BXProject

[Bx Bandit]

This has come up for auction just 30 minutes from me!

And.....it has a Bosch pump! It'd be good to get shot of the Xanty before that Epic pump goes tits up!
Whats it worth you rekon? I guess £750 as an absolute max. But it looks like there be rust colouration near them strut tops perhaps?

[Vanny]

if it goes for £30 then get it, otherwise, its an XM

[Madcav]

Admcit from BXC?

Bandit, there's another XM diesel up for grabs:

"hi bill,i think i replied ,not sure it went,so here it is again,,its a 1990 diesel 2100 cc
turbo,,drives like new,failed on sills,i went underher yestday,knocked every bit of rust
out,,its very little and easily weded,,it also failed on a worn track rod end and a rear
tyre,,there are two nearly new tyres with it and the only other faults are the locking
system,needs a remote and the roof pick up reciever or a new lock if you want to lock
it manually,,the roof does not slide but i never use it,,thats it,,i live in yeovil
somersey..my phone no is 01935 479174 i want 200 for her and give me a bell if
interested,,egine gbox mechanics ,brakes etc perfect,,>"

Translated just as e-mail came to me mate.

[docchevron132]

HHmm, if that was a P1 I'd be bidding!
Happily it's a P2, so I shant.

Be aware that if the selector fails it's BIG money, as is the cable, and it's a shit to replace.
Could be worth a ganders though mate, check the autobox fluid carefully!
If it smells or looks burnt, walk away. It's at THAT mileage...

Other than that though, could be a real nice car maybe..

[Vanny]

also have you got rid of the rest of the scrap on the drive? do you know that scrap prices have become naff all again??

[Bx Bandit]

Yeah I missed the boat with the scrap man really. But what's got to go has got to go, the potential cash back on the shell isn't worth holding out for!

Thanks for the heads up Billy. I can't be arsed with having to do welding on one at the moment. It needs to be a runner with a good MOT so that it can replace the Xanty straight off.

The two biggies are the strut tops and as doc says the auto box, although I had assumed that ones with the oil cooler lasted longer than this. Did you mean the cooled or non cooled ones fail at this sort of mileage Doc?
I also assume the oil should be fairly clear and not dark assuming it's ok?

Hmm, maybe it's worth a bit more than £30 Vanny???!!!!!

[Vanny]

no really its not. The MOT means nothing, the tax has already run out. Your going to have to bodge new strut mounts, and then whent he gearbox fails you'll have a bit more scrap on the drive (which only a matter a days ago you where complaining about because it was forcing your dailies onto the road). The Xantia DOES work if you leave it well alone, and while i will contest that the XM is better than a Xantia, do you have the money for the increased insurance, the tax and all the faults it is likely to bring (thinking about Charlies car now, but i guess that is an issolated incident). And where will you put it? And you do realise its christmas in two weeks which means the usual huge expenditure (in fuel visiting inlaws, and food, and beer and other nonsensical crap). And you've bought a rat which will likely mean a decent sized vets bill in the near future (spayed, taging, jabs etc etc). Then there is the missus to consider!

If your gonna have an XM it needs to be an estate because they look shit loads better and are just so much more practicle. The colour is okay, but i prefer em in silver, whats your ideal preference? The faulty cruise control isgoing to peck at your head for a long time, and do you really want an auto? sounds like its already got some major issues! It does overall look like a half decent car, but i just suspect it might bring more headache than harmony.

So, my opinion (and i guess its a 'what i would do'), get the scrap off the drive this weekend, make Mrs B happy! Enjoy the space for a few months, and keep an eye out for the most ideal car (silver estate, HDi manual 6 speed, yes i know it doesnt exist!) and buy it in the christmas slump! You just watch, when people sober up after NYE there will be a LOT of 'second' cars on the market.

[Madcav]

/\

A simple yes or no would have sufficed

[Vanny]

yeah well, these things happen, i felt the need to expand!

[Bx Bandit]

And expand you did!

Basically, if either the strut tops or the gearbox (or both) have not been replaced/worked on then I shan't go bid. In a scenario with more cash/time/space then I'd consider it even with a rotten gearbox or a rotten pair of strut mounts and have a wee project.

No it's not my favourite colour. I can take it or leave it really. My fave is Black, followed closely by Silver. Whilst the estate is hooooooge and more practical, I don't like the way it looks, for me...hatch FTW!

