Xantia - when to give up?

[RichardW]

Am I having a dilemma? - well maybe...

The Xantia, which has covered 50k miles in 2.5 years with barely a murmur is needing some money spent on it. This is an early 2001 HDi 110 Forte Estate, that I paid £3k for in August 07 with 47k miles on. It needs:

New alternator (started whining last week - possibly get it rebuilt, but in/out looks a PITA)
Cambelt due (coming up to 100k) - to include water pump and tensioners
Windscreen's got a big chip in it (passenger side so not MOT fail, but annoying for the passenger)
Exhaust is probably getting near end of life - CAT system is dear, but I have a plan with repair pipes that would be much cheaper, but does involve me doing it (I hate working on exhausts) and welding it together
Needs new front tyres
Probably could do with new track arm bushes (the NSF tyre wears on the outside even though the tracking looks right, and there is a tendency to be able to steer the front with the throttle, and the back bush looks a little soggy, leading me to believe they are past their best)
Rear brakes need doing, and last time I got near the bolts to try, they didn't look like they were for shifting
Needs an LHM change - well it's needed one of those since I bought it, my fault for not doing it sooner!
Should change the fuel filter I suppose, not been done since I had it...
Matrix is on Forte borrowed time (mind you it's been on that for at least 20k, so I'm not that inclined to break out the spanners!)
MOT is due in 6 weeks, wonder what else that will throw up?

That lot is going to add up to £500 and a chunk of my time, or >£1k and someone else's time. It's easy to see how you could throw the towel in at this stage and spend the £1k on something else. Trouble is, that £1k would only go towards a car of similar stage/price to this one when I bought it, whereas the £1k spent on the Xantia will probably elicit another 50k miles / 3 years without too much drama / expense - the engine is excellent, and the 'box is OK. Although there is always the looming threat of the clutch throwing its toys out - another hard weekend's work

On the grounds that I don't really fancy the potential electrical maladies of a C5, I'm probably going to keep it going, but it could be easy to go the other way!

[Citroenmad]

Having similar thoughts to you, though do you buy a car and then have to repair things on that, or do you stick with what you know and repair your own.

[CitroJim]

I think you've really answered your own quetion there Richard..

Always best the devil you know. £500 would be well spent on getting the car up to scratch and good for another 50K. You know this car and you know that will be the extent of it with no nasty surprises lurking.

£1K might buy you a bag of spanners that needs another £500 spent just to make it good.. It's rare that someone sells a car because it's faultless and needs nothing doing to it...

That's what I'd do...

[Sid_the_Squid]

I would be incline to agree with Jim, it sounds like your car is a good one, and if you are happy with the car it is probably worth doing the work, buying a car can always be a bit of a gamble.

Could you not get your insurance company to replace the windscreen without effecting your NCB?
Clutch wise I think you'd be OK for a few thousand more miles, I had an HDi 110 hatch, at the time of selling it had 125k miles on the original clutch, with no signs of wear, and I believe it had been used as a towing car by the previous owner.

Alternatively if you don't need an estate you could consider the very reasonably priced TD Paul has for sale.

[Old-Guy]

Come on Richard, you know you're going to keep the Xant going!

Seriously, I'm definitely with Jim on this - on a strictly practical basis it's always "better the devil you know" than someone else's cast-off, until you get to the point where getting an old nail through an MoT is going to cost as much as a decent replacement AND it's become a deep and unreliable money-pit.

And there you come to the crux - you know your Xantia will continue to be reliable once you fix the outstanding problems. I'm with you on the heater matrix - a mega-PITA that I too have to face as soon as it gets a bit warmer.

Sometimes a really genuine older car is offered - but usually there's at least one expensive reason behind a sale.

