Hello!

[Will]

Hello everyone. I thought I'd raise my hand and join in here, and perhaps also ask for some help/advice, if that's ok.

I suppose I should say I've never owned a Citroen myself, although my granddad, an aerospace engineer, used to take me on lots of trips in his BX TZD. He was very proud of that car, and from what I remember it was a very comfortable cruiser. I always remember him laughing at the petrol cars we would pass on the relatively steep hills on the motorways around Winchester/Chandlers Ford.

Anyway... We are looking to start an extension, and I, the car enthusiast, saw an opportunity to try out a different car. We, or rather my wife has a nice car these days, but its not one I really want to shove a load of old rubbish in on a regular basis. This got me thinking, rather than paying for skips all the time, I may buy a cheapish old estate, use it for a bit, and then sell it on.

I'm not sure what the largest estate car in the UK is, but the mighty XM estate must be up there. I remember them from family holidays in France, and I always thought they were a good looking car. So my plan, over the next couple of months is to seek out a suitable car. The difficulty is that I need to find one that fits a few criteria - it must be MOT'd or cheaply MOT-able, it must be relatively local to London/Essex, and must not be in too good a condition cosmetically! As much as I love cars, I tend to get too attached to them. I need one that will be a bit too rough to warrant too much money/time. I'd also feel a bit guilty taking a nice one and abusing it with too many tip runs. I really don't want to ruin a good example of a dying breed, so i'd prefer to find one that is close to being scrapped - but still working of course! I'd aim to sell the car back to an enthusiast after six months or so.

So, the question is, am I being daft or is this a realistic plan? I've seen a few advertised, but I'd really need something around the £500 mark before head starts to overrule heart...It would be great to hear people's views.

I'm really enjoying reading the forum by the way, its a nice little community here.

[White Exec]

Hi Will . . . and welcome!

I think you're coming at this from just the right direction, and with welcome honesty. You'll certainly find an estate to suit you, whether 2.1 or 2.5TD. I'm a bit remote to help you out (ex-up-the-A3-Guildford/Godalming, but now southern Spain), but someone local will point you in the right direction.

I won't mention the old nasty about skips-on-wheels and 2CVs (ouch!).

[Charles M]

What a good idea. I'd say a 2.1 diesel, but I suspect a petrol engined one might be a bit cheaper. This is a good example of one - Malcolm at Savoy is a member here and well known to some members as a specialist http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C309450

If you don't find an XM, a Mercedes 210 estate can be had for peanuts nowadays and is huge.

Welcome!

[Dieselman]

I would go for a Series 2 petrol for the best bang for buck. It would be a real shame to ruin a Series 1 estate, there just aren't many left.

Malcolm at Savoy Garage has a couple that would suit. He's in Bolton iirc, but it's only one trip.

[citroenxm]

Savoy isnt in Bolton William (dieselman) Far From..

He is over between BlackBurn and Burnley, in a tiny village called Hapton off the M65..

Enthusiasts cars will all be good and no doubt more then 500 quid, but honesty, A cheap XM, they arent that cheap. IF they are then they sometimes need double again throwing at them getting lots of jobs done, so its useually to go for a good one pay a bit more and expect less to be done.

Buy carefully. Theres LOTS to go wrong on the XM. Petrols more common right up to V6 12v auto Estates to 2.5 TD estates, to 2.1 Diesels to 2.0 Petrols.

Isnt KingP selling a 2,5 TD Estate on an N reg on here??

[mds141]

Without sounding like I'm trying to put someone off buying a XM, have you considered a Peugeot 806/Citroën Synergie/Fiat Ulysses? Great load luggers and surprisingly cheap.

[Will]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome! Great to know that its not deemed a bad idea. I take the point about not ruining a series one, as I said, I'm loath to send anything special to its death. In reality, I can't think that I'd give anything too much abuse though, which is kind of why I'm hopeful of selling on afterward - if I don't get hooked...

I've seen the blue xmon car and classic and that is exactly the sort of thing I'm after, its just slightly far, and at 900 I'd have to be fairly confident of getting at least a few hundred back. You can hire a fair few skips for that. There are a couple of others on c and c for about 500 but no pics and so a bit hard to judge. I'm in no huge hurry as my house plans are still going through, so I'll just lurk for a bit and see what comes up.

[Will]

Mark, yes in many ways that's the sensible choice. I had use of an old galaxy when I refurbed my first place and it was great. Something about them is just not as cool as a big french estate though, and if I'm going to smoke about in something for a couple of months I may as well go for something I fancy. Completely illogical, I know!

[xmexclusive]

Will,

I keep XM's as working cars and as a long term hobby.
Give Malcolm a ring and ask about the cars and price.
He may well have something that suits.
Over the last three years temporary health problems prevented me working on my cars.
As the MOT's expired I bought a couple of 2.5's (car and estate) each with 12 months MOT from him for short term use.
With one of the 2.5's it suited Malcolm to bring the car south for me.

John

[djg]

I can't give you any actual piece of advice, being a couple of countries away from the UK but, honestly, I'd be very much surprised if you really wanted to get rid of it at the end... XMs are not actually the kind of car that you want to give up once you have experienced them for some time. They usually grow on you, albeit slowly - it might take as long as two or three days.

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