Partridge

I've had this since June, and thought it was high time I wrote a thread for it.

After three years of compulsively checking Autotrader/eBay/Car&Classic for another SVE, I'm once again behind the wheel of one of my dream cars. A Citroen XM would be easy to find, and even though they ride 5% better I just prefer how V6 605s drive. Imagine a FWD e39 with very light and smooth steering and you're on the right track. The Pininfarina lines of the 605 do a lot more for me than the XM, and Peugeot's take on how a French exec should look doesn't have the pretentious "oooh it's a spaceship" bollocks which many French car fisters attach to the XM.
But Partridge, you say: if you loved it so much, why did you get rid of your old one? It overheated and chucked its coolant at random intervals, and had buggered electrics which resulted in it having adorable, very amusing little electrical fires. After leaving a job which drove me to the brink of a mental breakdown, it had to go. Scenes like this became far too regular.


But I loved it all the same, and vowed to one day find a nice one.
 
"One day" happened in June, when Mrs P found it on eBay. So we sent them a message which went something like:
 
LOL HELLO I BUY 605 WITHOUT SEEING LOL HA HA
 
Sadly, this is the only collection picture I have, taken on the seller's driveway.

We drove to Bournemouth from Northants, to pick up a car we'd bought unseen. Given how my last one treated me, I was feeling tense at this point. 
Tense mixed with a surreal sense of excitement. I finally, I was in a 605 again. I forgot how nice they smell, a weird mix of a leather goods shop and warm electrics and plastics - a heady combination I'm sure you'll all agree.
 
The battery was dead, needing a jump start if the car was even turned off and left for seconds. Guess which moron left the jump leads in the East Midlands?
Luckily, there was a Halfords nearby, so in I went to buy jump leads. Despite it already smelling ambrosial, I bought an air freshener. But it turned out to smell like a mix of sick and shower gel, so I stopped in a KFC to throw it in the bin. Sadly, no photographic evidence is available of this event.
 
On the drive back I discovered that the radio display wasn't working (a big shame as they are damn sexy LCD displays in these cars) but it did have a free Craig David CD in the changer. Bo Selecta!
 
We stayed at my parent's overnight, who were thrilled* at a Xantia AND a 605 setting up camp outside. It was such a hot day, the little hook that held the rear blind for Xantia up melted. I was annoyed at the time, but one month later it gave birth to a core plug, so I guess it didn't matter very much.
 
It made it back home without incident, where it could meet the 405. They seem to get along OK.
.
 
The battery was replaced pretty pronto, but what else was on the list?
 
Service
Solve power steering belt squeak
Solve misfire
Fix rubbish paint
 
Service was first up, and was more eventful than planned.

One of the guys in the garage was tracing an electrical fault on a Lexus RX, and had a fit because he thought the battery had melted. Nope, just the acrid stench of the thick black gunk coming out of the old fuel filter on my 605. They had never seen anything like it. The exhaust is now smelling much less fruity, and she's running a tad smoother, and the MPG is now up by about two points. I think she needed it quite badly.
 
When I get it home, it occurs to me that I've never fully gone through the parts and bit and bobs the seller had in the boot, left over from the guy before him (an enthusiast named John from Essex - ring any bells here?)  What do I find? A fucking service kit.
 
Next up, power steering squeak. The nice man from Essex had helpfully left a new belt in the boot, so off comes the old one. The old one was so corroded, dry and cracked I don't think it would have lasted very much longer. Moral of the story? If you find parts/service items in the boot, they're probably there for a reason.
 
Power steering squeak not gone though. Power steering squeak still present. Balls. A new pump will be next.
 
The misfire has been traced to a faulty coil pack, which you can actually hear ark as the car splutters. It's not a very bad misfire, but obviously it's not something I want.
 
That's about where I am with it. The last couple of months I have been using her a lot more than I would have liked, because after my Xantia blew up, the 405 went into storage for winter and my Sterling died, I don't have very much choice. Thankfully, they've not been chucking awful amounts of salt onto the roads around here, courtesy of this warm winter (thanks global warming, but did you really have to break my Xantia's sunblind?).
 
A new daily is looming thanks to a friend lending me a car, so soon she can have a rest until the Spring, when the pump and coil pack will be done, then she's off for paintwork...that's the plan anyway.

I've had this since June, and thought it was high time I wrote a thread for it.

After three years of compulsively checking Autotrader/eBay/Car&Classic for another SVE, I'm once again behind the wheel of one of my dream cars. A Citroen XM would be easy to find, and even though they ride 5% better I just prefer how V6 605s drive. Imagine a FWD e39 with very light and smooth steering and you're on the right track. The Pininfarina lines of the 605 do a lot more for me than the XM, and Peugeot's take on how a French exec should look doesn't have the pretentious "oooh it's a spaceship" bollocks which many French car fisters attach to the XM.
But Partridge, you say: if you loved it so much, why did you get rid of your old one? It overheated and chucked its coolant at random intervals, and had buggered electrics which resulted in it having adorable, very amusing little electrical fires. After leaving a job which drove me to the brink of a mental breakdown, it had to go. Scenes like this became far too regular.


But I loved it all the same, and vowed to one day find a nice one.
 
"One day" happened in June, when Mrs P found it on eBay. So we sent them a message which went something like:
 
LOL HELLO I BUY 605 WITHOUT SEEING LOL HA HA
 
Sadly, this is the only collection picture I have, taken on the seller's driveway.

