Xantia Hdi daily driver review.

[Lankytim]

Hi gang,

 

Some of you may remember my most recent shite purchase.

 

 

It was bought cheap as the O/S/F wheel bearing had completely collapsed, it was pretty much undrivable so had to be Shiply'd up from Bournemouth to Stoke on Trent. It came with brand new tyres and brakes and the plan was to remove these parts and swap them onto another cheapo HDi which was in better condition but was in need of these parts, thus creating one good Xantia out of the two. Unfortunately the seller and I couldn't work out a date to go and collect this other Xantia and I ended up passing on it leaving me with a borked Xantia sat on the inlaws drive.

 

A look over revealed that apart from the knackered bearing it was in reasonable shape, the odd dent, scraped bumpers and a minging interior being the lowlights. The engine was on the button and everything seemed to work though so I bought a bearing and set about the task of replacing the old one. When I stripped the hub down I found the hub flange had a deep wear mark on the one end where one bearing race had seemingly seized up, I also damaged the hub carrier getting the bearing out so a good used replacement hub was the only answer .

 

 

A new hub was sourced from a breakers and after they sent the wrong one I eventually managed to obtain and fit the correct item. A MEGA valet inside had the interior smelling lemony fresh, a CV gaiter and an amazingly cheap £140 tax disc had the Xant ready to hit the mean streets of Stoke!

 

First impressions were very good overall. It's mega smooth to drive, the interior is squeak free and the seats are very comfortable. On the daily run to work it's been great and apart from a seized handbrake lever on a front calliper (which got hotter than the sun very quickly, but was a 5 min fix) there hasn't really been any problems to report. A trip to Leeds and back today passed without issue, I also discovered the automatic wipers, a real novelty for a shite-car-fan like myself. This is my first Citroen and I was really expecting piss-poor build quality, shit electrics and more rattles than a nursery , the experience has been a very nice surprise TBH. Hopefully the Hdi 110 engine will be pretty economical too.

 

The Citroen came with an MOT, logbook and a key. Apparently the service history had been lost at some point, which was a bit annoying, par for the course for an old car though. While I was deep cleaning the skanky interior I found the fuse board cover, opened it up and out fell the handbook with the service history, Bonus! Inside was work for it's last MOT- replace O/S/F wheel bearing due to wear, that was the one in the hub I had to replace due to being completely wrecked. Seems someone at the garage didn't do a very good job!

[dean36014]

Had two Xantia's, one a n/a, and the other was a SD, low pressure turbo on the xud to meet emissions. Both were great cars, took them both upto 150k, and dragged caravans and trailers with them, albeit slowly. Comfy ride, never had a problem with either off them with the suspension, and the only electrical fault I encountered was an airbag light coming on in the SD one. Turned out to be the connectors under the seat. Would have another like a shot, but would want a VSX with leather seats and the old td engine.

[Guest Tony Hayers]

I dont think that I have ever seen a Xantia without scuffed bumpers, why can't the owners park the things without clattering them into some fucking thing or other ?

 

Anyhow, nice to hear you found the service book Tim. I had two of these things over the years (both phase one cars) and they are the bo11ox for replicating a facsimilie rep from 1998

[Station]

We had a fleet of these in work - I remember one rep used one to transport bales of hay in her spare time and the entire interior surface was covered in it, and another one smelt of gingerbread men. I also got told off for starting the one I had without waiting for the STOP light to go out. Thought STOP meant the handbrake was on.

Great under looked cars.

[ruffgeezer]

Git. I loved all but one of my Xantias, and I don't like my current Xsara 110.

[R9UKE]

Nothing like unearthing that hidden service history

 

The Xantia is a really well made car, especially compared to the C5. The difference in quality is so noticeable, even in top spec form the C5 still feels pretty flimsy and plastic-y. Auto wipers are one of my favourite features too!

 

Enjoy it.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

How much did the shiply job cost?

[Lankytim]

It cost £160 from some eastern European bloke. To be fair I just googled his username and went to him direct rather than paying extra for Shitleys services.

 

I picked up a replacement headlight today from a guy who is breaking an Exclusive model, I also bagged the electric leather seats and walnut trim to jazz my Xantia up a bit. The leathers were fitted this afternoon, fortunately my model was pre-wired so everything plugged straight in. Very posh indeed! I couldn't afford the alloy wheels sadly, although that's the next job on the list.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Hey thats good value innit, 75p a mile or summat

[MrDuke]

The leathers were fitted this afternoon, fortunately my model was pre-wired so everything plugged straight in.

 

Don't (as I did) assume on that basis that everything will be pre-wired. I'm really looking forward* to wiring up my electric mirrors from scratch sometime soon.

[Lord Sterling]

Looks great Tim. I like that you are up-speccing the car, even easier when all the connectors are there.

[dollywobbler]

Nice write-up and purchasing skillz0rz. I quite fancy a Xant at the moment. My BX mojo is weak at the moment, and you've reminded me how much I love auto wipers. Almost essential in Wales, where we have more words for types of rain than the Eskimos do for snow. Had them on the Rover 75 and they were superb (that had the ability to change the sensitivity as you went too).

 

I've long been a fan of the Xantias looks but have you had any car park moments where you've discovered just how enormous the rear doors are yet?

[Micrashed]

Nand you've reminded me how much I love auto wipers

I bloody hate them

The wifes C8 has them and they either dont come on when you want them to or if you have washed and waxed the car at the car wash go into spastic mentalist mode.

I have now found out how to over-ride them and switch them off auto mode for good.

[Pete-M]

I had a Xantia TD for a while. Liked it. Nice car. Used to be worryingly good on fuel, too.

 

please note: worryingly good, on my terms, is anything more than 30 mpg.