[c.morewood]

Hear Hear Jim,
Richard I know its up to the individual to make the decision based on the car and fimnances, but I firmly believe in "Better the devil you know...." philosophy.
Mines done 220k on the same clutch.. I have started feeling the slight slip occasionally for the last year, the exhaust is starting to blow through the weld and needs a cat substitute, but touch wood, other than that, its still going strong.
I have the C2 for local commuting, but for long distance comfort and travelling 5 up, holidays, camping and carrying all the building materials to do with the house (and carrying the canoe) there's no contest.
Spend the £500 and you'll have a car that will last for the next 10+ years

[HDI]

Thats a good chunk of work ! For me it would depend on available facilities. Without a workshop and 2 post lift I'd be tempted to move on.
I have these facilities but if not there would be a limit to what I'd WANT to do.
My Xantia has just thrown a few wobblers at me in the past few weeks , 1st the battery went , then the exhaust broke at the rear box connection which I've already welded once , then was greeted the other morning by a flat tyre when I was in a hurry !!
Went to have it examined for a puncture repair which was not viable only to realise that it was near it's wear limit anyway , the other front being the same means 2 new tyres then !!
MOT is due in 10 days and I have spotted a weeping PS ram seal !!
Trouble is , it's running like a clock and I like it !!

[Bren]

I'd stick with it - I let mine go after spending £300 on cambelt/waterpump/front brakes - however the gearbox started whining, on a P reg car it was a bit too much.

[KennyW]

Message for HDI,

What does your rack look like as I have to racks in my garage which are apparently for Xantia's but NOT 1.9TD.

I can post photo's for anyone who needs a rack both are free to a good home .

Kenny

[c.morewood]

If you want replacement Michelin Energys after a lot of research the cheapest I found was Costco followed by Black Circles.

[addo]

The Xantia, which has covered 50k miles in 2.5 years with barely a murmur is needing some money spent on it.

Think of it like a loan - you've borrowed against the eventuality of paying back these costs - whether by repairing the existing vehicle, or taking on a (quite possibly) larger debt on another vehicle.

Don't think I've yet seen someone come back with three years' worth of Excel and demonstrate that buying another car ended up costing less per mile than the old one did. Genuine lemons excluded from this remark - seen a couple of them!

[HDI]

Message for HDI,

What does your rack look like as I have to racks in my garage which are apparently for Xantia's but NOT 1.9TD.

I can post photo's for anyone who needs a rack both are free to a good home .

Kenny

Have no recollection of it's appearance I'm afraid !! I'm tempted to clean it off with brake cleaner and cross my fingers it passes !! It really is a witches sister of a job to do !! Thanks for the offer though.

[RichardW]

Some good points well made by all. Of the items listed most are in fact service items - and I just have to keep reminding myself that an oil change on a new car is the thick end of £200 these days!

So tally-ho and on with the work then. Most wil proabably get subbed out due to requirement to have it on the road, and the lack of the two post lift alluded to above (I have a garage but that is full of stranded Visa - the drive is 'gravel' but most of it seems to have sunk and we left with a soggy mess - another job on the house list is re-surfacing the drive ).

Might do the alternator in the short term, then get it tested and see what it needs for that (those wishbone bushes maybe!), then deal with the cambelt.

[Citroenmad]

Thats a good chunk of work ! For me it would depend on available facilities. Without a workshop and 2 post lift I'd be tempted to move on.
I have these facilities but if not there would be a limit to what I'd WANT to do.
My Xantia has just thrown a few wobblers at me in the past few weeks , 1st the battery went , then the exhaust broke at the rear box connection which I've already welded once , then was greeted the other morning by a flat tyre when I was in a hurry !!
Went to have it examined for a puncture repair which was not viable only to realise that it was near it's wear limit anyway , the other front being the same means 2 new tyres then !!
MOT is due in 10 days and I have spotted a weeping PS ram seal !!
Trouble is , it's running like a clock and I like it !!

Its not just my car with seemingly never ending problems then. I fix one thing and two more things break or go wrong.

If you know exactly what is wrong with your car and you have owned it a while, id be tempted to stick to it. Plus, a Xantia is way more simple than any modern car, so should really go wrong less often.

Ive already spent over £600 on my C5 which i bought 2 and a half MONTHS ago, it seemed a good car when i started and wasnt cheap, but little things crop up and they get bigger. Then ive still got a lot more money to spend on it too. I wouldnt care, but i dont even like C5s enough to be spending all this money on one, might as well have something i like! Very tempted to get shot of it, im bored with C5s now

[lexi]

I didn't keep the 110 hdi Xantia. After pricing lots of the stuff on it this car can be an expensive one when things start to go on it.

So I got the V6 which luckily is running sweet after some basic maintenance.