Test driving an SX Xantia

Unread post by **Dommo** » 23 Dec 2009, 17:19

The screen's pretty clean externally, and I've got bosch aerotwin flat style wipers, so I think it's just the sensor itself being a bit dodgy.

We'll definatly go have a look at that red one if it's still for sale, for that price, milage, and amount of recent work I think it'll be worth it.

I can only assume it was registered late as you said, the HDi engine was out in some T reg 306's, and even earlier in 406's as far as I can remember.. To be honest I was unconvinced about the blue one I went to see yesterday being a 1.9 until I looked under the bonnet, and sure enough it was.

Cheers.

Citroenmad · Unread post by **Citroenmad** » 23 Dec 2009, 17:21

citroenxm wrote:Yes chris it does BUT..

THERE IS NO BETTER CAR THEN AN XM!

Paul

Yes, think id agree with that

We have had 4 Series2 Xms, none have given any major problems because of their hydractive set up, or anything else for that matter. There are just more spheres to replace, which is no big deal. Electro valves can cause problems, though there is a kit which can hlep matters should the valves start failing.

I do use sport mode on B-roads, i like to press on at times and fine they drive brilliantly in sports mode. Though with hydractive2 you still get a good ride when on the level.

deian: A manual 2.1TD is fantastic, great to drive and on fuel but quite hard to find in S2, my personal preffered series is the 2. An auto box ruins the economy and performance a bit. Also the 2.016v petrol is not to be over looked either, the manuals are great, very nippy and lively but economical too. I had over 40mpg on motorway runs from the low mileage one we had a few months back. I thought that was a fantastic car to drive, book said 0-60 in around 9 seconds, which is not slow by any standards for a large car.

Chris.

Citroenmad · Unread post by **Citroenmad** » 23 Dec 2009, 17:25

Dommo wrote:The screen's pretty clean externally, and I've got bosch aerotwin flat style wipers, so I think it's just the sensor itself being a bit dodgy.

We'll definatly go have a look at that red one if it's still for sale, for that price, milage, and amount of recent work I think it'll be worth it.

I can only assume it was registered late as you said, the HDi engine was out in some T reg 306's, and even earlier in 406's as far as I can remember.. To be honest I was unconvinced about the blue one I went to see yesterday being a 1.9 until I looked under the bonnet, and sure enough it was.

Cheers.

Ah, well those aftermarket flat wipers can miss the sensor if not adjusted to the screen as you fit them. I know, i had this problem on my 206. Though yes, it could well be a duff sensor.

The red one looks worth a look, and if i were you id be getting some xantia wheels back on and selling those C4 wheels, as they really look too big and dont suit it, not to mention tyres will be more expensive. Im sure you will get money back for those!

Well the HDi was out in Xantias in late 1998, however the 1.9TD ran along side the HDi in the model line up as the cheaper option. Most more basic specs were available with both. Ill try find my xantia broshures later and see what that says

Edit: Yes Paul, your right, the 1.9TD was available in the Exclusive, however only with an automatic gearbox.

Citroenmad · Unread post by **Citroenmad** » 23 Dec 2009, 18:02

Some others ive found:

http://www.autoweb.co.uk/WSCarDetails.asp?cdID=5329183

Looks tidy, low mileage considering the year. LX spec so no air con though. We had one exactly the same, same spec too, brand new in 1995, though ours was red. I loved that car. Getting on now but its less than £500, must make a good reliable car.

What about a 2.1TD? Exclusive? Not sure if these can run on vegi mind

http://www.autoweb.co.uk/WSCarDetails.asp?cdID=5482134

Looks a nice car, bit tatty looking but then it is only £350!

http://motoring.friday-ad.co.uk/AdRef/S ... etails.asp

Very nice colour that one, seems expensive compared to the two red ones on autotrader though.

This, no pic:
CITROEN - Xantia, 1.9TD SX Diesel Hatchback, 97R, 103k miles, Red, aircon, towbar, clean inside & out, reliable & economical. 12 mths MOT til Dec 2010. £595.00 , 07523 381313.

I was looking at xantias a few months ago, wanted a HDi exclusive but then got looking into TDs and running on veg. Though it would seem unless you get free veg oil then a HDi is probably going to be cheaper to run, as they do more mpg. At the time there was a vert nice TD for £1100 on ebay, classified add, really nice red/copper colour too. Ive just found the picture and that car was a W plate SX 1.9TD too, though its not the car car as the one with C4 wheels. So they do exist.

