MOT Result... Ouch...

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Xantia2.0
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MOT Result... Ouch...

Post by Xantia2.0 »

Well I got a call a few minutes ago... Here's the list:

Rear O/S Shock Absorber Perished/Leaking
Rear N/S Shock Absorber Perished/Leaking
Front O/S Track Rod End has excessive play in ball joint
Rear N/S Fog Lamp not functioning
Front N/S wiper not clearing windscreen effectively
Front N/S seat belt anchorage corroded
Front O/S seat belt anchorage corroded
Rear N/S seat belt anchorage corroded
Rear O/S seat belt anchorage corroded

Total bill - £717 including Labour.

I'm really dissapointed about that :(. Looks like I bought a Lemon eh ? :eh:
1998 Citroen Xantia 2.0 16V I4 with 148,200 miles on the clock. Bought it with 123,000.
andmcit
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Post by andmcit »

Na'h, strip away the MOTspeak BS and look at the list again:

Rear spheres rusty - if they're leaking you'd KNOW about it!!
Didn't think this was an MOT fail having rusty Citroen canonballs.
Lorry suspension units were known in the past to fail and act like a
bomb flying out the back of them so this may have MOT men nervous.
If it is the spheres not a bad/expensive job. 50quid DIY following help
from this forum sticky written by Jim.

Track rod - well less than a tenner to buy and not a difficult thing to fit
- just be accurate/fastidious with measurements of the before/after and
adjust accordingly - follow up by garage tracking check.

Fog light bulb/wiper blade gone. Self explanatory and covered in handbook.

Now the fun bit; seat belt anchorage corroded

What? All 4 of them!? Did the tester expand on this?
Do you have an idea what he's on about from knowing the car yourself?
Xantiae don't make a habit of rusting, especially at seat belt mounting
points. This would need to explored further to offer accurate advice!

Andrew
brmartyn
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Post by brmartyn »

That's why you only paid £350 for it!!!
Brady

Citroen C8 2.2 HDI Exclusive 2006/06

Previous French cars -
Renault Megane Tourer 2004/54 1.9 DCI Privilege
Citroen Xantia 1998/S 2.0 16v Exclusive Automatic
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Xantia2.0
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Post by Xantia2.0 »

andmcit wrote:Na'h, strip away the MOTspeak BS and look at the list again:

Rear spheres rusty - if they're leaking you'd KNOW about it!!
Didn't think this was an MOT fail having rusty Citroen canonballs.
Lorry suspension units were known in the past to fail and act like a
bomb flying out the back of them so this may have MOT men nervous.
If it is the spheres not a bad/expensive job. 50quid DIY following help
from this forum sticky written by Jim.

Track rod - well less than a tenner to buy and not a difficult thing to fit
- just be accurate/fastidious with measurements of the before/after and
adjust accordingly - follow up by garage tracking check.

Fog light bulb/wiper blade gone. Self explanatory and covered in handbook.

Now the fun bit; seat belt anchorage corroded

What? All 4 of them!? Did the tester expand on this?
Do you have an idea what he's on about from knowing the car yourself?
Xantiae don't make a habit of rusting, especially at seat belt mounting
points. This would need to explored further to offer accurate advice!

Andrew
I have seen it, he showed me (just drove the car back 2 seconds ago), the sills (I think that's their name) are completely rusted out and flexing. The rear shocks are leaking though. The car sags down at the rear if left in the drive way for over 1 hour, and takes ages to level out again once the engine's running. And the rear feels spongy when driving. I can do the wiper blade and light myself, and the track rod end too. As I used to be a mechanic. But I'll get the garage to replace the shocks. That is if I decide to get it through the MOT. Ironically it has NO advisories! Hahahahaha!

What do you think ? Scrap or Fix ?
1998 Citroen Xantia 2.0 16V I4 with 148,200 miles on the clock. Bought it with 123,000.
andmcit
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Post by andmcit »

Wow, the sills rust sounds bad - could be a poorly repaired accident
damaged car or maybe it's spent it's life driving on salted roads in your
neck of the woods? Flexing though? Are you sure!!???

