XM 25TD Excl.

[markysimon]

I tried responding to this earlier today, but it didn't appear: does anyone know why this would be?

[markysimon]

Ah, now I see it's working, so I'll start all over again and hope for the best!

I went to see this car yesterday and in addition to the spent clutch and noisy auxiliary belt, is has some other issues:

1) The hydraulics are very slow to lift the car. The LHM fluid is nice, bright green but appears to contain some tiny yellow-ish sediment and the reservoir level is very low. After a rudimentary search, I couldn't see any leaks in the system. Too much other noise coming from the engine to discern if the pump was running fast, so it's a bit of a mystery.
2) There was a film of oil on the alternator, but no clear source of it and the owner claims it uses no oil. There seemed not to be a head gasket problem, either. Another mystery.
3) The sunroof would tilt, but not slide back. And it could only be closed afterwards with strong external physical pressure!
4) The R/N/S window is stuck shut. Owner unclear if this was a regulator or broken cable problem.

A few other niggles included heavily frayed suede (Alacantra?) on the drivers seat, and some horrid tinted sheet that someone had applied (badly, with many creases) on the rear screen, but otherwise the car seemed sound.

Given the cost of clutch replacement (£700-800 from a local Citroen specialist who knows the car), what are others' views on whether it's worth taking it on?

Any and all opinions most welcome.

[xmexclusive]

It all depends on your capabilities.
Clutch aside if you are going to pay to get everything done it could be an expensive car to take on.
If you are going to do most of it yourself then it could be very good value.
Condition of the strut heads and underbody rust, not just cill abuse would be my next checks on the route to a decision.
It sounds as though it has some residual MOT so that is a plus as it gives time and usage.
I would suggest that at £1000 to £1200 for starters you have to really want that particular 2.5TD car.

John

[markysimon]

Thanks for the swift response, John.

Simple things like the seat, and probably the sunroof and N/F window lift I can do myself (this will not be my first XM !). I'd like to get rid of the tinting on the rear screen too, but fear that might rip off the heating elements.

Other stuff I'm unqualified and wary to attempt. However there is no underbody rust that I could see and having frequently read references to them on this Forum, the strut heads "appear" to be fine, but perhaps there's a more invasive test I should've applied?

I'm most concerned about the state of the hydraulics, though.

Cheers - Mark

[xmexclusive]

On hydraulics I would be more worried about the rusty state of the pipework over the back axle than its operational condition.
A trawl through the hydraulics posts on here will provide a logical check list to sort out working condition.
Time taken to sort could be a problem cost is unlikely to be a major factor.
If all the back spheres were rusty then they have been there a while.

Contrast this with a 2.5TD car bought with FSH, 175k on the clock priced at £1000 to £1500 (only WHM would ask for £2500).
Lots of paper proof of alleged condition, maintained by experts at cost.
It may well look good but it would still be a 15 year old well used car.
Your inspection might throw up a few odds and ends but in the end there might well be a clutch in the offing, strut heads on the way out and rusty pipework waiting to burst. How long to any of those events a matter of luck as much as anything else.
In my experience FSH can also have a sting in the tail.
The owner giving up on the car tends to have a slightly rosy tinted view treating anything listed as done during ownership as a renewed item. So what was done quite a few years ago can get presented in the new items list.
This is not deliberate decit just a enthusiastic owner presenting everything.
One of mine turned out to have had the new engine and clutch almost 100k before and you had to read the actual invoice to find out about the traffic accident that caused its replacement.
Most XM's now available have both hidden and visible problems.
They are old cars and cheaply priced for what they offer.
They need very careful inspection if you are paying good money.
There are quite a few that are only worth the scrap value less the cost of collection if immobile.

You could view this one you have looked at as a £1000 car with exhaust and clutch sorted so probably good for another couple of years or so. Could be a good car balanced against a cost of £500 a year. It might of course drop the coolant and do for the headgasket in the first week. That happen to an £900 ebay estate recently. Only you can decide which car you want to take your chances on.

As it was a 2.5 and not that far away I was tempted to go and look but decided that I could not justify another one that needed traillering away however cheap.

Best of Luck

John

[markysimon]

Thanks for all your advice, but I've decided not to pursue this one: for a non-mechanic such as I there's too much aggravation + uncertainty = expense.

Still on the look-out though!

Mark

[steelcityuk]

2.5s are a bitch to work on engine wise, parts are hard to come by and expensive. If you can't DIY it I dread to think how much it would cost to keep it going.

Personally I found the 2.5 very over rated, yes it's strong and smooth but not that strong. It's only rated 130bhp and isn't super economical around town, mine only gave low 30s. My little A Class would slaughter one either off the line or in gear acceleration. They were powerful for their time but time has moved on. If a 2.1 isn't powerful enough as it is, it could be tuned to give 130bhp without too much effort. The clutch can be done in situ and the price of parts isn't too bad. I paid around £150 for a Valeo clutch.

Steve.

[savoy]

HI
CAN U HELP
BOUGHT JUDY S CAR LOST HERE NUMBER ,
CAN U RING ME PLEASE.WOULD LIKE TO COLLECT CAR TOMORROW SATURDAY.
MY TEL NUMBER IS 07831 898573
THANKS MALCOLM
www.savoygarage.co.uk

[markysimon]

Suggest you get in touch with 'ds21' on this forum: he is a friend of the vendor and started this thread. I went to see the car (see my posts, above), but have also now lost the lady's phone number.

Cheers - Mark