HI new member! What BX model would give me least hassle?

[reanimation]

Hi all, I'm new here. I have a pile of projects (ford based) and a Toyotat MR2! Plus a Video project i am working on.

My CVH powered Sapphire is going under for some KYB gas shock mods and maintenance for MOT. believe it or not its been really good to me but i really should consider getting a BX instead in the near future as on car filming will be smoother yeah?

I decided on BX over XM as less to go wrong, smaller and cheaper insurance i hope.


Which to go for though?

My mate had a K reg TDiesel in the 90's and that was great but his dad ran and maintained it mostly. So i have no idea if it was any trouble and it was quite new at the time.

If i get one it will need to at least start off ready to go trouble free, and want the power at least of the Sapph (a 1.8 CHV isnt hard to match)!

I imagine GTI's are pretty sought after now so maybe thats out of the question and not mega insurance friendly

Anyway look forward to meeting you all.

[cavmad]

Good morning mate and welcome along. If it`s power you want then you`ll want a Gti or 16V. The Gti is probably less `fragile` than the 16V (wait for the valver lads to come on and have a go at me, lol) and still is quite a quick car.
However I`d see if you can get a decent TZD (turbo diesel) as they are suprisingly quick, very reliable and also cheap to run.
Nowt wrong with Sierra`s, had a couple in the past including an extremely tidy 2.0 twin cam GLSi and more recently a one owner GT hatchback which made a very good price on eBay despite having no MOT. I expect most Sierra`s are getting rare now due to age and banger racers etc?

[M]

Aha - your doing what the Beeb used to do filming the horse races aint you? ( though they used a CX and before that a DS I believe).

For least all round hassle go for a diesel, and N/A will be boringly reliable if maintained, but not as thrilling as a Turbo Diesel. If you have a look over the rest of the site there is some useful information on what to look for, plus maintaining the bits that frequently go "pyoiiiiingggg".
Rust and poor cowboy maintainance are your enemy - more so if you are looking at a car with a sun roof for hanging out of with a camera as blocked drainage pipes can lead to premature rusting.

Why not look for an estate (eBay has a couple right now) which will offer comfort and load space too (though the saloons are not without bags of boot space, more ifyou drop the seats.)

Look for rust in the boot, under the rear arches, sills, door bottoms, rear door slam (usually beyond economic repair if rotten here) inner wings (esp N/S) door hinge mounts, A pannels and rear exhaust hangers, under rear bumper is also a firm favorite.
Then look at the engine - any obvious leaks from the head Gasket? is it pressurising the cooling system, is the coolant clean or filthy brown, does the coolant in the expansion tank bubble when the engine has been running for a little while, then check the car rises and falls as it should, check the colour of the LHM - green / yellow good - brown /black bad and point to a neglected system ( remember this feeds your suspension, brakes and steering). Any leaks from the system when the car is raised / lowered to max / min ride heights, any puddles of green (brown) blood on the floor? How often does the accumilator "tick" anything less than 20 - 30 seconds means its ready for replacing. Do the corners of the car bounce smothely when its in the normal ride height? Or are they hard - new spheres needed then.
Oil leaks in the engine bay (if looking at a disesel) some are easy to fix, some not. Do the cooling fans cut in properly, does the radiator have any cold spots - if so its probably knackered and you will need to look at a new one (£100+on TD) Check the condition of the hoses, esp the bottom hose on the TD.
Finally take it for a drive and make sure things like electric windows, sunroof etc work.
If you still like it, buy it, spend a few £££ getting it just right and you will have a very good dependable workhorse - my own car has done 160K miles and eats speed bums for breakfast at almost any speed.
Welcome aboard.

[reanimation]

Thanks for the great welcome and long informative posts, appreciate it!

Yep, I'm hoping to feature interesting classic and custom cars so i'm copying the beeb and others. A diesel would be perfect if i'm not gonna get trouble and its not too noisy. I'll be pointing a mic out th back.

I do like the BX too infact I like Citroens, just never dared own one!

