Citroen Mishaps - not me, was it Junkman?

[pompei]

I remember a while ago there was great gushing on here over ID/DS/CX/XM styling and driving ability and what have you, when someone poured cold water on the joy with a tale of near disaster in one of said conveyances. Such is my attention span and memory (short & long term) that I can recall neither the person nor the circumstances.  I am wondering if it was M. Junqueman as I noted his recent none too flattering comments on the Ebay Tat pages following the posting of old French shite.  Was it he? And if so, can I claim my crisp five euro note?

[dollywobbler]

Yes it was. He claims a CX tried to kill him. 

[bub2006]

Yes it was. He claims a CX tried to kill him.

Didn't happen in Lincolnshire did it? That place does strange things to that chap

[Ghosty]

I recall his story of a complete hydraulic/DIRAVI failure on a CX, possibly on an Autobahn, leaving him travelling toawrds some trees at considerable speed with no brakes and little steering.

[Eddie Honda]

http://autoshite.com/topic/14668-ever-had-a-car-that-scared-you-for-whatever-reason/?p=456233

[alcyonecorporation]

Yes it was. He claims a CX tried to kill him. 

A BX I was riding in years ago did something similar on the Mancunian Way. 

 

I have no idea why I don't like them, I really don't. 

[JayW]

No idea why no hydraulics would be a problem, after all they do give you a plethora of warning lights, some reserve pressure and it all fails in a sensible order.

 

Power steering first. Then suspension and lastly, brakes. This leaves you a handbrake and muscley arms for the steering.

 

(Diravi is only slightly different in that it tries to physically force itself back to centre but without hydraulic pressure that doesn't happen).

 

I once had to drive my BX 16V from the Elephant and Castle to South Croydon with nowt but the handbrake after the hydraulic belt snapped. That was fun.

[Junkman]

No idea why no hydraulics would be a problem, after all they do give you a plethora of warning lights, some reserve pressure and it all fails in a sensible order.

The fuck they do!

ALL systems fail in an instant. Poof, and you're a goner!

[JayW]

The fuck they do!

ALL systems fail in an instant. Poof, and you're a goner!

Only if the accumulator sphere is flat as a witches tit.

[twosmoke300]

^^^ whs - the regulator / pump must have been ticking every second or so and it was ignored

[Supernaut]

'kin hell!

 

I was driving my Xantia about with a ticking accumulator for about a month before I got round to replacing it.

[alcyonecorporation]

^^^ whs - the regulator / pump must have been ticking every second or so and it was ignored

Is that likely on a tiny-mile, six month old car?

 

Being powerless to stop a BX which nearly fired itself through the Armco is not something I wish to repeat.

[dollywobbler]

Is that likely on a tiny-mile, six month old car?

 

Being powerless to stop a BX which nearly fired itself through the Armco is not something I wish to repeat.

 

No, but as mentioned, warning lights should have been on to indicate a fault. The BX is different to the Citroen, so the steering will always work normally, even without hydraulic pressure. It'll just be heavy, just as if PAS failed on a conventional car. The main problem is that the handbrakes are usually utter shit, so if you've used up the accumulator pressure, you are indeed into major brown trouser areas.

[forddeliveryboy]

Yes it was. He claims a CX tried to kill him.

 

I believe JM, and fully understand his distrust of the system after such a freak failure. Even though I trust my life with a CX's braking and steering system far more than the dribble of damp, corrosive fluid inside conventional brake hydraulics. Diravi assistance reduces proportional to speed, so at 90mph there's almost none.

 

But I don't, in general, trust cars when they've covered a low mileage - freak failure due to a manufacturing fault or main dealer servicing laziness is more likely.

 

Ace, innit, paying so little for an autoshite machine which has been so thoroughly tested and put right over a hundred thousand miles and more?

[pompei]

It was certainly startling to read that account again 

[Junkman]

But I don't, in general, trust cars when they've covered a low mileage - freak failure due to a manufacturing fault or main dealer servicing laziness is more likely.

 

Sadly I didn't find a clapped out higher mileage CX Break at my local Citroen branch at the time,

so I had no alternative than to opt for the three year old low mileage one with FSH.

Otherwise my company sure would have financed a hanging heap instead of the pristine offering

I mistakenly went for, stupid me.

When I urgently needed a car for my business, I really should have deferred the purchase until

a shonky enough trade in arrived.

In the interim, I should have happily wheeled my 200 kg calibration equipment all over Europe on a

fucking wheelbarrow.

 

Also, since I never knew fuck all about cars, it's of course my fault I ended up in a week long coma.

I really should have permanently had an ear out whether a three year old minter still under factory warranty

makes a ticking noise more or less frequently, or some fucking horseshit.

Well, my subsequently brand new one did make a ticking noise even I could hear. For about ten seconds,

before it was grinding to a halt on the hard shoulder of the A3 near Weiskirchen.

Well, at least I didn't end up in a coma that time. Only 35,000 D-Marks out of pocket.

 

Guys, it doesn't work that way.

[forddeliveryboy]

Point taken, but I'd have wanted to understand exactly what had failed before contemplating setting foot in another CX.

 

I've had complete brake failure in a 3 month old Granada, some of the front suspension dropped off a year old Cavalier I was delivering to a customer and a mate's 2 year old Volvo locked up a rear wheel on the motorway, briefly, when a handbrake shoe came away from its restraints and tangled with other bits.

 

But because their designs were crude and easily-understood, mecahnics barely raised an eyebrow, only muttering about manufacturing or assembly faults. If any of the above had happened to a hydropneumatic Cit, the cars would've all been labelled dangerous.

[Junkman]

Sadly no forensic examination of what was left of that dangerous shitbox was carried out, so it will forever remain a mystery.

I couldn't possibly give a lesser shit, too. I just keep buying proper cars and avoid those pointless deathtraps like the clap.

[DSdriver]

I had a nearly new CX Cmatic which on one occasion increased engine power as I was trying to brake for a roundabout. Eventually the brakes won and I got the car back to the dealership and went ballistic at them which made sure the fault never happened again.

They didn't fess up to what the problem was but were a bit embarrased. 

I can only assume that it was a similar problem to old Daimlers which had a tendency to do the same when you tried to brake whilst reversing.