Are Citroen plastics repairable?

[sparksie]

Hi I do hope this isn't to late but I bought my Xantia drivers side manual adjust mirror from Central Auto Supplies
or CAS. don't know if you have one in your area my new mirror was £30.00 and it is a direct copy of the Citroën one.
regards.
By the way the MOT test does say that you only have to have two functioning mirrors so if one side mirror is broken don't worry about it is an advisory matter.
Nigel.

Hi Nigel

Thanks for that, but sadly it's not an MOT. It's the Irish "equivalent" an NCT, which requires a drivers door mirror, assuming there's supposed to be one.
Somebody already pointed me at a manual one on eBay, but mine are electric!
I'm going to have to stick this one back together, for now. Apparently folding in is not a requirement, so it'll pass if it's fixed, so long as it provides the required view. The motor is aok and the glass miraculously unbroken, so I think I'm covered for the test, as regards the mirror.
The tail light is another matter. I've swept up all the red plastic from the lense and attempted a jigsaw puzzle, but I seem to be missing some fairly substantial parts. I'll try Halfords, one of the very few businesses actually open tomorrow, for a lense repair tape kit. I'll be ok for visible white light from the rear, but not for sharp edges likely to cause injury to pedestrians. That's a personal opinion, where the tester has some discretion, so I'll have to hope for a sympathetic ear!
The trouble with all this is, I haven't done my usual pre NCT checks and fixes, so I'm sure to fail on something I WOULD ordinarily have seen and fixed!
At least I can't hold the Cit responsible for the current disaster, but the irony of the situation is priceless!
Just as she's won me over and I want to do my best for her, some little scrotes have decided to smash her up! Something I was considering myself, only a few weeks ago!
Definitely some questions to be answered, if I can only get in a position to ask!

[Timmo]

the local french breakers to me http://www.swrs.biz/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; have a mk1 blue Xantia in, it was a french plated one, they can post out iirc, if not, i can on thursday, i know its too late for the test but an option,
I dont know how strict your guys are and i know its not a Pretty option but Duck taping it on for the test an possability???

[Hell Razor5543]

Sparksie, Northern_Mike had a valid suggestion, in that RichardW is breaking his Xantia, so may have parts. If he doesn't, check in the For Sale section, as citroenxm has a whole lot of S2 Xantia parts (I have got parts from him in the past, and will do in the future);

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... =7&t=47074" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Failing that, check the links in my second post (the one beginning BAR STEWARDS!!!). I had found an electric wing mirror, and offside tail lights.

As tomorrow is a bank holiday (well, in your neck of the woods), the yobs may well be back again tonight, so be alert. I hope I am wrong!

[myglaren]

You might try contacting Robert Smart for bits, he usually has heaps but he has been rather quiet of late.

[BX]

Tough luck there sparksie. Unless you have a long way to travel for the NCT there is no problem. A mirror is a visual, so no retest fee and no need for an appointment. So is the tail lamp. I don't know how badly the mirror is broken but I managed to get a Picasso one that was broken at the pivot where it folds repaired with a big ignorant cable tie. A hot glue gun can also work wonders. Have just reassembled an Opel headlamp with one. There is a simple reason that most mirror housings are brittle and break on impact. It is to save the glass and the bodywork from damage when mirrors collide. Some of the trucks with all steel arms break the door glass when the mirror is whacked often by another truck going in the opposite direction. Renault trucks solved this by using plastic at the base of the arm. If hit slowly the mirror folds in. If hit at speed the plastic breaks. Much better than a shower of glass on the driver.

[sparksie]

BAR STEWARDS!!!

I would see if any neighbours have also been visited. I hope you do catch them, and are able to ask them nicely as to why. As you have had a second visit I would be inclined to let the police know.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-Xanti ... 3f2f5c4c59" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The coloured cover can be moved over (carefully).

There are two styles of rear lights on the Xantia. You have clear (reverse and indicator) and you have smoked. However, it seems that S2 Xantia only have clear (well, that is all I could find).

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/99-CITROEN-XA ... 1253961523" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-Xanti ... 1286998749" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good luck (I do mean that) both with the repairs and with your hunting!

Hi Hell Razor

Thanks for the link.
Yup, that's the one! They don't post to Ireland, though, so I'd discounted it.
I have clear indicator lenses, not smoked. I found several on eBay, some of which even post to here (for more than they want for the part!)
Thanks to all who mentioned Richard W.
I'll go looking for him on Tuesday, when I have a proper list of everything I need.
If I have to get stuff sent across the water, I may as well try and source it all in the one place and send it in one parcel.
It beggars belief that this stuff can't be found here. Normally you can't give a Xantia away and the only way to get any return out of them is to sell them in bits. Maybe they're all gone!?!

