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My C6 2.7 Hdi Lignage - End of Term Report |
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michaelb
 
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  Member No: #14
Location: London |
It's with mixed feelings I kissed goodbye to my Six yesterday afternoon. For me the decision to sell came when it needed a new front strut (£700) and brakes at very low mileage (£600) for the last MoT. I foresaw £1,000 bills at every future MoT. If I'm going to pay that much in maintenance I may as well drive something exotic, not a diesel Citroën. I'm going to miss:- The HUD. I originally thought this was a gimmick but quickly came to love it. Driving other cars feels so old-fashioned in comparison. The elegance of the frameless windows. The turning headlights - another feature I thought was a gimmick but I had come to love. I'm not going to miss:- Checking my garage floor for new LDS leaks every time I reverse out. Worrying that every clunk is another pivot bearing failure. Reading threads entitled "DISASTER". The wind noise at speed which Citroën were incapable of eliminating. The pulling to the left which they were equally incapable of solving. It was checked a half dozen times at three different dealers and they all told me it had perfect geometry, but it still pulled to the left, even in France. The weedy stereo system. Needing gloves to avoid diesel on my hands. A numb bum from the stiff seats on long distances. Having decided to sell I wanted to use it one last time for the ski season just gone because I have winter wheels for it. She must have known she was on the way out because over four months in the Alps she did everything, and more, you could expect from any car: decent economy, gobbled up hugh distances, carried the family around in comfort, accommodated several pairs of skis with one third of the rear seat dropped, coped with the deepest snowfall in thirty years. She acquitted herself with aplomb and I can't think of another car which would have been a better companion over that time. She made such a good case for herself that it was certainly with a tinge of regret that I handed over the keys yesterday. When I moved from Alfa to Citroën I knew all about both marques' reputations for poor reliability and legendary depreciation. I knew from experience that Alfa, despite media claims, don't have the former but certainly have the latter. I expected Citroën to be the same. I am surprised to see it is the reverse. Citroën's poor reliability record is fully justified, you only need read some of the threads on here, but depreciation has been a pleasant surprise. I fully expected to be hammered by depreciation when I bought the car but it has cost me £2,065.50 per annum which is certainly not bad for a big luxury car. If anyone fancies my car it is low-mileage, full main dealer service history, even serviced ahead of the schedule, MoT and taxed until Autumn, it's on for £10k at Worthing Citroën LINK. I won't say goodbye just yet as I have really enjoyed this forum and would like to stick around and put my oar in from time to time. Thanks to Dave for setting it up and thanks to everyone for all the helpful advice over the years. So long and thanks for all the fish 
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michaelb
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Member No: #14
Location: London |
What's in my garage now? This...........  |
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C6Dave
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   Member No: #1
Location: Northumberland |
Thanks for the constructive feedback and hope the new car is problem free | ||
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Dapprman
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  Member No: #710
Location: Watford |
michaelb wrote ... What's in my garage now? This........... Funny enough one of the other cars I was considering when I got my C6 but I decided the running costs were just too great for me at present. |
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theguardian
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 Member No: #645
Location: reading berkshire |
nice car good luck with your new venture hope it gives you much joy  another bites the dust 
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michaelb
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Member No: #14
Location: London |
Dapprman wrote ... Funny enough one of the other cars I was considering when I got my C6 but I decided the running costs were just too great for me at present. The running costs are truly LARGE but it's not something I intend keeping. It is something I have to get out of my system. I'm not surprised you considered it. Many C6 owners are ex-Alfa 166 owners and there seems to be a masochistic streak among big executive car owners which draws us, like moths to a flame, to big and potential money pits Thanks for all the best wishes. |
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Dapprman
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Member No: #710
Location: Watford |
michaelb wrote ... Dapprman wrote ... Funny enough one of the other cars I was considering when I got my C6 but I decided the running costs were just too great for me at present. The running costs are truly LARGE but it's not something I intend keeping. It is something I have to get out of my system. I'm not surprised you considered it. Many C6 owners are ex-Alfa 166 owners and there seems to be a masochistic streak among big executive car owners which draws us, like moths to a flame, to big and potential money pits Thanks for all the best wishes. I was Alfa 164 instead - with the 'real' Alfa v6 
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wiltscub
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  Member No: #886
Location: London |
Good luck MichaelB - as one leaves the fold, another (me) joins. The Maserati is such a pretty car - it's the only word which does it justice and I hope you have many thousands of miles of pleasure in it. I had some trepidation about getting a C6 especially after reading this forum. However, I have long been fascinated by Citroëns since a ride in my grandfather's GS/A back in 1982 - even though I was sick in the back! I'm in a position financially now where I can take the risk and intend on being meticulous with maintenance and care in order to have many many miles from Béatrice. Though I'm not looking forward to the near £90 to fill her up! Happy Maserati motoring! |
