Would you ever buy a just out of warranty modern car now?

[Peter.N.]

Hi Chris

I haven't had to much trouble with XM windows, apart from the switches, the only one that sticks in my mind was the rear of the SX hatch - and that was manual

Peter

[Citroenmad]

Hi Chris

I haven't had to much trouble with XM windows, apart from the switches, the only one that sticks in my mind was the rear of the SX hatch - and that was manual

Peter

Your quite lucky there then.

Ive had to do 2 cable repairs and replace one motor. I understand that that particular car has needed it doing again recently too.

[Peter.N.]

Hi Colin

In the '60s scrap yards were full of cars with 60 or 70k on the clock, brought to their knees by, as you say, tin worm, but that wasn't the only problem, because of the poorer engineering standards and relativly low power output the engines were driven at near maximum output much of the time and so were literaly worn out. When I started work we had a Thames 10 cwt van with a side valve engine, that needed replacement at 25,000 miles which was the norm, at a cost of £25.00.

As over the years cars increased in power and engineering standards improved the life expectancy increased dramatically until the '90s when 200k or more was the norm, I have had two XMs with nearly 300k in fact I have one now, since then durabaility has steadily declined.

Its a different world to the one I was brought up in, many people now have so much money that they regard cars as disposable items but the situation is not sustainable.

Peter

[Peter.N.]

I can only vaugely remember replacing one with a broken cable Chris, and I changed the complete mechanism, thats in 15 years worth of XM motoring, that is if you don't count the last one I bought which had the motor missing but that's in probably more than 300,000 miles worth of motoring. I have had my fair share of other problems but on the whole I have found the XM very reliable, certainly more than most cars made now.

Peter

[howiedean]

Really though. Are customers REALLY gagging for auto lights on , auto windscreen wipers, auto lane departure devices, auto one push electric windows, auto climate control, auto self cleaning dpf's, etc etc.

I know I can survive without all this troublesome unreliable and expensive to repair nonsense, in fact, I do actually quite like manual wind down windows.
I can feel a 2CV coming on here you know!

That'll be me then

I wouldn't say i couldn't live without those features, but they are very nice to have and enhance my enjoyment of the car.

Auto wipers and lights dont really have a lot to fail on them, they are designed that if the sensor fails then they revert back to manual wiping and headlamps. One touch windows have been on the go for years, i wouldn't consider them a luxury or troublesome. They are ideal. I love climate control, such a pleasure to have all year round. Dial in your temp, hit auto and its away, sorting out the temperature, fan speed, fan flow location, recirculation etc. I would not like to go back to a car for daily use which didn't have air conditioning - manual or climate.

Cruise control is one of the things I look for most in a cars spec levels. Which does actually seem more reliable with modern cars than the old vacuum type cruise control systems of old.

I would much rather buy a car with a warranty, even if that warranty was only a month long. As any problems the car has when you buy it you could well get repaired under warranty, so long as its not wear and tear items. Buying a car out of warranty can be a risk, if you get down the road and the engine goes pop you might struggle to get any help from the dealer and if a private buy then its even more difficult.

However, ive only owned one car within its manufacturers warranty myself, which i had to use countless times. Ive owned others with 1-6 months after market warranty cover which ive never needed to use.

Generally if you find a good car I think it will treat you well. Providing you dont buy something which has known design faults.

I don't think people should be scared off modern cars, times have to change and our cars are too. Yes they might be getting more complex but that is something to get used too and on the whole they are not too much more hassle. Yes they often need plugging into software to diagnose a fault. However that is a very beneficial thing, plug it in and it should tell you where its troubles are and what is the cause. Fault codes can be general at times but at least it gives you a starting point.

Mechanical items are what concern me, but then again, if you research into the car your buying and find out its possible faults, you will at least know what you are buying or have an idea what might go wrong.

If something is known to go through injectors or fuel pumps etc then its probably something you should avoid or budget it into the running costs if you really must own it.

Things like DMFs and FAP filters are fitted to a lot of modern cars. I dont like DMF nor do i agree that there is any real point to them, it just seems like a bad design. I know some modern engines are designed with them and so they are needed for that reason. Some will work fine with a solid flywheel in place of the DMF. The FAP filters are there to help reduce emissions and a lot of diesels have them now, called a variety of things they do the same job. If its a case of spending £70 or whatever every 80K to get it topped up, im happy with that.

Things like rear arm bearings, as they have been mentioned already, might well last a similar mileage to those on older cars, however even if they need replacing every 100K, thats still not bad going and they dont cost the earth to buy & fit.

Things which would bug me if is the engine lasted 100K or the gearbox. Something that is going to be a pricey and big job to put right

Im certainly not put off by any modern cars, unless I know that there is a problem with a particular one which could end up costing a lot of money to put right, I would buy one.

Modern cars do bring many advances to motoring, safety, efficiency, spec levels, etc. Safety in modern cars is something I really look into when buying.

The auto lights on my C5 dont seem to work although its not something I'm worried about. The auto wipers on the Xantia are fantastic, I'm not sure if the C5's need to be looked at as they seem to run faster when its spitting.
The extra features are usefull if they work and reamin working properly.

[C.J.]