[Hell Razor5543]

Well, this one does show Europe postal;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CITROEN-XANTI ... 1#shpCntId" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[BX]

Did you try these.
http://www.micksgarage.com/search.aspx? ... &fffBHP=90
Or these
http://t.mister-auto.ie/en/combination- ... _g391.html

[sparksie]

Tough luck there sparksie. Unless you have a long way to travel for the NCT there is no problem. A mirror is a visual, so no retest fee and no need for an appointment. So is the tail lamp. I don't know how badly the mirror is broken but I managed to get a Picasso one that was broken at the pivot where it folds repaired with a big ignorant cable tie. A hot glue gun can also work wonders. Have just reassembled an Opel headlamp with one. There is a simple reason that most mirror housings are brittle and break on impact. It is to save the glass and the bodywork from damage when mirrors collide. Some of the trucks with all steel arms break the door glass when the mirror is whacked often by another truck going in the opposite direction. Renault trucks solved this by using plastic at the base of the arm. If hit slowly the mirror folds in. If hit at speed the plastic breaks. Much better than a shower of glass on the driver.

Hi BX

Yes, of course you're right. Living in the middle of the red mist, I'd forgotten about the visual defects retest being informal.
Never experienced it, but I know people who have, so it's not a myth.
Not sure I like knowing why it's made of cr@p. Back in the 1980's Fiat made door mirrors that popped off without damage to door or mirror mounting, in any imoact. Assuming the mirror shell survived (they often did), it was a simple matter to pop them back on.
The yobs had fun with those too, though. Many were taken off and placed under the wheel, so the driver would drive over them, when s/he got over the apparent theft and tried to depart.
No amount of ingenuity seems to cover all forms of idiocy.
At least, thanks to recent court rulings, I am now entitled to defend my property! Who says judges are out of touch with reality?
I live in a very remote location, where the yobs have to drive over half a mile out of their way to get to me. I spent a lot of last night lurking in the bushes, listening to approaching cars, waiting for one of them to stop. Gave one of the neighbours a fright, when he slowed dramatically at the wrong time, around 2am
I'll probably be doing the same tonight, though the highest risk will be tomorrow, after all the green Guinness has been vanished.

[sparksie]

Hmmm...

€73.70 for the tail light, plus another €50+ for the mirror?
Not in this lifetime. Not for a car that'll be worth €400 when/if it passes the test!
Especially not when they'll probably be smashed again the following night!
There's love & loyalty and then there's insanity.
I haven't quite taken the last step, yet...!
Might be worth checking Gumtree/Donedeal etc, for a nct failure. I'll get the whole thing for about that and be able to drive it back for free!

[Northern_Mike]

Hmmm...

E73.70 for the tail light, plus another E50+ for the mirror?

have you asked RichardW how much he'd want for the ones off the car he is breaking? I'm sure post to ROI won't be much. I post stuff as heavy as that to Sweden quite often and it's not expensive.

[sparksie]

Hi Northern Mike

No, I'm going to leave disturbing him until I've had the test on Tuesday.
If I have to get stuff sent from UK, I probably should get it all from the one place and dispatched in one parcel.
I'm not going to have a chance to do any prep on the car now and will be taking a gamble on the timing belt surviving the ruthless treatment the smoke test will be giving it. That was on the books for yesterday pm, but instead I spent the afternoon on the phone, or breaking expensive bits of plastic.
If the tester breaks the belt the whole situation goes away and I have one for parts myself. Might even turn a profit, after all
Assuming that doesn't happen, there's bound to be a list of things to be done, at least some of which may as well share a parcel with light and mirror.
I know I have "Mini steady bar syndrome", which I suspect is down to a soft bottom mounting, though haven't looked properly yet.
Who knows what else may turn up???

[RichardW]

I'm listening....

But the drivers mirror on mine is manual (and the internal adjuster is seized) - but it might get you through the test - it won't be expensive Mine's an estate, so different tail lights to a hatch, but if it's a match, then I can certainly send it over (after next weekend....)

[falling-out-with-my-car]

sparksie,
can you get another similar motor on the road tested for a year for £120 ?

[sparksie]

Well, to be fair, that's not what I'd be trying to do.
Don't forget I have a mechanically good Xantia! Worth nothing as a car, but as a Pug engine and 'box and who knows what Cit specific bits, with a residual value as scrap metal once all of the above has been removed?
I'm pretty confident I can get a suitable dinosaur for that plus £120, yes!
The argument that you can't get a replacement item for the price of the parts is rarely relevant.
Try it with your insurance company, sometime...
After a little research I found a Xantia (albeit a petrol one), with some outstanding test, asking €350 (about £280), that's been failing to sell for several weeks.
I may have a look at it, after the tester gives me a list in the morning.
Pretty sure I can get all I need from it and weigh it in, with the net cost to me being bearable, but let's see what tomorrow brings. I'm not keen on breaking cars. It goes against my instinct to try and preserve them for the future. Every time I've done it, I've struggled with my conscience both before and during the process. I've yet to dismantle the 206 that I took in last December, though I know it's completely non viable to repair it! And I have a taker for practically all the undamaged body parts!
Actually, I must put that on the agenda. It might help pay for some Cit bits