Ebay Xsara

[swiss]

Think of it as a Pug in disguise...

Anyway, I am considering hocking the Green Dream in favour of an estate, for the purpose of chucking the dog in the back and hitting the beach, New Forest etc. Just seen this Xsara on Ebay and was wondering what people thought in terms of VFM, risk etc etc. Anybody had experience with this model?

[mjb]

What a wreck! And should the pedals on a 120k Citroen be shiny like that where a 200k pug will still has its rubber intact?

[steve_earwig]

Looks like the throttle pedal doesn't have a rubber & it's worn through the paint. I'm sure you could pick up a similarly aged 1.9 406 privately for that, in fact 500 quid sounds a little steep for a car that's full of faults and obviously neglected. From ebay Offer him 150.

[turbolag]

They're basically a 306, but without even the 306 level of finish...which really takes some doing.

[swiss]

Many thanks chaps... will keep looking

[Welly]

At first I thought.... "that's no too bad, what are they on about" then I saw the pic of the lock 'repair' and the old "think it needs regassing" line and thought "meh"

Oh and Citroen's have black-painted throttle pedals which wear through to the shiney metal (our AX had this).

[steve_earwig]

It's gone now but when I looked yesterday they were also selling a similarly ratty looking Mazda that was on the back of a low loader. "I bought this car as a runaround while my car was being repaired" my arse.

[Welly]

"I haven't checked the air con cos it's been cold"

This is why I hate ebay I think. It seems to be a place (cloaked in some kind of hollow security) to get rid of all sorts of dodgy sh1t

[RichA]

As opposed to AutoTrader, where they would just list A/C and not mention anything else about it? At least when you see an eBay advert like that, you know it's likely to not be working and can factor it in to your bid... it's less annoying that travelling 100 miles to see a car from the 'trader which is totally mis-described...

All used car sales are dodgy. Most folk don't list every fault they know of. You do - rarely - get a sound one though

--Rich

[swiss]

*BUMP*

OK, so please don't think I only ever link to wrecks... I was just wondering if anyone could explain the fault described on this Vectra, specifically:

Garage said it will fail its MOT as the idling speed is not right and the ABS warning light is on - but the diagnostic machine didn't link to that part of the computer.

Naturally I'm aware that no MOT translates to 'don't buy this one'... just wondering how fixable this fault might be in case Santa bought me the car for Crimbo ;)

cheers dudes

[steve_earwig]

Idling speed is not right? If it's a bit out then why would it fail emissions? It's a lot out then, most efi idle speeds are set by the ecu. "new crankshaft and cam shaft sensor november 2008" and it still doesn't go right.

"...the diagnositc machine didnt link to that part of the computer." I.e. they've no idea what the problem is. Wheel sensor? ECU?? Pump??? I'm guessing ecu because it's not talking, although I did have the abs light up on my Senator which turned out to be a wheel sensor (90 quid 6 years ago),

We used to have a mechanic on here who bought a non-runner off ebay because he knew what the problem was, when he fixed that he then found the other 1,001 problems he didn't know about. I think I'd be extremely carful about buying there, maybe cars are there because people haven't got time to get rid of them in the normal manner but I reckon a lot of the time it's more like there's no way they'd shift them otherwise.

At least the price isn't as mad as the Karsa:

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/ww ... egLetter=P

[Doggy]

Most Vauxhalls have a motor driven idle speed control unit, (ISC). It's a kind of motorised 1/4 turn ball valve, which opens variable amounts dependant on applied voltage. It works like an additional throttle, operate by the ecu. They're prone to sticking, but can usually be sorted by removing & spraying internally with brake cleaner or similar. I had a 24V Carlton & a 3.0 Omega both had the same issue, but easily & cheaply resolved.

Good luck

[swiss]

Where's the 'cry' smiley?

Thing is, since Gumtree.com coughed up my beloved 406 - bizarrely, the exact car I wanted, at the price I wanted to pay, at the time I wanted to buy - I've been expecting the intarweb to come good every time. Oh well, guess I've been spoiled ^^

Maybe this is nature's way of making me stick with the 406 ^^ Least 'till I qualify in the summer and can buy a V6 coupe...

Thanks for advice doods