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| Pete W.:
Hi there, all, A few months ago I received an email from the RAC. Basically their message was that they now have an on-line version of Glass's Guide and would I like to try it? So I went to the web page and entered my registration number. It told me (correctly) that my (our) car is an X-reg (2000) Citroen Xantia turbo diesel estate. The web-site then prompted me to enter my mileage, so I keyed in 216,500. (It's currently almost 218,000.) The web-site thought for a moment and then asserted that, if it were in showroom condition, our car value/price would be £114. If, on the other hand, it were in average condition, its value/price would be, wait for it, £1 !!! :doh: :doh: :doh: :doh: :doh: :doh: It's also worth £1 if it's in 'poor' condition! My first diesel car was a Citroen Bx diesel hatchback, bought in 1987, the only car I've ever owned from new. That had to go when I was made redundant. By 1997 my fortunes had recovered enough for me to buy a used Ford Escort diesel estate. That was followed soon after 2000 by a used Peugeot 405 diesel estate. That soon got tired (sunshine roof problems among others) so we bought a low-ish mileage Citroen Bx diesel estate. I got deceived by a bad water leak on that one and the engine blew up - I'm very embarrassed about that! :doh: :doh: :doh: Then, in about 2005/6 we bought the Xantia, at that time it had about 160,000-ish miles on the clock. My understanding has always been that in a petrol engine to get the ignition flame to fill the combustion chamber, the fuel/air mixture has to be inefficiently rich. Whereas, with a diesel, the spray of finely atomised fuel is injected into air that is ALL already hotter than the flash-point so the fuel has no choice but to burn! All of it!! But in recent years, the private motorist has been pilloried on grounds of 'particulate emissions'. I've bicycled in heavy rush hour traffic and been stuck at traffic-lights behind a bus with a belching 4" exhaust! I've also heard tales of trucks being tweaked to get them through the MOT emissions test and then un-tweaked once the pass-certificate is in-hand! So I have my own suspicions as to whose particulate emissions predominate. When I was sent on a value engineering course many years ago, we were taught the slogan 'Hit the high cost areas first!'. But in politics, it's 'aim for the soft targets!' (/rant) :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: |
| Bluechip:
Been using sludge-gulpers since 1992. First being a Ford Orion ( Company car, absolute junk. ) Then a Vauxhall Astra, another company car, did 93,000 faultless. VW Passat Estate, mine. VW Golf Estate, mine again. Vauxhall Astra 1.7TD Estate, just gone. Now have a new Subaru Forester, 2.0D XC. Do use petrol in my Mantis cultivator though ... and have a gas fag-lighter ... :thumbup: and a Sievert Propane torch .... Dave EDIT 'Fag-Lighter ' as in the UK version ie. Cigarette Lighter. Not anything else that may spring to the mind of any North Americans ... :palm: |
| DavidA:
Pete w, I've had two Bxs. Liked them both. only problem was the nightmare hydraulic suspension. It can be a potential killer. I still have a set of front to rear hydraulic pipes in their original Citroen packages. If you hear of anyone needing a set let me know. I've always had Diesel cars with some derivative of the Peugeot XUD engine. I have found them pretty bullet proof, EXCEPT if you get a water leak. They have always run well for me on home made biodiesel. And making it isn't so messy if you're careful. The savings can be quite substantial. As the fuel prices are going back up again I am considering getting back in the game. But there is a problem. The 206 is a common rail engine. And I understand that common rail engines need VERY clean fuel. So I will have to save my bio for the old Citroen. That one isn't nearly as fussy. The 206 is a three door anyway. So I won't be keeping it long. Only bought it because it was going to be scrapped while it still had six months test on it. Dave. Just found this. Had to pass it on; it's classic. Remember, if you have more than one geek in a room, it's classed as too many. http://www.206info.co.uk/Forums/viewtopic/printertopic=1/t=14304/postdays=0/postorder=asc/start=0.html |
| smiffy:
I have had diesels for years Currently have a VW T5 with 100,000 miles Toyota landcruiser 250.000 mile so just about run in and unimog 1300l with 3000 hours on the clock .I used to run a old peugeot in france on a mixture or rape seed oil brought from a local farmer in 205 litre drums and diesel worked ok but smelt like a chip shop. I dont think I would run a modern common rail engine on anything except the correct fuel far too many sensors and particle filters to go wrong. Mike |
| Eugene:
We've had three diesel Skoda Octavias thus far; dropped the first two after 100,000+ miles as minor niggles started to show up (never with the mill). The latest is an all electric everything model, auto box, and gives around 55 to the gallon overall. Chuffed. When we chopped in the last one the guy gave us quite a fair price for it; he has a contact in Brum who buys clean and tidy high mileage diesels and sells them to the Pakistani / Indian taxi boys. It went off his books in 24 hours! My mate Simon is yer actual Range Rover hot shot mechanic, really knows his stuff and is in high demand. One of his clients in the Black Country is the owner of a string of Chinese restaurants who passes him all the used cooking oil by way of a gift. He's got his own Disco running on it as sweet as a nut, but with what industrial chemists refer to as a "characteristic odour". Every time he turns up on shooting days it's "Two chicken chow miens and a special flied lice please!" We also have a petrol 4WD Subaru Forester for getting around the hills in the winter and transporting gundogs in soggy places; does 28 -30 mpg on a good day. Not so b******g chuffed, but the Skodas would get stuck on a damp cricket pitch, so needs must. Eug |
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