Do you want an Activa?

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 11 Oct 2008, 21:10

Have a look at the first draft of the buyers guide Andrew and add to it plase as I'm sure there are many things I've forgotten.

yes, I'll add a sticky about the Activa Area in the nain XCitroen forum as some people don't realise there are other bits of the forum off the bottom of their screens!!!

PDFs cannot be directly attached sadly, for that we'll have to wait for phpBB3 to be installed.

For now though, PDFs can be linked to as URLs, provided they are on a web server somehwere. Like this http://www.eastment.net/forum/activaspheres.pdf for example.

I can host PDFs on my webserver if you email them to me.

Yes please Andrew! let's have all you have on road tests and the like. Bring it on!

Quackers · Unread post by **Quackers** » 11 Oct 2008, 21:11

Could this site not have a Wiki on the front page with not just the Activa but other cars to where common things such as part numbers?

Would be handy to have all the Activa's parts that are ordered mostly listed such as the control rods and bushs. Could put all info, guides pic's etc relating to that car model on it. Plus would give a standard place to link to when replying to questions of the forum

andmcit · Unread post by **andmcit** » 11 Oct 2008, 21:38

Good idea referencing the specific Activa parts and show diagrams such as
the pr net pics I have downloaded such as the top offside engine mount bush;

I'll dig some stuff out shortly!

Andrew

Toby_HDi · Unread post by **Toby_HDi** » 12 Oct 2008, 18:30

I have stolen a computer again....

As many of you are aware, I would quite like an Activa to complement my HDi. The obstacle is the fact I cannot afford to run two cars. It's a shame as they are, as said, become rare.

I would love to save one from going to the scrappy in the sky or into the hands of those people we all love to hate. Even if it meant having one which needed work doing, I'd do it for the experience of Activa ownership. As with all Xantia's they seem to have a reputation as 'an old man's car' but I don't care! I'm quite often called such and I'm only 20!

They are certainly becoming scarcer on ebay (I often check). We shall have to wait and see what happens.

Quackers · Unread post by **Quackers** » 12 Oct 2008, 19:13

Toby_HDi wrote:
As with all Xantia's they seem to have a reputation as 'an old man's car' but I don't care! I'm quite often called such and I'm only 20!

I'm 26 and i've had Xantias since i was 21 (2.0i 8v SX , 2x Activa's and a 3.0V6). I'm always the car of choice when my mates want to go say London, they just do not want to do the long drive sat in the back (or front passenger) of anybody else's car, its just not fun in my mates Polo (to crampt), or my mates Rover MG (Suspention too hard) You just cannot beat a big Citroen for comfort. Plus the spoiler make it look a bit more younger persons car.

Get an Activa, a working one is so much fun. Even when i get my C6 i'm not letting my Activa go, its to unique a drive

Sl4yer · Unread post by **Sl4yer** » 14 Oct 2008, 19:48

OK, I might be getting somewhere... She's agreed in principle!

A couple of questions:

1. I've read in many of the reviews that the driving position in Xantias is bad (pedals too close together and offset to the left). How bad is this in practice? I'm 6'3 and not the thinnest, so am I likely to be uncomfortable?

2. Is an Activa likely to be very expensive to maintain, and will odd suspension faults put it off the road? Or will it disable any functions that it senses aren't working correctly?

Thanks in anticipation!

James

red_dwarfers · Unread post by **red_dwarfers** » 14 Oct 2008, 20:09

Sl4yer wrote:OK, I might be getting somewhere... She's agreed in principle!

A couple of questions:

1. I've read in many of the reviews that the driving position in Xantias is bad (pedals too close together and offset to the left). How bad is this in practice? I'm 6'3 and not the thinnest, so am I likely to be uncomfortable?

I've never had a problem with the driving position of the Xantia, im around 6' , nor the pedals...then again I was coming from a little corsa which is also noted for the same 'problem'

Quackers · Unread post by **Quackers** » 14 Oct 2008, 21:10

Sl4yer wrote:OK, I might be getting somewhere... She's agreed in principle!

