2 Litre Turbo Exclusive Hatch - Tax Now Out - £150, P reg - Auto - 6 months MOT ~130k

This is advertised locally (Bristol area) - Dr Tim, you might be interested?

It's not really what I need, but I'll buy it to save it going for scrap if no-one else is interested. Taxed to the end of November.

7 months test. Chap is looking for £450.

Click for link to TradeIt advert (while it lasts at least)

I have contact details if the advert has expired.

I had a look in the dark this evening - what I can tell so far....

130,000 miles or there abouts.

White (I know that colour polarises opinion on the forum - it's not called 'Polar White' by any chance? - personally I think it looks great on an XM - especially from the rear).

Three of the jacking points have been folded over - no doubt in tyre depots!

Rear bumper has been damaged - a bit pushed in around the middle and cracked on the corner, and a small dent/scrape in the metal by the tail light cluster. It has a towbar.

Light bubbling under the rubber coat on the front strut tops.

Interior is tidy - minor wear on the side bolster of the drivers seat. Dark 1/2 leather trim plus wood (real or fake? - I can't tell) inserts.

Both displays are working - Top bar on the gear selector display is gone though.

Rear arches looked good - it only seems to be mk2 estates that rot badly here?

Under bonnet condition was hard to tell in the dark, so I can't comment until I get a chance to see it in the light. Too dark tonight to check the colour of the oil or ATF.

According to the owner the air con is very efficient. He seems a very decent chap too. Car belonged to his father-in-law before him.

I didn't drive it any more than just a to roll back and forth - but drive seemed to engage without fuss. I may have a run in it on the weekend. l could get some pics then too if anyone wants to see some.

As I say - it's not really what I'm looking for, but I won't let it go for scrap or similar if a buyer doesn't turn up.

Anyone interested?

This post has been edited by mouseflakes on December 07, 2008 03:09 pm

Hi mouseflakes,

Probably a little too far for me (I'm in Yorkshire)...........although I did travel to Farnham for my last one.

If it doesn't sell first time and the price drops a bit, it might be worth the trip though.

I do like the colour, and the exclusive extras - and I like 2.0 turbo automatics.........I'm probably the only one on here who does........hence the lack of interest in this one........

I'd certainly like to see some pics.

Thanks.

Paul.

The thing with the exclusive is it has colour coded everything. Which is nice on most Xm colours, although in white it looks a LOT of white.

The reason the white looks so nice on most Xms, i think is down to the nice contrast between the black trim.

However it is one of the best Xm colours, it suits the shape well.

Mouseflakes, thanks for thinking of me.

Not that I've ever driven anything auto apart from the horrible semi auto Smart cars at work which I get to drive when I have no functional wheels of my own, but I;m not really that keen on the auto option really.

Also the price looks a bit beyond me, I've been trying to keep hold of about 500 to get the Prestige sorted but it keeps sort of getting spent keeping my life running instead :-(.

Then again it is an Exclusive and the a/c apparently works, so once I get over this horrible bug
thats keeping me off work so far this week I might think about it.

I might take it on if it's not sold when the tax expires (not long now) - but I'll not be offering much for it as it's not what I'm looking for - I'd just not like to see it crushed if that's what's in store otherwise - it seems quite nice. A sort of stay of execution.

Depends on the how my wife feels about it of course!

Hope you feel better soon DrTim.

Photos and more info.

I drove it briefly on the weekend - gearbox seems okay - but fluid is a bit grey - a couple of flushes with new would do it good.

In addition to what I've described above, I noticed the hit that had damaged the rear bumper had also pushed the wheel arch out of shape - but not too bad. Was a bit green around the door closures - a good clean required. Rear off side window falls down as you drive.

When I drove it an amber warning light came on - little engine icon with a three into one line thingy on it. Anyone know what this is?

Drove nicely though - suspension seemed like it should be softer - I'm guessing it should feel more wafty than my R30?

You can just see the kink in the rear arch here - and is the boot not sat quite right?















This post has been edited by mouseflakes on November 18, 2008 12:32 am

Not bad really Tim AND its got both displays working!

Go on you know you want it.

Ooh... that's the motor management warning light. Not sure how bad it is when that comes on.

Let me get my checklist out... right. My checklist (from the Ducth XM owner's club) says that this light coming on while the engine is running might well be expensive.
I'm sure the experts on here (I am not one) will know more.

And indeed, the boot lid is a bit off at the driver side - it doesn't seem to line up with the right rear light unit.
Because the photo seems to show that the boot lid bottom does seem to match up with the bumper, I wonder if the bumper is also a bit misaligned. Look at the separation between the left and right rear lights unit.

I'm reasonably stupid on XM's... but at this stage, I'd be weary. I hope some of the experts will chime in.

