1995 Citroen Xm Vsx Turbo 2.0 Estate For Sale

I wasn't going to grace this with a reply but minijet voices my thoughts in a more
controlled way and I too feel I need to second his thoughts on this mindset.

This is an enthusiastic lively community (or Club as the title at the top suggests) of Xm
enthusiasts/fanatics who at times struggle against the odds to maintain and enjoy these
cars so in this context the logic here staggers me - the scrap man gets it for £60 when
we're all expected to pay £350 for a car with no MOT or TAX...

and then it seems to be thrown back at everyone. Ok I may very well be wrong but I
call things like I see them.

I know ALL about multiple vehicle ownership but would rather give good cars away free
to an enthusiast and even end up out of pocket than see a waste - and I have done so.

Shoot me down and call me a whatsit and I may very well be totally wrong not being
in full view of all the facts but I find this whole thing quite bizarre and at odds with the
spirit of the whole forum.

Andrew

This post has been edited by Andmcit on October 29, 2008 09:19 pm

Hi All

I think we need to be objective here rather than critical.

The car was offered here first for a time with no responses or takers.

We were prompted again before it went on ebay.

Once on ebay it seems that only rather strange offers, enquiries and timewasters responded. That would p**s me off too.

That is quite a bit of wasted effort to rehome the car with an enthusiastic owner and it may well be that Brad ran out of time, willpower, space, whatever the cause not our business. So he then simply took the only certain course available to him at that time and then had a quiet swipe at ebay's pra**s. Good for him I say.

Most of us try to rehome cars and bits when we can. I have to say that over the last few years almost half of my rehoming attempts fail or take an interminable time/wanted storage space because of other commitments of one or other of us. Thats the result with two willing parties. The thought of dealing with mindless of ebay puts me off using that to sell cars.

We also have to remember that there are still more XM's available than there are willing buyers otherwise so many XM's would not fail to sell on ebay. Just remember that they cannot all be preserved nor can we store the bits if they are turned into secondhand spares.

John

This post has been edited by xmexclusive on October 29, 2008 10:22 pm

I couldn't agree more John. When mine packed up I offered it on here for FREE! No-one wanted it until a local lad took it to pull apart for certain bits. It is probably now scrapped - such a shame!

I think you're both missing the point.

Brad invited offers over £400 for a car with a knackered turbo and no MOT..........

A week later he tells us he listed it on Ebay 'this' afternoon, got a couple of silly offers (one for 50 quid), and in a fit of pique, called up the scrap man and took 60 quid for it.........'the same afternoon'.

Then he posts the good news on the forum.......presumably to teach us all a lesson for not coughing up the four hundred notes he originally wanted for it.

And we weren't prompted before it went on Ebay John, check the times and dates of the posts.
He didn't waste any time letting us know when it had gone though........

Bitontheside: I remember when you offered your car on here, you gave members the opportunity to salvage it before it was scrapped (that's the difference.........and someone did make some use of it.

Yes I know it's Brads business what he does with his own property, it's the way that he did it (and rubbed our noses in it) that I find unpalatable.

Hi Minijet

I do not think I have missed the point. A far as we can tell no one from here even tried to contact Brad or ask if the price was negoitiable but the complaints started afterwards that they had not been given the chance to make a lower offer. My point is simply that no contact = no interest from us here. A week is a generous amount of time to show any real interest when the seller starts out by saying he has to get rid.

John

Gents,

I must say that i agree with Xmexc here, if it was my car and it needed to go, for whatever reason, and no one was interested enough to get in touch and make an offer, what can you do?
Although i said above that i would of had it for £60 i didnt PM the guy and make an offer! so im not gona come on here and start complaining that he scrapped it.
It was advertised on the club with photo's (and very good ones) with what seemed like an honest discription from the start and it was there for 8 days with no takers! He even apologised to all those that moaned, when as far as i can see he had nothing to apologise for. In fact i think it is us who should apologise to Brad for giving him such grief for advertising his car to all of us first!!!!


Dean

This post has been edited by dean on October 30, 2008 08:05 pm

Dean,

Somebody did make him an offer, an ebayer offered him £50.........he was so disgusted he scrapped it for £60 .

When somebody asks for offers over £400, most people don't like to offer £60, what do you think he would have said if they did?

One point I'd like to make very clear here; I'm not having a go at Brad and certainly wasn't
intending to do so and if that is how it was read well so be it. I accept that anything without
an MOT is worth the basic scrap money and as such the initial offer here and on ebay was
optimistic under the current apparent worsening conditions. A suggestion that serious (in intent)
as well as immediate offers would save the car may have motivated a mors positive response!

I think there's a lot of wishful thinking and window shopping by many in netland that doesn't yield
the necessary end results required or appreciated but don't discount the value and committment
of this adhoc collection of enthusiasts that meet under the monicer of 'a club' as all hot air and
promises.

