Hello, Back to XMs

[blue94auto]

Hello XMers
was going to say fellow xm ers as I used to say last year,but I haven't got an xm.
I have had four xms in recent years
no 1 a mk1 silver 2.1 manual cheapo off ebay super reliable but hissed and clicked at the traffic lights,finally gave up on it when the clutch showed signs of slipping,towing our caravan.
no 2 a 2.1td auto a mk1 drove superbly changed the auto fluid at half the service recommendation and it never missed a beat,I foolishly sold it cheap to a friend ,only because we were towing our caravan to France and I thought the higher temp would see off the auto box!
no 3 very briefly a mk2 2.0 litre turbo petrol, ex Slovakian embassy car !!!
I got it dirt cheap because the bloke thought the ignition was faulty.He delivered the car to me ,I had it running within 15 minutes a heavy fuse feed wire had come off at the battery terminal. it was a lovely car with air con and alloys.I sold it because it was petrol,me being a diesel nut.made a good profit on that one.
no4 sadly the xm that pushed me too far.
It was a 96 2.5td estate silver,went like a train but not long before the clutch started slipping,I took the engine out changed the clutch £££ then had big problems with the clutch slave cylinder and travelled far and wide to get another,that fixed I put it in for an m.ot,the test had to be aborted because the cooling fans were kicking in too late by which time the mot inspector had ,had a free shower!
After the m.ot I got the car home and it let go on my driveway,the mot bloke must have been stabbing about above the rear subframe to the point where he had weakened the pipe,it held out until I got home,when it happened I stuffed a trolley jack underneath before she sunk down too low.
At this point I had sunk £750 into this car and I was more than sick of the sight of it.I let it go for a lot less than I had paid out.That was the end of me and Xms.
Since that day I have had a 2002 Renault espace 2.2dci and my car now a 97 Peugot 406 2.1td neither of them have measured up to those two diesel xms.
I have just pulled the caravan up from Eastbourne to Preston and I was more than glad to get home.
On that long journey my mind strayed back to the comfort , reliability and amazing fuel economy of the 2.1 td xms.
I have this feeling I will have another before too long.
Best regards Gary

[xmexclusive]

Hi Gary

The selection of available Diesel XM's is getting thinner by the day.
Do not expect the search to be easy if you want to get a good one.
Diesel XM's are quite old cars now and they also tend to be high mileage.
Throw in the fact that from 96 on virtually all 2.1's were auto's with the box life risk.

In reality I suspect that your 2.5 experience is not that much below the typical that you could expect from buying what is now a fairly old, complex and well used car.
For many of us the saving grace is the very low purchase price and our ability to do much of the work ourselves. Just have to fund the parts and put up with a bit of often inconvinent down time. Many of us run more than one XM to offset this risk. If you only have the always needed single car then all this can have much higher implications and costs where you pay for repairs.

Best of luck with the search.

John

[blue94auto]

Hello John,
When I look back with the purchase of the 2.5td vsx estate I was rather stupid not to check it out more than I did,I was complacent with xms in general because the three I had ,had previously had been very sound cars mechanical and bodily .
The 2.5 was a bad experience and that was my fault,I ran away scared blaming the xms complexity because it was such a bugger getting the engine out to do the clutch.
Forgetting in the panic of it all that the 2.1tds had given me the best motoring experience to date.
The blue94 auto I had..........when I dropped the auto fluid it was BLACK !
I shelled out for a big drum of the correct auto fluid and changed it a few times within say six hundred miles,until it retained it red wine colour. The car towed the caravan up and down the country and the auto box performed without fault for a good few years,until stupidity prevailed and I got rid before a trip to France.
I reckon I have seen the error of my ways and I am now ready to put my faith in regular auto fluid changes.
I have found a car not too far away with full dealer service history and lowish mileage,just got to break it to my wife !!!
Wish me luck.
Gary

[Peter.N.]

Hi Garry

I also am a 2.1 nut but prefer the manual variety, certainly for reliability anyway. I am on my seventh now but one is unfortunatly no more, as my wife demolished a bus shelter with it, that had been a very reliable car having covered 70,000 virtually trouble free miles since I fitted a head gasket.

