Citroen XM Forum

Hi all, @twas us who were the mystery viewers from "Birmingham" read Coventry. Pat fancied a day out and like everyone else thought that the car was worth a look.
Peter's findings are spot on, but there are other issues (and, no we won't be bidding on it because it's already gone beyond what we think it's worth to us since we left this morning). (and we have a bonnet, suspension mounts and a couple of tyres!)

Suspension mounts... n/s one is quite rusty under the rubber where it's coming adrift. o/s one rubber intact and didn't want to disturb it in front of owners wife. (but it is only 5 mins walk from the sea !)
Sill damage is considerable, but will not affect the car's integrity. You'd be a profound optimist to think that it could be pulled out. Owner's wife admitted to swiping a bollard or somesuch.
Front tyres none too clever, but probably legal for a short while.
Rears, however have excellent tread, but has stood with them deflated and split the walls for half their circumferance. I wouldn't recommend driving any distance or speed on them. (Jorgy!)
The only other negative which wouldn't assist in making it a nice car is that in the distant past the o/s/r wing and door have been damaged and repaired and the repair laquer (cellulose?) is star cracking.

There you have it gentlemen, a second opinion for what it's worth. It will need some work and money, but will still make a useable car with work. It's up to you to decide how much that will cost and I would doubt that the finished car would be worth the spend unless you can justify it in terms of the use that the low mileage will give you.
Vendors seem genuine, car has only done 7 miles since last MOT (wife wouldn't drive it) and has good previous history, remote fob and original radio. All windows,seats and c/locking work. If we can add anything more please ask.
Rodders & Pat

Hi R+P

Thanks for the detail. Seems a tricky one...Pitty about the strut tops...

Did you listen at all the engine running or somehow tried these kind of areas of the car?

cheers
G

Just a little to add for Jorgy's possible benefit reading his posts elsewhere.

The owner's next door neighbour just happens to be the MOT station that did the last test 7 miles (although a while)ago !!! Perhaps he could be persuaded to test it again, maybe with different rear tyres. Everything else looked fine to me MOT-wise.
Strut tops may not be terminal, but need further investigation, rubber delaminating on both and n/s one has visible deep rust pitting on the only small portion visible. Engine excellent, quiet no rattles etc. Antifreeze and oil filler no sign of water. Suspension up/down as it should but very hard.

Rodders.

PS sorry to have missed you Peter. Today we did 355 miles on just over 33 litres of Mr Sainsbury's finest cooking oil at 85p/litre in a 2.1 automatic.

For anyone (including Jorgy) wanting to know where to hire car trailers or self drive ramp trucks (flatbeds) try:-

D Tallis Ltd. (Dave Tallis owns and runs the place)
Woodside Garage,
Hinckley Rd.
Sapcote,
Leics. LE9 4LH. Sorry no website, you have to ring 01455 614359

Just off the M69 towards Hinckley but only accessible from one direction and I can't remember which

Could be useful for others, feel free to post elsewhere.

roddew wrote: Just off the M69 towards Hinckley but only accessible from one direction and I can't remember which

The Leicester end of the M69 or through Hinckley itself.

Thanks to you all for being so helpful. Let's see how it does price-wise. Tuesday is near.

cheers
George

Hi Rodders

Sorry I missed your report coming in, I was watching 'Top Gear' I missed quite a lot didn't I, still reckon its a nice car though. I don't worry to much about strut tops, nearly all of mine are rusty, I just pour oil over them, it protects the tops and also finds it way underneath, never had any trouble with the rubber rotting although one did become detached on the underside, but that one wasn't wasn't oily!

I saw the MOT station next door and wondered why he hadn't taken it there, I don't think he realised it was worth anything. He was out when I got there, his wife gave me the keys, apparantly he is only selling because his wife doesn't like driving it - I told her what she was missing.

Sorry I didn't meet up with you, I asked if the departing Volvo was you, but apparantly not. Perhaps we will meet up on a future viewing

Peter

Hi all

What if I take the car for a "pre-MOT inspection" to the neighbouring MOT station -so that I'm okay to leave if it doesn't "pass" (for reasons other than the tyres). I've heard people talking about this, does such a thing officialy exists ("pre-MOT inspection"), or it's just a way of speaking?

cheers
G

My guess is that this would be an inspection which covers everything in the MOT test but with no paperwork - so not recorded as a failure (or a pass). From the point of the view of the garage, if they carry out such an inspection then they can charge again for the actual test, even if it's done within the 'no fee for retest' time limits that apply for tests and they have done the remedial work.

Thanks Tim. From a quick googling I think it's not something that the government regulates but purely a private offering, so I'd have to phone specifically that MOT station to find out.

On another note, from a rough calculation, and with my indy's labour rates @ £44/hr (unlikely to do any of the urgent jobs myself), this XM would need about £700 to be put right, and that's only the things that are immediately needed:

-7 new spheres (£230)
-all belts and oils and filters (£230)
-1 strut top (have it, labour £50)
-4 new cheapest 2nd hand tyres (£100)
-MOT

So not a cheap car at all in reality. Depending on closing price, it's coming to about the same or more than the 17k 2lt listed for £995 with new mot and some tax. Green one is nicer spec of course. But then u'd also need plenty more to make it look presentable (dents, laquer). Hmmmm...

G