305, 306, Xantia, BX, XUD ...

[ouk]

Hi all,

I have been in NZ for almost 5 years, owning a BX and a 306 and I did not even know this forum existed ... I must say I usually go straight to the french forums when I need to troubleshoot one of the cars, and I managed to find all the parts I needed without too much effort (or ordering directly from Citroën part suppliers in France, which is not as expensive as one might think).

In short:
- I'm french, arrived 5 years ago after a relatively short trip of 15 month on a sailing boat fitted with ... a marinised XUD7 engine (usually fitted on BXes or 309s). I'm still living on the said sailing boat in Auckland...
- before the trip:
   > I learned to drive on (and to get my hands dirty in the engine bay of) a '86 305 1.9D wagon that's still running after 30 years despite the salt on the roads around the family home in the French Alps. The odometer is broken and we estimate it has covered about 500 000k with only basic maintenance...
   > I had a 306 that was wrecked by a hit-and-run driver while parked in front of my student house in Southampton
   > Then before leaving France we had a Xantia SX HDi wagon (still in use as well, around 380 000 km now). Great car to drive around France to see the friends and family when we go back there.
- and afterwards, since we arrived in NZ:
    > we were looking for a diesel Xantia wagon but could not find one at the time given the scarce supply. But we found a '90 BX19 TGD, replaced the headgasket (and cylinder head at the same time) and we had an awesome flying carpet to discover NZ (we even fitted nets in the rear vents to prevent sandflies from coming in when we or the kids were sleeping in the car ), with 1200 km on a tank ...
    > and as a second car when we started working we found a 306 turbo-diesel

Now, the sad thing (and one of the reasons why I'm posting this introduction here today) is that we had an accident with the BX a few weeks ago and it would not be reasonable to think about repairing it. We do not have the space to store it for possible later use so it'll either go to a scrapyard or to somebody who'll need it for parts. Engine and hydraulics are good, interior is tidy (it has rear headrests !!), the factory sunroof is in good condition, it has 2 near new Michelin tyres, a recently sandblasted/repainted towbar, and other good things. The bad things are the damage at the front and the body/paintwork. I can provide more details if needed. I'll also have a handful of new and good used parts but the priority in the short term is to have the car removed.

So feel free to PM me and / or share that with anybody who might be interested to get his hands on quite a lot of - assembled - BX parts ...

ouk

[rolly]

Welcome to FastFrog and NZ!

Being french car nutters we are a little outside the norm here in Aeotearoa.

Sad days indeed about the BX, hopefully someone will be able to sanp it up

[CaM]

welcome along!

[Mungous]

Bienvenue á Fastfrogs!

I hate hearing about more deaths in the BX family... 😟

I have no room to take a whole car, but if this does get dismantled there are a few bits and pieces I would be keen on.

[DFF53]

If you are whom I think you are, now I really feel gutted not selling my 92 BX to you. If you aren't,  Hi, welcome..

[Biff Tannen]

Hi, so your living on a boat thats awesome! with your kids in tow is so freaking cool!! Where abouts are you? Westhaven?

[BigPete]

You must be the fellow who puts notes under the wipers of 406 HDi wagons at Half Moon Bay Marina

Welcome!

[ouk]

Thanks all for the warm welcomes.

I hate hearing about more deaths in the BX family... 😟

I have no room to take a whole car, but if this does get dismantled there are a few bits and pieces I would be keen on.

Yes I was very sad too. And my 3 years old was even sadder. He loved the 'Beeheek' so much, especially when it was 'taking off'.
That said, when we saved this car, I was seriously hoping to fully restore it one day. I slowly became disillusioned when I saw that too many places needed either quite a lot of work or constant attention to stop or prevent rust (the car was imported from the UK in 98), and the long-term objective became to keep this one on the road until I could find another one with a clean shell.

I won't be able to provide a 'pick a part' service, as the car is kept on a friend's driveway and he won't like the oil / LHM / whatever spills on it ... So the whole car has to go. I could give the details of the dismantler here if it goes to a dismantler.

If you are whom I think you are, now I really feel gutted not selling my 92 BX to you. If you aren't,  Hi, welcome..

Well, I was a quite gutted too but had to accept that. Let's call that destiny ... I haven't heard about the actual buyer, by the way. Maybe he is / will be around?

Hi, so your living on a boat thats awesome! with your kids in tow is so freaking cool!! Where abouts are you? Westhaven?

The answer is in BigPete's post:

You must be the fellow who puts notes under the wipers of 406 HDi wagons at Half Moon Bay Marina

Indeed. Thanks for pointing me to FastFrogs, BigPete

As a side note we'd now be looking for a Xantia mkII HDi manual wagon - in white - but as it seems to be an unreasonable wish in this part of the world, its Peugeot counterpart would be a good alternative (and has quite inexplicably a better ACC rating)... we actually got a 406 in the mean time, but it may be back on the market soon if we find a better one, or a Xantia, or a C5 (however C5 manuals are virtually non-existent, and the good 6-speed auto gearboxes on these only came later on cars that are still a bit pricey) or possibly a Mondeo. Even if not french, it would have a french engine in it (with TDCi = HDi).

[ouk]

Gone. 

If you want any part, ring Japaneuro Car Parts in Papakura very quickly. The number is 0800 600 504.
When the guy told me it was going directly to scrap I had the time to remove 2-3 things but had to leave some in the car. Would have wanted to take the 12L supplementary tank in the rear guard, the sunroof panel and the intermittent rear wiper relay. And of course the 2 rear wheels with the michelin tyres.

[ouk]

As I can't access the  'for sale' section yet, here are the parts that I no longer need to keep.

Parts list moved here

[ouk]

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cohort-capsule-1990-citroen-bx-peugeot-in-a-citroen-suit/

This was mine, the blue one (a long time ago when I had not done much on it ...).