This post has been edited by peterh on November 18, 2008 09:07 am

Sound advice and totally valid. I take a more pragmatic approach dependent obviously on the
actual car in question's condition though and let's not be TOO hasty here about rear damage.
Sure, be careful, and that goes without saying but it could simply be down to adjustment required
on the rubber foot that the tailgate closes against!

My 24v'er has a gap you can put your finger in on the right side of the tailgate and obviously a
tiny gap on the opposite side and it's never worried me as I can't find any sign or damage or
subsequent repair otherwise. Mine may well have come off sometime in it's life and not been
adjusted properly on refitting but it doesn't affect the car as far as I'm concerned - I see it but
don't if you know what I mean.

With the values of Xm's in the UK being pitiful for years, most folk would sooner scrap one than
spend significant money getting body damage one's repaired. I've got another (a 2.0i) with a
bowed outer wing from a minor bump and it's closed the shut line on the rear door shut but it's
concentrated soley on the outer skin and it's remained the same (good) condition for the past
5 years anyhow...

...so unless it's 3 cars welded together, (badly!! just check inside the boot under the carpet) by
all means use it as a means of fighting them sellers price down a bit and go for it!!

For me, it all just looks a bit, er, .....white!?

The engine K symbol could simply be an air leak in the turbo pipework. How does the car drive?
Another factor to bargain with!

Andrew

I don't really want it - if I get an XM it needs to be an estate - but it'd be sad if it was scrapped, especially with 7 months MOT still on it.

It drove nicely - had more oomph than the 2l turbo auto estate I tried a while back. Interior was nice too. Although I prefer the styling of the s1 dash - this s2 one has a more 'quality' feel to it. Felt quite plush!

The bumper could be replaced and yes, I think the boot is not a problem - was just trying to point it out if anyone else was interested. The kink in the rear arch is the real pain - it's not bad, but would want to be able get it nice and straight again.

The seller had another viewer who seemed interested - so I hope they end up buying it. Better for all concerned really as I can't offer the seller much if it's still not sold when the tax expires.

This post has been edited by mouseflakes on November 18, 2008 11:53 am

Thanks for that Peter. The seller said he puts injector cleaner in when that shows, and the problem clears (?). Didn't seem to affect the running.

My worry about the misaligned bumper was not aesthetic... it triggered my capacity for being a 'professional worrier' - which is not hindered by any sort of profound knowledge about secondhand cars, simply because this profound knowledge is all but nonexistent.

My professional worrying nagged at me, saying that, if a bumper would be out of alignment, this might indicate structural problems that are not apparent on a photo... that's all.

Read the following bit as coming from someone who, as a computer programmer, usually has his theoretical knowledge sorted, but who, when holding a spanner, is to be qualified as "usesless, bordering on dangerous". Story of my life, really. I know how something should be done, but bolts disappear, or snap, and electrical circuits spontaneously combust, whenever I point at them with a tool... so in the end I know how someone else should do them.

Having disclaimed for my mechanical inaptitude sufficiently, here goes:
I think the motor management warning light coming on is 'merely' the computer indicating that it doesn't like what it is seeing in the combustion process. The number of things that could cause this is 2 to the power of... quite a bit, actually.
I think it is dangerous to, without further research, assume that a particular condition applies and that, therefore, the buyer is "probably safe". So I am waiting for the experts to say what they will have to say, but let's not jump to premature conclusions.

Having said that, I think the price is good. Bleedin' Armageddon, if nothing else, I think the price is justified by the scrap value.
This leads me to another observation. There is something else that amazes me.

Here in the Netherlands, we would say that the asking price is justifiable only for the value of the parts that ARE good. Golly, if I were driving a right-hand-drive wheel car, I'd spend that sort of money for the interior alone, if I would need it.

I am not sure how to read this. I think that secondhand prices for XM's in the UK are definitely more favourable than they are in the Netherlands. Having loved big Cits for a couple decades, I have a couple observations on that, but I think I'll create a separate topic about that, in order to not completely send this thread into oblivion.

The engine ecu fault light comes on in my 2.0 turbo. I took it to the local garage and the diagnostic machine said something about the turbo pressure switch. I'd been messing with the switch before the light came on so I must have damaged something or caused a bad connection somewhere. I've noticed that the light stays off when I start the engine (cold), but it comes on when it's warmed up, but there's no noticable power loss.

Tax is out and the chap will now take £150 for this. Anyone keen now?

I might just get it to smoke about in until the MOT is up.

Just out of interest (I may need to run a one-off recovery mission in the new year) - would an XM auto tow another car + trailer okay or does the transmission get a bit tired? Anyone use one for such things?

Cheers.

Go for it Tim!

At the least don't let the evil hot hatch Barryboys have their evil way and Puggerise it...

You may do nasties to the torque convertor towing heavy kit with it mind!

Andrew