Rover 200/25 Opinions - Now Citroen ZX Opinions!

[Morgan84]

Don't get me wrong,I'm quite fond of all Rover's,but if say you were spending maybe £500 on a motor which you hoped would last a few decent miles,I'd place my money on someting like a older maybe early Toyota or Honda than say a Rover which would be maybe 6 years newer.A good 25 will still have a reasonable value to it,but the really cheap ones will most likely be the more abused ones;I'm a MOT tester,and tend to find the earler Corolla models 92> tend to still be half tidy motors,with sweet running engines,and have very few items falling appart.I have a saying - Typical bloody Toyota,nothing wrong with it !

 

I think the 'golden' age of Toyota and Honda was the mid 80's until the late 90's;the newer ones don't feel like they have the same build quality.However,a nice 25 is a fun to drive car,with a nice functional interior,and if you treat it well,will be a loyal little friend.

[beko1987]

OK, car hunt is still ongoing. Several decent honda civics have been bought,I am patiently waiting until payday.

 

So far, I now have:

 

A Citroen ZX 1.9 TD just up the road with some tax and test for £395, with tax until december and unknown MOT. We popped and saw it today on our way shopping and there is no rust on it, windscreen has 2 big chunks missing from it, one of the rear light clusters is cracked, it will need a tyre on the front pass side and it belched dark smoke from the back when I fired it up (although it looks like it hasn't moved for a while and had sod all derv in). Anyone know of any weak points on these? Had a Nokia car kit fitted, so hope the electrics are ok.

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201234482954795/sort/default/usedcars/price-to/500/model/zx/make/citroen/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/postcode/hp143ta/page/1/radius/30?logcode=p

 

Sellers looked a bit sus though, it has tax but he didn't seem to know about MOT, and we couldn't get the bonnet to open. There's a 1.4 petrol one with half the miles on for a fiver more for sale, so may have a look at that, both manuals

 

or there are several civics within striking distance, with long MOT's and probably from less dodgy people...

 

This one caught my eye..

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201234482347715/sort/default/usedcars/price-to/500/model/civic/make/honda/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/radius/30/page/1/postcode/hp143ta?logcode=p

 

or

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201234483006509/sort/default/usedcars/price-to/500/model/civic/make/honda/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/radius/30/page/1/postcode/hp143ta?logcode=p

 

but with a 1.4 I imagine it would be a bit lethargic.

 

Better get on the blower!

[Cavcraft]

1.4 is NOT lethargic, but it does need a little encouragement at times.

[Spiny Norman]

Do you NEED an auto?

A 1.4 Civic in manual form is quite sprightly if you give it the beans, and at that end of the price scale a slushbox is just another complicated part to throw its toys out the pram 4 weeks from payday.

[beko1987]

To be honest, no! And you are correct, this stuff always goes wrong when one has no money.

 

Been looking into the pro's and cons of a ZX 1.9TD over the course of the night, can't quite work out if the issues this one has are easily solved or head gasket issues... May have to take it for a test drive?

[Spiny Norman]

ZX is a bit bland IMO, what you really want is a BX.

 

Utterly characterless but Nissan Almeras are a surprisingly decent drive and quite plentiful for your target price.

[beko1987]

Can't find any Almera's within the budget, so won't persue that. Found another ZX though, with only 60k, one owner and tax and rent until next year. 1.4 though, but the car is light enough to be able to work with that isn't it? Reading lots of reviews last night though they are a bit thirsty. Anyone confirm or deny that?

[messerschmitt owner]

the 1.4 in a BX will easily return 40mpg so a ZX should be the same!

[beko1987]

Thats handy to know. Not going for the red TD now, phones up Autglarse, who quoted me £15 more than the price of the car to sort the windscreen, so that's been crossed of my list.

 

Now, to phone up about the 1.4. (Off work with a banging cold and headache, so plenty of time for car hunting!)

 

I think this 1.4 has the key-code immobiliser, should I run a mile or enjoy it's french quirkiness?

[messerschmitt owner]

you can in theory immobilise the immobiliser by inputting the code and then pulling the plug from the back of the keypad when the vehicle is running!

 

Have never tried it on my XM but it is supposedly possible. I'd change the code to something sensible like 1111 anyway (the default) so that if it all goes tits up, you can use another keypad with the same code.