Looks your best bet at the moment!

Unread post by **Dommo** » 23 Dec 2009, 18:08

The red one is sold, doh!

From what I've read most 2.1 Xantias dont run on veg oil as they have a Lucas EPIC (EPIC fail

) pump, I think some XM's came with bosch pumps fitted though.

We'll keep a look out for a low ish milage (<100k) SX I think and go view it when one comes up. Cheers for the ones you've shown me it's much appreciated.

Citroenmad · Unread post by **Citroenmad** » 23 Dec 2009, 18:12

No problem.

Shame about the red one, obviously a good car, good ones do seem to sell fast.

Our 2.1TD Xm has a Bosch pump, so a bosch is needed to run vegi then?

You might want to change your 306 for a Xantia if you find a nice one 8)

Xaccers · Unread post by **Xaccers** » 23 Dec 2009, 18:14

Dommo wrote:The red one is sold, doh!

From what I've read most 2.1 Xantias dont run on veg oil as they have a Lucas EPIC (EPIC fail ) pump, I think some XM's came with bosch pumps fitted though.

We'll keep a look out for a low ish milage (<100k) SX I think and go view it when one comes up. Cheers for the ones you've shown me it's much appreciated.

Indeed, the 2.1TD's are fitted with Lucas Epics (of which CitroJim is a huge fan).
I found my 2.1TD to be slow, un-responsive and uneconomical if trying to get any ooomph from it. Jim on the other hand was able to regularly get over 50mpg (whereas I struggled to get 32mpg).

Unread post by **Dommo** » 23 Dec 2009, 18:22

Citroenmad wrote:No problem.

Shame about the red one, obviously a good car, good ones do seem to sell fast.

Our 2.1TD Xm has a Bosch pump, so a bosch is needed to run vegi then?

You might want to change your 306 for a Xantia if you find a nice one 8)

I do suggest to my dad (car's for him) that if it's good it'll sell, where he'll think nahh it'll still be there after christmas. Clearly not true in this case.

And yeah, Bosch pumps are needed to run veg oil as the lucas pumps are rotary in design which breaks the moment it tries to pump some thick veg oil, where the bosch pump is like a typical piston engine with a piston pumping fuel. One upgrade you can do to the bosch pump is fit a ford transit piston setup as it's a bigger diameter, so you're basically increasing the displacement of the fuel pump

Unread post by **Dommo** » 23 Dec 2009, 18:23

That reminds me, I notice you have a number of C5's in your signiture, what're your thoughts on them?

We've seen this nearby and we're not sure if it's worth buying or not?

Autotrader

deian · Unread post by **deian** » 23 Dec 2009, 19:24

Citroenmad wrote: Edit: Yes Paul, your right, the 1.9TD was available in the Exclusive, however only with an automatic gearbox.

Mmmm, very nice, that one we all saw on ebay a few weeks ago was just that and only had 11k miles on it, went for about £1800 i think, mmmm auto 1.9td,

Citroenmad wrote:deian: A manual 2.1TD is fantastic, great to drive and on fuel but quite hard to find in S2, my personal preffered series is the 2. An auto box ruins the economy and performance a bit. Also the 2.016v petrol is not to be over looked either, the manuals are great, very nippy and lively but economical too. I had over 40mpg on motorway runs from the low mileage one we had a few months back. I thought that was a fantastic car to drive, book said 0-60 in around 9 seconds, which is not slow by any standards for a large car.

i had a xantia 2.1td before, and the engine is sweet as, and i liked the feel of the xm, but the box was hideous, give me a 2.1 manual or auto-adaptive auto rather than the hideous boring auto in an xm shell and i think i'd be quite happy, oh and a exclusive trim, S2 this time!

Citroenmad · Unread post by **Citroenmad** » 23 Dec 2009, 22:24

Dommo wrote:That reminds me, I notice you have a number of C5's in your signiture, what're your thoughts on them?

We've seen this nearby and we're not sure if it's worth buying or not?

Autotrader

Well i obviously like them

That 1.6HDi you have found looks fantastic, lovely colour too. Thats the design spec, so basically an LX with alloys and one or two extra things. All facelift C5s are five star n cap crash rated, these even have a knee airbag for the driver! S1 C5s are 4 star, mainly because of pedestrian impact protection i think.

The 1.6HDi is actually quite a good unit, ive not driven the 1.6 in a C5 but most people say its cracking, good performance while excellent on fuel - only £125 a year road tax too, something you dont get on xantias unfortunately. My 2.0HDi 110 is the same tax band though.

