New Member - Looking For The Right Car

[phaonr]

Hi

Just a brief introduction. I'm looking for an XM at the moment and am hoping to benefit from your collective wisdom. Many years ago I had a CX2400 with C-Matic transmission - probably the least reliable car I've ever owned but one of the most memorable. Its party tricks included a rear side window which popped out and broke while I was gently driving along and a cooling system which self destructed with embarrassing frequency. I loved the ride, the quirky instruments, the amazing steering and brakes. Anyway, the bug has come back and now I'm looking for an XM, preferably:

Diesel Estate
Working air con/climate control
Leather Upholstery if possible
Manual transmission
Generally reliable......

I might also consider a diesel CX estate.

I confess I also have yearnings for a Renault Avantime (am I allowed to say that here?) Another one in the great tradition of truly mad French cars!

Incidentally there is a 2 litre turbo XM on Ebay at the moment. Close to me and low mileage.......

It doesn't meet my criteria, but....who know?

Phaon

[Peter.N.]

Hi Phaon

Welcome to the club. I used to run CXs and thought they were the best car in the world! I had all Safari diesel estates. The XM is better in some ways i.e. it has a decent heater, but overall it isn't as good as the CX, but I still think its the best car for comfort, space and economy (diesel) available today, and I have tried many others!

In my humble opinion the best of the buch is the 2.1 td manual, the 2.5 is faster and has a nicer clutch but its more difficult to work on and spares are becoming difficult to obtain. I wouldn' t entertain an auto, not just because I dont like them, but if the gearbox goes wrong it will write the car off, the manual box and the 2.1 td engine are pretty well bomb proof. The only problem you could have is head gasket failure, this doesn't usually happen until around 150k miles, but is a pig of a job! I know, I did mine a couple of years ago. Once done though you should get another 150k out of it. Mine has done about 30k since fitting and has only had the water topped up two or three times!

There is a '95 manual 2.1 td estate advertised on the Autotrader web site for about £700, I think it has done about 115k but check for head gasket leakage and check that it has antifreeze in it, mine failed prematurly because it didn't.

Happy hunting.

Peter.N.

[Little&Large]

Hi Phaon
I have just had a quick look(online) at the one Peter described,it sounds OK and has not done Starship miles.The timing belt interval is 72K so there is 29K until that.I had a Mk1 2.1td Estate on which the headgasket went.The economy was good-the low 50's on a run,coupled with cheaper French diesel it was very cheap to run.I replaced it with a 2.5td Estate with Air Con which was poorly described on Ebay,the seller didn't mention the full service history in the ad and the pictures were poor.I paid £650 for the 2.1 and £620 for the 2.5!The 2.5 only does in the late 30's mpg which creeps up to 42 in the summer.I would go for a 2.1 manual next time...if you can find one.Peter has been looking for ages.They have all dried up on Ebay and Autotrader at the moment.I have had my 2.5 for 8 months now and done just over 22K in it.Have a look through the files on this forum and you will see the range of problems that can occur,but having had the CX you will know what to look for generally in terms of signs of overheating/head gasket problems and lhm fluid leaks/problems etc.
I wouldn't spend more than I could afford to lose tomorrow on one,major problems like a new clutch,head gasket or even timing belts can be many times the cost of purchasing the car(unless you can do it yourself).
Good luck in your hunt.
Regards Rob