We drove to Bournemouth from Northants, to pick up a car we'd bought unseen. Given how my last one treated me, I was feeling tense at this point. 
Tense mixed with a surreal sense of excitement. I finally, I was in a 605 again. I forgot how nice they smell, a weird mix of a leather goods shop and warm electrics and plastics - a heady combination I'm sure you'll all agree.
 
The battery was dead, needing a jump start if the car was even turned off and left for seconds. Guess which moron left the jump leads in the East Midlands?
Luckily, there was a Halfords nearby, so in I went to buy jump leads. Despite it already smelling ambrosial, I bought an air freshener. But it turned out to smell like a mix of sick and shower gel, so I stopped in a KFC to throw it in the bin. Sadly, no photographic evidence is available of this event.
 
On the drive back I discovered that the radio display wasn't working (a big shame as they are damn sexy LCD displays in these cars) but it did have a free Craig David CD in the changer. Bo Selecta!
 
We stayed at my parent's overnight, who were thrilled* at a Xantia AND a 605 setting up camp outside. It was such a hot day, the little hook that held the rear blind for Xantia up melted. I was annoyed at the time, but one month later it gave birth to a core plug, so I guess it didn't matter very much.
 
It made it back home without incident, where it could meet the 405. They seem to get along OK.
.
 
The battery was replaced pretty pronto, but what else was on the list?
 
Service
Solve power steering belt squeak
Solve misfire
Fix rubbish paint
 
Service was first up, and was more eventful than planned.

One of the guys in the garage was tracing an electrical fault on a Lexus RX, and had a fit because he thought the battery had melted. Nope, just the acrid stench of the thick black gunk coming out of the old fuel filter on my 605. They had never seen anything like it. The exhaust is now smelling much less fruity, and she's running a tad smoother, and the MPG is now up by about two points. I think she needed it quite badly.
 
When I get it home, it occurs to me that I've never fully gone through the parts and bit and bobs the seller had in the boot, left over from the guy before him (an enthusiast named John from Essex - ring any bells here?)  What do I find? A fucking service kit.
 
Next up, power steering squeak. The nice man from Essex had helpfully left a new belt in the boot, so off comes the old one. The old one was so corroded, dry and cracked I don't think it would have lasted very much longer. Moral of the story? If you find parts/service items in the boot, they're probably there for a reason.
 
Power steering squeak not gone though. Power steering squeak still present. Balls. A new pump will be next.
 
The misfire has been traced to a faulty coil pack, which you can actually hear ark as the car splutters. It's not a very bad misfire, but obviously it's not something I want.
 
That's about where I am with it. The last couple of months I have been using her a lot more than I would have liked, because after my Xantia blew up, the 405 went into storage for winter and my Sterling died, I don't have very much choice. Thankfully, they've not been chucking awful amounts of salt onto the roads around here, courtesy of this warm winter (thanks global warming, but did you really have to break my Xantia's sunblind?).
 
A new daily is looming thanks to a friend lending me a car, so soon she can have a rest until the Spring, when the pump and coil pack will be done, then she's off for paintwork...that's the plan anyway.

I've had this since June, and thought it was high time I wrote a thread for it.

After three years of compulsively checking Autotrader/eBay/Car&Classic for another SVE, I'm once again behind the wheel of one of my dream cars. A Citroen XM would be easy to find, and even though they ride 5% better I just prefer how V6 605s drive. Imagine a FWD e39 with very light and smooth steering and you're on the right track. The Pininfarina lines of the 605 do a lot more for me than the XM, and Peugeot's take on how a French exec should look doesn't have the pretentious "oooh it's a spaceship" bollocks which many French car fisters attach to the XM.
But Partridge, you say: if you loved it so much, why did you get rid of your old one? It overheated and chucked its coolant at random intervals, and had buggered electrics which resulted in it having adorable, very amusing little electrical fires. After leaving a job which drove me to the brink of a mental breakdown, it had to go. Scenes like this became far too regular.


But I loved it all the same, and vowed to one day find a nice one.
 
"One day" happened in June, when Mrs P found it on eBay. So we sent them a message which went something like:
 
LOL HELLO I BUY 605 WITHOUT SEEING LOL HA HA
 
Sadly, this is the only collection picture I have, taken on the seller's driveway.

We drove to Bournemouth from Northants, to pick up a car we'd bought unseen. Given how my last one treated me, I was feeling tense at this point. 
Tense mixed with a surreal sense of excitement. I finally, I was in a 605 again. I forgot how nice they smell, a weird mix of a leather goods shop and warm electrics and plastics - a heady combination I'm sure you'll all agree.
 
The battery was dead, needing a jump start if the car was even turned off and left for seconds. Guess which moron left the jump leads in the East Midlands?
Luckily, there was a Halfords nearby, so in I went to buy jump leads. Despite it already smelling ambrosial, I bought an air freshener. But it turned out to smell like a mix of sick and shower gel, so I stopped in a KFC to throw it in the bin. Sadly, no photographic evidence is available of this event.
 
On the drive back I discovered that the radio display wasn't working (a big shame as they are damn sexy LCD displays in these cars) but it did have a free Craig David CD in the changer. Bo Selecta!
 
We stayed at my parent's overnight, who were thrilled* at a Xantia AND a 605 setting up camp outside. It was such a hot day, the little hook that held the rear blind for Xantia up melted. I was annoyed at the time, but one month later it gave birth to a core plug, so I guess it didn't matter very much.
 
It made it back home without incident, where it could meet the 405. They seem to get along OK.
.
 
The battery was replaced pretty pronto, but what else was on the list?
 
Service
Solve power steering belt squeak
Solve misfire
Fix rubbish paint
 
Service was first up, and was more eventful than planned.

