Ebay 2.5 Td Exclusive, Starship Miles

Hi All

I see there is a maroon 2.5 XM exclusive just come on ebay. Has starship miles (265k) and there are already 5 bidders trying to generate a galactic price for it. Despite the extensive service history can a 11 year old car this used be worth more than £350? It will be hard to convince an insurance company to pay out even that much if it is involved in an accident. How much more servicable life has this car potentially got?
With my interest in 2.5's I have had a careful look through the ad and it is surprising what you can find. A featured item is new strut tops. A photograph is provided of one and it is evident that there are quite big rust bubbles around the base of the head under the top covering rubber. My first though was that poorly selected secondhand ones were fitted recently instead of new. Then I checked the service record and realised that the "new" strut heads were fitted some 7 years ago.
Service history may be very useful but should not be the sole criteria in assessing a car.

Regards

XMexc

saw that one when i was flicking on eBay.

Its not far from me, but i wouldn't be willing to go near it with that mileage on it personally!!

David.

Just found the same car on the autotrader:


Clicky

Seems like he's looking for £1695 for it.

David.

Jings

Definately makes my 17k miles XM at £1400 a bargain!

Not a diesel estate is it?

Peter.N.

Yes Robert, only another 250k miles to go and the your's will be worth that extra £295!

Ciarán

No. It appears to be a saloon by the photos. Been through some careful and caring hands recently so I would not be averse to paying good money for it if I were in the market for a saloon. Mileage is unimportant (relatively) for a car of this calibre.
I see it is offfered with no reserve and it stands at under £350 at the moment. With at least a week to go, I would not be surprised to see it top the £1k. Most cars of this age would be uncared-for, unlike this., so this price would represent money's-worth.

Belonged to Roy for a brief while. Can't help but wonder why.

Personally I'd rather have a saloon than my estate. If a suitable one comes up I'd be interested, still it would have to be a exclusive!

Steve.

I believe Roy was driving it at the Scottish Rally when I met hime there. I think he needed an estate but saved it from the threat of going to the scrappie as it was too good for that fate.!

That's big, big miles.

I love the assertion that these are all good for half a million ---- has anyone actually got one on here that's got to the magic figure, without substantial servicing or replacement ? Highest I've gone is 300k and I just have a feeling you are starting to get into borrowed time.

Mike.

One thing I noticed was the "larger cooling radiator" fitted by the second owner ,I think. I am facinated to know more and so should a purchaser, so that if it should fail what should it be replaced with and in what way has the cooling circuit been altered as a result.
Steve: it is an exclusive AFAIK but your estate looks a lovely car if you can sort out the lack of power problem with patience and perserverance.
The main problem with astro mileage is the sheer numbers of items reaching the
" mean time before failure" usage. A concept familiar to the many IT people on this board if not to all. Could be an ok car but parts replaced history assumes great importance in the above context.
Robert.

Oh and another thing I noticed about the 1998 2.1 TD on ebay was the manual box.If I were interested I would like to know if that is original fitted or a conversion from auto or a much earlier manufactured car only registered in 1998.
Robert.

There were some 2.1 manual hatchbacks, it seems that only the estates were all auto after Jan 96, although there was a manual one on ebay about three years ago!

I was the 17k mile one I was asking if it was a td estate.

Peter.N.

An extra radiator, maybe like this one -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7328220@N02/2147134436

Hope to get to the bottom of my problems very soon.

Steve.

AFAIK no 2.5Td was ever fitted with an auto box even as an experiment. Anyway who on earth would want to change this superb car (for the money).? How long would it last with all that torque?