Didn't PeterN say he'd even contemplate an auto...

[Dieselman]

It is a contagious addiction you see. My dad has gone from hating my 'ugly' Xm to begging me to go and have a look at this one for him...
Bonkers!

Ha ha..the bug takes hold...slowly, slowly catchee Monkey..
With most car designs if you like them instantly you get bored very quickly, it's the ones you first hate because they challenge the status quo, that are the classic designs.

NOw for the dealbreaker

Both struts looked ok from the top... and well greased, but from underneath the rubber has separated from the metal plate, and i believe goodbye time will ensue some time soon.

Obviously there is some corrosion underneath, otherwise the rubber wouldn't have separated, but I think there is a way to save de-laminated strut tops if not too corroded.

If anyone has some old strut tops that are scrap I would like to try something as a test, to see if we can get back to good metal.

[andmcit]

So the main issues are strut tops, possible coolant pressurisation and a tired accumulator sphere.

Was the header open without the cap or was this the overflow pipe pushing water out immediately
on start up - head gasket time as PeterN would say? Was it allowed to run up to temperature to
see if any other symptoms of head gasket failure were present? Any mayo, expansion header water
erruptions or exhuast emissions smoke?

If the HG is goosed the car cannot be worth more than scrap value so if this is the case so the stating
bid doesn't sound totally unreasonable. Although there's bidding now on the car, the seller holding
out for the full £ doesn't make a great deal of sense. Why have an auction where you can submit
offers if the seller has absolutely no intention of accepting anything less than the £250 final buy it
now full price? Chances are, seeing how ebay works the finish price withh be £350!

The keys/locks issue may be fixable quite easily dependent on what the guy's done with any electrics
for the tailgate lock and ignition - coiuld end up being a nightmare to rectify if he's been sloppy.

This ad may yield helpful parts to help things along as he's local (?) to you:
http://www.preloved.co.uk/fuseaction-ad ... 773a5.html

I guess in the end it's a hell of a lot of car for no money - as far as £ per square foot goes but with
the risk/caveat of problems that are hassle and expensive to fix.

Andrew

[Dieselman]

This ad may yield helpful parts to help things along as he's local (?) to you:
http://www.preloved.co.uk/fuseaction-ad ... 773a5.html

Can you get some contact details for that advertiser?

[andmcit]

I'd certainly be interested in hearing what he has for sale myself!
Especially what colour the wings are!!

Telephone mikeg on: 01205260605 (Daytime)

Odd selection of spares and likley only what could be removed easily
off the car before it wass carted away to scrap?

Andrew

[davetherave]

The water shot out whilst the cap was on at start up, but i didnt dig to much further,
I forgot to mention the hand/foot brake doesnt work either.

It is alot for little, but its a case of how much time I have to rectify all the problems!
We shall see how the auction goes!

[robert_e_smart]

I hate the way that Heuliez built Citroens rot. I think the PSA estates look good and are paractical, BX, XM, and Xantia estates, but all the estate specific Heuliez bits, (with the exception of the BX) rot when the rest of the car is sound. Needless to say, I learnt to weld on a BX estate.