Vince's xm - 2.1TD daily driver

[Dieselman]

Now i have to keep the nissan until the lease runs out, which im waiting for confirmation on, but it looks like it will be sometime in 2015. Once that runs out, my only option is the car allowance to drive something 5 years old at most, or a salary sacrifice which gives me a brand new car,

Unless your mileage is going to be high and depending on the allowance available, I would go for the cash for car scheme. Running a car up to 5 years old gives plenty of scope and will probably give a cash surplus to fund the XM.
Buy something 1-2 years old that is cheap to run, keep the XM for a more special car.
Buy something you can pass onto someone else at the 5 years (Linda), so you get the benefit of a longer depreciation curve and they get a 5 year old car that you know.

[Eddie nuff]

Unless you're doing huge mileage, like my brother-in-law (45k/yr), car allowance every time.

Ask about using in conjunction with a fuel card.

[Vince]

Well in a dramatic change of events today i spoke to the new transport manager and he has given the green light for me to completely opt out of the company car scheme altogether...which is what ive been asking for all along

Of course being Andrew Page anything could still happen like they change their mind and kybosh the whole thing, but as it stands the nissan will go at the end of this month, and i will get the xm back on the road as our everyday driver once again...HOORAY he shouts

Wasting no time ive booked the car into Paris Autos on friday this week to get the welding work assessed and estimated. Im off on friday so ill pop over and hopefully give them the green light to crack on and get it through its MOT.

All being well i may be able to attend the xm rally in the xm after all Fingers crossed

As she will be going into the car hospital i thought id better get it some clean pyjamas, so i gave it a good wash tonight and treated the rubbers and plastics. Whilst doing it a teenage lad walked past and commented "nice car that mate, its hydraulic isnt it?" we had a quick chat and he confessed to be being quite into cars.

Nice to see the younger generation appreciating older model cars

[Dean]

Brightened your day up then Vince

D

[russ92xmsed]

Excellent news Vince.

[Dieselman]

Is the company now OK with you running an old car instead of your company car?

Get the authorisation to run your XM in writing to save any difficult situations later.

[Eddie nuff]

As she will be going into the car hospital i thought id better get it some clean pyjamas

[Vince]

Is the company now OK with you running an old car instead of your company car?

Get the authorisation to run your XM in writing to save any difficult situations later.

Not quite Will, they have agreed that it cant be used for business purposes which is fine. I have told them i can use one of our vans for visiting customers or my reps car when he is over....the citroen will be to commute to and from work only. I am waiting for confirmation in writing but they arent the greatest at getting things like that done.

As far as i see it, its been agreed with the fleet manager so who else has a say? No one i guess

[Vince]

As she will be going into the car hospital i thought id better get it some clean pyjamas

Neil, Ive always done this with whatever car i have had. If one of my cars goes into a garage its always spotless before it goes in. Its a pride thing i guess. The last time i left it at Paris Autos for a general health check id just finished the engine bay...they've worked on it since i bought it from Paul, so were shocked to see the change when they popped the bonnet....it sparked a chat about "how have you done that" and ended up in me doing his xm one night in exchange for a bunch of little jobs he did on mine for nothing ...not that im fishing for a batch of free welding or anything

[Vince]

Well last night with the help of Will kp (Thankyou ) the xm was dropped off at Paris Autos for its evaluation on the cills.

I went down today and Paul just said "go and have a look"....that told me it was going to be worse than i expected

Nothing i think can compare you for the feeling when you see your pride and joy cut open like a fish After a moment i thought of the positives....

a) considering its age and mileage it really isnt bad
b) at least once its fixed it will be 100% solid

So with the price of the MOT at the end of it, it should stand me just over £200 which isnt too bad so ive told them to crack on and get it done

Once its MOT'd then i can look at getting it taxed and insured, but it wont be until October 1st at the earliest so the xm rally will be in the nissan again i presume

On another positive note, i had the day off today so spent some time with a good friend of mine who owns a bodyshop in accrington. They do top end work on mainly Porsches and fast Audis etc, but i have been given "the key to the city" so to speak and they have said they will teach me anything i want to learn and i can use the bodyshop whenever its mutually conveniant I discussed wanting to re-ignite my old skills for paint-spraying and learning how to weld properly. Thats no problem he replied and offered that i could learn painting my own car if i wanted to

So....perhaps at some point the old dear might get a new paint-job so i can really finish it off

Luckily i have a car on next week and another enquiry tonight so fingers crossed this will continue to fuel the xm's return to the road and its continued journey.