One of the guys in the garage was tracing an electrical fault on a Lexus RX, and had a fit because he thought the battery had melted. Nope, just the acrid stench of the thick black gunk coming out of the old fuel filter on my 605. They had never seen anything like it. The exhaust is now smelling much less fruity, and she's running a tad smoother, and the MPG is now up by about two points. I think she needed it quite badly.
 
When I get it home, it occurs to me that I've never fully gone through the parts and bit and bobs the seller had in the boot, left over from the guy before him (an enthusiast named John from Essex - ring any bells here?)  What do I find? A fucking service kit.
 
Next up, power steering squeak. The nice man from Essex had helpfully left a new belt in the boot, so off comes the old one. The old one was so corroded, dry and cracked I don't think it would have lasted very much longer. Moral of the story? If you find parts/service items in the boot, they're probably there for a reason.
 
Power steering squeak not gone though. Power steering squeak still present. Balls. A new pump will be next.
 
The misfire has been traced to a faulty coil pack, which you can actually hear ark as the car splutters. It's not a very bad misfire, but obviously it's not something I want.
 
That's about where I am with it. The last couple of months I have been using her a lot more than I would have liked, because after my Xantia blew up, the 405 went into storage for winter and my Sterling died, I don't have very much choice. Thankfully, they've not been chucking awful amounts of salt onto the roads around here, courtesy of this warm winter (thanks global warming, but did you really have to break my Xantia's sunblind?).
 
A new daily is looming thanks to a friend lending me a car, so soon she can have a rest until the Spring, when the pump and coil pack will be done, then she's off for paintwork...that's the plan anyway.

I've had this since June, and thought it was high time I wrote a thread for it.

After three years of compulsively checking Autotrader/eBay/Car&Classic for another SVE, I'm once again behind the wheel of one of my dream cars. A Citroen XM would be easy to find, and even though they ride 5% better I just prefer how V6 605s drive. Imagine a FWD e39 with very light and smooth steering and you're on the right track. The Pininfarina lines of the 605 do a lot more for me than the XM, and Peugeot's take on how a French exec should look doesn't have the pretentious "oooh it's a spaceship" bollocks which many French car fisters attach to the XM.
But Partridge, you say: if you loved it so much, why did you get rid of your old one? It overheated and chucked its coolant at random intervals, and had buggered electrics which resulted in it having adorable, very amusing little electrical fires. After leaving a job which drove me to the brink of a mental breakdown, it had to go. Scenes like this became far too regular.


But I loved it all the same, and vowed to one day find a nice one.
 
"One day" happened in June, when Mrs P found it on eBay. So we sent them a message which went something like:
 
LOL HELLO I BUY 605 WITHOUT SEEING LOL HA HA
 
Sadly, this is the only collection picture I have, taken on the seller's driveway.

We drove to Bournemouth from Northants, to pick up a car we'd bought unseen. Given how my last one treated me, I was feeling tense at this point. 
Tense mixed with a surreal sense of excitement. I finally, I was in a 605 again. I forgot how nice they smell, a weird mix of a leather goods shop and warm electrics and plastics - a heady combination I'm sure you'll all agree.
 
The battery was dead, needing a jump start if the car was even turned off and left for seconds. Guess which moron left the jump leads in the East Midlands?
Luckily, there was a Halfords nearby, so in I went to buy jump leads. Despite it already smelling ambrosial, I bought an air freshener. But it turned out to smell like a mix of sick and shower gel, so I stopped in a KFC to throw it in the bin. Sadly, no photographic evidence is available of this event.
 
On the drive back I discovered that the radio display wasn't working (a big shame as they are damn sexy LCD displays in these cars) but it did have a free Craig David CD in the changer. Bo Selecta!
 
We stayed at my parent's overnight, who were thrilled* at a Xantia AND a 605 setting up camp outside. It was such a hot day, the little hook that held the rear blind for Xantia up melted. I was annoyed at the time, but one month later it gave birth to a core plug, so I guess it didn't matter very much.
 
It made it back home without incident, where it could meet the 405. They seem to get along OK.
.
 
The battery was replaced pretty pronto, but what else was on the list?
 
Service
Solve power steering belt squeak
Solve misfire
Fix rubbish paint
 
Service was first up, and was more eventful than planned.

One of the guys in the garage was tracing an electrical fault on a Lexus RX, and had a fit because he thought the battery had melted. Nope, just the acrid stench of the thick black gunk coming out of the old fuel filter on my 605. They had never seen anything like it. The exhaust is now smelling much less fruity, and she's running a tad smoother, and the MPG is now up by about two points. I think she needed it quite badly.
 
When I get it home, it occurs to me that I've never fully gone through the parts and bit and bobs the seller had in the boot, left over from the guy before him (an enthusiast named John from Essex - ring any bells here?)  What do I find? A fucking service kit.
 
Next up, power steering squeak. The nice man from Essex had helpfully left a new belt in the boot, so off comes the old one. The old one was so corroded, dry and cracked I don't think it would have lasted very much longer. Moral of the story? If you find parts/service items in the boot, they're probably there for a reason.
 
Power steering squeak not gone though. Power steering squeak still present. Balls. A new pump will be next.
 
The misfire has been traced to a faulty coil pack, which you can actually hear ark as the car splutters. It's not a very bad misfire, but obviously it's not something I want.
 
That's about where I am with it. The last couple of months I have been using her a lot more than I would have liked, because after my Xantia blew up, the 405 went into storage for winter and my Sterling died, I don't have very much choice. Thankfully, they've not been chucking awful amounts of salt onto the roads around here, courtesy of this warm winter (thanks global warming, but did you really have to break my Xantia's sunblind?).
 
