Replacing a BX?

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Boxwolf
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Replacing a BX?

Post by Boxwolf »

I have a bit of a dilemma.

The BX this year cost me £300 in replacement parts and labour to scrape it through the MOT and almost failed on a slow leak from the hydraulic regulator. The local mechanic who did the work on it says it will fail next year on that leak and will probably need a new regulator to fix it (don't know if that's actually the case but it's worrying) and that similar replacements will need doing in a year as well.

Additionally the ride is like a pogo stick because the spheres were probably new in 1992

He also gave me the talk they all do about the BX being an unreliable car and that I need to replace it with something more reliable.

That should be fairly straightforward, but it's not.

First and foremost, I don't WANT to give up the BX. It's individual, looks good inside and out (modern car styling rubs me up the wrong way) it's easy to pull apart to get at things, at least on the inside and it has always done the job it needed to. I like this car.

When I pull up somewhere in the BX it makes me smile knowing nobody will have seen one for years and when i look at it in a car park I get that glow of pride from owning something so individual.

I guess i'm looking for advice. Should I really give the BX the boot? and if so, what car would be reliable, dependable and cheap to run/maintain?

I had a pug 306 before the BX and the electrics on those are terrible, with no way to access the wiring without removing the entire dashboard.
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sdelasal
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Post by sdelasal »

Having no compliance in the suspension system because your gas spheres are flat is, I think, putting stress on other hydraulic components - So i'd get those fixed as a priority. With the ride back you'll probably get all sentimental about keeping the car!

If you can't do the work yourself then you have to resign yourself to the fact that it'll cost you each year to keep the car on the road. However, you have no depreciation to worry about and the car is pretty simple - if you find the right mechanic to work on it for you.
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Jaba
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Post by Jaba »

Don't give the BX the boot give your MOT tester the boot.
Its ridiculous to fail a car on a slight weep from the FDV. Most of them leak anyway slightly and it really does not matter as the fluid loss is negligible.

The best idea is to clean it up the day before the test then it will not be noticed.

If you were to bring your BX to my local MOT garage they would not even mention it unless it was a genuine leak.

Typical motor trade talking down the BX, they just don't understand them when they say things like that. They are NOT unreliable. I have done 500,000 miles in BXs. They have only let me down on the road twice when an alternator and a clutch failed. Both of these fail on ALL cars.
The Joy of BX with just one Citroën BX to my name now. Will I sing Bye Bye to my GTI or will it be Till death us do part.
Boxwolf
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Post by Boxwolf »

sdelasal wrote:Having no compliance in the suspension system because your gas spheres are flat is, I think, putting stress on other hydraulic components - So i'd get those fixed as a priority. With the ride back you'll probably get all sentimental about keeping the car!
I have been meaning to get the spheres sorted since I bought the car (annoyingly it was advertised as having had them replaced recently)
but I have no confidence in doing them myself, especially the rear ones and no suitable place to work on the car. I have some extra spheres but they are not new. The rear ones are from 2003 (never used though) and the front ones are used ones from 2002. I don't know how either set will perform.

I was going to attempt changing the rear spheres by taking the car to a friends place who had a covered, flat area off the road I could use but since the plan is supposed to be replace the BX and because I'm afraid of breaking something, crippling the car, I havent followed that up.
sdelasal wrote: If you can't do the work yourself then you have to resign yourself to the fact that it'll cost you each year to keep the car on the road. However, you have no depreciation to worry about and the car is pretty simple - if you find the right mechanic to work on it for you.
I already resigned myself to that, but it's costing more each year and I have very little income. The insurance and tax are bad enough :x daylight robbery in fact.
There are three garages and one independant mechanic where I live. All three garages are basically crooks and the mechanic hates the BX.
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citronut
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Post by citronut »

if the MOT tester does not like a car what do you think it does to there opinion on what is a reasonable faliure,


find a citroen indie even if they dont peform the MOT themselves,

besides all that you dont need to buy a new regulator as there must be plenty useable units out there,


regards malcolm
curent ride
K reg BX 17TD TZD est
also own
K reg D special

no longer have
H reg CX saffari 2.5 TRI (now gone to Malaysia)
R reg xantia 1.9TD est (gone to meet its maker)
sdelasal
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Post by sdelasal »

if you post where you live and ask for recommendations, perhaps you'll get some leads on suitable local places, where you can get the spheres replaced - A good place would remove them and test them to see if they need replacing or even re-charging. Good luck. Steve
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Post by Dollywobbler »

