bramz7 Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 A couple of days ago, whilst browsing the eBay tat thread (as you do), I was alerted to a local ZX. How local you ask?About 4 miles away local!The listing looked promising, there was enough detail to go on and I got the impression this could be a nice car. So I quickly messaged the seller, and arranged a viewing on Sunday. No collection thread as it was literally a bus journey from my work to view, and I didn't really see much shite worthy on the way there. Turns out the seller was younger than me, and decided he just didn't want it anymore. So, despite me intending to try and knock the price down, I couldn't. I wanted it so badly that I mentally forced myself to hand over full asking price. I kept saying to the seller stuff like 'oooo it's quite rare to have a ZX with a carb engine now' 'did you know this shares an engine with the BX and AX' etc etc, great bargaining tactics! Anyway, as I don't yet have a full licence (roll on July), one of my best friends helped me transport it back. Insurance for one day was arranged, and with the short MOT expiring on the 27th, time was of the essence. He ended up loving driving it, I was absolutely convinced something would happen to it on the way back but he drove it tenderly and carefully. No one got too close either, weirdly. Anyway, enough talk! Photos:1992 Citroen ZX Avantage. by Sam Osbon, on FlickrThe 1360cc engine in all its glory. 43600 miles on the clock, and incredibly regular servicing has helped this car. Remember, it had the same owner from 1992-2015.1992 Citroen ZX Avantage. by Sam Osbon, on FlickrThe super blue interior really sold it to me. It is immaculate. And bonus, everything works. Such a weird spec on this car, Avantage models weren't by any means top of the pops but it has (one) electric mirror, a full electric sunroof, electric windows, a sun shade for the rear window, and one of the most uncluttered (perfect) dashboards ever.1992 Citroen ZX Avantage. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr1992 Citroen ZX Avantage. by Sam Osbon, on FlickrThe car itself. Some parking knocks from its 24 years, but overall, very nice. No signs of rust really, although a scratch on the OFS rear arch has got a touch of the oxide, so sanding down will beckon shortly. There's a ripple in the door too, from the same incident. The guy I bought it off of had managed to get some service history (2008-present) from going to a local dealer and them printing it, and even that shows how much love the original owner had for this car. In 7 years, he spent over £3500 on the car. Also, whilst it isn't as good as invoices, look at the service book!A few stamps..... by Sam Osbon, on Flickr Same dealer, various franchises. They even spill onto the next page. Jeez. Oddly, despite the old boy buying it in London new, he lived about 4 miles away from where the car now is. I'll post updates when I can, but the plan is to keep it original and keep it going for as long as possible. I may ask for help on the odd occasion!I'm quite pleased with it to be honest. RobT, KruJoe, CGSB and 26 others 29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Moog Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 Looks a lovely thing. Not bad for a first car.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mouseflakes Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 This fills me with joy!!! D Spares & Tyres and raggerminder 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_Q Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 Keep us up to date, there are plenty of frog whisperers on here including at least one ZX, so we should be able to help you out with some NOLLIDJE if required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spottedlaurel Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 Very pleased for you Sam, looks like a great buy. But how can it be nearly 25 years old?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bramz7 Posted April 29, 2016 Author Share Posted April 29, 2016 Thanks all. The car seems pretty endearing in a 90s French sort of way. I can imagine myself as a bystander in Ronin or something.No real news at the moment, although the down pipe makes an almighty whistling noise when the car is cold started. Assume it's a little loose. On a different tangent, somebody on Flickr alerted me to this:1992 Citroen ZX Advantage D by old-surrey-cars, on Flickr I doubt any cars of the J73*DUU batch other than mine and the one above are still about. J730-Died 2005J731-2002J733-2003J734-2002J736-2002J737-2004J738-2005It'd be neat to get a photo of the two ZXs together one day. Skizzer, anonymous user, mouseflakes and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mouseflakes Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 Respect DUU worldofceri and holbeck 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripped fred Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 That looks nice and tidy. I had one. I was after a diesel but a cheap 1.4 came up on eBay for £62 with a short mot so I had that instead. A pleasant car and gave good mpg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sterling Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Looking good there Sam. Nice little cars these ZXs and I believe they have nice comfy seats. Good luck for your driving the test in July. