Just the point I was making when I started this thread. To my thinking they are better now when they were new since they are a few hundred quid for a good one and only now is the inbuilt longevity making itself known. They really don't seem to go wrong much, which is of course tempting fate...Citroening wrote:Xantia's are great workhorses and they don't half take it in their stride. Our old W Reg Xantia HDi Estate has been passed from pillar to post with what must be four friends using it for long periods of time and one friend liked it so much he bought it. For such a low price these Xantia's are great value for money, and just get on with the job.
RattivaMike, you seem to be disappearing up your own argument here - but I do think that cars being produced today will be disposed of sooner than those which were designed in the eighties. There is that period of still simplish cars with galvanised bodies - Xantias, some Audis - which last both mechanically and structurally well beyind the average. And of course the word 'better' means something differnet to everybody. Merc 124s are awesome in my book, but it takes many years and perhaps 100,000 miles at least to begin to understand their many qualities. So plenty buy a cheap one, turns out the fuel tank is a bit rusty and then the sunroof sticks open. To boot, it feels slow and with several hundred pounds needing to resurrect it, bloke writes them off as not that good. Similar things happened with Citroens when they were Citroen's own work.
Out of interest, I list the non-consumable parts required by my near-300,000 miles Audi. ABS ECU (63k, v odd), two strut-top bushes (198), two front wheel bearings (198 and 270), one roadwheel (121), three bottom balljoints (121, 180, 270). Amazingly the exhaust appears to be all-original, the dampers similarly (although the rears have softened up a little with my use) and there is no record of a clutch. The starter motor, alternator, road springs, water pump etc. still appear to be original, certainly the very complete history shows no record of them being replaced under the one previous owner. I take it for granted that the Bosch fuel pump has lasted, yet look on ebay and there are scores of the later 2.5 A6s with replacement pumps, often having failed at as little as 120k. Additionally, they seem to fail regularly in other areas like the suspension, so are often scrapped when their older brothers continue to run. They are quite cheap because of this. It's probably a result of cars being engineered to what the purchaser (when new) wishes - and of course real longevity isn't on the list.