Vehicle hell

[messerschmitt owner]

Ok, OK, I know I have lots of cars, but only one is road legal and usable right now.

 

Here's the state of play

306 cabrio - in rude health

Dispatch combi - t&t but smoking like a destroyer trying to hide the Ark Royal with a distinct loss of turbo since the car went bang on the A40 near Oxford. Visiting garage next week to be checked over!

XM SX hatch - out of MoT and tax - MoT'ing Monday - fail expected but needs MoTing without fail to be pressed into use.

Peugeot scooter - taxed but no MoT - visiting bike garage for MoT tomorrow. Pass expected.

XM VSX estate - MoT'd but needs registered in my name (involves trip to Swansea or sending off of more documents than I care to try and find as it is a NI car and needs registered in GB) - can't tax till I do this.

Smart roadster - hoping to have fixed it (dead clutch and clutch actuator plus earth problem) but money to do this being spent on other cars instead

Fiat 126 T&T but distributor has just arrived and as it is a Magneti Marelli and not a Zelmet I need to do some fiddling to make it fit. Damn the rain too.

 

However, now the dispatch is dead, want another van sized vehicle but with seats. It's all extortionate just now - what happened to bangers (and tidy vehicles) for £500?

 

Suggestions? - ideally Citroen of Pug based ANother dispatch combi would be nice - needs to carry 3/4 ton and me on regular basis. Needs to be diseasel too and capable of 20k+ miles a year. Budget - £700.

[vulgalour]

Citroen Xantia estate running a Bosch pump on a diesel engine and happy as anything on veg of interest?  Sub-£500 with 6 months tax and MoT until November.

 

 

I only want to sell it to stand a chance of grabbing Panhard's Maestro van.

[Squire_Dawson]

Standard Vanguard.

[messerschmitt owner]

want more van like - the dead washing machine and two tons of rubble in the back courtyard are winking at vans!

[messerschmitt owner]

Standard Vanguard.

I have a steering wheel for one - that's a start

[vulgalour]

I get that... it is a lot like a van though, with two small side loading doors when you fold the seats down.  *clutches at straws*

[messerschmitt owner]

I get that... it is a lot like a van though, with two small side loading doors when you fold the seats down.  *clutches at straws*

I has an Xm estate - has two slightly larger side-loading doors too but not the walk in roof height!

[vulgalour]

bums... out-Citroened!

[rml2345]

What about that Maestro van? It's definitely qualified at being a van, although I'm not sure if it'll cart 3/4 of a ton or not.

[Cavcraft]

Do you lot just want to FRO with the Maestro van talk? I bloody want that!

[messerschmitt owner]

Do you lot just want to FRO with the Maestro van talk? I bloody want that!

I have standards and they're higher than a Maestro van!

 

I liked the combi - seats in the back - and car insurance!

[wuvvum]

How about this?  Knock him down by 25 quid and you've got enough left for 6 months' rent.

 

[Cavcraft]

I have standards and they're higher than a Maestro van!

 

Is it possible to have standards lower than a Maestro van?

[messerschmitt owner]

Is it possible to have standards lower than a Maestro van?

yes, I once saw a lowered Standard 8

[forddeliveryboy]

Vulga, I'm potentially interested in your Xantia for some friends - is it in any way presentable? Details of last cambelt/aux tensioner change appreciated (if you've any idea) since their last two have died this way, well before due.

[vulgalour]

Presentable?  Quite probably.

 

 

Interior is very nice, still needs a few areas of deep clean for me to be thoroughly satisfied, but it's getting there.  Roof and tailgate are the only bits left to cut back to make super shiny but the rest of the car  we've got the paint back to something like new again.  There's a scuff on one rear arch and a bump on one corner of the rear bumper which is the most obvious problems but otherwise it's in very respectable condition, I shan't walk you through every minor ding and stonechip, the car's been knocking around doing estate duty since 1997 after all.

