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9k miles C6 2.7HDi 2009 = Money Pit?

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oustusfaustus   
Mon Dec 12 2022, 05:13pm
Joined: Dec 11 2022
Member No: #5149
Location: Briercliffe
Last week I just missed out on a mint 37k miles 1.9 XUD ZX. I had such plans for that car

Yesterday a family member told me of a 9,000 mile C6 Lignage for sale: Automatic, V6 2.7 HDi engine. It seems to be in really good order, good spec too. The mileage checks out as correct, but they're asking an eye-watering *£10,500.

In many ways, from one extreme to another that I was about to send the deposit for the above ZX and the BX 19RD I was prepared to also buy, before they changed their mind. But I'm a sucker for any old low mileage car.

I must've owned over thirty Citroens and worked at Citroen dealerships and for myself for over 45 years. However, I know next to nothing about the Citroen C6, other than I love the idea that PSA Citroen was brave enough to make the concept car a reality.

My question is: What are your opinions - as owners - on the sanity of paying so much for a 13 year old car?

I see myself owning it for the next ten years and adding a further 150,000 miles.

Are the usual consumables such as exhaust, brake, steering & suspension parts, dealer only owing to the low production number of the C6?
As an owners, are there faults that are 'unfixable' owing to a lack of technical info outside the main dealers, making a C6 beyond economic sense to fix?
As I'm having a big operation just before Christmas, I really need a new car before then. Otherwise, I'd sit on it and do my research.

Realistically, the extent of my Citroen technical knowledge ends around the time of the last Xantias/XM. Is it too big of an 'Ask' to expect a decade of essentially trouble free use from what - realistically - is a remarkably complex automobile?

As hardened Citroen C6 owners, if I go ahead, am I destined to own a Ten-Grand Garden Ornament?
Thank You.

*It does have an MOT...
jamescarruthers   
Mon Dec 12 2022, 09:21pm
Joined: Jan 19 2014
Member No: #1548
Location: Cambridge
I’d knock the idea of main dealers out of your head apart from parts. They won’t know how to do anything on this. There are some good specialists. My closest and favourite is BL Autos in Welwyn Garden City.

Modern cars don’t age like old ones in my opinion and I’d say that my pretty good condition and well maintained C6 at near 100,000 miles would be just as good as a 9,000 mile car once you’ve used it a bit and the novelty has worn off.
MGmike   
Mon Dec 12 2022, 10:21pm
Joined: May 21 2017
Member No: #3151
Location: South Queensferry
Buy it and enjoy the ride! We'll be here to catch you if you fall.

There's not a lot of parts that can't be sourced as a lot of them are common with other PSA models. The unique ones can get expensive but should be few and far between. Exhausts are stainless and last years, steering, brakes and most suspension bits are all available from aftermarket suppliers. Front Struts are a different matter. They're Citroen (specialist) only and expensive at nearly £700 each!

There will be things that need checking and propriate action taken e.g. have the timing belts been changed on age? That'll cost the thick end of £1,200.

Once fully recommissioned and with a sensible preventative maintenance regime on the known problems we've all faced over the past 10 years, you'll have many enjoyable miles.

However, £10.5k is a lot of money when you'll need to factor in potential running cost of circa 1-2k per year.


Tjensen   
Tue Dec 13 2022, 12:54pm
Joined: Jul 17 2012
Member No: #954
Location: Bergen
(Can you get a 3.0 Hdi for that money ?) Mine is now 12 years old and 225 000 km, still drives and feels like a new car ! It is well put together, has quality parts, many standard parts, and may have a long life. BUT: will need regular maintenance and have some issues: oil changes must be regular, there are some brittle parts in cooling system, EGR valves (in 2.7) if dirty/wrong oil or much urban driving, generator clutch might give up early, a few hoses and tubes in hydraulic system (steering) develop leaks over time, suspension struts after some years, hydraulic pump motor (but they live longer with additive in hydraulic oil, the sound system may give problems (same as in Pug, Fiat, Maserati etc). It has happened that a C6 ends its life as a victim of parts that are never delivered to a not-very-competent garage etc. But: Compared to other brands this is a short list and can be dealt with. A fantastic daily driver and unsurpassed holiday long-distance car.
oustusfaustus   
Wed Dec 14 2022, 11:26pm
Joined: Dec 11 2022
Member No: #5149
Location: Briercliffe
Thank you for your helpful replies and my apologies for not getting back to the post sooner. I've been on an incredible journey around the NE of Lancs trying to get a blood test done. Nobody could find my veins. I hope this reads okay too, as English isn't my first language.

