Anyone had one?
I fancy a late model DTR Turbo 2 - was once the fastest diesel on the road (125bhp, 0-60 10secs, 120++ mph) Seeing as they go for about £500 I reckon this could be a good bangernomics buy. I might improve my car engineering skills too - having to fix electrical gremlins and suspension problems ;)
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Citroen CX?
Not familar with this model. Do you mean BX DTR?
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Had loads of CX's
87 D Gti Turbo 2 black.......
88 F Gti Turbo 2 Met Blue........
79 T 2400 Gti Silver .............
All fantastic cars, bags of street cred, massive driving enjoyment, Turbo 2's bloody quick.................................
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Phil,
I've had 4 CXs and had excellent service out of every one, but they were all petrol. The 2.5 diesels had a reputation for having porus engine blocks, so be careful. I would not advise buying a CX for home maintenenance unless you get the excellent Haynes manual.
The hydraulics are similar to the BX in principle, except the steering which, once you get hydraulic pressure, is a true drive-by-wire system, except
that the "wire" in this case is a column of hydraulic fluid. The steering is one of the truly great features of the car, with powered self-centring and variable speed assist. It needs a cautions approach because I think it only has 2.5 turns lock-to-lock. Apart from normal Citroen caveats i.e. check carefully underneath for rusty pipes - there are dozens, the rear wheels should be vertical or the back arm bearings will need doing, to name a couple. Joining the Citroen Car Club will open up a wealth of info on these magnificent beasts.
The handbrake I found a s*d to adjust. Unless you follow the instructions to the letter, the levers will lock against one another when you put the hanbrake on. From the cockpit it will seem as though the brake is on firmly, but it won't be. The (separate) handbrake pads are the size of (old) 50p pieces and are barely adequate for such a heavy car. The discs used to shrink as they cooled after a journey; many a CX has set off downhill and had an accident all on its own. If you park on a hill, turn the steering wheel one complete turn towards the kerb while the engine is still running and let the steering lock hold the wheels at an angle as you switch off and remove the key.
You should be rewarded with a fast, roomy, economical car with a unique driving experience, and nowadays, for naff-all money. If you go for a safari (estate), you will find it absolutely vast inside. If you get a familiale, you will be able to whisk up to 7 people around in fine style. If you chuck the idea of a diesel and want to take advantage of the low price of petrol (!), get a metal-bumper (Mk1) GTi Turbo. That's entertainment value with 170 bhp from a big big-hearted motor, but they weren't kind to their clutches.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.
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Great post Darcy. I still think the diesel would be a good bet because the price of petrol probably won't keep this disparity with diesel and a diesel one would be good for 35-40mpg. I could afford to run that - not a Turbo with a 20mpg thirst. A haynes manual would be first on my list.
Are the 2500 DTRs a 4 or 5 cylinder? I can't seem to find much out about them. The steering system sounds really clever. What year is the last of the metal bumpers? Have you got any links to some good info?
I was reading that President Chirac had a number of extended black ones for the presedential fleet - he kept them for years after the end of production because he liked them so much!
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Phil
Thanks, 2500 DTRs were pushrod OHV 5 bearing 4 cylinder, a development of the old DS petrol engine of the '60s I think, but turning in the opposite direction. All info dredged up from memory, an MSN search of Citroen CX will turn up a few sites. If you want to do some hard research, check out a Citroen Car Club meeting in your area and go and do some serious anorak-baiting!
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Phil,
If you are serious about this join the Citroen Car Club first and save a lot of heartache.
Once a member you will have accesss to people who have done it all before.
My guess....£500 CX TD equates to a year of weekend work to get in good order plus £1000+ in bits/repairs.
Even so I was very tempted by a TD Estate recently, only the number of Land Rovers on the drive stopping me looking.
Good luck.
David W
BX Section
Citroen Car Club
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This is really taking the love of the chevron to far a disaster from the start.
And I drive a 98 XM 2.5td
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Citroen CX = Nightmare
CX GTi Turbo2 1988
We sold one once. Never again.
David
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Phil
Don't be put off by hearsay and poor David's bad experience of a Turbo 2 clutch replacement. The CX was IMO a truly great car, but susceptible to faults caused by poor build quality (pre-81) and poor maintenance.
I repeat, good luck
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David W might be upset to hear this but I wouldn't be buying one for restoration or as a serious citroen lover! I fancy one because they are cheap and have lots of cool features and tonnes of gallic charm. I would fix it until it became uneconomical to go on and move on to my next banger!
Thanks for all the comments ppl.
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Phil,
I've no problem with your intended use but you will have. You can't just buy one to "run it into the ground" because they will present you with major financial challenges (unless buying one at £2K where all the work is done) every month or two such that the repair/scrap decision will be an ever present stress.
I owned two many years ago. One was a superb 2400 Pallas in met silver, at just two years old so much went wrong it was consuming half my salary. Unique motoring experience though.
Hope you do get a taste of them one way or another.
David
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If you're mad enough, there's one on here :
www.no-name-garage.co.uk/ - click on stock and have a look.
Dunno anything about them, I just came across it having typed something in to Google.
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Was looking at Autotrader for other reasons but after reading this post searched nationally for CXs and there are still several being sold through this particular rag ranging from mint turbo petrols to knackered old diesels .
Have a look though do for chrissake note David W's comments and the fact there are several specialist repairers of these cars in London whose owners live in very large houses bought from the repair bills of those desperate to keep these cars on the road. They are one of the few "older" cars that are nigh on impossible for anything but the simplest of servicing jobs by even competent mechanics and there are many good looking ones in scrap yards because owners (or possible their Barclaycard) have given up spending on them...
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I am too frightened now.... ;)
Looking at cheap Carltons - more about - less to go wrong.
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Where's your sense of adventure?
You'll never know what you are missing ....
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