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2002 Citroen Xsara VTS - another old French bird!!

180K views 616 replies 65 participants last post by  Ben_W 
#1 · (Edited)
So, here we go!

To quote something musical which I've not done for a while, Ice Cube had it right. Today was a good day (ask your dad kids :D )

With the buggy sold and the bank swelled with funds, I did the right thing and pacified the wife by buying a new dining table and promising her a posh holiday next year, on the proviso I could buy myself a new, cheap(ish) toy. Agreement was forthcoming.

I considered several cars. A white Rallye (they are the hottest ticket in Rallye world with another selling in the last two weeks for ÂŁ5k but I have a Rallye already), a Clio F1 (very nice but not the cheapest) and several other more recent hot hatches. Nothing really, really took my fancy. I then bought the Xsara to break and wondered.........what if? The Citroen half of the late 90's hot hatch pairing.....wouldn't look bad on the drive, would it?

So I began looking. And looking. And looking a bit more. Crap, these are a bit thin on the ground. I found more Rallyes for sale than I did Xsaras. Hmmmmm............and then.....an advert appears on Gumtree and nowhere else, advertising a 2002 MY, 51 plate Xsara VTS, with 57k on the clock and two previous owners, in silver. 57k.......!!!!!!! How many 16 year old sports hatches have that mileage. This is the ad........



It HAD to be worth a look at that mileage and that history. Original P6000's (ditchfinders? But period correct!) Older lady owner for a long time? Deffo not been thrashed then. Decent MOT history backing up the sellers story. Trouble was, I wasn't free until Sunday. At this point, I made the mistake of sharing the link and my plans with someone. That, along with a lesson well learned, is all I'm going to say publicly.

Details being what they are, I noticed the seller had reduced the price to ÂŁ300 on Sunday night. Much frantic phonecalling, which resulted in me getting a voice mail message numerous times finally paid off with the seller picking up at 21:37 on a Sunday night.

I apologised profusely for the time of my call. It had to be right then otherwise I'd have lost it. I told the seller I knew what had transpired the day before (I apologise again for the cryptic sh!t but like the walls, the internet has ears) and had a lengthy discussion with him regarding the car, offering some advice after asking some questions. The ÂŁ300 was a result of what he had been told (I'll share privately for those of you I know who ask). An agreement was made that he'd get some advice by lunchtime Monday and I'd go view Monday night after work as it's 50 miles from work. I remember thinking at this point this now turning into some Lincolndanny esque press car kinda chase :D

Mid afternoon, I text the seller as I've heard nothing. He replies, confirming some info I had been after, and crucially, what someone else had offered him and that he was considering accepting. Act cool Trig, act cool.......

I left work dead on time and hightailed it to where he was. I arrived at 17:40 and immediately knew I was onto something. This was my view parking up.





Seller met me at the door and was very keen to show me the car. It was as he said. Completely original, very, very clean (some stone chips etc but very clean) and, completely bog standard.

Having satisfied myself the major component was good, I got busy looking round, especially underneath.

Just wow. This thing is clean. I mean really clean.







.

Doesn't look like it's ever seen a jack, let alone one in the wrong place. The spare even seems to have an original Michelin.....



The rest of it, whilst a little dirty in places, is honest, rust free and just in need of a clean.











A time capsule car. Went for a drive, it drove well enough. Went back, looked through a mountain of history which again, matched the MOT history. I knew at this point I had to have it. Asked what it would take to buy it. Seller said make it an offer. ÂŁ850 prompted a forthcoming handshake. Deposit immediately transferred (mobile app internet banking, bloody ace!)

In truth, I think I stole it. I've picked up what has to be one of the cleanest, low mileage Xsara VTS's left. Plans are to collect Friday, giving me a whole weekend to really get into/under it. I cannot wait.

Sorry to disappoint Mr Lincoln....I did have a chance at a Ph1 in that green/yellow but had been sat 18 months and the seller wanted ÂŁ1k.....
 
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#130 · (Edited)
Had an epic day today.

Had been invited to the last drive out of the season with the local branch of the Peugeot Sport Club.

Met in very north Leicestershire at 09:30, with an off time of 10am. It ended up being a 170 mile jaunt around the perimeter of Leicestershire, briefly dropping into Warwickshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland, going full circle back to north Leicestershire.

A superb day of mostly B road blasting. The Xsara was in good company. Another VTS, 2 x 206 GTi 180's, a 30th Anniversary 208GTi and a 405 Mi16. Surprisingly (to me at least) it kept with the 206's and wasn't far off the 208 at all. A little slow below 4krpm but kept above that, and the whole car was buzzing and alive and up to the challenge.

