Where have they gone?

[Bren]

Reading the thread about the citroen XM made me realise how few old cit's there seem to be on the road - I hardly ever seem to see a xantia or a zx anymore.

 

The same could be said about MK 1 mondeos, even the MK 2 seems to be thin on the ground.

 

I can't remember the last time I saw a MK1 omega or calibra.

 

No doubt some body will tell me that where they live they are in abundance, but not near me.

 

Is it just the natural cycle of the modern car - too expensive to maintain and repair in relation to their value?

 

Or is their a massive concentration of chod in another area of the country?

[beko1987]

Before I bought my ZX I never saw a fugging one.

 

Now though, there's a blue 1.9d that someone in the industrial estate where I work drives, I parked next to one at halfords once, and a red one with the same engine and spec as mine pulled into the cat park at home the other night, I followed a 3 door 1.4 through Marlow one morning...

 

Buy one, then you'll see loads. I haven't seen an XM in real life for years though I realised reading the same thread you're on about. Hopefully that will change on Sunday.

[R9UKE]

NI has a few lurking. I'd see a few XMs a month. There'll be another Xantia on this land soon as well as I've just bought a V6 Exclusive I think the Citroen issue is that they'll become very sick very quickly at that age if owned by someone who isn't that interested in them.

 

I've really noticed the Mk 1 Mondeo demise. My first favourite car and I remember them being one in every three cars that passed. Sad

[Pillock]

I had the same thought as I passed a rather clean looking ZX Volcane TD on the motorway. I remember the launch, I remember my mate having one as his second car, so I assume they all just dissolved at some point. Certainly see less ZXs than 205s but then I suppose they sold less.

 

Can't remember seeing a Zantia for ages, and the last XM was years ago, there was a very tidy Turbo parked up by the side of the road on my way to work for months with some crazy price in the screen, slowly getting dirtier and looking even less worth it.

[messerschmitt owner]

Gloucestershire is full of xantiae and zxs and has a few xms too - mind, they're all on my drive. Lol

[Junkman]

You'd be hard pressed to see anything older than a 2005 around here.

That's the very reason I never do a spotted thread. There is nothing to be spotted here.

 

You should see the car dealerships. Unbelievable. Huge, vast glass and marble palaces.

And there are loads. There are new ones built all the time.

[messerschmitt owner]

The area I work and love in is full of old cars from the 90s. Spotted two bx today, a cavalier mk3, three or four 405s, mk1 Mondeo, mk2 Astra, 70s jap chod, disco mk1, mk1 Laguna, broken down Megane mk1 ...

[Ben_L]

I live in the middle of the Fen's in Cambridgeshire... There's two types of people - Shiters who don't care what they drive as long as it passes the 10 feet test and can be MOT'd with constructive use of a Baked Bean tin and some gaffer tape or some moronic 17 year old yokel redneck sort who finances a Clio shit spec and thinks he's god, paying twice its value in finance every month. <<<< In addition to these, you've got the sort who break their mothers legs to get their hands on something really exotic on a '13 plate using motability.... Like a Suzuki Splash or even a Megane.

 

 

 

See loads of old tat laying around though, bloke in my road has a Passat GT on a H plate, N Reg Red Maestro, 405's galore (Handbrakes all seem to work), Charade Diesel up the road too but the absolute top shite points go to the Perodua dealers down the road...

 

Said Perodua dealer can't make much money, as the door is always locked. You have to go into the adjacent petrol station and ask them to RING him, he opens the door, but wont let you in to actually see the cars then slams the door in your face if you ask for a brochure.

 

Not exactly shite central, but there's a lot of it hidden in the Fens.

[DSdriver]

Its a funny thing: noticing cars. We have a Peugeot 206 saloon on a W plate. The other day there was an Estate version parked outside our house which surprised me. I had never really thought about it but had never noticed seeing a 206 estate before. They must be few and far between. But then, that same day, I was out driving and I saw another one and will probably in the next few days come to realise that they are as common as shit (or 206 saloons which is pretty much the same thing).

[Split_Pin]

I have just started passing a W-reg Xantia on my way to work this week and there are a fair few around where I work in Edinburgh.

 

There also seems to be an abundance of MK3 Cavaliers, usually all late ones in metallic green.

 

One car I thought would never become scarce was the Volvo 240. Now I only see one near my work that was used by a member of the Church across the road for transporting folding tables and such like.

 

However, the good old 740/940 is still around these parts doing sterling service.

[Guest]

I assumed that this thread would be about the Mods.

[Split_Pin]

I assumed that this thread would be about the Mods.

 

Me too and other departed regular contributors like Hirst, Pogweasel and company.

[Pete-M]

They're all at the other place.

 

The natural life cycle of cars is a weird old thing. One day you see hundreds of the bloody things, then none.