Ive driven a few C4 coupes with the 1.6HDi 110 engine, its good, but seems to lack a bit of pull from the 2.0HDi 110. The only problem ive heard of with the 1.6HDi is turbo failure. However dont let that put you off, its usually down to long periods between oil changes and/or the wrong oil being used. Stick with the genuine oil and service it often and you shouldn’t have any problems.

All HDis are good engines though, you hear a lot of bad press about them, especially on the forums, but in reality they are not that bad, i really rather like them. Id avoid the petrols though, especially the HPI. You often see HDis with mileage heading towards 250-300K. Yes they can have probelsm along the way, but generally they are sound and ive never had a problem with any of ours.

C5s are very economical, spacious, well equiped cars which are superb value, safe, reliable and hugely refined. Recently i searched high and low for something else, after swapping cars with my sis she has my old C5, i had the 206 which i wasnt enjoying for my lengthy commute. So i looked at all sorts, mundanes (amasing how they still rust really), passats (very dull, well built but dull, boring to drive too), lagunas (never buy one of those, reliability is not existant!), Vectras, etc etc. In fact i was running out of what to look at next. I couldnt find anything which i liked as much or did the job as well as a C5 does.

So i searched for a nice later S1 and here i am, with a very nice VTR model which is perfect for me. Its the spec i wanted, its probably as new as i could get with my £3000 budget, decent mileage and the colour i wanted - silver.

Dont get me wrong, there are better cars for different reasons. The C5s are fantastic cruisers and they really take some beating at what they do, they can be pushed around on country roads too and i never drive slowly, but the later cars seem better at doing that, but they are still a big car and feel it, they are quite imposing on the road. I find the 52reg SX a bit too numb, where as the VTRs are more communicative. There seems to have been suspension tweaks along the C5s lifeline. I spend most of my driving time on motorways and dual carriageways so the C5 is perfect. Mondeoos are supposed to drive very nicely, ive driven a few on test drives and didnt find them anything special, not near as refined as the C5 and they are certainly diesels! Nope, i cant find anything better, hence why we have 3 of them

I never thought id like C5s as much as i do, they are a great everyday car. So yes id recommend one. Some mates think its a odd choice for me as im 22, but they all really like my car now, i think they are jelous!. Ive had enough with small cars, these Xms have spoiled me! I just prefer driving big cars.

I looked at getting a Xantia for my daily car, but couldnt find the right one, i wanted a Exclusive HDi (hydractive) but im quite picky and couldnt find a good example. I considered Xms but id want a 2.1TD manual, which is hard to come by and most have been too the moon and back by now. I thought about taking on our 2.1TD manual Xm but thats an estate and as much as i like big cars I didnt really want an estate for my own car. I also prefer a more modern car for daily usage for safety, spec etc.
I prefer Xms to C5s, but our Xms are not used daily, we have them as weekend cars really. Xms are very refined, but the C5s are even more so. Xms have something about them, they feel special to drive and have some really nice quirky features. Ours dont do a huge mileage and i try to keep them nice and preserve them, i keep the C5s nice but they are easily replaced if something happens to one there is another out there, which is not the case with Xms.

BTW, that 1.6 Design you have found is a bit of a bargain! If your wanting one then id get that one

Sorry, thats a bit of a long post, i got carried away as usual

Ill stop there with my C5 speak, PM me if you want any more info

Chris.

Unread post by **citroenxm** » 23 Dec 2009, 22:25

SEi Trim in S1.5 cars is slightly higher but only in minor issues...

Gaurenteed FULL LEather not half as in some S2 cars.

More information warnings in the left hand display.

Left hand display will ALWAYS Work with no missing pixels.. (S1 displays ARE NOT Compatible with S2 cars.)

On a TD, A turbo boost guage under the rev counter, not fitted to any S2 cars

A much BETTER Spoiler...

(In my experiance) More reliable Electro valves

So for me, a S1.5 XM ANY DAY! Only two things I do like on a S2 XM, The Front Grill, and the headlight washers....

8)

Anyway back to this TD... A Low milage Xantia TD, you will be lucky for many under the 100k now, and if one turns up you WILL HAVE TO jump on it.. I still think that Black SX TD is stunning! Milage is NOT a problem what so ever as long as theres history! Wheel bearings for example just DO NOT seem to wear out on these cars! My Xantia TD is on 219k now, and Ive NO reason to beleve shes had a new one.. also a S2 TD Taxi a customer had, ran to 289k on the SAME Wheel bearings!!

