Le bus oignon - Xantia of many Autoshiters - GYPSY CURSE

[purplebargeken]

I actually think that it is a stunning looking car and practical too. You really have done wonders with it mate. You'd regret it if it went. 

[Bren]

The estate is much better looking than the hatch IMO.

[HillmanImp]

That does look really really good. Much wantage.

[The Moog]

I think the wheel trims really suit it. Does look nice 😊

 

I did have half a thought about buying it off you but I would be caught in the same trap of heart vs head

[KruJoe]

 

 

That's my mother's custard jug. She's gonna go MENTAL when she sees you've had moppings in it.

[320touring]

I know what you mean re a sensible 'head' car. This wee polo is rapidly getting there, and i've found myself actually considering cleaning it...

 

Fuck.

 

I'll hold off on the cleaning to see if she sharts herself on the veg oil first:)

[dugong]

CAR GOES UP 

CAR GOES DOWN

THROTTLE STILL WORKS

MODERN MOTORING

[Shep Shepherd]

Looking really nice

[vulgalour]

I'll put a bit more effort into selling this.  I'm not in a rush and I'm sticking by my asking price.

 

£600, MoT until 21st of December 2015, drive it away.

 

I'm only selling it because I'm not enjoying it as much as other cars I've owned.  It's monumentally practical and sensible and as you can see from the happenings in this thread it's recently had a brand new clutch and tow bar fitted.  I realised I can use the Corsa I got from RobT (and recently sold to Mikeknight) if the Xantia sells quicker than expected because it's suitable for the present needs.

 

I'm sticking to the asking price, I know that's about what it's worth and it's no hardship keeping the Xantia until I get the asking for it.

[JohnK]

£600 is a good price for this. I will ask about, never know with it being quite local I might be able to find a buyer for it.

[Richard]

That's my mother's custard jug. She's gonna go MENTAL when she sees you've had moppings in it.

 

I mixed 2 stroke in our plastic custard jug once. Nobody else in the family knows this, and I intend to keep it that way.

[vulgalour]

Treated the car to a new set of wiper blades today.  Was going to get the carpets put back in but as that's an outside job at the moment weather put paid to it.

 

 

 

Switched back to the original style blades for the car rather than the aero style ones that were on.  Aero wipers look great but I find they don't perform as well and are much harder to keep clean.  I might repaint the rear wiper arm, I've got some satin black paint and it could do with freshening up a bit.

[purplebargeken]

Genuinely nice, practical and solid car. Sure you want rid? You might regret and all that. Think of how useful it is for transporting cars and bits of cars. 

[vulgalour]

we'll see how I feel when I've got the Pug seats from Moog this weekend.  Really, the big killer for me with it is the comfort.

[KruJoe]

Selling so soon?
I'd have been up to you for this like a shot if I hadn't just plugged my bus gap with the Pleasure Wagon.

 

I'm properly jealous of whoever it goes to live with. It must be one of the best now, after all the effort you've put in.

As Ken said, I reckon you and Mike will miss it.

[vulgalour]

It's why I'm not trying massively hard to sell it.  If those seats magically fix the comfort issue I'll probably pull it from sale in all honesty, although it's only one problem with the car it's such a massive problem when it comes to enjoying a car that it ruins the whole experience.  It's the same reason I parted with the Ledbury, and that could have definitely been fixed with earlier seats but by that time I'd had enough of it.

 

One thing I was reminded of today that my other cars do have a shortfall with is dog-access.  Blake finds the Xantia the easiest of all the cars to get in to and as he's getting older he is finding it harder to get into the car.  Maybe it would be unfair on the dog to sell the car?

[KruJoe]

Are you trying some 405 seats in it then?

 

Re: The doggy dilemma... how about a set of those caravan steps, or crate or summert to help the Alsatian ascend the rear sill of something less hydro-pneumatic?

[They_all_do_that_sir]

What's the comfort issue? I thought the combination of hydro suspension and squishy french seats would make these perfect?

[MikeKnight]

What's the comfort issue? I thought the combination of hydro suspension and squishy french seats would make these perfect?

 

The seats are anything but squishy. They're really quite firm. I find them perfectly comfortable though.

 

If it's something not as squishy as Princess seats then they kill Vulg's back. We suspect he has a weird back.

[vulgalour]

I'm a delicate little snowflake and I need pampering.  The Xantia seats are not designed for delicate little snowflakes.  Hence trying out the Pug seats Krujoe mentions, they should be squishomatic and snowflake-friendly.

[vulgalour]

Now that the water leaks appear to be resolved in the Xantia we could finally put the carpets back in.  Thought it would be a good opportunity to give everything a vacuum and scrub up some of the difficult to access but easy to see plastics at the same time right up until my ancient DC01 broke.  First job was to remove the front seats and get everything cleared out ready for the carpets to go in.  I don't really like fitting carpets, it has to be said, and I'm now nursing quite a few cuts, grazes and nicks on my hands after doing this job.