I must admit that today I was thinking "Can I really be arsed to fuck about with a new car and all it's potential problems right now?" Answer = no!

Besides I've got 1st dibs on my Dads if/when he sells his....

[docchevron132]

I'd have the hatch over an estate TBH..
But I wouldn't have an S2 either..

With the auto's, a non cooled box can fail from about 10 miles, with a cooler, about 150K miles is on the brink when things say "ENOUGH!".
But alot is down to how it's been treated, how often the oil and filter has been changed (and no-one ever fucking changes the filters EVAH) etc..

Strut top mounts are available new, not cheap, but cheaper than trashing a car into a tree at high speed, and strut top mounts fail on any hydro Cit, BX included, so it's really a wear and tear item..

Auto box fluid should be RED and not smell AT ALL. if it's black, brown, clear or smells in any way burnt the band will almost certainly be toast.

That said autoboxes aint hard or expensive to fix if you do it yourself, all you really need is somewhere clinically clean to work on it.

The cruise control will almost certainly be the unit behind the wheelarch liner (cos it always is) and is easily DIYable if you know how..

BUT, it's an XM, so like Vanny said, MoT or not, it's worth fuck all.

[mickey taker]

wait til after xmas and you will probably gat a c5 for £30 the way things are going

I wouldent buy anything now until christmas is out of the way and paid for

[Bx Bandit]

It has an MOT - it runs out May 2009! It appears to have been maintained well apart from a gap in the service history of 30K! Anyway, I'll email about the box & tops and see if I'll still go and see it after that. The swingometer is in the 'NO' at the moment tho'

[mickey taker]

if you want a comfortable leathereed up luxo barge , forget diesel and manual gearchange and by a toyota camry , so far ours has been boringly reliable , its a pleasure to drive , gets lots of admiring glances and above all is safe

[Madcav]

Can't you buy a Lotus Carlton instead? Promise to come round and piss through your neighbour's letterbox if you do.

[docchevron132]

Fucking good idea Billy!

also, what Mick says is probably not too far from the truth, C5's are coming down in price, although I wouldn't have one given me...

But I also wouldn't have a Camry, it's just not a Citroën, or a Dennis, or a BL....

[mickey taker]

[quote="docchevron1472
But I also wouldn't have a Camry, it's just not a Citroën, or a Dennis, or a BL....[/quote]

but surely thats the point

its not unreliable and it dont rust so you get more time to actually drive the thing ,

I thought the Xanti was mrs Bandits car so a camry as a replacement makes mucho senseio

[mickey taker]

even better than a camry

http://retrorides.proboards86.com/index ... read=51115

[Bx Bandit]

The Xanty is Mrs Bandits car but I have to drive it so she'll drive what I tell her to drive!!! Whilst I hold the the Lotus Carlton in very high regard and the Camry would indeed be endlessly reliable, as Doc says they ain't a Cit and I know I won't forgive any everyday car unless it is all wobbly and full of green....

This was the sellers reply about the XM

Drivers side strut top replaced last year. Rubbers on both sides removed to stop rusting.
Dont know if box has been replaced or referb. Except for gear selector problem as already mentioned auto box is fine. On last service engineer talked about gearbox oil. Cannot find garage receipts so cannot say if its done or was planned to do on next service. Gear box oil is clean. Wiped dipstick on finger and oil is transparent. Cannot say if gearbox has oil cooler fitter. Wouldn't know where to look for a start. There is a cooler behind the rad but guess thats for the turbo ! Wife has lost all reciepts at moment so only has stamped service book. Will try to find them in the next day or so. Hope thats all you need Neil. Let me know if ytou need anything else. Thanks Andrew

Even if you give him the benefit of any doubt, there's still a strut top to do and the chances are the gearbox is the original. This would a good one to get if I had plentiful full swag bags to throw at it and a bit more time. But I 'avent so I'll give it a miss.

My Dad was muttering something like getting an older C5 but I hope I've put him off!! Best wait until the new C5 have dropped (a while I know) or get a C6 - which I thought he'd like but he doesn't! All said and done he may as well keep the XM for now and then give it to me at a later date!!!

[mickey taker]

how about a nicely specced xantia diesel estate for under £500 with 6 months tax

http://retrorides.proboards86.com/index ... read=51138