Citroen XM Forum

Hi guys I'm looking for a very clean and tidy s1. What do you all make of this?

http://m.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C764270" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I contacted the guy but never managed to go pick it up. Apparently he bought the car of a friend a few months back (there was a gumtree advert with the same car here in Notts last year). At the end I got offered KVG so I never went to look at it although I was very tempted as on ebay it's for sale at £1000 and I am sure he may take a bit less. For what I know the petrol turbo engine is always a bit of a concern but I would have definitely gone for it!

It is a very late series 1, so will have Hydractive 2 suspension.

The MOT history only has one advisory note of corrosion, but a number of other failures, especially the parking brake, over a couple of tests.
It appears to have done only 250 miles in 2 years, but then had 2 MOT tests 2 months apart...somewhat bizzarely at exactly the same mileage.

None of that means it's a bad car, but should give you soem pointers to what questions to ask and what to check.

All in, it seems a decent car for the money.

Yeah it seems a nice car. I just don't get the right feeling about it. I'd be worried about trying to sort out the abs sensors and sunroof. I really want a minter. So I might try and postpone till I see better.

You're going to be lucky to get a Series 1 that doesn't need any work doing to it. Sunroof problems are pretty common and intermmitant ABS sensor issues are likely to be poor connections or cracked solder joints on the ABS relay block..

There are three things to consider when buying a series 1 XM:

Rust
Rust
Rust.

What do you think of the auto dieselman? Based on the pictures there seems to be no rust. But I guess I wouldn't know until I get over there.

Upper body condition should never be used to judge what a car is like underneath. Have a look at CEO's blog, you wouldn't guess there was nothing left underneath her!

72k is a nice low milage.. however on them its not everything. As above RUST is KEY...

The big main areas that need checking with FEEL and not just visual are around the Cill and outrigger areas...

Ive had cars that looked perfect, but after a prod the metal had vanished from behind the underseal... so it looked correct, but it was just the shaped underseal,

Check carefully behind and AROUND the front jacking points, if they are bent expect work! The outriggers behind here rot away! The cills can rot too if theres pleanty of damp mud between the wing bottom and outer cill behind it
Rear cills outer rust out if water is getting in at the front from bent jacking points..

Under the rear boot floor rot and rust around the rear subframe mounts and around the towing eye frame where its welded to the floor box sections.

Hidden rust, the front bumper mounting brackets rust away, and the sides of the front bumpers can be loose .. the brackets are hidden behind the wheel arch liner but it doesnt stop them... For a real bad car have a look at my blog here on this car... viewtopic.php?f=19&t=7356" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ive since had another car in, a 1992 K reg SED 2.1 Auto, which again just as bad and in the same places as the 24v car..

The pics cant show you any better where to be looking!!

What ever happens, with an MOT or not, you will STILL need to spend on one!

Much of the cill and underbody rusting on an XM is from the inside of hollow sections outward.
This makes visual examination for rust problems very difficult.
Owners particularly those who do not do their own maintenance will be blissfully unaware.
Even if you can get a potential car up on a ramp for examination poking in risk areas will not go down well with the seller particularly if it holes and you walk away.
An MOT does not mean no rust, it just means nothing sufficient to fail was found last time.

John

Thanks guys for the great insight. I will keep that all in mind. I've stumbled across this. Looks clean and well looked after. Not an S1 but still condition based on first photos looks amazing. What you think? http://contact.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI. ... serNextGen" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;