Bad image for Citroen

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Tue 11 Dec 2012 13:09
Bad image for Citroen - barney100

An advert for scrapping your car shows a y reg Citroen on it's way to to the crusher, hope Citioen have a sense of humour.

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Tue 11 Dec 2012 14:15
Bad image for Citroen - Bromptonaut

An advert for scrapping your car shows a y reg Citroen on it's way to to the crusher, hope Citioen have a sense of humour.

Yer Wot!!!

Y is March to September 2001. Vehicle 11+ years old and probably worth peanuts. Less than £500 for say a petrol Xantia even with history and an MoT?

There's plenty here who'd say it was madness to 'spend more than it's worth' on a few jobs to keep a car like that in running order.

Edited by Bromptonaut on 11/12/2012 at 14:18

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Tue 11 Dec 2012 15:29
Bad image for Citroen - madf

That's not a bad image for Citroen: a Citroen lasting 11 years before it's scrapped. Close to the UK average car life.

I am amzed it lasted that long :-)

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Tue 11 Dec 2012 15:36
Bad image for Citroen - unthrottled

11 years before it's scrapped. Close to the UK average car life.

Amazing in an age of supposed national austerity. We laugh at Americans, yet they happily run their cars much longer. How do you render a 11 year old car unfit for repair?

Edited by unthrottled on 11/12/2012 at 15:36

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Tue 11 Dec 2012 16:12
Bad image for Citroen - Bromptonaut

How do you render a 11 year old car unfit for repair?

I guess if a major part like a gearbox or even a costly rotable like the clutch gives up. Same come MoT time. If a £500 car needs £600 of reairs then the 'never spend more than it's worth' advice will be proffered.

Personally I think advice should be much more nuanced. My Xantia is an X 110 HDi estate with 150k on the clock. It does exactly what I need of it and it cost me £700 in various joints, bushes, brake pad/discs etc at MoT time. Fitted by my trusted indy/specialist.

Can kicked down road until next September by which time my employment circs will be radicaly different.

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Tue 11 Dec 2012 17:45
Bad image for Citroen - unthrottled

Ubless you're a one-legged automatic driver, how do you go through a gearbox or a clutch in 11 years? Back in the days of British Leyland you'd expect gearbox bearings to sound like Janet Street-Porter after about 7 or 8 years, but nowadays-it's really just abuse that kills them. Nothing wrong being hard on a car, but then you expect to pay for new parts.

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Tue 11 Dec 2012 19:11
Bad image for Citroen - focussed

Ubless you're a one-legged automatic driver, how do you go through a gearbox or a clutch in 11 years? Back in the days of British Leyland you'd expect gearbox bearings to sound like Janet Street-Porter after about 7 or 8 years, but nowadays-it's really just abuse that kills them. Nothing wrong being hard on a car, but then you expect to pay for new parts.

Unless it's a Honda Jazz of course-what were they thinking of when they designed that gearbox? How is it possible to design a gearbox where the bearings fail-it's full of b***** oil for god's sake.

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Tue 11 Dec 2012 16:36
Bad image for Citroen - jamie745

Amazing in an age of supposed national austerity. We laugh at Americans, yet they happily run their cars much longer. How do you render a 11 year old car unfit for repair?

They run their cars further but not always longer. The average commuting distance in the US is twice what it is here, if you're taking in over 20k miles just to go to work and the shops then you can see why they prefer large comfy automatics to squitty hatchbacks.

As for the 11 year old car being unfit for repair its a case of 'commercial value.' Nobody will pay much for an 11 year old French car, so it doesn't make it worth repairing.

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Tue 11 Dec 2012 17:29
Bad image for Citroen - primeradriver

Makes a change from all the breakdown companies who almost always choose some anonymous-looking Japanese or Korean car as the victim with the bonnet up.

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Tue 11 Dec 2012 17:50
Bad image for Citroen - unthrottled

Nobody will pay much for an 11 year old French car, so it doesn't make it worth repairing.

To sell on, no. But to keep yourself mobile for buttons-yes.

Let's be clear, it's not new car envy. However, I don't understand why people contrive silly arguments to buy a newer car. Instead of saying something silly like: "my car has 100,000 miles on the clock [pause for effect] and the tyres are a bit worn so I thought I'd buy a new car to save me a repair bill" and be honest and say "I've worked hard. saved some money and fancy driving something a bit nicer than this shabby but serviceable car"? The former is stupid, the latter isn't.

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Tue 11 Dec 2012 18:26
Bad image for Citroen - Armitage Shanks {p}

The Americans are not much given to running diesels with expensive and copmpliacted pumps and injections systems and DPFs and DMFs - the spawn of the devil!

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Tue 11 Dec 2012 18:29
Bad image for Citroen - mss1tw

All those now perfectly preseved, galvanised/zinc coated cars ending up at the scrapyard...

Still I guess it makes the steel smelters happy.

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Tue 11 Dec 2012 18:54
Bad image for Citroen - unthrottled

Funny how "common rail" is considered unreliable when applied to diesel, but perfectly acceptable in a petrol. (yes I know the pressures are two orders of magnitude higher, but then diesel is an easier fuel to pump than petrol).

DPFs and DMF can be long lived with due diligence on behalf of the operator. Besides most of the cars that end up prematurely scrapped are not diesel, but petrols!

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Tue 11 Dec 2012 20:00
Bad image for Citroen - Canon Fodder

my old man's G-plated '89 BX is still going strong(ish), although the state of the body work means that it's unnecessary to open the windows for ventilation

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Tue 11 Dec 2012 20:11
Bad image for Citroen - Bobbin Threadbare

Chap down the road from me has a C reg Ferrari. Still going......;-)

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Wed 12 Dec 2012 17:45
Bad image for Citroen - barney100

Remember Volvo 20 years or so ago advertising an average lifespan of their cars at 19.6 years.

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Thu 13 Dec 2012 07:09
Bad image for Citroen - mss1tw

The only rusty Citroens I remember are those vans that came before the current Berlingo. (C15)

Like the Mercedes Sprinter, rust seemed to tear into them with glee.

(Not that being a tradesman turns you into a van geek or anything)

Edited by mss1tw on 13/12/2012 at 07:10

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