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pillock Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Carb on a J? I thought everything had gone Catalyst by then and only the really bottom end manufacturers struggled on getting carbs to work with the lambda feedback dugong 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dugong Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Y U CHANGE USER NAME? [boss thread, by the way]. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlo Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Loving your Flickr car spotting thread! It's introduced me to the Fiat Duna, which I'd never heard of before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Carb on a J? I thought everything had gone Catalyst by then and only the really bottom end manufacturers struggled on getting carbs to work with the lambda feedback I had a 1993 Sunny estate with an electronic carb, sounds like an oxymoron to me. Love these early ZXs, it'd have to be an XUD for me. fatharris and dugong 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beko1987 Posted May 1, 2016 Share Posted May 1, 2016 Wow thats lovely, j reg too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bramz7 Posted June 8, 2016 Author Share Posted June 8, 2016 Update: Woo! No advisories either, which was pleasing. And it was waaaaaay below the emissions level maximums. I'm just wondering about the cambelt on this, as I don't think it's ever been changed….. The Moog, mouseflakes, Angrydicky and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beko1987 Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Sweet! I'd change the belt if I were you, it can't be that hard, my old 1.4 zx had so much room in the engine bay I could practically sit on the wing with my legs dangling inbetween the wing and the block! I'd scan you my haynes manual pages but mine only covers the diesels. My 1,4 was surprisingly nippy too, although ate fuel if cruising at over 90... which you shouldn't be doing for a while yet It was piss cheap to insure though, going from it to the XM was a proper shock! Have you got insurance quotes by filling your details out as if you passed your test the day before getting the quote? Sadly with a car like this, if you crash into somethign that isn't another car, don't claim! The car is the insurance policy, especially in your first year of driving! I have the annoying situation now where my ZX car is worth less than the excess I would have to pay if I claimed for anything more than a windscreen (probably worth less than that too...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skizzer Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Grand. It's an early one on a J, isn't it? I seem to remember Advantage = GL spec, with Aura being L (and Volcane GT). In fact the ZX was one of the first cars with silly names for trim levels instead of proper letters. Catalysts were still fairly newfangled then, and it was a couple more years before carbs went the way of horse drawn coal wagons and cans of Top Deck. mouseflakes 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M'coli Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 I'll scan (or photo) the 106's HBOL cambelt pages this weekend if you want them, it'll not be far off. Beko, could you do the diesel ones for me please? beko1987 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bramz7 Posted June 8, 2016 Author Share Posted June 8, 2016 I'm not 100% confident in my own mechanical skills* to confirm I will do the belt myself, but I will research how to. I already have a Haynes manual, but thanks for the offer of scanning the pages. It's remarkable how empty it is under the bonnet considering how rammed with plastic my mums C3 is, and they are essentially the same engine, there's a nice void where the fuel injection brains live….The insurance did surprise me as cheap, I've already got it insured but I'm fully prepared for wallet wrecking when I pass and update policy. Skizzer, the Avantage was unfortunately more of an L spec but sunroof was standard, as was electric front windows. Oddly it seems the only bit of up speccing you could even do was metallic paint. The Aura was a higher spec car, I'd love a set of those alloys but that'd be tough. The base model was the Reflex. I've seen a few photos of H reg ex Citroen UK cars but they're as rare as anything now. J reg was the final year of carb fed engines though. Skizzer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beko1987 Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 I'll scan (or photo) the 106's HBOL cambelt pages this weekend if you want them, it'll not be far off. Beko, could you do the diesel ones for me please?Which bits? Cambelt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beko1987 Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 My old R reg one was an SX, and the seats were bastard beautiful! So much more comfortable than the Volcane seats I have