A new daily is looming thanks to a friend lending me a car, so soon she can have a rest until the Spring, when the pump and coil pack will be done, then she's off for paintwork...that's the plan anyway.

I've had this since June, and thought it was high time I wrote a thread for it.

After three years of compulsively checking Autotrader/eBay/Car&Classic for another SVE, I'm once again behind the wheel of one of my dream cars. A Citroen XM would be easy to find, and even though they ride 5% better I just prefer how V6 605s drive. Imagine a FWD e39 with very light and smooth steering and you're on the right track. The Pininfarina lines of the 605 do a lot more for me than the XM, and Peugeot's take on how a French exec should look doesn't have the pretentious "oooh it's a spaceship" bollocks which many French car fisters attach to the XM.
But Partridge, you say: if you loved it so much, why did you get rid of your old one? It overheated and chucked its coolant at random intervals, and had buggered electrics which resulted in it having adorable, very amusing little electrical fires. After leaving a job which drove me to the brink of a mental breakdown, it had to go. Scenes like this became far too regular.


But I loved it all the same, and vowed to one day find a nice one.
 
"One day" happened in June, when Mrs P found it on eBay. So we sent them a message which went something like:
 
LOL HELLO I BUY 605 WITHOUT SEEING LOL HA HA
 
Sadly, this is the only collection picture I have, taken on the seller's driveway.

We drove to Bournemouth from Northants, to pick up a car we'd bought unseen. Given how my last one treated me, I was feeling tense at this point. 
Tense mixed with a surreal sense of excitement. I finally, I was in a 605 again. I forgot how nice they smell, a weird mix of a leather goods shop and warm electrics and plastics - a heady combination I'm sure you'll all agree.
 
The battery was dead, needing a jump start if the car was even turned off and left for seconds. Guess which moron left the jump leads in the East Midlands?
Luckily, there was a Halfords nearby, so in I went to buy jump leads. Despite it already smelling ambrosial, I bought an air freshener. But it turned out to smell like a mix of sick and shower gel, so I stopped in a KFC to throw it in the bin. Sadly, no photographic evidence is available of this event.
 
On the drive back I discovered that the radio display wasn't working (a big shame as they are damn sexy LCD displays in these cars) but it did have a free Craig David CD in the changer. Bo Selecta!
 
We stayed at my parent's overnight, who were thrilled* at a Xantia AND a 605 setting up camp outside. It was such a hot day, the little hook that held the rear blind for Xantia up melted. I was annoyed at the time, but one month later it gave birth to a core plug, so I guess it didn't matter very much.
 
It made it back home without incident, where it could meet the 405. They seem to get along OK.
.
 
The battery was replaced pretty pronto, but what else was on the list?
 
Service
Solve power steering belt squeak
Solve misfire
Fix rubbish paint
 
Service was first up, and was more eventful than planned.

One of the guys in the garage was tracing an electrical fault on a Lexus RX, and had a fit because he thought the battery had melted. Nope, just the acrid stench of the thick black gunk coming out of the old fuel filter on my 605. They had never seen anything like it. The exhaust is now smelling much less fruity, and she's running a tad smoother, and the MPG is now up by about two points. I think she needed it quite badly.
 
When I get it home, it occurs to me that I've never fully gone through the parts and bit and bobs the seller had in the boot, left over from the guy before him (an enthusiast named John from Essex - ring any bells here?)  What do I find? A fucking service kit.
 
Next up, power steering squeak. The nice man from Essex had helpfully left a new belt in the boot, so off comes the old one. The old one was so corroded, dry and cracked I don't think it would have lasted very much longer. Moral of the story? If you find parts/service items in the boot, they're probably there for a reason.
 
Power steering squeak not gone though. Power steering squeak still present. Balls. A new pump will be next.
 
The misfire has been traced to a faulty coil pack, which you can actually hear ark as the car splutters. It's not a very bad misfire, but obviously it's not something I want.
 
That's about where I am with it. The last couple of months I have been using her a lot more than I would have liked, because after my Xantia blew up, the 405 went into storage for winter and my Sterling died, I don't have very much choice. Thankfully, they've not been chucking awful amounts of salt onto the roads around here, courtesy of this warm winter (thanks global warming, but did you really have to break my Xantia's sunblind?).
 
A new daily is looming thanks to a friend lending me a car, so soon she can have a rest until the Spring, when the pump and coil pack will be done, then she's off for paintwork...that's the plan anyway.

I've had this since June, and thought it was high time I wrote a thread for it.

After three years of compulsively checking Autotrader/eBay/Car&Classic for another SVE, I'm once again behind the wheel of one of my dream cars. A Citroen XM would be easy to find, and even though they ride 5% better I just prefer how V6 605s drive. Imagine a FWD e39 with very light and smooth steering and you're on the right track. The Pininfarina lines of the 605 do a lot more for me than the XM, and Peugeot's take on how a French exec should look doesn't have the pretentious "oooh it's a spaceship" bollocks which many French car fisters attach to the XM.
But Partridge, you say: if you loved it so much, why did you get rid of your old one? It overheated and chucked its coolant at random intervals, and had buggered electrics which resulted in it having adorable, very amusing little electrical fires. After leaving a job which drove me to the brink of a mental breakdown, it had to go. Scenes like this became far too regular.


But I loved it all the same, and vowed to one day find a nice one.
 