Well as long as they don't actually cause major issues and problems when they go wrong, I suppose it's ok then.
I just found both auto items a bit annoying on the C5, and coming on when I didn't really want them too.
I don't like being controlled by electrics.
I'm a parchment and quill man I am.

[Citroenmad]

That is very good going then Peter. I agree, the Xms are superbly reliable, we have had very very few problems with any of our 4 Xms.


To activate the auto headlamps on a C5:
Turn the ignition to the service/battery mode (first click on a C5I), them press and hold the end of the wiper stalk until you get a message on the display and a bong!

Give that a try if your C5s headlamps are nto coming on automatically. You turn them off using the same method.

For the auto wipers to work at their best, the wiper blades need to be smear free and the screen totally free from grease, or the sensor picks up on that and not the rain.

[C.J.]

That is very good going then Peter. I agree, the Xms are superbly reliable, we have had very very few problems with any of our 4 Xms.


To activate the auto headlamps on a C5:
Turn the ignition to the service/battery mode (first click on a C5I), them press and hold the end of the wiper stalk until you get a message on the display and a bong!

Give that a try if your C5s headlamps are nto coming on automatically. You turn them off using the same method.

For the auto wipers to work at their best, the wiper blades need to be smear free and the screen totally free from grease, or the sensor picks up on that and not the rain.

I find a flick of the wrist much more predictable and reliable.

[Citroenmad]

Haha

That gets tiring once you have had auto wipers

No, I do like auto wipers, brilliant for long drives, just set them to auto and they come and go as they need to depending on the weather. Same with the lights too.

I rarely have to clean my screen to get the wipers working correctly, they usually are perfect. If they get a mind of their own then the screen needs a clean.

Its often the case where intermittent doesn't quite cut it and the second wiper speed is too fast. No such issues with auto wipers.

Though if the car has variable intermittent wipers, with a dial so you can slow or speed up the delay time, that works well too.

I still prefer to have auto wipers than not, but its not a necessity, yet!

[C.J.]

Haha

That gets tiring once you have had auto wipers

No, I do like auto wipers, brilliant for long drives, just set them to auto and they come and go as they need to depending on the weather. Same with the lights too.

I rarely have to clean my screen to get the wipers working correctly, they usually are perfect. If they get a mind of their own then the screen needs a clean.

Its often the case where intermittent doesn't quite cut it and the second wiper speed is too fast. No such issues with auto wipers.

Though if the car has variable intermittent wipers, with a dial so you can slow or speed up the delay time, that works well too.

I still prefer to have auto wipers than not, but its not a necessity, yet!

Have that on my Skoda. Variable x 5 and it works really well, as does the cruise control, which is one added extra I do actually enthuse about, especially when used on the foreign autoroutes.

[C.J.]

On the subject of the auto lights.
I'm sure I read something somewhere a few months ago about a woman who had an accident because her headlights automatically came on at a shadowy junction, and the bloke coming out of said junction took it as a mistaken signal to proceed.

[Citroenmad]

Excellent! I love cruise control, my list of would liked are soon turning into must haves! Luckily my C5 has all of my would likes

Our VW used to have a variable timer on the wipers, you would have to push it to intermittent, then back to off and wait the amount of time you wanted the wipers to pause for, then select intermittent again. I found that quite annoying as if you waited too long it wouldnt do it and if you waited not long enough it wouldnt either.

Our Xm has a variable setting on the wiper stalk, that works well and is very easy to use.

C5 has a clever rear wiper too, with the hatchback, if you have it turned on while the front wipers are going, the faster the car goes the larger the pause of the intermittent is, the shorted it is. As at speed the hatches rear window doesnt get rained on. On the C5 estate its the opposite, the faster you go the quicker it wipes, as the estate is flat backed and suchs up the dirt/water.

Interesting, all thanks to multiplexing

[C.J.]

I like simple, end of. I am and I desire.

Whatever happened to the retro 2CV replacement that Citroen were bandering around in the press a couple of years ago?
Definately a gap in the market for some tasty looking 4 wheeled simplicity.
Don't suppose it'll have the highly desirable (to me) PP&C though.

[cachaciero]

I like simple, end of. I am and I desire.

Whatever happened to the retro 2CV replacement that Citroën were bandering around in the press a couple of years ago?
Definately a gap in the market for some tasty looking 4 wheeled simplicity.
Don't suppose it'll have the highly desirable (to me) PP&C though.

That's the F**d Ka surely? ( Ducks and exits stage left rapidly

cachaciero

[C.J.]

I like simple, end of. I am and I desire.

Whatever happened to the retro 2CV replacement that Citroën were bandering around in the press a couple of years ago?
Definately a gap in the market for some tasty looking 4 wheeled simplicity.
Don't suppose it'll have the highly desirable (to me) PP&C though.

That's the F**d Ka surely? ( Ducks and exits stage left rapidly

cachaciero

I actually liked the Mk1 version.
Sorry. Shouldn't I have actually admitted that?
That crappy 1.3 Kent engine was always it's worst feature though.
They should have wedged the 1.25 Suzuki (Zetec) lump in.

Mk 2 is ...well looks...utter pants imo, and sales figures are proving that I'm not alone either.