I have sort of made up my mind and going to put a cheeky offer. I agree, a 100k car will almost drive the same with decent maintenance. I can do the timing belt and any mechanic or electronic work the car may need.

The other day, I went to the local pharmacy and I was surprised to come across wife of a Citroen Trained mechanic. He is quite possibly the best - still working - Citroen mechanic from the BX/Xantia era and beyond. He was just finishing his apprenticeship when I was foreman at the same dealership. Even better, he works 100yds away from my back door! I do tend to have a charmed life when it comes to stuff like that. Not so charmed when it comes to my health.
So, no matter how dusty my brain/spanners are I now hopefully have an extra brain to assist me.

I do wish the car had the cream leather interior. It's black leather. I need to wait a few days, before I look again, as I have fallen five times in 30 hours on the ice and displaced a renal stent. I have a very strict rule to never buy anything over a tenner when I'm ill or in pain.

So, I'm going to start up my Xantia XUD tomorrow and try to sell. it's a Green 1993 non-turbo with 38,000 miles. Some idiot left their handbrake off and the ensuing rollaway bumped the rear of the Xantia, which stopped it from demolishing my late mum's house. A 'good accident' as it would've hit the front corner of the fragile 1971 brick house. The most vulnerable place.

I'm getting a quote on the Xantia to see if it won't cost too much to get the fairly minor bodywork repaired, as I still have a few very good trade contacts. If not, it'll be on eBay over Christmas. A shame, as I love the diesel Xantias.

I'm currently running a beutiful BMW E36 316i Touring in silver. I pay £240/yr fully comp. Hoping to insure the C6 for under £400?

Having more research, I realised/deluded myself that they are just big cars with a lot of bits. Nothing to worry about, only money to lose and what's money for, anyway?

I could actually sell my five outboard motors, four engineering lathes and Suzuki A100, Peugeot 306 XUD 1.9 N/A and still have a couple of grand to spend on a set of tyres (running tyres from 2008 is madness, as I discovered last year) again.
So again, thanks a lot folks for the above.

Happy Christmas and I will post a lot of pics up of it in the new year, if I buy it. Hopefully sense will prevail and I will get the Xantia back in action.

PS I presume the auto 'box is similar across the PSA range? Finally, what a beautiful car. The last ones around will become a sought after car to convert into a DIY EV: Discuss.
And if my operation doesn't hurt too much, watch out for my sad Christmas Citroen Quiz based on 45 years of brain hurt that only working on French and the odd 'Foreign' automobile can create


cit-rotti   
Thu Dec 15 2022, 10:45am
Joined: Dec 03 2018
Member No: #3753
Location: Bayern
For a really correct diagnosis on a Citroen C6 there is only one alternative and that is "DIAGBOX" It does not have to be the current software 9.xx - V07.57 is sufficient for PSA vehicles up to the beginning of 2015.
Greetings Wolfgang
oustusfaustus   
Fri Dec 16 2022, 09:11pm
Joined: Dec 11 2022
Member No: #5149
Location: Briercliffe
@Tjensen, Thank you.

I am a little more concerned now with the idea of the 2.7 HDi being inferior to the redesigned 3.0 diesel. I change the oil every 3k 0r 4k miles on every car I've ever had.
The only running costs will be service stuff and other parts as I will be doing the rest myself.

I will sleep on it.
The price has been lowered by £1k btw. I don't see it going anywhere soon

Just how fragile is the 2.7 HDi in yours and other folks opinion? Am I correct that only the 3.0 has the Bosch injection system?

I get *certified Dexos 2 5w/30 fully synthetic SKU 95599581 for £14.95/5 litres. I plan on using this oil if Citroen h/book says okay and use Perflux of Hengst filters throughout.
Glad to hear that the exhaust is stainless steel.