"One day" happened in June, when Mrs P found it on eBay. So we sent them a message which went something like:
 
LOL HELLO I BUY 605 WITHOUT SEEING LOL HA HA
 
Sadly, this is the only collection picture I have, taken on the seller's driveway.

We drove to Bournemouth from Northants, to pick up a car we'd bought unseen. Given how my last one treated me, I was feeling tense at this point. 
Tense mixed with a surreal sense of excitement. I finally, I was in a 605 again. I forgot how nice they smell, a weird mix of a leather goods shop and warm electrics and plastics - a heady combination I'm sure you'll all agree.
 
The battery was dead, needing a jump start if the car was even turned off and left for seconds. Guess which moron left the jump leads in the East Midlands?
Luckily, there was a Halfords nearby, so in I went to buy jump leads. Despite it already smelling ambrosial, I bought an air freshener. But it turned out to smell like a mix of sick and shower gel, so I stopped in a KFC to throw it in the bin. Sadly, no photographic evidence is available of this event.
 
On the drive back I discovered that the radio display wasn't working (a big shame as they are damn sexy LCD displays in these cars) but it did have a free Craig David CD in the changer. Bo Selecta!
 
We stayed at my parent's overnight, who were thrilled* at a Xantia AND a 605 setting up camp outside. It was such a hot day, the little hook that held the rear blind for Xantia up melted. I was annoyed at the time, but one month later it gave birth to a core plug, so I guess it didn't matter very much.
 
It made it back home without incident, where it could meet the 405. They seem to get along OK.
.
 
The battery was replaced pretty pronto, but what else was on the list?
 
Service
Solve power steering belt squeak
Solve misfire
Fix rubbish paint
 
Service was first up, and was more eventful than planned.

One of the guys in the garage was tracing an electrical fault on a Lexus RX, and had a fit because he thought the battery had melted. Nope, just the acrid stench of the thick black gunk coming out of the old fuel filter on my 605. They had never seen anything like it. The exhaust is now smelling much less fruity, and she's running a tad smoother, and the MPG is now up by about two points. I think she needed it quite badly.
 
When I get it home, it occurs to me that I've never fully gone through the parts and bit and bobs the seller had in the boot, left over from the guy before him (an enthusiast named John from Essex - ring any bells here?)  What do I find? A fucking service kit.
 
Next up, power steering squeak. The nice man from Essex had helpfully left a new belt in the boot, so off comes the old one. The old one was so corroded, dry and cracked I don't think it would have lasted very much longer. Moral of the story? If you find parts/service items in the boot, they're probably there for a reason.
 
Power steering squeak not gone though. Power steering squeak still present. Balls. A new pump will be next.
 
The misfire has been traced to a faulty coil pack, which you can actually hear ark as the car splutters. It's not a very bad misfire, but obviously it's not something I want.
 
That's about where I am with it. The last couple of months I have been using her a lot more than I would have liked, because after my Xantia blew up, the 405 went into storage for winter and my Sterling died, I don't have very much choice. Thankfully, they've not been chucking awful amounts of salt onto the roads around here, courtesy of this warm winter (thanks global warming, but did you really have to break my Xantia's sunblind?).
 
A new daily is looming thanks to a friend lending me a car, so soon she can have a rest until the Spring, when the pump and coil pack will be done, then she's off for paintwork...that's the plan anyway.

I've had this since June, and thought it was high time I wrote a thread for it.

After three years of compulsively checking Autotrader/eBay/Car&Classic for another SVE, I'm once again behind the wheel of one of my dream cars. A Citroen XM would be easy to find, and even though they ride 5% better I just prefer how V6 605s drive. Imagine a FWD e39 with very light and smooth steering and you're on the right track. The Pininfarina lines of the 605 do a lot more for me than the XM, and Peugeot's take on how a French exec should look doesn't have the pretentious "oooh it's a spaceship" bollocks which many French car fisters attach to the XM.
But Partridge, you say: if you loved it so much, why did you get rid of your old one? It overheated and chucked its coolant at random intervals, and had buggered electrics which resulted in it having adorable, very amusing little electrical fires. After leaving a job which drove me to the brink of a mental breakdown, it had to go. Scenes like this became far too regular.


But I loved it all the same, and vowed to one day find a nice one.
 
"One day" happened in June, when Mrs P found it on eBay. So we sent them a message which went something like:
 
LOL HELLO I BUY 605 WITHOUT SEEING LOL HA HA
 
Sadly, this is the only collection picture I have, taken on the seller's driveway.

We drove to Bournemouth from Northants, to pick up a car we'd bought unseen. Given how my last one treated me, I was feeling tense at this point. 
Tense mixed with a surreal sense of excitement. I finally, I was in a 605 again. I forgot how nice they smell, a weird mix of a leather goods shop and warm electrics and plastics - a heady combination I'm sure you'll all agree.
 
The battery was dead, needing a jump start if the car was even turned off and left for seconds. Guess which moron left the jump leads in the East Midlands?
Luckily, there was a Halfords nearby, so in I went to buy jump leads. Despite it already smelling ambrosial, I bought an air freshener. But it turned out to smell like a mix of sick and shower gel, so I stopped in a KFC to throw it in the bin. Sadly, no photographic evidence is available of this event.
 
On the drive back I discovered that the radio display wasn't working (a big shame as they are damn sexy LCD displays in these cars) but it did have a free Craig David CD in the changer. Bo Selecta!
 
We stayed at my parent's overnight, who were thrilled* at a Xantia AND a 605 setting up camp outside. It was such a hot day, the little hook that held the rear blind for Xantia up melted. I was annoyed at the time, but one month later it gave birth to a core plug, so I guess it didn't matter very much.
 
