Advice please, for somebody about to buy a BX!!!

R9UKE · Post by **R9UKE** » Fri Jul 16, 2010 9:50 pm

Hi guys,

You may have already read my introduction (18, live in N.Ireland and a huge BX fan).

I placed an ad on Gumtree, asking for any BX owners from Northern Ireland to get in touch if they considered selling. Well after 2 months of nothing, I got two emails yesterday!

I am going to see one of them tomorrow. The details I have so far are - 1992 BX19 diesel. 126,000 miles, MOTd and Taxed, he says he is looking for £350, so I reckon it could be had for £300. Any advice for things I could check while giving it the quick once over?

Another guy from Donegal got in touch. He has 4!!!! One he uses everyday has 360,000 miles on it! The three available are sitting at his fathers farm, on the other side of Ireland! I've looked into transporting it will cost about £85 to get one here. The email he sent me is this...

"the cars are at my fathers farm there is 1989 14 petrol.{engine not so good but pipes are good) 17 diesel (engine very good and body but need repiped )and turbo diesel estate(engine off on one cylinder no rust but needs some work to paint work and suspension etc"

Anyone care to translate? Pipes - Hydraulic pipes?

Which would you go for?

Thanks!

Post by **Tim Leech** » Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:05 pm

£300 for a 1.9D with T&T sounds a good buy if in good nick, plus they are easy to fix and very reliable and may help on the insurance front. If it were me for your first car I would get the good known one that is roadworthy and MOTed, if your look round the site there are lots of what to look for on a BX.

1 Rust! inner wings, boot floors, A pillars, sills and door hinges.

2. Rear arm bearings, with the car in normal height are the rear wheels straight or do they lean in at the top

3. Headgasket on diesels, oil in water and vice versa, bubbles in coolant and does it got hot very quick.

4. Dont worry about worn trim as theres a bit about and your in the right place.

5 LHM leaks, from anyhere, is it a drip or a torrant

6 If the ride is hard its a useful bargaining tool, spheres are cheap and easy to change which can transform the ride. With the engine running how often does the accumulator kick in? a new main accumulator sphere again is a quick and eay change BUT it could be a worn pump.

Drive it, it wont be fast should pull ok, ride smoothly and asides the odd squeak from inside shouldnt make too much clatter.

Good Luck!

Mike E (uk) · Post by **Mike E (uk)** » Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:22 pm

I would get the £300 BX with MOT so I could drive it immediately.
At 18, it wont be too pricy to insure, and will be frugal on fuel.You will then have time to sort the minor (hopefully) issues and enjoy it.

Assuming it is OK on close inspection of course- all BXs are over 17 years old so there will be issues of some kind. It is important to know what these are before buying. Some are trivial- others expensive or challenging for inexperienced home mechanics.

Check rear arm bearings, rust under boot and inner wings, leaks of hydraulic fluid,check it goes up and down smoothly, and the hydraulic pump switches on and off every 15 seconds or less often at idle.
+ the usual stuff for used cars.

A service history is good to have, & may show you that certain jobs have been done recently and won't need doing again for a while.

perhaps there is/should be a sticky of things to check for potential owners?

The other 3 cars are all projects, so you could get them and decide to save or scrap for spares at your leisure.
But expect them to be much worse than they appear-especially if they have not been driven for a while. Only pay small money for these.

Mike

rayfenwick · Post by **rayfenwick** » Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:38 pm

Mike E (uk) wrote:perhaps there is/should be a sticky of things to check for potential owners?

Great idea!

richardd1652 · Post by **richardd1652** » Fri Jul 16, 2010 11:06 pm

Ive sold quite a few Bx to people who come accross from Ireland and take them back so they must be even rarer over there than here.
I would also buy the £300 ish car but me being me , would end up buying the other 3 aswell

Good luck and take lots of pics for us to see,Richard.

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Fri Jul 16, 2010 11:46 pm

rayfenwick wrote:
Mike E (uk) wrote:perhaps there is/should be a sticky of things to check for potential owners?
Great idea!

Any volunteers?

I'll start something off in the Tech FAQ which can then be added to by all - preferably with photos.

R9UKE · Post by **R9UKE** » Sat Jul 17, 2010 2:33 pm

Thanks very much for all the advice, I put it all into practise only to find that this is one clean, well looked after BX.

The guy who owns it is around 25 and his father works on Peugeots and Citroens, so the car looks to have been well maintained.

The car rose nicely and dropped when asked to. I could hear the pump clicking in and under the bonnet looked very clean.

I'M PICKING IT UP IN AN HOUR!

Got it for £300, MOT and TAX until October. Watch out for my new thread once I've taken some pictures.

I'm over the moon, finally a BX owner!

Post by **Defender110** » Sat Jul 17, 2010 3:57 pm

Nice 1 ,well done. Enjoy!

Post by **Tim Leech** » Sat Jul 17, 2010 4:24 pm

Well done mate.

Oscar · Post by **Oscar** » Sat Jul 17, 2010 10:35 pm

Good stuff, sound like a good buy and an excellent choice. Be aware that all other cars have now been spoiled for you and although you will probably own and drive another car at some stage in the future, the BX will always be your first love.

stuart_hedges · Post by **stuart_hedges** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:36 pm

Oscar speaks truth.

I have occasionally tried to get away from hydraulic Citroens, but nothing else is quite the same...

R9UKE · Post by **R9UKE** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 3:15 pm

Yes I completely agree, I'd say this is the first of a long trail of BXs, CXs, XMs and Xantias!

I just love starting it up and getting back out to watch it rise

cavmad · Post by **cavmad** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 6:31 pm

'Advice please, for somebody about to buy a BX!!!'

Don't?

Post by **Defender110** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:17 pm

cavmad wrote:'Advice please, for somebody about to buy a BX!!!'

Don't?

chuckle

Oscar · Post by **Oscar** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:40 pm

cavmad wrote:'Advice please, for somebody about to buy a BX!!!'

Don't?

Too late. He already loves watching it rise.