Buying a Citroen in NZ

[xantia_v6]

In my quest for a car locally in New Zealand, there is not much choice in affordable Citroens. I am thinking of bidding on this C5. Any ideas about the power steering leak?

This Xantia V6 looks nice, but is probably ex-Japan, the price seems a little steep still.

[qprdude]

Don't know about the steering fluid but the door handle is a known weak ness I think. There's not a lot on Trade Me right enough. Not sure about prices over there but over a grand (£) for a 2003 SX would be top price over here. Mind you 83,000 miles is not a lot of miles for a 2003 car.
That said, I'm never a fan of, "I'm selling the car on behalf of........". Always strikes me as a possible way out of any come-backs.
Prices seem generally high for C5's in NZ.
Even the X7 is dearer than the UK.

[xantia_v6]

I went and looked at the C5 as it is quite close.
It is pretty much as described, but has been used as a family car and the back seat is quite worn on the edge. There is a bit of 'baby aroma' in the interior.
The rear spheres are a bit low on pressure, but the ride is OK, The steering column rattles over bumps. The is one key and the remote locking function doesn't work.
I could not see any power steering leak, there is a bit of oil on the front under shield, but nowhere near the steering rack, and no leak visible from above.
The engine starts and runs OK, but has somewhat less power than i am used to.
Not sure if i will bid, certainly not a lot more than the current price.

[myglaren]

Mine was diagnosed with a power steering system leak that was nothing more than a slight spill of engine oil running down the power steering hose and forming a droplet at the lower curve.

The steering column rattle is a recognised defect and IIRC can be an expensive repair.

[KP]

Good luck with those rear spheres! add into replacement of the spheres new struts and boots as well for them as they will no come away easily And no, these are worse than Xantia ones...

[Peter.N.]

Its a pit you can't get one over here they go for £500 - 1000, petrol ones even less, but obviously there are other advantages to living in New Zealand. Mine has steering column rattle but it has done about 200,000 miles, its probably the universal joints at the bottom of the steering column, I got a complete one from the scrapyard for £15.00. The spheres are not difficult to change but due to the shape of them you need a specialist tool to unscrew them - unless you have a VERY large pair of stilsons, there is a chap that makes them on our ebay, I bought one and they are very good. They are a very nice car once sorted.

Peter

[Mandrake]

This Xantia V6 looks nice, but is probably ex-Japan, the price seems a little steep still.

Are you kidding ?

I know its 12 years old, but at 110,000km, (68,750 miles for the rest of you ) comparatively near you in Canterbury, and given that Citroens are a lot more expensive and rarer in NZ that's actually not a bad deal if the car is in good order. Only approx 300 Xantia V6's were imported to NZ and they rarely come up for sale so it might be the only one you'll find.

It's still low enough mileage that if you do some immediate gearbox oil changes and keep up regular changes the gearbox will probably last for a long time.

What's wrong with a Japanese import ? My NZ Xantia was a Japanese import and apart from the usual cracking strut top rubbers and some twit putting ATF in the LHM tank (most likely in NZ) the car was immaculate and mechanically very sound.

Remember Japanese imports usually only spend 3 years in Japan before they're shipped to NZ. If you like Xantia V6's as much as your nickname suggests I would definitely go see it. If it was me returning to NZ to live and I saw that one I would travel a long way to see it and probably go for it if there were no major issues with it as I know I probably wouldn't find another one, let alone a low mileage one.

The only problem with buying a Xantia V6 in NZ is lack of V6 specific replacement parts...

[Mandrake]

Good luck with those rear spheres! add into replacement of the spheres new struts and boots as well for them as they will no come away easily And no, these are worse than Xantia ones...

You forget that we're talking about a C5 in New Zealand - no road salt means no underbelly corrosion and easy to remove spheres.

When I replaced the rear spheres on my NZ Xantia they were about 4 years old and the green paint was still immaculate and they came undone with a simple strap spanner...no chance of that in the UK

[qprdude]

You want a 3.0l V6 ? you can only do 100KPH. on the motorway (62MPH), and I heard they dropped the limit to 95Km over the Christmas period. (well on North Island at least).

[Mandrake]

You want a 3.0l V6 ? you can only do 100KPH. on the motorway (62MPH), and I heard they dropped the limit to 95Km over the Christmas period. (well on North Island at least).

Ah, but you can get to the limit very quickly...

[qprdude]

Yeah, that's sure true Mandrake. My mate is forever moaning about the Northern Motorway in Auckland. He has just done a deal to exchange one of his ex-UK Cadillac CTS's ,for a Fraser built Lotus seven. Had to drive the Caddy down to Wellington for the deal and the guy with the 7 came over from South Island.

[xantia_v6]

You want a 3.0l V6 ? you can only do 100KPH. on the motorway (62MPH), and I heard they dropped the limit to 95Km over the Christmas period. (well on North Island at least).

Ah, but you can get to the limit very quickly...

They haven't actually changed the limit, just the tolerance. Usually the wont ticket below 110, but for now it is 104. At least the V6 would have cruise control which could be set at 103.

If the V6 opening price drops to $4000, I might be tempted.

[qprdude]

That's it. I remember him saying they are allowing about 5KPH less leeway. My mistake. Far too slow in my mate's opinion.

[addo]

What's RORO from Australia currently? You can get V6s here for $500 if you shop around.

[xantia_v6]

What's RORO from Australia currently? You can get V6s here for $500 if you shop around.

Unfortunately you can't import a car less than 20 years old which does not have post-1997 EU safety certification (which neither Xantia nor XM have). So we are limited to the handful already here.

BTW Simon, it is my understanding that total production of RHD V6 Xantias was about 300 for mk1 and about 600 for mk2, so the number in NZ must be much lower.