It made it back home without incident, where it could meet the 405. They seem to get along OK.
.
 
The battery was replaced pretty pronto, but what else was on the list?
 
Service
Solve power steering belt squeak
Solve misfire
Fix rubbish paint
 
Service was first up, and was more eventful than planned.

One of the guys in the garage was tracing an electrical fault on a Lexus RX, and had a fit because he thought the battery had melted. Nope, just the acrid stench of the thick black gunk coming out of the old fuel filter on my 605. They had never seen anything like it. The exhaust is now smelling much less fruity, and she's running a tad smoother, and the MPG is now up by about two points. I think she needed it quite badly.
 
When I get it home, it occurs to me that I've never fully gone through the parts and bit and bobs the seller had in the boot, left over from the guy before him (an enthusiast named John from Essex - ring any bells here?)  What do I find? A fucking service kit.
 
Next up, power steering squeak. The nice man from Essex had helpfully left a new belt in the boot, so off comes the old one. The old one was so corroded, dry and cracked I don't think it would have lasted very much longer. Moral of the story? If you find parts/service items in the boot, they're probably there for a reason.
 
Power steering squeak not gone though. Power steering squeak still present. Balls. A new pump will be next.
 
The misfire has been traced to a faulty coil pack, which you can actually hear ark as the car splutters. It's not a very bad misfire, but obviously it's not something I want.
 
That's about where I am with it. The last couple of months I have been using her a lot more than I would have liked, because after my Xantia blew up, the 405 went into storage for winter and my Sterling died, I don't have very much choice. Thankfully, they've not been chucking awful amounts of salt onto the roads around here, courtesy of this warm winter (thanks global warming, but did you really have to break my Xantia's sunblind?).
 
A new daily is looming thanks to a friend lending me a car, so soon she can have a rest until the Spring, when the pump and coil pack will be done, then she's off for paintwork...that's the plan anyway.

I've had this since June, and thought it was high time I wrote a thread for it.

After three years of compulsively checking Autotrader/eBay/Car&Classic for another SVE, I'm once again behind the wheel of one of my dream cars. A Citroen XM would be easy to find, and even though they ride 5% better I just prefer how V6 605s drive. Imagine a FWD e39 with very light and smooth steering and you're on the right track. The Pininfarina lines of the 605 do a lot more for me than the XM, and Peugeot's take on how a French exec should look doesn't have the pretentious "oooh it's a spaceship" bollocks which many French car fisters attach to the XM.
But Partridge, you say: if you loved it so much, why did you get rid of your old one? It overheated and chucked its coolant at random intervals, and had buggered electrics which resulted in it having adorable, very amusing little electrical fires. After leaving a job which drove me to the brink of a mental breakdown, it had to go. Scenes like this became far too regular.


But I loved it all the same, and vowed to one day find a nice one.
 
"One day" happened in June, when Mrs P found it on eBay. So we sent them a message which went something like:
 
LOL HELLO I BUY 605 WITHOUT SEEING LOL HA HA
 
Sadly, this is the only collection picture I have, taken on the seller's driveway.

We drove to Bournemouth from Northants, to pick up a car we'd bought unseen. Given how my last one treated me, I was feeling tense at this point. 
Tense mixed with a surreal sense of excitement. I finally, I was in a 605 again. I forgot how nice they smell, a weird mix of a leather goods shop and warm electrics and plastics - a heady combination I'm sure you'll all agree.
 
The battery was dead, needing a jump start if the car was even turned off and left for seconds. Guess which moron left the jump leads in the East Midlands?
Luckily, there was a Halfords nearby, so in I went to buy jump leads. Despite it already smelling ambrosial, I bought an air freshener. But it turned out to smell like a mix of sick and shower gel, so I stopped in a KFC to throw it in the bin. Sadly, no photographic evidence is available of this event.
 
On the drive back I discovered that the radio display wasn't working (a big shame as they are damn sexy LCD displays in these cars) but it did have a free Craig David CD in the changer. Bo Selecta!
 
We stayed at my parent's overnight, who were thrilled* at a Xantia AND a 605 setting up camp outside. It was such a hot day, the little hook that held the rear blind for Xantia up melted. I was annoyed at the time, but one month later it gave birth to a core plug, so I guess it didn't matter very much.
 
It made it back home without incident, where it could meet the 405. They seem to get along OK.
.
 
The battery was replaced pretty pronto, but what else was on the list?
 
Service
Solve power steering belt squeak
Solve misfire
Fix rubbish paint
 
Service was first up, and was more eventful than planned.

One of the guys in the garage was tracing an electrical fault on a Lexus RX, and had a fit because he thought the battery had melted. Nope, just the acrid stench of the thick black gunk coming out of the old fuel filter on my 605. They had never seen anything like it. The exhaust is now smelling much less fruity, and she's running a tad smoother, and the MPG is now up by about two points. I think she needed it quite badly.
 
When I get it home, it occurs to me that I've never fully gone through the parts and bit and bobs the seller had in the boot, left over from the guy before him (an enthusiast named John from Essex - ring any bells here?)  What do I find? A fucking service kit.
 
Next up, power steering squeak. The nice man from Essex had helpfully left a new belt in the boot, so off comes the old one. The old one was so corroded, dry and cracked I don't think it would have lasted very much longer. Moral of the story? If you find parts/service items in the boot, they're probably there for a reason.
 
Power steering squeak not gone though. Power steering squeak still present. Balls. A new pump will be next.
 