'Rear shocks' could mean either the cylinders the sphere is attached to
or the spheres. The spheres are not difficult to change though the rams
will be a fiddle (more to get replacements as the car is an Exclusive using
rarer specc'd top of the range suspension) but still DIY'able.

The sinking at the back/spongy when driven and trouble with the leveling
actually sounds like the Achilles Heel of Xantiae - rear height corrector.
Covered at length on the forum here.

How often do you hear cycling of the suspension pressure feed pump being
driven off the engine - the hiss/click providing pressure?
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Post by Old-Guy »

'Spongy' suspension at the rear sounds like a Xantia should be compared with conventional cars. This together with reference to shock absorbers sounds like tester has no knowledge of Xantias (which don't have shock absorbers) - damping is built-in to the gas spring units (spheres).
2011 Grand C4 Picasso VTR+ 1.6HDi in Kyanos Blue
1995 Xantia Estate SX 1.9TD in Vert Vega "The Green Lady" - after 11 years now owned by XanTom
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Post by KevMayer »

Spongy at the rear could be non hydractive spheres on a hydractive car due to a faulty rear electrovalve. So, a previous owner may have fitted the softer spheres to overcome the hard rear.
Cheers, Kev

02 plate C5 2.2 Hdi Exclusive SE (now 170k miles 03/21).

Used to have:- Xantia 1.9 TurboD SX. 1996 Blue & 1998 Silver Activa. + 1992 BX TZD Turbo.
Xantia2.0
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Post by Xantia2.0 »

Well I drove it back into the garage at 4.30 and it will be finished by Friday. The tick or hiss sounds every 40 seconds I think. But I don't really listen out much. By shock absorbers the tester meant the whole rear suspension system, after asking him. And he showed me the leak. So should be Citroen-ing again in a couple of days! And that suspension shouldn't sag again, cos I'll be much lighter after taking 700 quid out of my wallet!
1998 Citroen Xantia 2.0 16V I4 with 148,200 miles on the clock. Bought it with 123,000.
Xantia2.0
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Post by Xantia2.0 »

It's not all bad though! I got a 2004 Citroen C5 3.0 V6 Estate courtesy car! :)
1998 Citroen Xantia 2.0 16V I4 with 148,200 miles on the clock. Bought it with 123,000.
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Post by Citroenmad »

I hope i have a much shorter list than yours when i take the C5 SX in for its MOT tomorrow.

A 04reg C5 estate with a V6 engine, that must be one of only a few in the UK!
Chris
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andmcit
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Post by andmcit »

I reckon you'll be begging to have the Xant back! All those migraines from having to look at the C5 all the time! ;)

Andrew
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Post by citronut »

i would get a second opinion, as this tester has definatly failed in the fact the N/S rear FOG lamp is not a failable item,

as its only the O/S is failable,

secondly hydrailic citroens do not have shock absobers as such,

this tester obviosly dose not knoe the first thing regarding hydralic citroens,

or maybe any other car for that matter,

regards malcolm
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Post by myglaren »

Seems to be one of the pitfalls of living in Scotland. I cite the experiences of boristhespie.
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Post by Homer »

I think the phrase is "done, you have been."
Xantia2.0
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Post by Xantia2.0 »

Well I just drove it back from the garage an hour ago and maybe they don't know much about Citroens, but the rear end handling is SO much better now! Not spongy, not saging, and you can enter corners at much higher speeds now without spinning out!! And it was the O/S fog lamp that failed, I got it wrong! :lol: Though it just passed the CO test by the skin of its teeth! (Tester pointed that out to me and asked if I wanted them to investigate it further, but I didn't want to shed out any more money on the car!) So I am a bit worried that will fail next year :?:

Oh, and there was one advisory: Front O/S wheel bearing grumbles on take off. Though I've never heard it. Must be Citroen's good sound proofing :lol:

So, should my Citroern be reliable now after getting all those things replaced ?
1998 Citroen Xantia 2.0 16V I4 with 148,200 miles on the clock. Bought it with 123,000.
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