now, although the drivers seat in mine is several shades of battered! Looking back at the pictures now I do regret selling it, took it from 40odd k to 70odd k, but, you know, XM!!!! (which felt like a fooking rocket ship in comparison). It was certainly in better cosmetic condition than the one I have now, but nowhere near as good mechanically (as I basically didn't do much to it mechanically bar an oil change every now and again) M'coli 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M'coli Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Which bits? Cambelt?Yes please, mine is probably due a cambelt change. beko1987 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raggerminder Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Excellent! I had a 1.4 Reflex a year or two ago and was quite impressed with it though it didn't get a great deal of use. I now have a 1.6 Aura which does get lots of use; it is a superb car with unusually high levels of comfort though the performance isn't much greater than that of the 1.4i, I do have to add that an XM is in a completely different class for comfort - to everything! I have just sold mine and replaced it with an X Type which has much to recommend it (to the head) but it isn't Citroen lovely! The Reflex The Aura egg, Skizzer, michael t and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrett Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Nice work Bram_Stoker! That's a great first car I reckon and looks really tidy. Now hurry up and do your test ffs beko1987 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beko1987 Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Yes please, mine is probably due a cambelt change.Scanned and I've started a new thread with it so as to not derail this one (de-railing it with pics of our old ZX's is fine cos everyone loves a good ZX! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bramz7 Posted June 9, 2016 Author Share Posted June 9, 2016 So I've just came back from a 35 mile supervised drive down various A and B roads, all the way from 20-60mph limits.It drives well, the handling is remarkably smooth! The steering is light too, just needs a few more turns than a PAS car. However, there is a slight problem with third gear. It happily enough goes into gear, but if the road surface is rough or I apply a little too much throttle it jumps right back out. Every other gear is fine, and to be honest it pulls well in fourth gear but does anyone know what could be the cause?The petrol gauge goes up and down with gradients/descents too but that really doesn't bother me. I think everyone following me was a bit surprised at how nippy it was down country lanes and how I didn't stall it either. I was worried driving it would put me off and I was a little nervous to begin with, but it's easy to relax with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beko1987 Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 My fuel needle shows what it likes too, below 1/4 a tank the location of the needle is dictated by what corner I'm going round, you'll get used to the 'safe' mileage of fuel (I get 220 miles to £20 before bottling out, 480 to £45 etc) No idea on the gears, but could it be the linkage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bramz7 Posted June 12, 2016 Author Share Posted June 12, 2016 My assumption is it's something reasonably minor so I'll keep a close eye on it. I plan on keeping this in decent mechanical condition so I may treat it to a visit to a Citroen specialist some time soon, I know there's a decent one in Willesden (Andrew Brodie?), so it may end up there for a service/checkup. Also, I've found some ZX Aura alloys on eBay, which I am mighty tempted by, but the downside is that they are in Exeter. Is anyone planning on driving from there to the Reading area anytime soon? I realise it's a long old way, so I'm not expecting queues of people offering help, but any would be much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplebargeken Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 What an excellent first car, nice looking beastie too! Hopefully the 3rd gear issue will be straightforward and cheap. Look forward to updates Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beko1987 Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 My assumption is it's something reasonably minor so I'll keep a close eye on it. I plan on keeping this in decent mechanical condition so I may treat it to a visit to a Citroen specialist some time soon, I know there's a decent one in Willesden (Andrew Brodie?), so it may end up there for a service/checkup. Also, I've found some ZX Aura alloys on eBay, which I am mighty tempted by, but the downside is that they are in Exeter. Is anyone planning on driving from there to the Reading area anytime soon? I realise it's a long old way, so I'm not expecting queues of people offering help, but any would be much appreciated. I didn't know you were so local, I work in Marlow! If you ever want to feel good about your zx your welcome to have a drive of mine... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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