The misfire has been traced to a faulty coil pack, which you can actually hear ark as the car splutters. It's not a very bad misfire, but obviously it's not something I want.
 
That's about where I am with it. The last couple of months I have been using her a lot more than I would have liked, because after my Xantia blew up, the 405 went into storage for winter and my Sterling died, I don't have very much choice. Thankfully, they've not been chucking awful amounts of salt onto the roads around here, courtesy of this warm winter (thanks global warming, but did you really have to break my Xantia's sunblind?).
 
A new daily is looming thanks to a friend lending me a car, so soon she can have a rest until the Spring, when the pump and coil pack will be done, then she's off for paintwork...that's the plan anyway.

I've had this since June, and thought it was high time I wrote a thread for it.

After three years of compulsively checking Autotrader/eBay/Car&Classic for another SVE, I'm once again behind the wheel of one of my dream cars. A Citroen XM would be easy to find, and even though they ride 5% better I just prefer how V6 605s drive. Imagine a FWD e39 with very light and smooth steering and you're on the right track. The Pininfarina lines of the 605 do a lot more for me than the XM, and Peugeot's take on how a French exec should look doesn't have the pretentious "oooh it's a spaceship" bollocks which many French car fisters attach to the XM.
But Partridge, you say: if you loved it so much, why did you get rid of your old one? It overheated and chucked its coolant at random intervals, and had buggered electrics which resulted in it having adorable, very amusing little electrical fires. After leaving a job which drove me to the brink of a mental breakdown, it had to go. Scenes like this became far too regular.


But I loved it all the same, and vowed to one day find a nice one.
 
"One day" happened in June, when Mrs P found it on eBay. So we sent them a message which went something like:
 
LOL HELLO I BUY 605 WITHOUT SEEING LOL HA HA
 
Sadly, this is the only collection picture I have, taken on the seller's driveway.

We drove to Bournemouth from Northants, to pick up a car we'd bought unseen. Given how my last one treated me, I was feeling tense at this point. 
Tense mixed with a surreal sense of excitement. I finally, I was in a 605 again. I forgot how nice they smell, a weird mix of a leather goods shop and warm electrics and plastics - a heady combination I'm sure you'll all agree.
 
The battery was dead, needing a jump start if the car was even turned off and left for seconds. Guess which moron left the jump leads in the East Midlands?
Luckily, there was a Halfords nearby, so in I went to buy jump leads. Despite it already smelling ambrosial, I bought an air freshener. But it turned out to smell like a mix of sick and shower gel, so I stopped in a KFC to throw it in the bin. Sadly, no photographic evidence is available of this event.
 
On the drive back I discovered that the radio display wasn't working (a big shame as they are damn sexy LCD displays in these cars) but it did have a free Craig David CD in the changer. Bo Selecta!
 
We stayed at my parent's overnight, who were thrilled* at a Xantia AND a 605 setting up camp outside. It was such a hot day, the little hook that held the rear blind for Xantia up melted. I was annoyed at the time, but one month later it gave birth to a core plug, so I guess it didn't matter very much.
 
It made it back home without incident, where it could meet the 405. They seem to get along OK.
.
 
The battery was replaced pretty pronto, but what else was on the list?
 
Service
Solve power steering belt squeak
Solve misfire
Fix rubbish paint
 
Service was first up, and was more eventful than planned.

One of the guys in the garage was tracing an electrical fault on a Lexus RX, and had a fit because he thought the battery had melted. Nope, just the acrid stench of the thick black gunk coming out of the old fuel filter on my 605. They had never seen anything like it. The exhaust is now smelling much less fruity, and she's running a tad smoother, and the MPG is now up by about two points. I think she needed it quite badly.
 
When I get it home, it occurs to me that I've never fully gone through the parts and bit and bobs the seller had in the boot, left over from the guy before him (an enthusiast named John from Essex - ring any bells here?)  What do I find? A fucking service kit.
 
Next up, power steering squeak. The nice man from Essex had helpfully left a new belt in the boot, so off comes the old one. The old one was so corroded, dry and cracked I don't think it would have lasted very much longer. Moral of the story? If you find parts/service items in the boot, they're probably there for a reason.
 
Power steering squeak not gone though. Power steering squeak still present. Balls. A new pump will be next.
 
The misfire has been traced to a faulty coil pack, which you can actually hear ark as the car splutters. It's not a very bad misfire, but obviously it's not something I want.
 
That's about where I am with it. The last couple of months I have been using her a lot more than I would have liked, because after my Xantia blew up, the 405 went into storage for winter and my Sterling died, I don't have very much choice. Thankfully, they've not been chucking awful amounts of salt onto the roads around here, courtesy of this warm winter (thanks global warming, but did you really have to break my Xantia's sunblind?).
 
A new daily is looming thanks to a friend lending me a car, so soon she can have a rest until the Spring, when the pump and coil pack will be done, then she's off for paintwork...that's the plan anyway.

Yo,
 
Today was mostly spent at Ma_Sterling's yard for Christmas. I didn't receive anything automotive as presents.
 
However. Many years ago when I began working full time I made quite a bit of money and had no commitments. One of the things I used to do was go on eBay and buy model cars. At one time (about the time I joined this forum for the first time) my bedroom was full of precarious shelves full of these things. But then when a bedroom swap around was done I shoved all of my models into a couple of big wooden boxes and forgot about them.
 
The other day I remember I had a 1:24 Chrysler Voyager and wanted to find it. Today I when through the boxes to see what I could find...
 
