Steve Berry's Citroen XM - Crunch!

[endorfin]

OK I'll own up, I was the winning bidder on this.

It was a last second impulse bid, purely because it appeared to be selling for less than scrap value and it wasn't all that far from me in Surrey.

I had no idea of the damage to the rear quarter or the rear door, as the ebay pic cunningly hides this, but I think I would have bought it anyway, the damage is not great and there is a possibility it could be repaired by one of these paintless dent repair specialists. We will see.

I had no idea who Steve Berry was, I met him at St. Pancras train station on the morning after auction ended, I was very short on time as I had to get on the road to N. Wales. He wasn't able to produce a V5, when I asked him where it was he said he had sent it off to dvla and would post the new one when it arrived. He also said the car had a long mot.
The penny dropped a couple of hours later when I waiting for the RAC after running out of fuel less than a mile away in central London (he had handed the car over to me running on fumes "you might want to put a bit of petrol in") that it's probably been declared a Cat C or D and as per insurance requirements he's had to relinquish the logbook to them, and that there would be no new V5 coming from dvla. There was also no sign of the 'current' mot amongst the paperwork, not that it would valid anyway if it's been declared an insurance write off. I paid a fee to check this later on and sure enough it was recorded as a Cat C write off on 7th August 2013. Will have to book it in for a VIC check.

Refueled the car and drove it back to Surrey, seemed to be quite smooth with plenty of power although engine management light keeps coming on and it seems to 'cough' now and then.

Condition is excellent, as someone else said here it's a minter. Mileage 42k and previous mot's correspond with this.

On my trip to Wales I acquired a shedload of car parts including 4 doors, mirrors, bonnet, wings and tailgate. Unfortunately in gunmetal grey but the glass is good and I have removed the necessary glass and intend to fit new glass to the car tomorrow or Wednesday then get it through a VIC and put a new mot on it. Then I will explore options for having the damage repaired.
I now have 4 XMs....and I'm not sure yet what I'll be doing with this one, it will probably be sold on at some point as I'd like to concentrate on getting the G reg one in running order.

[russ92xmsed]

Well done for saving it. Best of luck fixing it up. It is definitely worth it.

[Dieselman]

Cat C makes it less attractive though. Shame he wasn't quite straight.

You bid last second, topping my bid by a couple of pounds.

[Eddie nuff]

I had no idea who Steve Berry was . . . He wasn't able to produce a V5, when I asked him where it was he said he had sent it off to dvla and would post the new one when it arrived. He also said the car had a long mot.
The penny dropped a couple of hours later when I waiting for the RAC after running out of fuel less than a mile away in central London (he had handed the car over to me running on fumes "you might want to put a bit of petrol in") that it's probably been declared a Cat C or D and as per insurance requirements he's had to relinquish the logbook to them, and that there would be no new V5 coming from dvla. There was also no sign of the 'current' mot amongst the paperwork, not that it would valid anyway

Sounds like a nice fella.

[Dieselman]

Sounds like a nice fella.

Ebay feedback isn't sparkling...

[endorfin]

Cat C makes it less attractive though. Shame he wasn't quite straight.

You bid last second, topping my bid by a couple of pounds.

Sorry Will. I think my max bid was just a whisker over £250 anyway which the car is certainly worth.

[Gallic oddity]

I had no idea who Steve Berry was . . . He wasn't able to produce a V5, when I asked him where it was he said he had sent it off to dvla and would post the new one when it arrived. He also said the car had a long mot.
The penny dropped a couple of hours later when I waiting for the RAC after running out of fuel less than a mile away in central London (he had handed the car over to me running on fumes "you might want to put a bit of petrol in") that it's probably been declared a Cat C or D and as per insurance requirements he's had to relinquish the logbook to them, and that there would be no new V5 coming from dvla. There was also no sign of the 'current' mot amongst the paperwork, not that it would valid anyway

Sounds like a nice fella.

+1

I'd be raging.

[endorfin]

[/quote]
+1

I'd be raging.[/quote]

I was pretty p*ssed off about running out of fuel, I'd have happily given him an extra tenner if he'd just put a tiny bit of fuel in but the tight fisted git chanced driving it to the station on fumes and handed the problem to someone else, to save what, a couple of quid!

3 hours sitting in Marylebone being told repeatedly by taxi drivers "you can't park there" "....I know, I've run out of petrol" and police and traffic wardens warning me that I would be ticketed if I didn't move soon. Had to call the RAC out as there were absolutely no petrol stations nearby, took them an hour and a half to arrive only to tell me they don't carry petrol for safety reasons. But then he helpfully added that he had some diesel! I'm not making it up! I asked the muppet why he didn't bring some en route to me when he knew the reason for the call out and he said that it was policy to check first whether the car was actually a petrol or diesel car and that it had actually run out of fuel.
Gave the chap a tenner and off he went. An hour goes by and I get a text saying that the petrol station he had gone to had closed down and he was looking for another. A total of 3 hours later I was up and running again. I had plenty of time sitting there to send him some abusive texts but I restrained myself.

Hiding the fact that it was a Cat C and lying about the V5 was pretty underhanded but I can live with that as the car was cheap IMO but the petrol thing narked me, I've not run out of fuel since I was a spotty teenager I think when I was so skint I used to put in 2 quid at a time!

Sounds like a nice fella.

Ebay feedback isn't sparkling...

I haven't left him any feedback yet, certainly not going to leave him any positive but it seems a bit petty to leave a neg over a £200 car.

[Gallic oddity]

It's not just the car you're leaving feedback on

It's the whole experience you had with the seller

[Charles M]

I don't think it petty - being misled on the status of the car is bad enough, let alone having no petrol. Saves someone else the hassle on his next sale.