Hi all,
I am after some advice having found a very clean Australian del. Xantia.
It would be the family car with my wife as main driver as I have a cheap car to get to work. 3 small kids under 3 years of age need to fit in - but it all looks fine with the seats in the back!
93,000km (58,000 miles), one owner, very clean but no service records or books. The vehicle is in a Subaru dealer's yard having been used as a trade in.
What should I be looking for on the mechanical front apart from the obvious basic mechanical things?
Has anyone shipped in parts to Australia (or US maybe) from Andyspares and realised a saving over the dealer's price?
Any suggestions/comments very welcome!
Daniel
South Australia
help buying '95 Xantia VSX 2.0 8V
Moderator: RichardW
Daniel,
I can't comment on the car itself although at that mileage it should be OK.
I'd suggest you post on the Australian Citroen Bulletin Board & ask questions about the actual car there as there is a fairly good South Australian presence on that board including several Cit Car Club members who may even know the car.
http://members3.boardhost.com/citroen/
The guys in the UK seem to get some astronomical mileages out of their cars so can advise on the longeivity of these vehicles which I feel may depend in your case as to who has been doing the service on it as we have more than our fair share of dodgy repairers. It is worth remembering though, that Europe & UK have problems common to their cars that we don't get with ours due to them salting roads & leaving out in the elements; they also don't cop the high temps & high UV indexes we do so in some ways it's a bit "horses for courses."
As far as importing parts from Andyspares goes, I've done a fair bit of it & find huge savings on local prices. A couple of examples on a BX are spheres that cost 18.5 UK pounds against $150 - $275 as well as headlights 19.5 UK pounds against $275.
The downside is that GST & freight as well as import duties can take some of the gloss off as does freight on heavier items, but even having taken all that into consideration, the price, quality & delivery times are usually much better than our local yokels.
The ideal situation is if you know anyone coming over here who has a bit of luggage allowance left & can ring it in for you.
Being located where you are though, for average everyday ineexpensive & common bits, try Martin Bray at Clarendon as I also deal with him on occasions & I find his prices so much better than Queensland & Sydney dealers that I get him to post them over to me even though I live on the Central Coast in Queensland.
Alan S
P.S. Could I suggest that if you post on the Aussie board that you include an initial after your name as we have I think 3 Daniels there now & another (unknown to us) posted a virus on the board the other day so everyone is a bit wary of "Daniels" at present.[B)][:o)]
I can't comment on the car itself although at that mileage it should be OK.
I'd suggest you post on the Australian Citroen Bulletin Board & ask questions about the actual car there as there is a fairly good South Australian presence on that board including several Cit Car Club members who may even know the car.
http://members3.boardhost.com/citroen/
The guys in the UK seem to get some astronomical mileages out of their cars so can advise on the longeivity of these vehicles which I feel may depend in your case as to who has been doing the service on it as we have more than our fair share of dodgy repairers. It is worth remembering though, that Europe & UK have problems common to their cars that we don't get with ours due to them salting roads & leaving out in the elements; they also don't cop the high temps & high UV indexes we do so in some ways it's a bit "horses for courses."
As far as importing parts from Andyspares goes, I've done a fair bit of it & find huge savings on local prices. A couple of examples on a BX are spheres that cost 18.5 UK pounds against $150 - $275 as well as headlights 19.5 UK pounds against $275.
The downside is that GST & freight as well as import duties can take some of the gloss off as does freight on heavier items, but even having taken all that into consideration, the price, quality & delivery times are usually much better than our local yokels.
The ideal situation is if you know anyone coming over here who has a bit of luggage allowance left & can ring it in for you.
Being located where you are though, for average everyday ineexpensive & common bits, try Martin Bray at Clarendon as I also deal with him on occasions & I find his prices so much better than Queensland & Sydney dealers that I get him to post them over to me even though I live on the Central Coast in Queensland.
Alan S
P.S. Could I suggest that if you post on the Aussie board that you include an initial after your name as we have I think 3 Daniels there now & another (unknown to us) posted a virus on the board the other day so everyone is a bit wary of "Daniels" at present.[B)][:o)]