talk to me about 'cooking' spec XMs

[scooters]

SMorning,
I am at my final straw with the Mrs's Picasso and have decided to replace it. What doesn't help is that my 7 year old gets car sick in it, probably because of the body roll and because for most of his life any long distance driving has been done in the CX Gti. He's fine in my XM and also in my clunky old Volvo 244 but he seems to be pretty bad in the hard riding modern people carriers. I am also getting fed up of the mechanical issues, yes they are easy to fix but they are and always were essentially disposable cars and at 10 years old electrical issues are increasingly the norm.

I've decided to get another XM for the family car, we will need a shooting-brake as we have a dog and Mrs S is in the book trade and carries large loads of books around the place.

In an ideal world I'd buy that 2.1 that Malcolm has for sale at Savoy at the moment, however, the funds are low at the moment and will be for the next 4 weeks or so and it's out of my budget. so I am seriously considering a 2lt 'pov' spec car. cloth/manual etc. I've never driven one having only had 2.1 and petrol turbos in the past. Is it any good? I'm not expecting blistering performance, just reliability, acceptable fuel consumption and comfort with load lugging. There's one on Autotrader at the moment, a dealer trade in to clear which looks suitable.

thoughts?

[Peter.N.]

Many people used to say that the ride in hydropnumatics made them sick, so it seems you have a very discerning 7 year old.

The best all round car in my opinion is the 2.1 manual estate. I have run them for over 15 years and over half a million miles. The economy is brilliant, the performance adequate and they are relatively easy to work on - finding one is the problem. I have one in the field on SORN which I was hoping to get back on the road, but its still there at the moment

Peter

[scooters]

yup in an ideal world I'd have the XUD with a manual, I ran a BX TZD with a manual for years - cracking engine the XUD but doesn't seem to sit right with an auto (my opinion with all oil burners, not XMs alone) it seems against the point of a slush box - I mean - with a big straight six autos are wonderful, even my CX25Gti has an auto and gets away with it in petrol form but the 2.1XM td I have at the moment takes a bit of getting used to - once you realise that its not like driving a manual diesel and it is essentially just a 'get on with it' driving experience it's fine.

As you say, the problem is finding one. This car on autotrader is a '95 2.0l SX, no indication if it is 8 or 16v. I am assuming it is 8v, manual, cloth interior, usual XM body work a bit scruffy, paint is flat and needs clay, the running strips are dull and a few scratches on the bumpers other than that it looks ok. its on for just under £600 which is a lot of car although it will cost £50 to travel to collect and tax etc. It looks like a family owned car that has been well maintained and bought for towing caravans. Malcolm's car is a 2.1TS VSX estate that looks great but is a bit out of my budget at the moment.

[Rommel]

I think that car is possibly a 16v- which people say is a good engine and the "dark horse" of the range.Certainly preferable to the 8v and quite nippy too in manual form.
Beware though- that estate has not been taxed for a long time and has also not been SORNed- I don't know if that might be an issue.

Also it doesn't have an MOT, at least, last time I checked it didn't (I used the DVLA website to check the status a month or so ago).

I think an investigative trip would be a good plan. Just in case there is something amiss that isn't so easy (or cheap) to fix.
There's also a 2.5 estate on Ebay right now- has been laid up for 6 months and now won't start. Could be am easy fix, no doubt opinions on this will be ventured soon in the for sale section!

[scooters]

Thanks for the tip I will give it a wide berth then, too far to travel off spec...
This however:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-BX-TZ ... 1309635053?
looks very interesting - TZD BX'x in estate form are superb and high spec cars. 11 months MOT - the only issue is the rear trailing arm bearing needs replacing and the pin has sheered so it will need drilling. This is a pig of a job and, whilst I would have tackled in a couple of years ago without issue, I have developed arthiritis in my hands which makes this sort of job a nightmare.

thanks for the tip on the 2.4 I'll keep an eye on that - I suspect the starting issues will be as simple as needing a new battery, these diesel cars need a battery in superb nick to get started, likely the diesel pump might need primed as well and I bet the fuel filter is full of snot from cheap diesel - bacteria - nasty...also needing 4 tyres and in Oxford - could all add up.

On a more boring perspective there's a chap down the road selling a top spec 1999 vauxhall vectra auto estate with a Saab badge on it for £300 with a long MOT and a tax disc he is happy to delay the V5 on...interesting...top spec as well and fsh, reasonable miles....would keep the wife happy and buy me some credits that will allow me to pick up another shonky citroen, maybe that BX?

[Rommel]

Hi, I checked again just to make sure- untaxed since January and not sorned. MOT lapsed in September.

I love BX's but have no knowledge of the diesels.

You could well be right about the XM estate- maybe it just needs the pump primed- I suppose we don't realise how many people might not know such a basic thing, more than we suspect!

I take it you mean a Saab 9-3! Or is it really a Vectra and you weren't (as I presumed) having a dig at the GM era of Saab? Either way sounds good at that price.

[Peter.N.]

We had a BX TZD Turbo estate, fantastic car, went like a rocket. Many BX owners were disappointed when they replaced them with Xantia's, considerable lack of performance and increase in fuel consumption due to the extra weight.

Peter

[xmexclusive]

I checked out the ebay advert for the 2.5 west of Oxford as I do all 2.5's.
Loss of coolant on a 2.5 usually means RadS dying.
Note the big S, 2.5's have two rads and a history of eating them.
Big rad is just over £100 and the little one just under.
That estate has Aircon which means the long Aux belt and eccentric idler.
2.5's have a history of eating the idlers which are no longer manufactured.
I also noted the row of farm type fuel tanks behind the car and wondered what fuel it had been run on.

Do not get me wrong with this as I think 2.5's are great XM's and do not drive anything else.
It is just that the ride might not be quite as easy and cheap as with some other 'cooking spec' XM's.

John

[White Exec]

The BX diesel is an amazing car, capable of extraordinary economy and performance . . . and almost care-free suspension, provided you periodically renew/regas the spheres. Just make sure it has a coolant header tank installed: if not, fit one.

The 2.5 is a stunning vehicle, but needs a deeper pocket, or access to a spares pool - the latter being increasingly more important as time goes on. Don't let this put you off.

Test drive both!

[scooters]

Looks like I may have lined up a 2.1TD Estate. Will need to collect in a couple of weeks time.
pics later R