I put my hand up to save Serge's 2.5 VSX TD saloon posted here a few weeks back and am
still totally delighted with it - that was posted as "offer me more than the scrap man is offering
and it's yours..." among fellow enthusiasts = that's the difference and is realistic!

I'm likely going to be in a position very shortly where nearly 30 cars will have to go one way or
another and scrapping them may very well be the necessary ahorrent and wasteful option. As I've
said earlier, a chance the locked in worth/potential in getting such unusual cars to an enthusiast
is still something to be considered! No more no less just an observation hopefully seen at face value.

Practicalities and reality may very well wreck havoc with this simplistic notion which I will happily
accept. When they're gone they're gone - end of discussion!

Andrew

Good grief man, where do you keep them!?

The other end of the barn to the 30 he is going to keep!!!

OK, OK don't rub it in, like Brad, I too realise I have too many cars (and Barns).
I'm impressed John, didn't think anyone would remember as it's been a while since
I may have mentioned my predicament though from recent postings I see you're
in a similar situation too.

Just had the dubious displeasure to discover this evening that my s1 24v has decided
it's funny to spread LHM everywhere but in the fat rear nearside ram feed pipe
thanks to a minute split in the plastic 'protective' coating where it has been festering...

Now there are times when the patience of Job may be stretched to the limit and if
that's what happened here with Brad I can totally symapthise with him. Still, would
rather pass it on to someone else to 'enjoy' than see it picked up and squished by
the mechanical claw...

So, anyone want a series 1 petrol Xm? No didn't think so... :roll:

Andrew

This post has been edited by Andmcit on October 31, 2008 01:10 am

Hello (sheepish Brad here)

I feel naughtier than Jonathan Ross tonight...

I advertised on Autotrader in August at £450 (before the Turbo was dicky and blowing)...no response at all. Not even a phone call.

I offered it up on here on 20th October, included my telephone number, and replied immediately to any questions.

I placed it on EBay 21st October at £350...no response just lots of questions about paperwork, what was the underside like, any rot etc? Unsold, no bids at all but lots of 'watchers'

I relisted it this week and, within minutes, had several questions from more time wasters, two of whom had asked questions when it was on before. As I was getting truly hacked off and it's hardly a thing of rarity, I called up the scrappie thinking I'd get a good price. I didn't realise scrap had fallen to such a low value...but he came, paid and it went. And that's about it.

If had been a CX, a Cortina or something similar, I'd have had it fixed and sold it for 2 grand or whatever. But all I could see was a bill for several hundred quid to get the turbo etc fixed to end up with a car worth several hundred quid. Not worth the hassle to me.

Maybe I should have offered it for spares but I didn't. I am sorry about that.

And I didn't have a fit of pique or mean to rub anyone's noses in anything. I'm not like that.

This is my last post on this forum as I'll be collecting my XMs in private from now on.

Thanks

Brad

It is possible to rationalise every point of view put forward on this thread as reasonable according to individual standpoint.
At the heart of this matter is a mismatch between the perception of the seller and the perceptions of the potentially interested parties.
Before looking at these I would mention two things:

1. Brad deserves great credit for his full and frank description of the car, the photos and the lists of good points and faults. He also pointed out the honest and unmessed with nature of the car that drew him to it in the first place.

2. When asked how much he wanted for it he said offers OVER £400. As Minijet has pointed out, it it would probably offend him and be pointless anywayto offer less.

Brad's perception, I suggest, was the starting price represented little more than the cost of the new exhaust system and a nearly free car. A second hand turbo and a bit of mig welding, given the good condition of the bodywork, would create a good honest car with years of life left in it.

Interested party perception: Needs to be trailered away (distance). Patch to be welded on the cill. Have to find somewhere to put it while looking for a turbo of unknown cost. MOT could throw up more problems. Hassle of time pressures, space, wife! Better to wait, if unsold he may drop the price.

Even if people loved the car the practicalities alone would defeat many buyers and the accumulation of transport and other uncertain costs several more. Petrol estates in good condition are inexpensive.

Both perceptions are valid in their own way but they don't meet. As we know the proceedings were brought to an abrupt end when Brad announced that car had been sold to a scrappie for £60. Incidentally there was a similar episode with a body shell and engine for £20 back in February.
There was no need for Brad to reveal those details, he could simply have said the car was sold. By doing so I think he not only let himself down (in a throwing the toys out of the pram sort of way) but also gave the impression that when he wrote "I hope I didn't offend anyone" that he intended the exact opposite.
Sad really, but hey! maybe its all a charade and he was just winding you all up.
Oh, and its stopped raining.

Robert

Ah well, i had not realised the full story. Im sure had you needed it as your own car you would have fixed it up, but i can see why you didnt when no one was interested the first time you advertised it. I guess it was just the wrong engine for an estate car?

Please continue to use the forum though

It has indeed, there are golf ball sized hail stones hitting the window now!