A couple of questions:

1. I've read in many of the reviews that the driving position in Xantias is bad (pedals too close together and offset to the left). How bad is this in practice? I'm 6'3 and not the thinnest, so am I likely to be uncomfortable?

2. Is an Activa likely to be very expensive to maintain, and will odd suspension faults put it off the road? Or will it disable any functions that it senses aren't working correctly?

Thanks in anticipation!

James

I've had 4 Xantia's and i do not have a clue what these people are on about with the driving position. Infact i find it great, but maybe thats what i'm use to.

As for expensive to maintain, thats like how long is a peice of string, if you were unlucky and got a badly maintained one it could cost a bit to put right. Normal mantainance the spheres are the bit that caught me out. They are hard to come by, and i ended up having to buy 5 of the 10 from a citroen main dealer at almost £80 each

. I just could not get them, as GSF stopped stocking most of them. The activa rams can be the next killer, but i've never had to change one.

My Activa is my only car, so it does all my miles, and it does not seem expencive to maintain. Control rods and bushs for the Activa control are normally cheap. Getting parts from places other than main dealers is going to be the uphill struggle.

andmcit · Unread post by **andmcit** » 14 Oct 2008, 21:48

I find the comfort/driving condition fine, though I'm not 6'3" and find the
comments in road tests quite odd as like Quackers I seem to fit them fine!
The length of support on the thigh is a regular comment and a pal of mine
has commented that his high line s2 seats are better shaped to him than
my s1's.

The Activa specific costs compared to any other Xantia will be concentrated
to the spheres as mentioned as they're not ALL mainstream/accessible at
GSF any more (some are still available mind), wear to the engine mountings
and the control rods and shim mounts on the roll sensing connector rods.

The system standing apart from say a VSX, is the two diametrically opposite
stabiliser rams which can leak, the rear ram bush which has a workaround
repair thanks to Jim's handiwork, the front linkages and mounts which are
unusually reasonable for a Citroen new part

, and the engine mounts
(a specific one I've needed to renew cost 30odd quid!). The suspension ECU
and electrovalves can get the odd hiccup but again there are workarounds
with help at hand here within the forum.

The possible departure from many other Xantiae as far as maintenance
daily costs will be the fuel economy over say a TD etc. It will be difficult
to stay placid for long with such a fine handling sporty yet still limousine
comfortable car but if you can sensible economy figures can be gained.
There's too much of a lead foot with me to see figures Jim mentions...

I'd imagine as far as serious failures or suspension faults are concerned,
unless the strut top fails and sprouts through the bonnet, almost
everything else will allow the car to continue working and maintaining
progress. Sure hydraulics are very high pressure but Citroen has proven
now with decades of manufacture that these are reliable.

A potentially arbitrary value due to the dicey economy etc of the moment,
of say 600-700quid would get a very nice car (s1 and s2) that MAY need
it's height selecting rods freeing and bushes renewed and a sphere or three.
The rest, like clutch*, exhaust, tyres and so on will be the usual items to
keep an eye on with any used Xantia and not excessively different to other
cars.

* The exception here as mentioned by Jim in the buyers guide is the
hydraulic clutch.

The crunch with the diminishing pool of available cars and whether you buy
the first that feels about right or wait on the chance another which may be
better will happen along any minute...

Andrew

Sl4yer · Unread post by **Sl4yer** » 23 Nov 2008, 23:10

Just been searching for a fix for automatic wiper problems (not a biggie to me anyway!), and came across this thread.

Now that I own a Xantia, I can only say that I don't know what the reviewers are on about regarding driving position. It seems fine to me! The pedals are at slightly odd heights though, although the fact that I can't remember which ones shows how insignificant it is.

Having done nearly 400 miles in mine over the weekend, I can say that it is extremely comfortable for the taller driver!

James

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 24 Nov 2008, 07:48

Sl4yer wrote: Having done nearly 400 miles in mine over the weekend, I can say that it is extremely comfortable for the taller driver!