 

Mondeos 'did the drop' remarkably quickly. First all the Mk1s went, now most of the Mk2s and the Mk3 is dropping rapidly.

 

I was at Belle Vale Speedway last weekend, around 50 Mk1 and Mk2 Mondeos that had already died as far as the road is concerned met their final greasy end in about 20 minutes. Felt weird, I remember driving a Mk2 the day it was released in the UK. Seeing them going to their death in droves along with a few Cougars, most with healthy sounding engines all that went through my mind was "They were £15k a pop not that long ago"...

 

 

Like a Mondeo snuff movie.

 

I hasten to add, I only went to see the F1 Brisca V8 things, which were shit as well.

[Junkman]

The natural life cycle of cars is a weird old thing. One day you see hundreds of the bloody things, then none.

 

Very, very true. Depending on the make and model, after a set number of years after production has ceased, all remaining examples (except a few hardy survivors) meet the MoT axe within one single year.

My impression is, that this cycle is getting shorter and shorter as automotive history progresses. The times when dad gave the family hauler another lease of life by replacing the clutch on the driveway are over. Now a car is pushed over the bridge because an electronic control unit failed. Add to this that it was never easier to purchase a new car, what with all those trick finance schemes and shit.

 

Mondeos 'did the drop' remarkably quickly. First all the Mk1s went, now most of the Mk2s and the Mk3 is dropping rapidly.

 

I was at Belle Vale Speedway last weekend, around 50 Mk1 and Mk2 Mondeos that had already died as far as the road is concerned met their final greasy end in about 20 minutes. Felt weird, I remember driving a Mk2 the day it was released in the UK. Seeing them going to their death in droves along with a few Cougars, most with healthy sounding engines all that went through my mind was "They were £15k a pop not that long ago"...

 

Like a Mondeo snuff movie.

 

I hasten to add, I only went to see the F1 Brisca V8 things, which were shit as well.

 

I was there as well, for the same reason you were. You are right, racing was utterly boring this time, due to atrocious track conditions.

You can see me in the pic, standing next to the driver's door of the Neachells' transporter, wearing a black jacket.

[Pete-M]

The thing that kills Mondeos is the clutch. Car is worth £400 (because Joe Public only wants a diesel) and its £3-400 to replace, so that's the end of the Mondeo. Mondeo gets chopped in for whichever Peugeot / Renault / Citroen is available with the best finance deal. Eight years later that follows the Mondeo to its doom.

 

thing is the Mad obsession with diesels. People who do 10k miles a year are mad to buy new diesels, but they do. Three or four years down the line the car suffers from EGR / DPF / DMF failure, gets chopped in for a new Renault etc, second owner buys it from the auctions "direct from main agent" for a few hundred quid at the auctions, takes it home, prices up the bits needed, chucks it on eBay and it gets binned a year later after a catastrophic mot failure.

 

used to be sills, now it's exhaust filters. Such is the life of older Cars.

[chaseracer]

I was at Belle Vale Speedway last weekend, around 50 Mk1 and Mk2 Mondeos that had already died as far as the road is concerned met their final greasy end in about 20 minutes. Felt weird, I remember driving a Mk2 the day it was released in the UK. Seeing them going to their death in droves along with a few Cougars, most with healthy sounding engines all that went through my mind was "They were £15k a pop not that long ago"...

Same with 240s, to answer Iain's question. Prime short-oval fodder...

[Micrashed]

thing is the Mad obsession with diesels. People who do 10k miles a year are mad to buy new diesels, but they do.

We do 6K a year but have a dizzler - the reason? Towing torque vs crippling road tax if I buy a petrol engined version that will do the same towing weights.

I have however now learned not to get one with a DPF

[Micrashed]

thing is the Mad obsession with diesels. People who do 10k miles a year are mad to buy new diesels, but they do.

We do 6K a year but have a dizzler - the reason? Towing torque vs crippling road tax if I buy a petrol engined version that will do the same towing weights.

I have however now learned not to get one with a DPF

[Junkman]

thing is the Mad obsession with diesels. People who do 10k miles a year are mad to buy new diesels, but they do.

We do 6K a year but have a dizzler - the reason? Towing torque vs crippling road tax if I buy a petrol engined version that will do the same towing weights.

I have however now learned not to get one with a DPF

 

If you really use it for towing stuff around up and down the country, then it may even work. But people buy new diesels to do the school run and that's the madness Pete-M rightfully points out.

[Junkman]

thing is the Mad obsession with diesels. People who do 10k miles a year are mad to buy new diesels, but they do.

We do 6K a year but have a dizzler - the reason? Towing torque vs crippling road tax if I buy a petrol engined version that will do the same towing weights.

I have however now learned not to get one with a DPF

 

If you really use it for towing stuff around up and down the country, then it may even work. But people buy new diesels to do the school run and that's the madness Pete-M rightfully points out.