 

A ZX is quite boring though - unless you get the Volcane!

[beko1987]

I can deal with boring! The Puma doesn't get thrown around like it used to nowadays, just driven to and from Marlow, occasionally a friends house and even rarer to asda!

 

Plus, a ZX 1.4 Costs the same to tax for a year as the Puma costs for 6 months! On the phone to the insurance to check their prices

[beko1987]

And, upon phoning up the insurance company they will give me back £130 as the ZX lowers the premium already paid (didn't really understand it) and the montly cost goes from £100 a month (Meriva fully comp, Puma 3rd PT&F on a multicar job) to £72 a month.

 

Just got to go and see it tonight and check that I like it. Will hopefully be able to look around more as th chap seems decent (it's a second car etc) rather than having 4 blokes eagerly waiting for my cash to get shot of a car...

[messerschmitt owner]

there is the tax thing - the 1600 is something like 32cc over the threshold for cheaper tax.

[meggersdog]

A ZX is quite boring though - unless you get the Volcane!

 

Not if the front rubber mountings for the rear subframe are knackered it's not.

When braking it sounds like a machine-gun going off in the boot as the subframe whacks the boot floor.

[beko1987]

is that an easy to fix issue? Will be more willing to spend a day fixing it on this rather than the puma.

[sawdustman]

How tall are you?

cos the headroom on citroen zx's and pug 306's with sunroofs is somewhat tight. I am 6'2" and owned a 306 for a few years and suffered backache due to having to adapt a kind of deckchair style seating position.

That aside, the handling is pretty good and the XUD engines can run for upwards of 300k miles.

However,

If it's overheated once, walk away because the cylinder heads warp like an LP in the sun.

basically - great cars, but try before you buy.

[meggersdog]

RE: subframe mounts

 

Yeah four bolts either side.Do it one side at a time using a tyre lever to move the subframe enough to remove the mount and sneak the new one in.There is a plastic grommet in the boot to access the top bolts.Less than an hour on the drive for both sides.You will know if they are shot as when braking from 30 mph the sound is quite alarming.

 

RE: ZX TD

 

If it has suspect HGF then walk away.Removing the head in situ is a right ball ache as the turbo is in the way of the bulkhead.It is far easier and ultimately quicker to remove the engine and 'box before removing the head.

[beko1987]

I'm 6ft2. Didn't notice a problem yesterday, but didn't pay much attention to it either. Will have a proper check tonight. This will be the biggest car I've owned, so hopefully should be ok.

 

As soon as my missus mentioned the smoke I googled HG issues, which put me of slightly tbh, hopefully the 1.4 will be better. By the sounds of it, these seem pretty easy to work on.

 

Going to see it at 6pm.

[dollywobbler]

ZX 1.9 diesel is the one to go for. 50mpg and far less prone to HGF (though they will pop one if neglected) but far easier to work on if they do.

 

1.4 isn't a bad shout, but these can develop HGF as well (there aren't many engines that don't to be honest, given a diet of neglect, which is true of most bargain motors these days). The biggest problem on the ZX is a clogged heater matrix. They do this a lot (again, neglect and ignored coolant changes don't help here) and it's a dashboard out job to sort out. Not fun.

 

Not sure I'd recommend a BX as a cheap runabout to be honest. They need a fair amount of upkeep to keep them healthy and if you're not prepared to wield spanners once in a while and learn about the hydraulics, they can be hideously expensive to run.

[beko1987]

I saw a 1.9TD last night, but ran a mile after going through it's faults (needs a new windscreen etc). The only other diesel one has 1 months MOT left, so think I am going for the 1.4, providing it is as-described.

 

Is the matrix flushable from the underbonnet? When I met the missus, her 1.2 corsa c had no heaters, I took off the input and output pipe from the matrix from under the bonnet, and flushed half a bucketful of crap out. After a new thermostat and coolant flush it was right as rain.

 

I hear the engines are t*ts to bleed correctly, although read up on the procedure. If the heaters are iffy, would this have a chance of sorting it? Had no heating in the Puma last winter thanks to a failed Heater Control Valve, had to drive around in minus 3 with the aircon on to demist the windows - not fun!