As John says, they are getting very thin on the ground now, I have been fortunate enough to have been able to purchase what are possibly the last of the 2.1 manual estates with mechanical fule injection, all registered Jan .96 and reg YBL, one other member has one but I have not seen any for sale for a couple of years, the last one I bought.

I have a '95 hatch which I am considering selling if you are interested, which was actually made at about the same time as the '96s. If I sell it will probably be on ebay but you are welcome to come and have a drive if you live anywhere near.

Peter

[blue94auto]

Thanks for that Peter,I am A bit far away from you my wife would have a fit and I have learnt it's a good thing to keep them happy over the years he he.
Major hurdle ....I have swung her over to the fact that we need to return to having an XM .I was just looking at photos of the silver mk 1 hatch I had back in 2005,you don't realise what you had until you've done the wrong thing do you.
We are dragging the caravan down to your neck of the woods in August I hope to be sorted by then as I have had enough of going up and down the box on this 406 2.1td
to keep a decent speed up.
I got the 406 as it is pre hdi 97 reg and being the same engine the xm used,I can't remember towing being such a struggle in either the mk 1 2.1td xm or the mk 1 2.1td auto I used to have sob sob.
Anyway other cars don't scratch the surface,the xm is a superb drive and I will be happy when there is another sitting on my drive.
regards Gary

[blue94auto]

Hooray I am now an XM owner!
The car I went to look at was the white 2.1 vsx that Malcolm at Savoy had for sale.
He got it up on the two post lift and I had a good look underneath,its in very good condition with the all important service history.
It drove really nice as an xm should,so just a case of swapping my insurance over and
it will be luxury driving come Thursday.
Nice to be back Gary

[demag]

Well done Gary on your new purchase. I hope you have some good times. I have been Xmless for a while too after giving in to family pressure that we needed a people mover. I p/x'd the Xm for a 52 plate diesel Multipla which was nice, but for such a modern car had alsorts of woes. The two major ones being a nearly knackered clutch and a crap heater. I read some real horror stories about useless clutches that even Fiat main dealers couldn't sort out! Come to think of it, sounds a bit like the Xm! As for the heater, it was pretty much non-existant. During the last winter it was a night mare driving to work at 5.30am with a windscreen that was freezing up! The main problem appeared to be a bad design that wasn't up to our winters compounded by thermostats that lasted 8-10 months. And they were 50 quid a shout! I now drive a Grand Scenic which is ok-ish but I'm not really enthused by it to be honest. I might keep it a year or so and see if I can get another Xm.

Now you've got it, hang on to it!

[Peter.N.]

The CX had that problem, the aerodynamics meant that there was very little airflow through the heater but they certainly put it right on the XM. My XM's have been pretty reliable compared with many modern cars, two now around the 200k mark and I sold my last one at nearly 300k!

Peter

[blue94auto]

Thanks for that demag, you say you have the Grand Scenic,is that the new Espace or like the 02 plate I had ?
I wasn't impressed with the ride quality of the espace neither were the family,it gave a rough ride.I was prepared to lose money on it to get rid so I sold it to my bro in law at a price he liked.He used the car as a skip to and fro from house to tip,it drives lovely now! when we have been in it I can't believe how smooth it drives,just needed some weight in it to sort the springs out I think.
I picked the xm up today drove the twenty odd miles home with a big smile on my face,it's good to drive a quality car once again.
Gary

[demag]

Its a 54 plate 1.5dci 100bhp. Nice and comfy. 7 seats and the engine is surprisingly nimble for a 1.5 in such a big body. But it just seems a bit bland. To be honest the Multi was much nicer to drive. I got rid of it because of the crap heater believe it or not! The suspension is fine on good roads but a bit joggly on bad surfaces. We have loads of speed humps in this area and if it hits one a touch too fast it just launches itself! Most unpleasant. Hopefully I'll find some time to work on the Bx soon and at least I'll be back in a Citroen again.