Box 1:

 
Box 2:

 
I'd forgotten I had so much great stuff. 1:18 Autoart Range Rover P38, Renault Megane Sport, Mk3 Ford Escort XR3, Peugeot 205 GTi and even a Chrysler Crossfire! Some really great stuff. Best of all, it's all mine.
 
I'd decided to bring some stuff with me back home. I think I'll be making an effort to eventually migrate everything back to mine. I took some of the more unusual stuff back with me;
 

 
Yep, that is a 1:24 Fiat Ducato minibus.
 

 
1:24 Passat estate. Exciting eh?
 

 
1:24 MX5.
 

 
Interesting differences between the 2 Sapphires I own. One is a LHD and the other a RHD and one has a bonnet grille, the other just has a long-nose bonnet. Also, one is pretending to be a Cosworth and the other a is really a Ghia. I remember buying the White one thinking it was a Cosworth but alas it wasn't. Also note the Cavaliers in the background trying to photobomb the picture. I forgot I owned a hatchback whilst I had the Saloon which I think I may have bought from Bramz some years ago.
 

 
2.8 Granada Scorpio Ghia with a Blue interior. I have driven one idential to it but it had different wheels and a leather interior, Also, it was a real car.
 
Alas, I didn't find my 1:24 Chrysler Voyager but I'm sure it'll turn up at some point. I didn't exactly have enough space to clear to the box.

Yeah. Anyway. Further to this I made another visit to Ma_yard today as she needed some help clearing up some rubbish in her newly installed kitchen, plus a couple of old mates wanted to catch up.
 
I'd decided as I hadn't been brave enough last time to sort through my old box and see if I could see the 1:24 Voyager in there, so today I went back through it. I still couldn't find it.
 
I did however bring back a smaller haul with me:
 
Sierras: I've pretty much the whole series of 1:43 Vanguards Sierras (civilian) cars, I only brough theae back with me though this time. White one is Vanguards, grey one is by Vitesse:
 
Espace, don't know who the maker is and V70 XC, again, no idea of maker. Plus it has shed it's wing mirror. A lot of my Volvo models seem to enjoy doing this lately;

 
W140 S-class, one Schabak and one Siku. Both 1:43s:

 
I also have a Red Schabak W140.
 
This made me sad

 
I used to have a real one that I loved until some prick crashed into it
 
Bus, I've a couple of these:

 
A couple of others I forgot from last haul:

 
1:24 Fiesta XR2i:

 
1:43 Corsa:

 
Some Bond movie stuff that interesting to me for the cars rather than the films;

 
Still got loads of really interesting stuff. I just need to know exactly where the other models are.

Don't understand why some get so fucking angry about questions. He is only asking to get an idea of what might need doing to get it back to rude health. Not the end of the world and no one's been maimed or killed. Come on lads lighten up, it's only a forum...

Possibly explains why I have nice dark green Turbot Sedan 306 hidden in a rented council garage.

Okey doke. My tester is of the 'anything goes' school ("you will get those headlamps working soon right?") so I might be in with a chance. It is a bit Goldfinger when you put the boot down on the motorway but it's better in the summer

And yeah, stop sneering, asking sensible questions about a car isn't exactly a bad idea. For some people £140 is meaningless small change but for others its a significant sum and wasting a day/cash on travel to answer questions that could be transmitted online isn't gonna make you feel great if the thing ends up being a nail. There's no reason why an undesirable old car shouldn't cost £140 and go on indefinitely. Tbh that's about the going rate for a ZX in 2018.

Pic of my last UK ZX 1.9D (I do have previous) with it's new 125 euro cambelt and water pump but facing it's last 1000km trip with non-operating clutch then death by MOT fail. Only asked questions but if the OP doesn't want to answer - rather then other people answering for him/her -  then I'll move on. 
 
PS I'll check for my las, post April 2018,  n/a diesel fail for smoke which needed a couple of injector pump twiddles to pass but giving a top speed of 70kph.
 

I doubt any of those asking questions expect the car to be anywhere near good in every safety and cost respect, but a simple quick answer would help them decide if it could be useful or not.
 
Surely ten or twenty words fired off online for everyone to read which could save even an hour and a half is acceptable? And if the seller doesn't feel happy doing so, that's fine.
 
It's just the sneering at people who dare ask questions which would be seen as perfectly ok if the car was all of £600 I find a bit sad. Like it's the money which matters most, and that below a certain level nobody has any right to enquire.

He got stung with the Sedan that I sold him, because it turned out to be a bit of a nail (known problems which turned out to be worse, as I recall). I don't see why asking sensible, clear questions is a problem?
A Cheapy McCheapface car can very easily turn into a relatively expensive car if you don't walk in with your eyes open.

Times do change though as do asking prices. I bought a perfectly serviceable Audi Coupe 1.8 years ago that cost me £20. Those days are long gone.

Asking whether something old and PSA has a /—\ back axle and when the cambelt's due are perfectly reasonable questions to ask, no matter what the asking price. If they're both overdue then it makes a decision much easier. If you can't ask vital simple stuff like that on here it's a shame - where else is there where anyone would consider a £140 car as the next two years' transport?
 
Clearly there's a line in the sand with this sort of thing, but Autoshite was once the most tolerant, broad-minded online community I knew. Criticising people for daring ask questions about a car because it's inexpensive is a form of sneering, I thought this place was all about making good use of what others throw away?

Maybe. I paid £1100 for it.

That s fucked it then. Turbo diesel conversion + hedge coming up soon

Definitely not worth saving. So save it. The universe will probably* reward you with a titwank or a scratchcard win.

Two questions:
1) what was it like when you drove it home?
2) when are you going to roffle it?

You all hated these things when I had one.