I certainly do not want to offend David W by this post (maybe he can comment on the situ with Xantias - David?!). I hadn't noticed this before but my mum needed the wheels balancing on her Xsara Coupe plus alloys. The garage who normally service the car (non Citroen) apologised and said they were unable to do it because there is no central hole on the wheels on this car and apparently I believe on one of the other French manufacturers cars (Renault or Peugeot, which one escapes me). What this basically means is that these cheeky buggers are trying to force people to go to a Citroen garage to have tyres fitted at what can only be described as extortionate prices (we spent 55% less than Citroen quoted).
We won in the end as we found a local outfit with the right adaptor to get the wheels onto the balancing machine - this adaptor incidentally costs 700 quid according to said garage and few places have them.
There is no reason for these manufacturers to do things like this other than mindless penny pinching. I didn't speak to my mum for 2 weeks after buying the car in the first place, she's been barred from future French purchases altogether now!
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Dan,
All the Citroen's I look after are over three years old, they have holes in the middle!
This isn't so much a Citroen thing as a style issue (perhaps the two are somewhat linked though).
I don't like these non-standard practices but they are just part of the wider issue we talk of concerning changes to car maintenance that knock out the smaller guys.
Of course our local town garage could have done this for her with their old battered steam powered "on-car" balancer....and supplied he with Kuhmos at about £3.50.
David
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a "style issue"?! David, they've got even you believing the propaganda now ;o)
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Dan,
Just a phrase I picked up from Top Gear, not normal Fenspeak!
David
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This has been happening for years on the Peugeot 306 with 15" alloys.
No need for a £700 (are you sure??) adaptor, just have the wheels balanced on the car. Most decent shops should have on-car balancers.
David
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No problems with my old 405's and current 406 (with alloys).
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I was quoting what the garage had said who worked on the car re the 700 quid - I still think it's pretty cheeky of the two manufactuers to be doing it though!
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My 306 cabrio has alloys with central hole - no problem when I had a puncture fixed recently.
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Renaults had no centre hole years ago,because none was necessary......Well.....I lie..there was a little one for the nut that retained the small,simple hubcap,brilliant,on 12s and16s,I believe.
Nothing has changed.
As I recall,when Citroens were the best designed cars in the world,before they became PSAs bargain line,they had a hole in the middle,over which went a nut.
Just the one nut,because one was,and still is,enough.One of the many stupid conventions in car design we appear to be stuck with is heavy steel wheels kept on with 4 or more irritating nuts all covered by a fantastically expensive and ugly lump of plastic.
If the brakes were in the right place(Dont get me going on that one!)all that would be needed is a simple light alloy wheel kept on by one largish central nut,self tightening,of course.
Yes! you're right! just like a lotus elan or MGA twincam.But I do not subscribe to the view that things were necessarily better in the past just because they were in the past.I just get very pissed off with a motor trade that refuses to learn any lessons from the past.The one I dont want you to get me going on is inboard disc brakes.Not to use them is wilful stupidity.
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