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How much attention do our XM's get?
Posted: Sun May 24, 2020 3:57 am
by Jaki1122
Hello everyone, this is a bit of an odd topic (yet we have XM's and other Citroens so a bit odd is our everyday). Anyway, here we go.
Everyday my XM is closer to be done with the restoration and being usable again, however, this raises a question... how much attention will it get, specially from "non fully respectful people"?
I understand, car guys/girls will identify the XM and maybe get a look at it, which it's ok with me (I'm also one of them
), but I wonder if our XM's have any extra risk of being vandalised (keyed, broken windows, etc). Despite me living in a small town, with an enclosed garage and this being a pretty safe place so far and me never going to any big city and parking in the safest places I can find (big place to park, well lit, etc) and leaving no visible objects in the car, I still I would like to know if I'm getting any more risk than my 306 (which only had suffered a broken glass at my ex-university, a sad (and embarrasing for some) history for another time...)
In your own experience, do the XM get lots of unwanted attention? Or do people don't notice it and/or just thik it's "just another vulgar Citroën"?
Thanks for participating!
Re: How much attention do our XM's get?
Posted: Mon May 25, 2020 10:43 am
by Julianw
I think it's the size, shininess and perceived monetary value of a car that attracts unwanted attention - park a new jag in the roughest part of a town or city and, unless there is the possibility that it is owned by someone 'connected', I.e. someone that will have any vandal dealt with by an acquaintance named Danny, a baseball bat and his 'security' dogs, it's a matter of time before it gets keyed or worse. Other sources of concern are those road users that are not particularly careful or even competent in the control of their vehicles, endangering everything below waist height with their bumpers, doors, door mirrors, tow bars, handlebars, trolleys, wheelie bins etc. Parking carefully and with full consideration for everyone that will pass by goes some way to mitigate these risks, but the oft heard anecdote from owners of cherished examples is the 'I parked well away from everything else and far from the entrance, and when I came back my car was surrounded by others parked really close' (or worse).
Depressing? It is a bit. Is the solution to have a daily or winter beater that looks hideous and you can shoulder your way through traffic with because of its many battle scars, and keep your XM in a carpeted, heated garage, to be taken out only for shows and special days out, where you go to the National Trust site and STILL come back with a new dent or scratch? Nah. That way you don't get to enjoy your XM for more than a few miles a year and it's STILL needy, through infrequent use.
OK, how about, you keep your XM in perfect mechanical and structural condition, but sod the paintwork? Sure, it'll be regarded by the incompetents as something they can rest their shopping trolley against, but you may not notice the new dent - you can't see it from inside, and you get to do as much mileage in it as you care, which is what the XM is good at, right? It is a shame not being able to keep them all clean, shiney and cosmetically perfect, but I'm not Lord Farquhar or Chris Evans with 'a man' to keep up my fleet, so I'll have to compromise.
Besides, for the moment, I'd settle for a running XM with an MOT...
Re: How much attention do our XM's get?
Posted: Tue May 26, 2020 1:43 am
by Jaki1122
Julianw wrote: ↑Mon May 25, 2020 10:43 am
I think it's the size, shininess and perceived monetary value of a car that attracts unwanted attention - park a new jag in the roughest part of a town or city and, unless there is the possibility that it is owned by someone 'connected', I.e. someone that will have any vandal dealt with by an acquaintance named Danny, a baseball bat and his 'security' dogs, it's a matter of time before it gets keyed or worse. Other sources of concern are those road users that are not particularly careful or even competent in the control of their vehicles, endangering everything below waist height with their bumpers, doors, door mirrors, tow bars, handlebars, trolleys, wheelie bins etc. Parking carefully and with full consideration for everyone that will pass by goes some way to mitigate these risks, but the oft heard anecdote from owners of cherished examples is the 'I parked well away from everything else and far from the entrance, and when I came back my car was surrounded by others parked really close' (or worse).
Depressing? It is a bit. Is the solution to have a daily or winter beater that looks hideous and you can shoulder your way through traffic with because of its many battle scars, and keep your XM in a carpeted, heated garage, to be taken out only for shows and special days out, where you go to the National Trust site and STILL come back with a new dent or scratch? Nah. That way you don't get to enjoy your XM for more than a few miles a year and it's STILL needy, through infrequent use.
OK, how about, you keep your XM in perfect mechanical and structural condition, but sod the paintwork? Sure, it'll be regarded by the incompetents as something they can rest their shopping trolley against, but you may not notice the new dent - you can't see it from inside, and you get to do as much mileage in it as you care, which is what the XM is good at, right? It is a shame not being able to keep them all clean, shiney and cosmetically perfect, but I'm not Lord Farquhar or Chris Evans with 'a man' to keep up my fleet, so I'll have to compromise.
