Rob's SED Now V6 Exclusive

[hydroman]

The white estate near York, not bad but the seller wanted too much money, hence it failed to sell on ebay two or three times. Ended up on Classic at 2,200, doubt if it sold there either. Had a couple of issues, passed its MOT the day I went to see it with a huge split in the steering rack gaiter, (MOT'd after I saw it), and the rear subframe mounts were quite badly corroded, exhaust a bit grey also.

Anyway, M944EAC, the red estate in case you forget, has now gone to the scrap yard together with my other XM and I am now the proud owner of a BMW 530d auto tourer, year 2000 but very tidy. The end of a masochistic 17 years of xms, more than 500,000 miles. Good luck.

[ragger]

Sorry to hear of the final demise of the old red estate - you did wonders to keep it going I think.

I shall hope to stick with my V6 for a while, but I have spent an awful lot on it in the last couple of months.

[ragger]

As you may see from the signature there has been a change on the driveway. The Polo has had a deposit taken and should be gone this afternoon and it has been replaced by a very tidy ZX Aura in 1.6i flavour.



It is a '92 with under 70k and an extensive history. My journey home in it was almost exactly 100 miles and I have to say I'm very pleased with it. It is much pleasanter than the Polo although the performance and economy will never match up. All I have had to do so far is replace a failing tail light bulb. I do think it is a little noisy as the exhaust seems to resonate and there is some vibration on moving off (on occasions) so I think its fitting may need a tweak.

[Dieselman]

The ZX is a rather dull looking, but surprisingly competent car.

[White Exec]

I ran a ZX (a 1.9D auto Avantage) as a work hack, taking it from new to 96k miles in two and a bit years.
Chosen in odd circumstances: I needed an automatic (masses of daily urban driving) and company policy was then diesel only, so not a lot to choose from.

Did actually rather like the ZX. An unbelievably solid feel to the car, which seemed to have been constructed with bits from larger cars (eg the incredibly solid GRP tailgate) which had been reduced in size, but not in weight!

It handled amazingly well, and was more than happy to be thrown around corners on its Michelins. The passive rear-wheel steering (well, that's what marketing claimed) definitely contributed something.

Not a patch on a well-trimmed Astra (which in turn was infinitely better than the Vectra) so far as space, trim and comfort goes, but a great little car. Hugely boring to look at from the front, but quite classy and expensive-looking from the rear.

One of our past Citroens I wouldn't say no to as a runabout today, the other being our BX19RD.

[russ92xmsed]

Very nice Rob. An Aura is the best looking ZX.. Apart from a nice black Volcane! That's a lovely example.

I have been given a load of old mags from 1991/92 recently, and the ZX was a huge hit with the motoring press. I knew it was a good car, but I didn't realise they loved it that much. It won a group test against a golf and an escort.

[Dieselman]

An unbelievably solid feel to the car,

Rather solid in collisions as well. We had a fleet of them and a few were involved in pretty heavy collisions, where other vehicles were damaged significantly more than the ZX's, one including a skip lorry and Transit van, where the skip lorry was pushed into the back of the ZX, which was pushed into another car. The Transit at the back was badly smashed up, the Skip lorry had a burst radiator from hitting the ZX, the car at the front bashed in as well. The ZX just needed new bumpers.
Another, an Iveco van hit the first of six parked cars then rolled over, with the ZX in the middle and being the only centrally placed car not thoroughly mashed.

We also found the BX's to be surprisingly strong as well, front, rear and side.

[ragger]

I have been given a load of old mags from 1991/92 recently, and the ZX was a huge hit with the motoring press. I knew it was a good car, but I didn't realise they loved it that much. It won a group test against a golf and an escort.

That article was in "Car" magazine and a copy of it came with the car. The other car was a Mitsubishi Colt 1.6.

[ragger]

A few pictures that I took today - after the sun had gone!

With big brother in the background:






Tidy engine bay:


Inside:



3 of the wheels are immaculate and the fourth is very good:

[russ92xmsed]

It's such a nice example. showroom fresh!