Praise!

[Gibbo2286]

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/ownershi ... spartandhp

[GiveMeABreak]

Amen to that!

[white exec]

Nice! The car that Joe Public never discovered (along with a good few other Citroens).
I was lucky enough to have one as my final work car, a 2001 1.8i auto with goodies.

[Bick]

Wish i still had mine and my neighbour feels the same about his old Xantia.

Everyone who was a passenger in mine said the same thing "this car is great the ride is so smooth and its massive inside"

[myglaren]

Wish i still had mine and my neighbour feels the same about his old Xantia.

Everyone who was a passenger in mine said the same thing "this car is great the ride is so smooth and its massive inside"

Same here. A very underrated car.

[Michel]

"The interiors don’t rattle and the galvanised bodies don’t rust"

So, the article is 100% correct then?...

[Stickyfinger]

To be fair, the main areas of rust are mostly caused by lack of maintenance, missing sill plugs, failure to remove mud from behind wheel arch liners etc.

[lexi]

I had a laugh at the galvy body thing too. Still, having any Xantia and keeping it going is great I think, and much enjoyment can be had in sado masochistic pottering, especially when they are cheap. We may never be able to buy those Activa again for the £500 they were offered for. There is a window on most things. I have told Mrs Lexi, it's a good thing she snapped me up when she did.........I'm a flippin' relic now!

[Michel]

I had a laugh at the galvy body thing too. Still, having any Xantia and keeping it going is great I think, and much enjoyment can be had in sado masochistic pottering

Hydro-pneumasochism..

[Stickyfinger]

I have Sado Actiaisium then

[andy5]

Two things surprise me in the article.

He sold it, after two expensive jobs were out of the way for a while. (And surely the rear arm bearings last longer than 100,000)

No mention of the HDI engine.

[Andy F]

That must be the reason I can't seem to drive anything else. I've tried replacing Xantias several times, with newer more expensive stuff but never been happy. It just does everything, I wish my lacquer wasn't letting go quite so severely. last winter was very unkind to it! Still love driving it though.

I was talking to our admin this morning as she was off this weekend trying newer cars (an SUV... surprise surprise) because her Mazda has done 80,000 miles and is worn out! She was rather shocked to hear mine is on 220,000!

Andy

[andy5]

... because her Mazda has done 80,000 miles and is worn out! She was rather shocked to hear mine is on 220,000!

Once in a while I turn up at a factory in Germany, not far from the centre of Mercedes territory.

One of the sales/support engineers has a big Mercedes estate from about 1997 or 99, which was probably originally owned by the boss.

He seems surprised a French car can nearly match his for age and beat it for distance. Last time I opened the bonnet just to unkink/unpinch the screenwash pipe, but he seemed quite ready to humorously assume a bigger problem.

[white exec]

Down here, it's strong sunlight that lifts, bubbles and peels lacquer. No respecter of any make of car, it seems, European or otherwise. Surprised this is so much of an issue in the UK; maybe recent lacquer is just hopelessly fragile.

Flat colours - eg White - without lacquer seem to soldier on more or less indefinitely: the only peel on our XM is the plastic scuttle-cover, which was resprayed years ago - and, unfortunately, got lacquered. The huge increase in the choice of metallic paint hasn't helped, as metallic shades seem invariably lacquered. I also suspect some laziness and corner-cutting by paintshops, as it's far easier/cheaper/quicker to obtain a high shine with an application of clear lacquer, rather than build it up carefully with the colour coat.

Interesting to check which colours aren't lacquered when choosing a new vehicle.

[ekjdm14]

Lacquer is a horrible shortcut as far as finishing goes, sadly most people would choose the low maintenance OK finish over the higher maintenance glassy-smoothness of a well applied and waxed colour. (it doesn't even take that much effort to keep a raw paint finish looking at least as good as lacquered).

Strange thing is, our White Xantia doesn't seem to be lacquered (and shame on me, I have allowed some oil to stain the wings and tailgate lip. Still need to fully address this!) whereas Black I believe IS lacquered despite being the older and lower spec of the two cars. I believe this is the case due to some blemishes on the upper portions of the 'C' pillars which have gone cloudy/patchy grey as if oxidised, yet cutting compound made no difference at all and it appears the 'bloom' is below the surface...

I shall give the article a good read shortly, after we get back from an evening stroll in the countryside. (ably transported there by White, who is doing sterling service this last 500miles ). If anyone realises too late that they need a Xantia in their life, I'm not even sure I could choose one to part with... They're both too nice in differing ways.