Cars cost money - that's pretty much a given. Would you rather spend a few hundred every year on maintenance or hundreds on depreciation with something newer and less good?
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Post by citronut »

how firm is the suspension, if there is non or very little that should have been a faliure,



regards malcolm
curent ride
K reg BX 17TD TZD est
also own
K reg D special

no longer have
H reg CX saffari 2.5 TRI (now gone to Malaysia)
R reg xantia 1.9TD est (gone to meet its maker)
Boxwolf
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Post by Boxwolf »

citronut wrote:how firm is the suspension, if there is non or very little that should have been a faliure,



regards malcolm
Firmer than coil springs. I don't know if its bad enough to be an MOT fail but its bad enough to make the ride pretty rough. Not BX like in any way.
Dollywobbler wrote:Cars cost money - that's pretty much a given. Would you rather spend a few hundred every year on maintenance or hundreds on depreciation with something newer and less good?
Don't want something newer, definitely don't want something new enough to depreciate. If anything, I want something simpler and I want to be able to do more myself.

I did replace the window channel myself recently but that was a horrible, horrible job and nearly broke the glass a number of times.
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Post by Dollywobbler »

BXs are fairly simple though - if fiddly in places. They're just very different to most cars, which is why the trade views them with suspicion and tars them with the brush of 'difficult to work on.'

A good specialist makes all the difference though - especially if they'll let you watch them at work so you can pick up tips...
Boxwolf
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Post by Boxwolf »

Dollywobbler wrote:BXs are fairly simple though - if fiddly in places. They're just very different to most cars, which is why the trade views them with suspicion and tars them with the brush of 'difficult to work on.'
Not one mechanic I have met hasn't used this brush...
Dollywobbler wrote: A good specialist makes all the difference though - especially if they'll let you watch them at work so you can pick up tips...
That would be good, cause if I picked up how to do it well then next time I could try doing the job in question myself. The biggest problem I have is when something needs doing under the car cause theres no flat level ground where I live and wheel ramps only work if the wheels dont need to be removed themselves! X)
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Post by Dollywobbler »

Yeah, I can definitely sympathise. With my previous BX, it was just sheer time that stopped me doing more myself, though I could rarely get it into my garage due to other projects, and working outside is rarely much fun in a British summer...

I'll still farm some jobs out even now, but basic servicing can be done easily enough at home.
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Post by MULLEY »

If you can't afford to keep a bx on the road, i fail to see how you could afford any other car?? If you want to keep your costs down, then you can learn how to do some of the work yourself. Before BX ownership my maintenance skill involved checking & topping up the oil & windscreen wash, now i can do all sorts, still lots to learn but deffo saving a fortune even with my limited skill & knowledge.

Spheres - see if there is a willing club member local to you that can help, but i'd be dubious about the age of those spheres you have, they might be flat as well. Someone might be able to test them to see if they are ok or not, otherwise, why don't you make a day trip out somewhere & go visit Westroen in Manchester who'll fit them all for free & they come with a 3yr warranty, they cost £30 each & they'll check the pressures of your old spheres to see whether they actually need replacing or not.

If you can take a picture of where you believe the leak is coming from, we'll be in a better position to give you some advice on what to do or not do, perhaps as suggested, a quick wipe down before the mot is all that's required or take your car to an mot station where the tester is sympathetic to older citroens.
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Post by Mickey taker »

in my experience there is only one car more reliable than the bx and thats a mk2 golf or jetta. Trouble is a decent one of those will cost you at least a grand so you have some way to go to get to that sort of expense on the bx. Stick with it
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Post by Tim Leech »

Im no mechanic but you learn as you go along, as mentioned find a trusted local mechanic and stick with him, where I work only one of the guys will work on my BX, the rest wont go anywhere near and find it funny when they fail it on the MOT.

Spheres are piss easy (even ive done them) if they are shot then the whole benefit of a hydro citroen is lost, get some bought and bring it to a the Stratford rally and I'm sure between us we can getthe swopped over.
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