Club-xm Makes Its Mark, google and wikipedia

Hi all,

I thought I'd try something I haven't done for ages. I googled "Citroen XM" both with the quotation marks and without. In the past, Club-XM has not made an appearance until at least the 40th page when I gave up looking. To my surprise, if you try it today, Club-XM takes pole position! I've no idea how that works but I reckon its an achievement nonetheless. I'm given to believe its related to volume of traffic. If so, congratulations to all members for their interest and diligence in helping others.

Fourth down the google list is the Wikipedia entry for the Citroen XM. No great surprise since the Wiki gets top spot in just about every search. Having no experience of editing Wikipedia I took the advice of the site's help file and edited the entry. I added the URL's of Club-XM, the Citroen Car Club and the Yahoo XM-L list. It looks like it accepted the change. How long it will last I'm not sure.

I see our membership is up to 758 which I believe is real. The spambots have ceased since I changed the registration procedure months ago. So, having deleted the automated registrations, I believe the 758 are real members. The post count is up to nearly 17000 which is tremendous. Thanks to all for their hard work.

Without fear of contradiction Club-XM is now the premier source of DIY, self help and general chat about XM's on the whole web. This is only possible when the membership take an active role and contribute on a regular basis. I've seen it mentioned in these pages that it is entirely likely that the presence of so much DIY info contained in Club-XM that the second hand market in XM's has seen a rise in residual value of XM's as the true virtues of the model are extolled. Thanks to all contributors for all their hard work and for making Club-XM what it is today.

Thanks, and all the best for the forthcoming festive season to one and all.

noz

This post has been edited by noz on December 04, 2007 07:58 am

Thank you for all your hard work Noz, without you it would not exist!

Peter.N.

That's how it all started - with "noz"!

I see that when I log on to the site, it classes me as an "anonymous" reader. How come?

It does that to me sometimes. Havn't deleted your cookies have you? You are obviously recognised or it wouldn't let you post and all your details are on screen.

Peter.N.

I can testify to the impact of Club XM and demand. I was so pissed off when my last one packed up at 80,000m (autobox) that I swore off them. Then I got onto these pages, saw it was a (relatively) common fault and ended up with a manual - directly encouraged by stories of well maintained beasts lasting and lasting.

So, many thanks and congrats.

Jamieb

noz,
do you really think that the popularity of the ClubXM forum has caused XM's to increase in value. If this is true can I ask everyone to stop coming here as you're pricing me out of the XM Market.

One other thing, does anybody know if Citroen ever produced a limited edition XM with a Massey Ferguson engine and gearbox? If so I'm pretty certain I've got one of them.

Paul.

Thanks for the thanks noz

Hi Paul

The first diesel car I ever saw had a Ferguson tractor engine and overdrive! It was a 1955 Standard Vanguard estate.

Peter.N.

Hi Peter,
the strange thing is, my MF engined XM runs on petrol, but still sounds like a diesel.
I have to admit though, it scrubs up well, quite a nice car when the engine's not running.
Paul.

Hi Noz,

Thanks for having the idea and setting up the site in the first place!

I agree, its now without a doubt the best XM resource on the net. I do still read, and try to post to XM-L, but the level of traffic there is falling. Personally I believe the forum is better because of the ease of posting pictures, diagrams, manuals, and other kinds of relevant attachments. The mailing list was great in it's day, but inability to support images and the fact that files have to be uploaded to the website manually, then users must login to view, makes it very cumbersome.
I know there are a few very valuable XM-L members who have expressed a preference for the mailing list rather than the forum, they do have a point in that text only email is great if you're on a low bandwidth connection, or haven't got much time. The 'push' element where messages come directly to your inbox, rather than you having to go looking for them, is good too.

The only disadvantage I can think of with this site is the way that the forum software doesn't have any easy to view all the threads to which you're currently subscribed. This means you're relying on email notifications to know what threads you've been participating in, and when there's quite a few of them, or the thread hasn't been active in a while, its very easy to loose track of them. (Then again, the same is true for email). Other forums I use have a 'subscribed threads' link, which lists all the topics you're currently involved in. Not a major problem, just something which would make browsing the site a little easier

Other than that, as the saying goes, keep her lit everyone!

Hi Ciaran,

Just to set the record straight, I am but a humble administrator. The site belongs to and was set up by Chris Light to whom we are truly indebted.

As for the subscription try clicking on "My Assistant" in the top right hand corner of the screen. I think that might provide what you were looking for.

Cheers

noz

you jest surely? Or don't you have one at the moment?

will the perceived increased value trickle back to the insurance industry eventually, I wonder?

i guess we have to wait and see whether ebay prices really have changed

anyway, this thread has put a smile on my face, having spent over a grand on my old XM this year. Its got sounds again now too!

regards

I had to read that twice to decide if it was a serious question or not... My guess would be 'no chance'.

They could be selling for millions and some insurance companies would still tell you they would write it off for a 300 dent because you can buy something else for less.

Classic Car insurance would be different of course, but as far as I have seen that always has silly requirements like garaging and low mileage.