 

I don't know when the belts were done off the top of my head, I'll dig out the paperwork, but I don't think they're due yet.  The car does come with some history and receipts and it has had the belts done at least once in its past.  It's not yet done 100k so it's really quite low mileage for a diesel French familywagon.

[forddeliveryboy]

Ok, wot don't work right? They're certainly not wanting perfection but the better the description I can give them the more chance that when/if they turn up it'll be gone from your drive.

 

Does the clutch slip? Judder terribly? Is so stiff you need a hydraulic ram in the footwell to work it? Are the rear wheels anywhere near vertical when at ride height? Is there half an inch of water in the wells on a wet day? Are you leaving a bag of cat litter under the front end every night? Does it start without a pull? And so on. Noises so awful you'll dream about them getting worse?

 

State of tyres, exhaust and spheres and lines fairly immaterial. I can do hydraulics and general servicing side of things wiv me eyes shut - it's the rest of the car (ie all the Pug bits) I avoid if possible.

 

Tbh, I think you have a sale if there's nothing so awful lurking. How many others on here have owned it? And is that a good or bad thing?!

[vulgalour]

Probably best to point you here: http://autoshite.com/topic/17041-would-like-to-sell-my-xantia-to-purchase-a-maestro-van/ for the sale thread.

 

I've only had the clutch slip once on an extremely steep drive when I was still learning where the biting point is, never had it happen since.  No clutch judder, and requires less effort to use than the brakes on a Mk2 Polo.  Rear wheels sit nice and vertically at ride height, there's no sagging or creaking from the back end to indicate problems.  Water does get into the boot, but not enough to make the carpet damp, and I suspect it's coming through the small hole in one rear light lens, a bit of tape would resolve this.  There are no visible LHM, oil or water leaks anywhere.  It starts without effort.  The noise from the front corner is worse turning right than when turning left but can be drowned out with the + Volume button on the fully operational radio.

 

When I say it's the nicest car I've ever owned, it really truly is.  My biggest problem with it is that it's just a bit dull for a Citroen and I'm not particularly fond of the turbo though it is a necessary addition to the Xantia in my humble opinion.

[beko1987]

Want to swap a derv for an ultra reliable 2.0tct once I've motd and taxed it this month? Used to be owned by some nutter in gloucestershire though.

[forddeliveryboy]

When I say it's the nicest car I've ever owned, it really truly is.  My biggest problem with it is that it's just a bit dull for a Citroen and I'm not particularly fond of the turbo though it is a necessary addition to the Xantia in my humble opinion.

 

 

Pretend they're a Peugoet with Merc 124 rear suspension, debugged, improved and simplified and they seem much nicer - if you compare them with what went before it's never good. I've always pulled out the horrid metal springy spring between the brake pedal and valve - I'll never know how people manage to use the brakes well with that in place. Trying to control two totally different resistances at the same time, working in opposite ways is pure impossible.

 

I'll send you a msg, Vulgalour. We can haz deel, possiblement?

[Vince70]

I hope the smart roadster only has an earth problem and not a knackered Sam unit as it may be off the road quite a bit longer than expected..

[vulgalour]

Possiblement dealages in motion, missives sent out to relevant shiters.  I can has shonky terrible Maestro van maybeperhaps.

[320touring]

Possiblement dealages in motion, missives sent out to relevant shiters. I can has shonky terrible Maestro van maybeperhaps.

WIN!

[chaseracer]

Is it possible to have standards lower than a Maestro van?

 

This is suitably grim...

 

 

[Cavcraft]

It's suitably griN.

[vulgalour]

I'd fucking love to have a Standard Atlas right up until the very first incline I encountered.

[messerschmitt owner]

See, I like the atlas but a maestro van is the depths of shite

[Tetleysmooth]

Got a Volvo V70 2.5 auto here if it's of any interest.

[messerschmitt owner]

I have as much of an aversion to automatics as some on here have for manual boxes. I like my pedals so much I drive cars with four pedals.

 

Scooter has just flown the mot.

 

It'll be a petrol auto though, won't it.

[Tetleysmooth]

Aye.