As i said the Sierra is great as a cruiser A-Ber, but being a saloon it could be tricky keeping hold of the camera out back plus i already have project 3 door so it wouldnt be too much of a loss. They seem to be worth little now, right in banger status which is sad, and the 1.8 is bottom of the tree thanks to bad rep from un maintained low milers. My low miler is up for swaps/px if anyone has any ideas.

Current fleet for those interested.



from tomorrow, none roadworthy!

I will try it once its MOT'd and see how the KYBs perform but I'd bet it wont be as good as the reknowned Citroens.

Thanks for pointing out what to look for, i'll refer to that when i'm ready to start scouting, how much will i need to spend for a neatie late Turbo D

and for a similar GTI?

[jeremy]

GTi's are much quicker than TD's.

TD's just go faster tha non-turbo's - fuel consumption, reliability and maintenance is the same.

[cavmad]

I assume the problem you refer to with the 1.8`s is that they used to smoke their t*ts off if not properly maintained? Correct me if I`m wrong but the silver one on the bypass looks like a Chasseur and the three door must be mega rare now? Both look very tidy cars.
As regards values of BX`s, it`s fairly to difficult to give an exact estimate but I`d suggest around £400 for a pretty good TZD (1.7 turbo diesel) which will have MOT and be useable (though probably require some jobs doing to it) and anything up to about £1,000 for a top of the tree low mileage minter which you`ll get years of use out of. There`s probably quite a few member`s of this forum who`ve scored really nice ones for peanuts, it`s a matter of right time, right place I suppose. Ebay (as usual) occasionally throws up some good ones, always worth keeping an eye out and good, welll cared for examples are always worth the money.

[reanimation]

Absolutely spot on cavmad! It is a Chasseur, Its been great to me, the very reason why its hard to rid it. they need a regular oil change and are not as fast as the pinto'd and twincam'd Sierras apparently.

I'd add a cheap BX to the fleet if i had the cash and could insure/tax/MOT another. Will keep an eye out on here in the meantime. The 3 door has had a Rover V8 professionally put in and has not graced the UK's roads for at least 13 years, hence its good condition.

I recon a TD BX would best suit my needs, we had great fun in my mates driving across the yorkshire moors at speeds and some good MPGage would be great! Is the engine in the Diesel anything to do with the peugeot lumps, or am i way off? avaided diesels for a while but nows the time to make savings. GTi would be fun too though.

Will keep an eye out for one.

[M]

Is the engine in the Diesel anything to do with the peugeot lumps, or am i way off?

Tis one and the same, also found under the lid of Rovers and the like.

Have a read of this too:
http://www.bxclub.co.uk/tom/thoughts/

Then follow the links from the main site to BX-DIY and have a look at that site, this too will give you an idea of what frequently goes wrong and how to put it right with the minimum of swearing.

[Barnsley BXer]

Welcome to the club from sunny Barnsley.I used to hate diesels until I got my first one.Surprisingly quick,Surprisingly quiet(at motorway speeds) and of course comfortable

[Kitch]

I'll have a near mint 16v for sale soon.

If you're making vids of cars, the camara car will need to keep up

[reanimation]

Welcome to the club from sunny Barnsley.I used to hate diesels until I got my first one.Surprisingly quick,Surprisingly quiet(at motorway speeds) and of course comfortable

Hi, nice n local-ish!

I drove my mates 306 TD and that was ok took some getting used to but i could cope with that.

[reanimation]

I'll have a near mint 16v for sale soon.

If you're making vids of cars, the camara car will need to keep up

Hi,

As we speak, I'm skint!

Doesnt mean i cant sell something though or balg a couple squid somehow!!! Id certainly be interested, if i could afford it. why are you gonna sell it? and when?

What do GTI's do to the gallon on average normal driving (long dist @ motorway speeds and odd commute here and there)?

also anyone know the insurance group?

[Barnsley BXer]

Hi reanimation,How locaal is localish?Do I detect that you are from this fine county of Yorkshire?

[reanimation]

I have not put my location in yet have . Doh!

Currently in South Manchester

Born and bred in West Yorks!

[Barnsley BXer]

Nice one mate,another Yorkshireman.Watch out Cavmad The war of the roses part2 is about to begin