It handles extremely well and even more so when pushed. The quick rack, coupled with the uprated rear beam makes it an absolute joy to drive. The P6000's need to go, tucking under in hard cornering but the rear is a delight. The active element of the 306/Xsara is highlighted in the Xsara in that you can drive the rear delightfully on the throttle. Not once did I have the rear step out on me. I'd go as far as to say it handles better than I ever remember the Rallye doing...so much so, I'm considering upgrading the rear beam to a Xsara job too....













And the rarest pic you'll see for a while....2 Xsara VTS resting between periods of red line madness.



Miles of smiles.
 
#132 ·
We certainly were Niall. As the day progressed, my confidence in the car grew, as much as it could in those tyres :D I didn't notice the wheels being that bad? Might be the light of that photo.....must check!

It's a very nimble car indeed. Powerful and lightweight (well, when the driver isn't in it!) With a tremendous suspension and steering set up I suppose are some of the elements that you'd want. As I said, it's such a good setup, I'm debating doing the same to the Rallye......talking of which, I need to update that thread.....the NZ parcel arrived yesterday....
 
#134 · (Edited)
Certainly is Danny. I think it saw the rev limiter more yesterday than in its entire life!

Today, I tried wetsanding headlights for the very first time. A little apprehensive but I needed to give it a go and with the Xsara not being a daily, it mattered less if I got it wrong....

I used my Flex, with some foam sanding pads a body shop mate sent me. Only 2000 & 3000 grit which worked but didn't remove the deeper scratches. He's sending me a couple of 1500 grit ones.

Generally, the results were pretty good. Gone is the myriad of small scratches and yellowing which I assume were something to do with a coating on them. As I said, a couple of deeper scratches remain but I've validated that the process works and that I can do it!

A few pics:

An example of the issue..



And once sanded and machined...



The fit of this headlight is shocking. Wasn't sure if it was the bonnet but that seems to have even panel gaps. The big pain is that to remove the headlights, it's a bumper off job :rolleyes:

Driver's side done, passenger side still to do...



This light is arguably the worse of the pair..



But again, very pleased with results so far....

 
#136 ·
Finally got Google maps to put its head out of its backside and update my timeline for Saturday.....blue line is the route we took. Up and down the M1 to start and finish but it shows pretty well the tour of the county we did....



The mileage on my trip clock said 172, not sure where Google gets 140 from.
 
#141 ·
A couple of beading pics I took this morning.....I'd pulled the car out to wash and it's clearly been wet/frosty overnight but full on sunshine now







More about the pics than the beads really.....you wouldn't believe you'd get that kind of pic quality from a mobile phone...
 
#142 ·
Not much to update on this at the mo, other than....



Frustratingly, I was round at my Cousin's on Sunday afternoon, polishing up a very very flat and pink Red Suzuki Alto.

Whilst there, a young girl decided it would be fun to ride into the backing the parked Xsara. I was mid polishing so I shouted at her and she just rode off quickly. Got to the car to find the above. Went looking for her but had clearly scuttled off inside.:censored:
 
#143 ·
Nothing much to report on the Xsara front. I've been pretty busy and haven't really used it much and the MOT has now expired. It's going to need 2 tyres for the MOT but I'm going to take the chance and ditch the P6000's and change to Michelin Pilot Sport 3's in a 195/50 size. Transforms the handling apparently and they are a much, much better tyre than the Pirelli.

Still needs the service (ended up using the oil I bought form this to top up the wife's mini as that leaked most of its oil out after being serviced from the filter housing. Either a dodgy seal or the housing picked up some dirt when going back on. Either way, it ended up with no oil and looking like jbenekeoors in his latest thread...) and it ideally needs a driver seat. The creaky frame is driving me mad.

In other news, a guy I know who had a Xsara van, offered me two brand new headlights, FOC!





They are Depot units, rather than valeos and unfortunately, one has a mounting point broken which is a real shame. Looking at them as well, it seems to confirm my suspicions that the front bumper has to come off to change them.....the lenses might be interchangeable between light units themselves so all is perhaps not lost.
 
#144 ·
Today is attempt to swap the headlights day. Confirmed it is a bumper off job, which generally a pain in the rear as the arch liners have to come out and everything is generally connected to each other, bumper, arch liners, undertray etc.

Needs doing as the beam on the driver's side headlight is awful. Not sure if it's the bulb but access is so restricted, a bear pawed oaf like me stands no chance. I'm hopefully also going to figure out what's wrong with the fit of the light unit in respect of it not lining up with the bonnet correctly

Should be fun. Best put the kettle on.
 
