Chosing An Xm

Thanks for coming back so fast. I'm not too fussed about the 'ragging' effect the belt inflicts; I suspect they will all suffer that to some degree. It's the rip I'm hoping to get rid of. Incidentally, at the risk of upsetting your other half, I think the half leather seats are the most comfortable of all the XM seats and certainly more so than the full leather.

Thanks, Mike.

Hi Mike

The issue with the seats is actually slidability. On a leather seat there is little resistance to sliding and turning. With cloth and the grey two part leather there is considerable resistance. Unfortunately with back problems it can make a very real difference. Anyway I guess the passenger seat cover is in a much better state and it is not impossible to fit the back cusion to a drivers seat frame. My main interest is recovering the seat heating components, particularly the wiring and multiplex box. Are you looking for a heated seat?

Regards

John

John --- hello again. No -- not looking for heated or any other bits, just the squab cover. Only difference between left and right I can see on mine, is a lumbar adjustment knob on the drivers side, but I guess that's just a hole punched in the leather. Very happy to fit in with whatever suits you best, if you do have one available. Should you want it, my email is onthecut@tiscali.co.uk

Thanks again, MIke.

Hi XMX,

Yes, the Gold wasn't the most attractive colour for the car! I did see a Black one in France a few years back - looked stunning. It had Gold aftermarket wheels on it, which actually looked like Delta-Mics.

However, I think that Green you have is georgeous. I was offered the California Garage ex. demo Estate a few years back - It was that dark Metallic Green with Black leather interior - looked absolutely spot on. Out of my price range at the time, but only had something like 15K miles on it!

I'm seriously thinking V6 / LPG now - will start looking in earnest.

Beachcomber

Well, I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure.

Started looking properly today for V6 Estate - and came across a 2.5TD in that beautiful dark metallic Green!

Am now in the process of negotiation.

Has an engine cooling fan that only goes off when engine is turned off, and some minor maladies [ sun-roof, entry key issues, ], but all in all doesn't look at all bad. High miles - even by Citroen standards but could just be the one.

So all you 2.5TD devotees - what should I be looking for on this model? I haven't seen it yet, but apparantly has main dealer FSH for the past 100k miles.

beachcomber

Hello Beachcomber.

Presume this is the one currently on Ebay ? From my own experience, first thing I would be checking is smoke emission under load and with the MOT style test. All my 2.5s have suffered to a greater or lesser extent, the last one embarrassingly so. Rectifiable, but at a cost. Next, I'd want to confirm correct gearbox function, having had a couple start to go wonky at around 200k. I would also hope it had been fitted with a new clutch; yes, generally they last well, but you have to be heading towards borrowed time at this mileage if it's the original and the car has worked hard. Interesting to know if the vendor has the remotes --- obviously that bit doesn't work, which is why the drivers lock barrel is presumably also retired. Easy fix on the barrel, usually, if you don't want to replace it --- remove and squeeze back together the prongs that limit the key travel.
No mention of the cam belt and balance shafts belt situation -- a good bargaining issue if nothing else. Likewise the ABS lamp situation -- probably a duff connection, but if not, potentially expensive at the next MOT. I'm sure it was a one off due to an assembly fault, but I have also had the main HP pipe from the pump fail where it runs across the radiator crossmember. it was incorrectly clipped and duly the clip chattered through it. No mistake when that goes !!
Good luck with it and enjoy it if you get it.

Mike.

Hi Mike,

Yes it is!

Guess we're all looking then??!!

I've bought my last 5 cars off e-bay and all have been excellent buys.

I'll obviously check the points that you raise - but I have e-mailed him directly to ask about belt / tensioner replacement and so on. The fact that he's owned the car for 100K miles is encouraging. I am hoping that the "niggly" problems can be sorted without too many probs. I seem to remember seeing a detailed response to "cooling fan staying on" in the forum.

Sunroof is not a prob. as I have a tame roof guy locally - he's done at least 6 roofs for me and friends.

It's that georgeous colour that might swing it!

beachcomber

Hi Beachcomber

I expect the colour to be Forest Green not Emerald Green as this is how the turned out most of the VSX 2.5TD's. I would ask about the 4 vehicle jacking points. If it has been dealer maintained then they should still have the plastic covers on them, not all bent up as on most XM's. When bent up internal rusting starts in the corners of the chassis and the floor pan may distort and leak causing wet foam under the dry carpet leading to further rusting. Other rust points are the lower fixings of the front wings and the spare wheel carrier and surrounding bodywork, also the pipes under the car. The dropped rear bumper suggests that it has had a minor rear shunt. Just bumper to bumper if there is no crease in the plastic.

