been easily avoided at design stage, but weren't.
The XM isn't immune to all this. You will cause significant damage if you use the specified jacking points to support the weight of the car. But you can jump-start it, disconnect its battery, pull fuses, let its wheels hang, and so on. About the only thing you need to guard is the radio code.
I won't mention the absence of an effective spare wheel on many new vehicles, where a nick in a sidewall can leave you stranded and severely out-of-pocket. No, I really won't mention it.
