A good reason to have a Petrol Xantia

addo · Post by **addo** » 01 Dec 2008, 09:51

I love it!

Petrol (PULP) was today $1.169/litre. That's 49.5p!

It's not often you see the counter monkeys happy, but they were today - who'd be griping about such a comparatively low fuel price? This is down about a third on what we were paying six weeks ago.

So, I put a good splash into the tank, and thrashed all about the place in sport mode.

Hope the prices drop over in Europe and the UK to allow another (however shortlived) burst of "motoring for pleasure". Use it while you've got it.

Cheers, Adam.

Toby_HDi · Post by **Toby_HDi** » 01 Dec 2008, 11:12

We'll never get it that cheap here. Mind, it has come down a lot recently.

What really annoys me is the price of diesel (as mentioned in another thread) 16p more expensive than petrol in some places. Petrol comes down and diesel stays the same. Just because the majority of people have diesels. It's a rip off.

Makes me want to get a V6 Xantia

ACTIVE8 · Post by **ACTIVE8** » 01 Dec 2008, 18:19

Toby_HDi wrote:We'll never get it that cheap here. Mind, it has come down a lot recently.

What really annoys me is the price of diesel (as mentioned in another thread) 16p more expensive than petrol in some places. Petrol comes down and diesel stays the same. Just because the majority of people have diesels. It's a rip off.

Makes me want to get a V6 Xantia

It used to be the other way round with the tax on the fuel, because prior to the more wide spread use of diesels, brought about by the common rail engines, the government used to penalise petrol engines, because they could stitch us up then.

Actually it feels like they still are, because the prices do not have the vast difference they had in the past.

Ah, a V6 Xantia yes please, I'll ask Santa for one!

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 01 Dec 2008, 18:38

Remember fuel duty is going up to compensate for the decrease in VAT.

ACTIVE8 · Post by **ACTIVE8** » 01 Dec 2008, 18:45

VAT

Value Added Tax.

When this first came out I was looking for the added value,

but there wasn't any!

They might as well call it PAT.

Purchase Added Tax.

addo · Post by **addo** » 01 Dec 2008, 20:38

Our fuel has three taxes on it. There's a state-based fuel levy (pro-rata), a fixed surcharge for road upkeep (riiiight

) and the good old GST (your VAT). Yep, it maddens me but that won't take the simple pleasure away, of being able to fill the car so cheaply when compared to our recent past.

A friend is driving his R25GTX from Brisbane to Sydney today. That's about 600 miles, and he's picked "Cheap Tuesday" for the fuel price. It should cost less than $120 even with his driving style! If prices do stay low, it might stimulate self-drive tourism again...

Cheers, Adam.

ACTIVE8 · Post by **ACTIVE8** » 02 Dec 2008, 00:52

So that's a tax, on a tax, on a tax.

Is that compound taxing?

Here the Inland Revenue use a thing in their adverts, "tax does not have to be taxing" well actually, truth is it is!

The I.R. have their collective heads in the sand, like the Ostrich!

Clogzz · Post by **Clogzz** » 02 Dec 2008, 14:45

HI ACTIVE8,

They introduced 10% VAT here in 2000.
Previous taxes got reclassified as charges, fees, levies, duties etc … and income tax deductible charges etc were abolished.
There’s VAT on charges etc, but they can say that the compounding is not from taxes.
Unless all these governments get pulled into line, we’ll all finish up at the soup kitchen.

addo · Post by **addo** » 24 Dec 2008, 12:31

Tomorrow (25th) is supposed to see really cheap fuel. I'm waiting!

addo · Post by **addo** » 28 Jan 2009, 23:40

Just back from a seven day "road trip".

Achieved a genuine 33MPG in the estate, with one or two passengers all the way. We covered dirt roads, secondary roads and a little highway - total distance driven was over 2800km. Temperatures were up to mid-thirties at times.

Shared the driving with two "Citroën virgins" who both liked the car's positive feel in rough conditions, and its interior comfort. Got the tail out once, but easily corrected. Had a monster blowout on the nearside rear at speed; yet felt nothing more than the initial "pop".

Faults? I'm not blind, so here they are. Replacement cooling fan expired, so I am now faced with having to extract the digit and rebuild the originals. Interior fan motor also has gone intermittent (I suspect it's that wiper contact thing). High beams are weak compared to a Fuego or 505; the relay mod will be a good experiment. Dust sealing is poor, and on dirt roads the rubber flap valves in its rear lower quarters almost work backwards... On occasion the kickdown switch doesn't seem to trigger - it's a right bugger for accessibility too.

Really though - these gripes are so minor! The Xantia is a great package and I fear eventually replacing it with a 2009 C5 (albeit in 2018

) will be a disappointment.

Cheers, Adam.