Finally, it would be used on a 7 mile round trip five days/week. Used regularly for longer trips of about 100 miles once or twice a week. I drive like a kitten, so I will have to alter this or get shut of the particulate filter and an ECU software change?
Finally, being an old git, I do ramble, but what fuel consumption could I hope to achieve?
I'm used to 48-55 mpg from the 306 whilst the Xantia is around 5% less. BMW 1.6 petrol is A Shocking 20 mpg in the current cold snap.
Happy Christmas.

*There is 'club' for oil manufacturers that is around £2k/yr membership plus an extra £1.7k if you want a competitor's oil laboratory tested to see if it meets the claimed specifications on the product label. A few are caught out - the smaller 'bargain' brands usually - but a bigger one was amongst them last year. If I am allowed to name them, I remember three of the brands that were caught out?


userpco   
Sat Dec 17 2022, 10:32pm
Joined: Sep 15 2011
Member No: #622
Location: Ascot, Berkshire
I averaged 33.6 mpg since new (39mpg for 100 mile motorway trips) 2007 C6 2.7HDI 39,800 miles
Hope the Op goes well.
David K   
Sun Dec 18 2022, 11:15am
Joined: Jan 30 2010
Member No: #42
Location: Scania
Tjensen wrote ...

hydraulic pump motor (but they live longer with additive in hydraulic oil,


What additive do you use for the hydraulic oil?
cruiserphil   
Tue Dec 20 2022, 10:44am

Joined: Jan 24 2010
Member No: #38
Location: Celbridge
Hello Oustusfaustus,

We have both 2.7 and 3.0Hdi. The 3.0Hdi is different, a little more refined driving wise (engine torque characteristics for example), but I would not consider the 2.7Hdi inferior. The 2.7 has Siemens injection - we've had no issues with it at all. Both our cars would get less use than what you propose and would only get a 100 mile plus run several times per year. We use Total Ineo 5W30 at 10000km intervals with no dpf issues. Initially I wouldn't think you'd have to "modify" the dpf system for the use and oil changing frequency you propose.
Hope this helps!

Best regards,

Phil C.
Tjensen   
Tue Dec 20 2022, 04:48pm
Joined: Jul 17 2012
Member No: #954
Location: Bergen
Hydraulic oil additive: In Norway there is more or less a consensus that Omega 917 is the best and my experiences are good (with XM/LHS and C6/LDS). But there are other brands out there, and someone in this group may have more precise knowledge.
ChrisW   
Tue Jan 03 2023, 06:22pm
Joined: Jun 18 2013
Member No: #1335
Location: Surrey
Thank you, Tjensen, for your advice regarding Omega 917. My suspension pump failed after 10 years and 70,000 miles. £2000 at the main dealer plus a long wait with a courtesy car for the part to be delivered from Citroen.

Apart from that, I've had no trouble with the hydraulics apart from occasional drips onto a cardboard tell-tale I keep under the engine. The drips appear to seal themselves after a while, which suggests that the leak arises from hardening of the rubber rather than anything major. Accordingly, Omega 917 may be effective.

I will try it unless someone advises me otherwise.
ChrisW   
Mon Apr 17 2023, 01:40pm
Joined: Jun 18 2013
Member No: #1335
Location: Surrey
Omega 917 update. I put in a 177 ml bottle (£27 ebay). Nothing changed for the first month (about 2 drops of fluid a day). Then down to 1 drop a day and after 2 months and about 600 miles the drips stopped altogether. No drips at all for the last month. Looks like a permanent fix but you have to be patient.

I couldn't locate the leak because it was inaccessible. The drips on the cardboard were about 30 cm inboard from the offside headlight, so it could have been the suspension pump itself, which would have been a very costly job.

I would not hesitate to use it again if another leak appears.
ChrisW   
Sat Dec 30 2023, 02:24pm
Joined: Jun 18 2013
Member No: #1335
Location: Surrey
Quick update on the above post. It's now been nearly a year since I added the Omega 917. No drips or weeps - the hydraulics are completely leak-free and working perfectly. I would not hesitate to use it again.

Thanks again to Tjensen for his advice.
Kaloteck   
Sun Dec 31 2023, 01:38pm
Joined: Apr 25 2013
Member No: #1271
Location: Warsaw
oustusfaustus wrote ...
I see myself owning it for the next ten years and adding a further 150,000 miles

Good luck with that
 

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