I can confirm that James

My 500 odd mile trip to Geordieland and back in a day really tests the comfort of any car. My Xantia came up top trumps on that journey

Citroenmad · Unread post by **Citroenmad** » 04 Dec 2008, 23:39

red_dwarfers wrote:I would really like to save an Activa, I've even checked out insurance prices (im 18 you see ) and it appears to be "only" a couple hundred more than my 1.9TD Xant.
If I could justify running 2 cars, and had the space then there would be one sitting outside my house
Maybe in a couple of years time when the killer insurance prices come down 8)

Thought id join in here, id also love to save one, but i have similar difficulties as you (im 21) insurance isnt 'too' bad but an activa would have to be a second car, it would just be too much to run for me. So ive been wanting a nice S2 HDi for a while now.

As Andrew knows, my father had an Activa, which i loved. We had it for only about a year, this was two years ago. It was the Activa red (whats its proper name?) it was stunning - the interior was new and the bodywork was excellent, bar a scrape on the front bumper which we had repained. It had only 60K miles, N reg with two previous owners, masses of history and it had just had a small fortune spent on it, well over two times what we paid for it!

It developed a LHM leak,from one of the suspension rams, which would have been a pricey fix. At the time we were looking to update our Xm for a newer one with a better spec, so we found one and traded in the Activa for it.

The outcome was not a good one! The Xm was a pretty poor example, only things we noticed after living with it for a week or two and we regretted (and still do) selling the Activa.

We actually sold the new Xm a few months later and kept our faithful 96 2.0.

Happily i have recently checked on the Activas TAX due date and it is still taxed.

So many nice Citroens (Activas and XMs mainly) i see being sold cheaply and most times there appear back on ebay being broken for parts. If i had the space i would save the good ones. We already have enough cars as it is though

Id love an Activa, one day i will have one, i just hope in 2-3 years time there are still some left

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 05 Dec 2008, 10:24

Citroenmad wrote: Id love an Activa, one day i will have one, i just hope in 2-3 years time there are still some left

Hi Citroenmad and welcome to the forum

There'll still be a few Activas about in two or three years time and by then, most of the rough ones will have disappeared, leaving the good ones. They might be a bit pricey though

I had an irrestable urge to have an Activa a few years ago and I'm now on my second one

I understand the insurance issues but is there any way you could get hold of an Activa now and spend time working on it or storing it until your insurance premium becomes more sensible?

I've known a fair few 16 year olds do just this...

Quackers · Unread post by **Quackers** » 05 Dec 2008, 11:38

I would urge you to get one as soon as you can, they are getting very rare, and the longer you leave it the less likely you are of getting one.

Citroenmad · Unread post by **Citroenmad** » 05 Dec 2008, 12:36

citrojim wrote:Hi Citroenmad and welcome to the forum

There'll still be a few Activas about in two or three years time and by then, most of the rough ones will have disappeared, leaving the good ones. They might be a bit pricey though

I had an irrestable urge to have an Activa a few years ago and I'm now on my second one

I understand the insurance issues but is there any way you could get hold of an Activa now and spend time working on it or storing it until your insurance premium becomes more sensible?

I've known a fair few 16 year olds do just this...

Hi Jim, thanks for the welcome. I found this site through your article in the Citroenian this month, a very nice read, i think its been a while since there has been a lengthy piece in the Xantia files.

As much as i love Citroens, my dad has three at the moment with two being quite rare ones, my everyday car is not a Citroen

I do use my dads Citroens, but i want my own! So id like to change that, maybe for a HDi Xantia as i mentioned before.

Im always keeping an eye out for Activas and Xms for sale, so if the right Activa comes along i may well just buy it and keep it. I could drive it thrid party on my own insurance, but thats not ideal. Although given their value and age any knock and the insurance company would probably see it a write off anyway. I will see how things plan out, maybe ill join Activa ownership quicker than i had planned.

Chris