1996 Xantia estate rust on sill - terminal?

Napoleon · Unread post by **Napoleon** » 13 Nov 2010, 21:38

Hi, whilst hereabout on FCF, I thought I'd browse for anohter car, should the fancy take me...

This photo was lifted from an Ebay car, a 96 Xantia estate... shows the rust on the O/S rear sill.

Is this a bad sign, or a very bad sign? Or just ok really, if you can live with it?

Car is MOT 'til may '11, but tax expires this Dec.

Sorry, can't post pic, so here's a link to the auction..
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1996-CITROEN-XAN ... 500wt_1156

Xaccers · Unread post by **Xaccers** » 13 Nov 2010, 21:58

Needs to be sorted, Cassy's N/S got bad after the seam popped open due to a bump with a flower pot in that area.
Failed the MoT because it's close to the seat belt, despite being outside and unrelated.

Napoleon · Unread post by **Napoleon** » 13 Nov 2010, 22:04

thanks.

andmcit · Unread post by **andmcit** » 13 Nov 2010, 22:09

That does look bad. May be a git to repair too. I can see the signs of
distress on my x2 estates that I'm currently using.

I have a green Sx 2.0i auto saloon in near perfect mint condition with 80k
on the clock that needs to find a new hone asap. Not bad on fuel TBH but
not a sports car like the 16v you're looking at.

Rare car actually - not many auto Xants made it and simpler and more
reliable than auto adaptive? Must be worth a few hundred?

Andrew

addo · Unread post by **addo** » 13 Nov 2010, 22:54

Can't cut a donor section from another car? I'm finding this Xantia rust thing amazing. Mine has small blisters on the metal gutters only.

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 14 Nov 2010, 08:14

The rust on that Xantia above looks bad but the 2000 'X' reg one I looked at last week had the same problem on the N/S but over an area twice the size of the 'P' reg one above yet the O/S sill was as new.

It really does appear that its a case of luck of the draw as to whether a car gets affected.

handyman · Unread post by **handyman** » 14 Nov 2010, 13:13

Hi Napoleon, it always seems to be a worse problem with the estates as the bodies were built in Spain by Heuliez and there is a sealant fault around the double skinned section, that allows water to sit in the joints and sweat the metal.

As most estates have leaked at some point in their lives, from the tailgate seal, the water flows under the rear seats and drains into this area. Luckily, the damage is localised to the outer D panel and the inner section that is the mounting plate for the rear seat belt.(Xac!) Usually, the inner sill is unaffected, at least on all the ones I have seen and repaired. It is just a matter of chopping out the damaged area, making and shaping new sections and rewelding, along with a good dose of sealant.

Unfortunately, not a cheap repair, given the current value of these cars, but worth doing if you want to keep it.

PM me if you want more details, as I am just doing a repair on an estate now.

As for the MOT, any corrosion within 300mm of a suspension mounting point is a failure. Rot in this area qualifies.

Handyman

handyman · Unread post by **handyman** » 14 Nov 2010, 13:17

Hi Dickie, thats a nice estate at a nice price! Wonder why they show the OS D panel but not the NS? And no mention of the rot in their euligy.

H