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James
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Member No: #817
Location: Somewhere in the south of England |
Wiltscub, get choices in life: you can have something built with the prescision of a surgical instrument and about as sterile. Or you can have something with the Panache of a big Citroen (I can't think of an equivalent Italian word for the Maserati or an Alfa). I have had 2 BX's (one written off at 9 weeks old). 2 XMs (all of those Petrol), 3 C5s (one written off) 2 C6s including the current one. Of the last 23 years 18 and a bit have been driving Citroens. I've covered somewhere in the region of 300,000 miles in them , so I know more than most people (there are people on here on know more than me BX #2. and C5 #2 did 3 years & ~80K as Company cars C5 #1 did ~25K miles before I shortened it by a foot the safety systems worked so well I ordered C5#2 to replace it. I sideswiped a kerb in the BX and damaged a trackrod and the subframe the engine sits on. Aside from these 3 only needed routine maintenance. XM #1 was a year old / 15K mile ex citroen car and had five visits to the dealer in the first 2 months before someone realised the management computer was faulty and giving wrong diagnostic information. 5 years of nothing but routine mainenance followed, and in the last year I had it, it had a leak in a hydraulic pipe and needed a new clutch. Deprecaition over 6 years ~ 2K a year XM #2 (2Litre petrol, turbo) was 3years old and 3OK miles when I got it and needed a new exhaust after a couple of months. I only had it year before getting a company car and only needed one routine service in that time. It cost a very painful £4,000 in depreciation for 25K miles , and used more fuel per mile than any car I've had. C6 #1 was off the road for a month waiting for a part, but did ~60K trouble free miles over two years. C5 #3 (2.0 diesel exclusive) was bought just after its 3rd birthday with nearly 80K on the clock, for £5,000. [Plenty of high-end, 2.0D, 3yr, Full service, high mileage cars at similar prices] Traded in for the C6 with 120K (one service, new brake disks needed) and cost me less per month over the time I had it than I was paying for my company cars So. My experience is that a big citroen is a nice place to be, it isn't necessaily expensive and troublesome, though it can be. Make sure you've got a good warranty. The warranty on XM #1 had weasels for underwriters and ended up with a threat of legal action to the dealer - sorted amicably so they looked after it , and sold me #2 "£90 to fill her up". 70 litres to a fill - I like to run the tank close to dry so little gets a chance to accumulate at the bottom. XM #1 took 80 litres and I can remember putting £50 in for the first time. I haven't broken the £100 but it's getting close. |
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michaelb
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Member No: #14
Location: London |
wiltscub wrote ... Though I'm not looking forward to the near £90 to fill her up! Ha ha, I laugh at your £90. The QP took £125 on a fill this week! Thanks for your kind words. I hope you enjoy your Six as much as I did. |
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michaelb
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Member No: #14
Location: London |
Dapprman wrote ... I was Alfa 164 instead - with the 'real' Alfa v6 Yup, had one of those too. That and my first Alfasud give me the fondest memories of any of the many many cars I've had. The old creamy 12 valve 3.0 was one fine motor, one of the best ever made, and suited the 164 much better than the 24 valve. I remember nothing would beat that car from traffic lights, without trying, just releasing the brake and letting her go. It also returned well into the thirties mpg, close as damn it to my C6, and (proved on a sound pressure meter by AlexGS on the Alfa boards) was quieter on the motorway than the 166, and had a bigger boot, and had a full sized spare wheel. I have fond memories of that car including Chamonix to Paris where the speedo never read less than 120 mph, and frequently more. Happy days. People on the Alfa boards who run both 166s and 164s swear the 164s are better built, and easier to work on. Alfa had just been taken over by Fiat and they were determined to eradicate the Alfa reliability myths. Many think it's the best car they've ever made. Me too. I just wish they weren't so old now, and parts are becoming unobtainable, otherwise I'd still be driving one. |
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gmerry
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 Member No: #21
Location: Scotland |
I'm managing to get £100 in for each fill now. Must have a bigger tank! Must admit, when the 6 is going well, would not want any other car. I think they need a sympathetic garage, to keep them fully up to the marque. Regards G |
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Trainman
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 Member No: #86
Location: Penwortham |
Micheal, As many have said, good luck with your new car. |
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michaelb
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Member No: #14
Location: London |
michaelb wrote ... If anyone fancies my car it is low-mileage, full main dealer service history, even serviced ahead of the schedule, MoT and taxed until Autumn, it's on for £10k at Worthing Citroën LINK. I see "my" car has been removed from Citroën Worthing's site - presumably sold. Good luck to the new owner of GJ57 NYK, it is a good car and has been well cared for. May you have many happy miles in it
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Jason
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 Member No: #233
Location: Bedfordshire |
Always liked the QP but never had nearly enough money to buy and run one. The relatively low buying price of the C6 has offset the hefty running costs, but when mine does go, it will be with regret. No idea what the replacement might be, but it's bound to be barking. Maybe another Alfa (I had a GT which I loved)now that Saab (had several, all great) has bitten the dust. If Alfa start making coupe's again. One thing that's guaranteed, though, is that the next car WON'T, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, be one of the "me too" Germans. |
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