Paul

Paul

Citroenmad · Unread post by **Citroenmad** » 23 Dec 2009, 22:27

deian wrote:
Citroenmad wrote: Edit: Yes Paul, your right, the 1.9TD was available in the Exclusive, however only with an automatic gearbox.
Mmmm, very nice, that one we all saw on ebay a few weeks ago was just that and only had 11k miles on it, went for about £1800 i think, mmmm auto 1.9td,

i had a xantia 2.1td before, and the engine is sweet as, and i liked the feel of the xm, but the box was hideous, give me a 2.1 manual or auto-adaptive auto rather than the hideous boring auto in an xm shell and i think i'd be quite happy, oh and a exclusive trim, S2 this time!

Ah yes, but that was an LX, not an Exclusive ... Very nice car though, thought it was more than £1800? Nearer £3000 wasnt it?

Yes the Xms autobox is an aquired taste, suits me as i only drive the 2.0 auto about 1-2K miles a year, its just nice to use to get a break from doing the gears

. But i do prefer the drive of the 2.1TD manual Xm, ive not driven a 2.1TD automatic though so cant compare.

Unread post by **citroenxm** » 23 Dec 2009, 22:32

2.1 TD on an auto is.. well, I think, quite slow really, the auto box takes a lot out of the D engine BUT Though, its very smooth changing, the auto box suits the TD Engine and the low down tourque of the TD unit..

Ive got a S2 TD auto in at the moment have a couple of front to back pipes replaced... hopefully finish tomorrow if its dry, otherwise on Saturday..

Paul

Citroenmad · Unread post by **Citroenmad** » 23 Dec 2009, 22:41

citroenxm wrote:SEi Trim in S1.5 cars is slightly higher but only in minor issues...

Gaurenteed FULL LEather not half as in some S2 cars.

More information warnings in the left hand display.

Left hand display will ALWAYS Work with no missing pixels.. (S1 displays ARE NOT Compatible with S2 cars.)

On a TD, A turbo boost guage under the rev counter, not fitted to any S2 cars

A much BETTER Spoiler...

(In my experiance) More reliable Electro valves

So for me, a S1.5 XM ANY DAY! Only two things I do like on a S2 XM, The Front Grill, and the headlight washers.... 8)

Anyway back to this TD... A Low milage Xantia TD, you will be lucky for many under the 100k now, and if one turns up you WILL HAVE TO jump on it.. I still think that Black SX TD is stunning! Milage is NOT a problem what so ever as long as theres history! Wheel bearings for example just DO NOT seem to wear out on these cars! My Xantia TD is on 219k now, and Ive NO reason to beleve shes had a new one.. also a S2 TD Taxi a customer had, ran to 289k on the SAME Wheel bearings!!

Paul

Paul

Hmm, but its mainly what each of us prefer. I much prefer the looks of the S2 cars, they just look that little bit more modern but still the same. Slightly deeper bumper blacks make a difference, as do the mirrors. I like the S2 interior, though its years since ive been in a S1, they have some fantastic steering wheels, though ive always been a fan of the xantia/XM S2 one.

Our Xms are SX and VSX spec, so no leather, im not a fan of leather anyway, id rather not have it to be honest. Though spec is not high on my list of wants for an Xm, maybe if i ran one daily id certainly want a few more toys. Sometimes im greatful for less spec, when its an Xm anyway, no pexel display on the SX, no electric rear windows, no auto heater fan with the annoying buzzing fan in the roof. Just simplicity! Though actually the SXs heater controls are far better than the VSX (non digi climate) as the SX you can set the temp for the driver and passenger side seperate, which is brilliant.

Oh, but thats one thing i dont like about S1 cars, the spoiler, i dont think it goes with the shape, the S2 subtle spoiler is a nice addition in my opinion.

You didnt mention the windows! Are S1 electric windows not more reliable than the S2s? Ive had to fix a few, what a pain they are to do too. Though its all part of enjoying Xm motoring

The 2.0 Auto has been with us for nearly 8 years now, i can say, apart from the windows, its been the most reliable car we have ever owned, just fantastic, it never fails to perform, even when stood over the winter for months it just goes on the dot and you can do hundreds of miles in a day without any problems at all, park it for a few months and go again, its just excellent.

Ive fixed the pixel display in the VSX, though im never going to get those 2 days i spent doing it back