[Micrashed]

^^^ WHS (Doly)

With the addition of check the rear bearings (wheels leaning in at the top) as when they go they eat into the rear beam and wreck it.

And whilst you can swap the beam with that from a 306, its a ball ache to do.

 

ZX 1.9D are ace, I has had a few.

[Bren]

Check the front chassis legs and the lower metal work in the engine compartment - unusually for a citroen they do rot.

[beko1987]

Duly noted, thanks all!

 

Is the stereo an easy swapout? Do they have speakers in the back?

 

It's going to be my work slag, the tunes will be top priority for getting changed, possibly even before a basic service...

[meggersdog]

stereo has a large plastic front so some sort of adapter plate is needed.

I've tried flushing the matrix before,even leaving caustic soda in over-night, to no avail.It comes out from the top of the dash so the dash has to come away completely.

[beko1987]

Well, we have just come back from viewing it. Took us bloody ages to find it, it's off a dual carriageway, down a mile long dirt track to a ruddy great old farm. Both a 12 plate and 05 plate merc were parked on the drive, with the little citroen looking forlorn parked to the side.

 

Seller was a true gent, pointing out the major flaws of:

 

Rear wiper arm slips on the spindle (bit of ptfe tape wrapped around the spline/hammer should sort that)

Tiny scuff on the front bumper corner (may polish out/I'll just leave it

Battery is dead on the plip.

 

Has 70k miles, he is the only owner , had it since new. Half a tank of pez, heaters work well, little bit of surface rust to the front chassis legs, nothing major, new battery, good oil level (although needs a change), service book last stamped 4k ago.

 

Took it for a drive and it went well. Bit slow to start with, but he said it had only done about 40 miles in the last month, so I'm sure a good rag will sort that. Good spare too.

 

Money will be changing hands tomorrow, will update then!

[meshking]

My dad got a 1992 N/A diesel brand new (probably one of the first to hit the country) and ran it up to 75k, whereby I took it on and drove it til 130k. In that time it had one clutch, a few sets of tyres, couple of sets of glowplugs and just regular servicing. Great cars - just watch for HGF and heater matrix, which means the whole dash has to come out. I passed mine on when the heater matrix went and I had nowhere to fix it. Bloke I sold it to got it fixed and then promptly wrote it off.

 

There are speakers in the rear doors and the front doors. Typical french though, thin crappy speakers without a thought for a decent sound. I upgraded the speakers which helped a bit. You can get a proper cubby from Citroen to replace the double din, which gives a giant flap to hide your sparkly new stereo in.

 

My brother in law had a 1.4 petrol at the same time and I remember thinking his was a bit more sparkly around town, but for a mile muncher I'd be going diesel. IIRC mine was most happy at 75, which was about 3k rpm and would just sit there all day at that speed, unfazed by hills no matter what the load.

[beko1987]

Nice to hear some praise for the little zx's! If a nice 1.9td came up I'd have it, but this car is too good to pass up IMO, I could pass it on for more if I really hate it! I rarely munch miles, that's what the Meriva is for (2.5k revs at 80), so this will just be used for pottering.

 

Slightly concerned about the hills around here, although I could run up them okish in our old 1.2 corsa, so can't imagine this being any worse!

[Morgan84]

Only ever looked after one ZX which was a 1.9D,and that was a very nice car.Good bodys,and a plesant interior,so a sensible used car

[Cavcraft]

How tall are you?

cos the headroom on citroen zx's and pug 306's with sunroofs is somewhat tight. I am 6'2" and owned a 306 for a few years and suffered backache due to having to adapt a kind of deckchair style seating position.

That aside, the handling is pretty good and the XUD engines can run for upwards of 300k miles.

However,

If it's overheated once, walk away because the cylinder heads warp like an LP in the sun.

basically - great cars, but try before you buy.

 

I'm 6ft 3-ish and there's shit loads of headroom in my 306. It hasn't got a sunroof but I can't see that making any odds and later ones have that 'bulb thing' to raise/lower the seat.

[beko1987]

I agree, loads of room in the ZX too, and I didn't play with the raise/lower bit, although I think the seat was flat to the floor. I could see through the swept area of the windscreen too.

 

Will a new wiper blade cure the shitness of the front wiper? A good clean would help, but if not...