Auto or Manual? (XM)

[Eddie nuff]

Buy the best car you can find for the least you have to spend, be it manual or auto, petrol or diesel, S1 or S2 . . . and then keep up to it!

[Eddie nuff]

2.oi 8v N/a engine, auto or manual.

Yep, becoming rare but they do pop up now and again, just like this earlier in the year.

[citroenxm]

Nobody actually bought it did they Neil??

Early G reg cars are UNIQUE in lots of areas too... Eddie will tell you..

Headlinings,
Windscreen washer Jets

are two things so far... I think they are also the only model to have a radiator with header tank ON THE SIDE of it... ?? Or am i mistaken on that?

[Eddie nuff]

No don't think it sold.

Yeah, header tank on the side cos it's not got AC, nor ABS . . . nor owt else really.*

Bloody G platers . . . keep away from 'em.

*except a fully working sunroof with no leaks

[citroenxm]

*except a fully working sunroof with no leaks

Ahh got about three of those in the shed, just need fitting to the cars!!!

[Peter.N.]

I ran manual 2.1 estates for over 15 years in fact I still have one, they were the ideal car for me when I was working as they have a huge capacity and are very economical as well as being comfortable, 50 mpg is quite obtainable driven gently. The manual gearboxes normally last the life of the vehicle, I have had two at around 300k one still had the original clutch. If you are not going to do many miles an auto would probably be OK but bear in mind that if it does fail it will probably write the car off.

If you need an auto fair enough but I wouldn't have one, the 2.1 engine is brilliantly smooth and will pull from tickover so you don't have to change gear much anyway, apart from knocking the fuel consumption I don't like the way they drive, you can change up at around 2000 rpm with the manual the auto doesn't seem to want to change until about 3000 which makes it noisy.

Peter

[kingp]

Sorry Paul, i thought the TCT was the same setup as the Xantia and hydro clutch

[CitroJim]

One thing to be aware of if you consider a late S2 ES9 V6 is the gearbox. The auto-adaptive 4HP20 is a great gearbox but they do have an inbuilt ticking time-bomb. By about 150,000 miles they are entering a twilight zone where in perhaps the next 10-20,000 miles they will fail. No might about it sadly...

The job to fix them, if caught quickly, is not technically difficult but does involve lifting out the engine and gearbox and completely stripping the gearbox.. Cost of parts will not be less than £500.

So, if you look at an ES9 V6 with 150,000 or more on the clock and the vendor can give no record of gearbox work then walk away or be prepared for a big job. All the information needed is on here.

Apart from that, the ES9 V6 is a lovely car and the rest of the mechanicals are very reliable; just watch out for bad rads and cooling issues as the ES9 hates overheating...

[citroenxm]

And the other es9 issue is the exhaust is dealer only or specialist.. at dealer it's a 600 quid system for me another negative point.

[CitroJim]

And the other es9 issue is the exhaust is dealer only or specialist.. at dealer it's a 600 quid system for me another negative point.

Indeed to goodness yes Paul although against that, they are made of good, heavy metal, generally fail on the 2 into 1 joint before the transverse box through fatigue and are often amenable to a welded repair. Mine was so done about 10 months ago and has been fine since..