Besides, for the moment, I'd settle for a running XM with an MOT...
It's not a bit depressing, it's very depressing... And to me at least just impossible to understand why would anybody damage somebody else's car and why people is not more careful with... well everythnig.
I guess our best bet is to do what you said, enjoy the car, ensure is mechanically perfect, interior as good as possible and forget about the outside. I would add however (and at least that's my plan) that when the day comes to get another daily driver, as the inside is good, just made it as perfect as possible and then fix the outside, full repaint, get the dents out, and then only use it to go to classics events and such. Anyway, I'm making a small 360 degrees surveillance camera with a Raspberry pi so at least if anybody does anything (let's hope not) I got the proof of who it has been so the insurance has it a bit more difficult to not to pay.
Re: How much attention do our XM's get?
Posted: Tue May 26, 2020 1:59 am
by Saraphi
My windows are pretty dark - as far as parking goes I find that a window sticker in English and Thai helps keep folks at a distance.
It Reads "Attack Dogs in Transit"
Re: How much attention do our XM's get?
Posted: Thu May 28, 2020 4:57 pm
by Pshemsky
Jaki1122 wrote: ↑Tue May 26, 2020 1:43 am
Anyway, I'm making a small 360 degrees surveillance camera with a Raspberry pi so at least if anybody does anything (let's hope not) I got the proof of who it has been so the insurance has it a bit more difficult to not to pay.
Any chance to get some more details about this Raspberry pi project ? 360 degrees camera based around this tiny computer sounds to good to be true
Re: How much attention do our XM's get?
Posted: Fri May 29, 2020 10:03 pm
by marc61
Don’t think mine gets unwanted attention. In fact I think it could do with some wanted attention at present, like a good wash
.
Most people seem to ignore it as far as I can tell but I don’t think people like it or recognise it, relative to the older Citroen’s which nowadays seem to draw a smile from most people. That wasn’t the case back in the 80s when DS were seen as weird slow old bangers..
Re: How much attention do our XM's get?
Posted: Fri May 29, 2020 11:48 pm
by motorgnome
Here in Australia, my XM doesn't get much attention at all. Most "car people" over here are fiercely Holden, Ford, or Chrysler, and the XM is viewed as "Just French shit". I've often asked, "WTF would you want someting like that for??. So as far as theft is concerned...Not likely..Vandalism?.. being viewed as not at all desirable makes it of very little interest to the average dead beat..
Famous last words I hope!
Re: How much attention do our XM's get?
Posted: Sat May 30, 2020 12:47 am
by DownUnderXM
(Also in Oz) Saw someone peering on the windows of mine recently - when I spoke to him he knew what it was, but was unsure if it was hydraulic. Pretty sure he had a French accent, so doesn't really count - ie ocker Aussies don't even notice it.
So I think I'd agree with motorgnome - it's far more likely to get dented by carelessness in a car park than suffer vandalism. Mind you, mine's a fairly anonymous silver, and not particularly shiny. If it was a very shiny Mandarin(e?) it might be a different story...
Re: How much attention do our XM's get?
Posted: Sat May 30, 2020 3:15 pm
by Julianw
Pshemsky wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2020 4:57 pm
Jaki1122 wrote: ↑Tue May 26, 2020 1:43 am
Anyway, I'm making a small 360 degrees surveillance camera with a Raspberry pi so at least if anybody does anything (let's hope not) I got the proof of who it has been so the insurance has it a bit more difficult to not to pay.
Any chance to get some more details about this Raspberry pi project ? 360 degrees camera based around this tiny computer sounds to good to be true
+1 for this. Dallied with Pi's a couple of years ago but never got the camera...
Re: How much attention do our XM's get?
Posted: Sun May 31, 2020 3:07 am
by Jaki1122
Pshemsky wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2020 4:57 pm
Jaki1122 wrote: ↑Tue May 26, 2020 1:43 am
Anyway, I'm making a small 360 degrees surveillance camera with a Raspberry pi so at least if anybody does anything (let's hope not) I got the proof of who it has been so the insurance has it a bit more difficult to not to pay.
Any chance to get some more details about this Raspberry pi project ? 360 degrees camera based around this tiny computer sounds to good to be true
Hey, sorry for not coming for a while, you know.. work
Here's one of the references I'll be using when I build the camera (which sadly I still haven't started yet
):
https://www.instructables.com/id/Uber-C ... eo-Camera/
This particular approach is pretty lazy, but hopefully effective. It's basically a RPi, a standard camera for it and then some cool lenses to give it 360 degree view at expense of some image quality. But you know, its dirt cheap and it should work just fine.
You can find more ways of doing cameras like this on Instructables, Hackaday and similar sites.
.