Citroen XM Forum

It has been two years since my car´s last MOT. In the interim the mechanic has identified this list of problems:
Front brake discs and pads need replacing
Rear brake discs and pads need replacing
Brake pipe front right is rusted
Rust on the front subframe
Hydraulic leaks (miscellaneous)
Front regulator leak
Pinion valve leak at the cylinder (I knew about this)
Gear box gasket is leaking (needs to be removed and replaced)
Rust on the front left wing, behind the wheel arch (a matter of welding)
Return pipe at the front cylinder leaking
Hydraulic pump leak
Rusted rear sub-frame (not the floor pan but the sub-frame itself)
Yellowing headlamps mean reduced illumination
VIN plate rusting and partly nearly but not quite illegible (trivial)
Sprinkler (right) not working
ABS failure

One thing that raises my eyebrow is the matter of rust. Since 2007 the car has been rust treated biannually and has been garaged for four years. You´d think the Dinitrol would have stopped severe rust such as is reported.

I think the mechanic reckons all of this would cost... pick a big number.... €3000 or so. I have two get outs: one, the MOT may not notice all of this. They missed a lot of it last time; two, I may end up getting the car tested and then getting the work done in Flensburg, three hours south, in Germany. €4000 is the price of buying any number of quite nice other cars: a tidy mid 80s Opel Senator or a decent Peugeot 604. That would include Danish importation costs too.

I have a similar dilemma with my 2.1 estate, I have done the mechanical work for the MOT which ran out last year but it needs a new windscreen to pass, my son who usually drives it has no money so its down to me. I don't use it much now as I have two other cars which are cheaper to run and repair, so do I get a windscreen fitted and MOT it, in which case I may not get my money back if I sell it, or let it go for scrap which would pain me severely although I did get over £200 each for the last two. At present its sitting in the field deteriorating although it has got three friends of Johns with it at the moment. The body is pretty sound but it is rusting over the rear wheel arches but not enough to fail it.

Inspiration someone?

Peter

Dilemma, dilemma. On what car (apart from a rare, and unexpectedly-appreciating classic) would anyone ever "get their money back" ? It almost always costs more in repairs and maintenance (over many years) than an old car could be sold for, and the older it gets, the worse this comparison becomes. Buy a new one, and you've got killer depreciation to contend with.

I suppose it all boils down to how attached you are to her, and what value you put on driving her around. The arithmetic only works up to a point, I find.

Best enjoy while you can, which is why we've still got ours, and love it!

We enjoyed XMs for over 15 years and probably more than 300,000 miles and although I still prefer them to most modern cars its really a question of economics. For many years they were so cheap and plentiful that if something serious went wrong you could throw it away and buy another, the C5 is now in that same phase and its better on fuel but its not as mechanically refined as the XM. I'm getting to the age now when I may not be able to maintain them for much longer so a throw away car has its appeal. Perhaps I will wait for the warmer weather

Peter

casalingua wrote:I think the mechanic reckons all of this would cost... pick a big number.... €3000 or so.

I think the mechanic reckons he's on to a good thing.

Rub the rust down, tighten up the leaks, sort the ABS and bang it in for a test . . . and see what happens.

Quite agree there Neil...

I agree as well!

All those leaks you're talking about, is merely some sweating on O rings or seals, I reckon. What's wrong with all those brake discs? Just worn out, well it happens
Dinitrol doesn't stop rust, I think this long list looks scarier than it actually is. Surface rust is rust as well, so how bad is the rust. It took me 2 afternoons to tackle the front sub frame rust, so a good welder with better equipment should be able to do that far more easy.
All the old citroens need some work and maintenance at times. All of them will start sweating on seals and gaskets as well. Start worrying when it starts dripping, no sooner. You'll never get your money back on this car but all cars need money for maintenance. Lack of proper maintenance is currently killing off many far more modern cars. So I wouldn't worry too much and get the spanners out soon!

With ALL those leaks you must have been NEEDING to top the LHM up! Thats some set of leaks!

Subframe RUST is fine as is body rust, the issue is actual HOLES! Rub the rust down and if theres no holes treat the areas!!!

Subframes to rust into holes here in the UK too. But we wouldnt find a Pug 604 in the UK

PETER N: Windscreen here in perfect order already removed, and later this year there will be another!

Buy this screen, pay a window fitter a back hander and get it fitted..

Oh, dear, with friends like us, there's no help for you! Sounds like you need to organise a private bob-a-job week, "members only"!

Can understand where you're coming from, though, Peter. There can come a point where you can feel you've done it all once (or twice) and can't muster the enthusiasm for another bash at more of the same. Something newer, bit more reliable . . . and you arrive at the C5. Not a bad place to move on to. We did the same in moving from our BX19RD, to which we did all sorts of improvements and mods, not to mention a new head and re-vamped cooling system, along with upgraded instrumentation, electrics and lighting. Took us to 177k. And then we fancied a change, and bought the XM (in 1998). We still have it, as you know.

Do we miss the BX (and the P6B) ? Yes. Miss the simplicity, perhaps the economy (44+ urban), and all the fun that came with it. But at 65 now, I can see that I won't enjoy lying under cars for ever. To be honest, I don't mind doing it, so long as I can choose when I do!

I still have an ambition to own an all-electric car (forget the hybrid nonsense) one day, but that's another story.

The plan is to tidy the car cosmetically and have it tested to see what is spotted. I still think the estimates for the brakes are extreme. What would discs and pads cost in the UK? A few hundred quit a pair? My escape route is the following dumb plan: buy a tidy 1995 V6 for €700 and wait until finances improve to make the 1990 car pass the test. I´d really rather not decommission the 1990 car though. It is rather lovely in the way a black 1995 car isn´t despite its measurable refinements and improved pep.