 

Took out the spare seatbelt buckle in the back, there's always been one too many and for some reason I never thought to remove the broken one until now.  We now have a suitable quantity of seatbelt buckles in the back.

 

Everything nice and tidy and clean as it always has been in my ownership.  After refitting the carpets and centre console - made easier by disconnecting the handbrake cable, though it's fiddly to reconnect once the centre console is in place - I noticed that the airbag wire Mike had repaired has broken again, must be enough of a connection for the light not to stay on.

 

I only managed to get the rear carpets and rear seat backs vacuumed before the DC01 conked out on me so the rest will have to be done another day.  It is a much nicer place now all the seats and everything are back in, trouble is I like the car a lot more now so I'm wavering even more about selling it.

 

 

This weekend I collect the Peugeot 405 front seats, if they make the Xantia comfortable for me I will take it off sale because then there really is no reason for me to sell it beyond the welcome injection of cash into my finances.

[ruffgeezer]

It's come a long way from being the filthy, stinky, horsey people's car it was when I bought it.

[purplebargeken]

Crikey, that tailgate inwards view makes it look like a bloody aircraft hanger on wheels. It's huuuuuuuge. 

 

Do not sell, dog will hate you for it and vomit in your shoes on a regular basis. Dogs are quite good at this. 

[vulgalour]

I forgot to add on my last update that I'm taking the car off sale again... I know, I criticise other people for flip-flopping and that's just what I'm doing here, hypocrite much?

 

Anyway, reason being there's a stress crack in the front inner seat mount for the driver's seat which I noticed when refitting the seat.  Saxos and 106s are prone to this seemingly for exactly the same reason of poor design.  It just needs a wee splodge of weld to cure it but I'm not happy selling the car with a known fault like that present.  Since I'll also be fitting a different driver's seat anyway it's a prime opportunity to effect a repair at the same time.

 

I've never had such a rocky relationship with a car before, there's nothing really wrong with it and I have absolutely no reason to part ways with it so why do I want to (beyond the seat issue)?  I am, clearly, a moron.

[purplebargeken]

Not a moron, just an autoshiter. Join the club. 

[KruJoe]

Yo Vulg.

You haven't sorted out an oversize rear plate for this yet, have you?

This evening I've been playing with this website:

http://www.showplatesdirect.com/

They list dozens of custom shapes and sizes for back plates, including those for RangeRovers, Jags and the R75, off the shelf ready to go. No Xant one listed, but I'll bet they could sort you out if you gave them a bell. Pre-2001 font is available too.

HTH.

[beko1987]

I have a working dc01 motor in the shed if you want it? Need to de attach it from the dc01 de stijl it's currently inside of though...

 

The torx screwdriver you'll need for many of the xantia screws will be needed for the dyson though for you to get it back in

[vulgalour]

@Joe: I'll give them a try when I've got some disposable income to play with.  That rear plate is a really low priority at the moment.  The cars they list them for are close, but not quite right with the Range Rover Sport being the nearest match to what I'm after.  If I get told off for the current plate I've got the spare trailer plate in the boot I can put on, but that's just a regular size one.

 

@Beko:  cost etc?  I'll need to get a suitable torx too, none of mine are skinny enough.

[beko1987]

Ah dont worry about money, just send me your address!

 

You will need a torx screwdriver, a very small flatblade *may* do it.

 

This might help too - http://manchestervacs.co.uk/DysonForum/index.php/topic,1434.0.html but in theory you should be able to get away with just taking the brushroll out, brushroll housing off and bottom assembly off and just swapping the motors. as pictured halfway down the thread.

 

When were the filters and belts last changed? Do you need a hose too, got a few of them doing nothing...

[vulgalour]

In an ideal world, I need a new wand (tools and adaptor don't stay in the end), a new set of filters and a new sole plate (cracked around the screws).  I don't need a hose as the one that's on was replaced a few years ago and is still fine.  I have noticed over the last year or two that sometimes when you pick it up the clear cylinder doesn't stay clicked in place, that probably means something else is worn out but I'm not sure what that would be.  I reckon a new belt is going to be needed soon too, I noticed a couple of nicks on the one that's fitted and that was last changed.. 5-7 years ago?  Something like that.

 

It's a machine that gets a lot of abuse but it's fared really well.  Not the prettiest with all the mismatched panels and scuffs and scrapes but until the motor died it did its job admirably.  Has much better suction than other Dysons I've used, they did something to the later models that made them seem less effective which is why I want to stick to the DC01, it's a super machine.