That should give you enough to worry a few quid off the price.

Regards

XMexc

That green is almost identical to my 965 Volvo - lovely, and very similar to my Espace! Must be a green thing.

Price on the 2.5 is starting to move slowly, I'll see what it does in the next 4-5 days. In the meantime I'll ask the questions that you suggest. The rear bumper misalignment does seem a minor point, but I'll ask anyway - suspect as you say a low speed bumper to bumper.Do you know if that green is a Mica [ as my Volvo ] or a "normal" metallic?

really value everyone's input on this - thanx

beachcomber

Hi Beachcomber

I have done a check on the colours. In the 1995 model year SX and VSX estates were available in both greens. No production exclusive estates were produced.
The greens were: Forest Green (code ESY) a superlustre metallic finish,
Emerald Green (code ERY) a superlustre pearl finish.
The paint code is marked on all XM's on the flat of the chassis of the engine compartment just behind the passenger headlight. If the original selling dealer did his job it will also be written in the front of the service book. Service book and manual pack go in the lid of the fuse box under the passenger side of the dash.
A good number of XM's are sold with the seller unaware that there is the service record hidden away in the car.
Sorry if any of this is detail you already know but it is difficult to know at what level to pitch things.

As to price I thought the 2.5TD on ebay was worth £350 to £450. This based old (Mreg), very high miles, no aircon and a small selection of faults. I expect the working life of a 2.5 to be in the range 150k to 250k miles. So this one is fairly life expired. If it had not sold I might have offered £150 as it is reasonably close to home.
I suspect from the bidding so far it will make somewhere between £500 to £700.
For reference my silver 2.5 estate, P reg, 135k miles, no faults, was valued at £1400 when the insurance company declared it a uneconomic to repair for rear bumper damage. They valued the salvage at £70.

Hi XMX

Many thanx for the current info.

Yes, I've been around XM's since I bought my first Mandarin saloon in 1994.

It must be one of the few model ranges I've ever owned and haven't been scurrying around under the bonnet! Apart from a broken throttle cable, I ve never had a roadside breakdown [ 4 XM's ].
All were serviced sparsley and gave great service and motoring value for money. In fact as I became "service lazy" in later life, the cars were only serviced at MOT time - naturally tyre pressures and weekly running events were checked, but no more than that has ever been required.

All the basics as to where bits are and how they function is second nature now. My friend did drive his XM for 12 months before I pointed out to him that the steering column was adjustable!

On the position of the service book / fuses - the second XM I bought [ 1st Estate] was bought direct from Citroen. Whilst checking round the car when I first got it [ as you do ] I took the handbook pack out and there was £400 in four crisp £50 notes and 2 x Scottish £100's tucked into the folder!

I asked the selling dealer to check with the previous driver of the car "if anything had been left in the car - especially the handbook". That came back negative, which made my car instantly £400 cheaper! The first thing I do now when I buy a new XM is to check the handbook!! Never been lucky since.

Yes, I'd put a mental upper limit of £500 on the car - as you say, will probably go at least another £100 or so.
Beachcomber

I also see that the front lower spoiler is broken, maybe courtesy of a small off-the-road "event" ? My XM had signs of a similar event in the front lower corner -fog lamp broken, inner wheel arch liner broken, bumper slightly missaligned- , never got to know what was the story.

regards
George

I would be looking first and foremost for service history. Check what's been done and try to assess if it's covered all the points that should be covered. A Citroen Dealer should have stuck to the schedule and be able to to produce a printout for examination.

Hi guys,

I think the car is already over my mental limit. There's another local to me in our freebie paper - will monitor that and see if the price comes down to "my level".

re: front spoiler damage. I think it probably occurs when people drive off without the car coming fully up to ride height.

That's exactly what occured when a friend borrowed my current Estate! Before I could stop him he'd driven off a few yards with the back suspension raised and the front on the deck. Just caught a large deformity in the road and that was that. Why the fog lights get damaged is a mystery. I've seen many XM's with this syndrome and usually the nearside. Another friend ripped his rear mudflaps off by parking against a kerb [ backed in ] and then driving off with the suspension not raised and the mudflaps were dragged along the grass bank. Moral there somewhere!

Beachcomber

...Or when you park in a carpark with the front over the kerb and the suspension goes down while you are away!

Peter.N.