#147 ·
So, update from today.

It didn't go to plan. When do days like this do go to plan? First job was to get a haircut. Whilst waiting, one of my really good mates rang, asking if I'd a few tools to help him service his wife's M4 golf. It was only a couple of miles from where I was and I had all my tools in the boot so called in on the way home. Two and a half hours later I got home....

So onto the Citroen. I could find no info at all online regarding removal of the front bumper until I landed on a Portuguese YouTube video which had captions.....some Google translate later and I had an idea of what I was doing. It turns out the bumper is a skin that sits over a crash bar. Eventually got it.removed...





Deffo needs to come off to remove the headlights. You can just see fixings to the right and left that are hidden by the bumper.



Due to the general crap fit of the headlight on the driver's side, I had wondered if it had had a bump in its lifetime. Everything being the bumper looks good and has Citroen stamps and looks as straight as the day it was made. The headlights are original Citroen ones too. I can only assume the front end has been apart for some work, although I don't know what.







I removed the driver's side headlight and started swapping over the bulbs. The main headlight bulb from the driver's side looked odd...




There is something inside the bulb. Looks like a bit of film from whatever they apply to the end of the bulb, but it's on the inside of the bulb.

Removed the other headlight..... everyone loves a bit of moss don't they? :lol:



I tested all the functions of both headlights and both worked fine with everything lighting up as it should. Might need a little alignment but all good. The odd beam pattern on the driver side was gone, suggesting that perhaps it was the headlight unit, not the bulb at fault.



It was dark and I was cold by this time. Bumper will.go back in tomorrow once I've had a good clean!
 
#148 ·
I do think the front end has been apart at some point. I can't find any evidence of damage but the fit on the driver's side of the wing, headlight, bonnet and door suggest it's all been apart. Maybe it's had a small bump.

Either way, a bit of tweaking with headlight fit and then bonnet catch position made things a bit better.



I'll have a body shop look at it and see if they can sort it all out. I'm.sure it's just alignment.

A final parting shot of what I've earned today!

 
#149 ·
So, just as I was putting everything away last night, I started the Xsara and let it run as the windscreen had steamed up on the inside. Let it run and tested all the lights again and I noticed what appeared to be smoke in the headlight light.....

Initially I thought it was the exhaust being blown forwards as that was the direction of the wind. A closer look revealed not.... (I did try embedding it but this forum is stupid when it comes to that....)



Yes, it's leaking. Not much, but it does have a leak. It turns out it's the original Ordonez rad, you can see the date stamp on it, 15/05/01. To be fair, I reckon 17.5 years for a rad isn't bad going.

So something else to add to the list of things to fix. I won't put the bumper back on until I do the rad. The only other bit is that this car has the early style bottom radiator hose.....I am planning on putting a Nissens aluminium rad into the car, which means I need to change the hose to the later type.

Peugeot swapped the hoses over sometime around 99. Not sure why Citroen were still using it in 2001......
 
#150 ·
Not much done more with the Xsara......busy 3 day week at work last week and then a long weekend away for my birthday.

So, a new radiator has been ordered. In 306 circles, the aftermarket part of choice is Nissens, with even a number of the specialists recommending/supplying them. Handily, they are fairly cheap too, and half the price of a Valeo unit. I'm not chasing the silly OEM levels I am with the Rallye. Radiator should be here Friday.

Now, here comes the interesting part. The Nissens rad only works with the later style radiator bottom hose. Shouldn't be an issue as with the car being a late 2001, (although I can't find an exact build date, does anyone know where/how I'd find that?) it should have the later style hose. However, I'm certain that having looked (I need to check again), it's got the earlier style bottom hose on it, with the funny metal C clip like my Rallye. Servicebox suggests it should be the later style hose so now I'm properly confused, mostly because the radiator is the original....

I need to have it all apart and figure out exactly what I have. I wouldn't have expected it to have been a parts bin special, not with the age of the car. Oddly, the engine I took from the Ph1 Xsara I broke, which was a 98 R, had the later style hose (which I've nicked from the engine). Job for the weekend I think......

In other news, the same guy who had the headlights, also has a full set of the proper Citroen workshop manuals for the Xsara. 6 or 7 A4 lever arch files, covering everything.



I say he has.....not for much longer as I've agreed a deal to buy them for a princely sum of just ÂŁ30. Pick them up this weekend.
 
#152 ·
Thanks JR.... certainly seems that way.

So i was bored and remembered getting the build date of the Rallye from its production number. Quick Google, and Citroen are the same.

After a bit of hunting in the engine bay, having been told it would be on the suspension strut, I had a look at the sticker on the A pillar. There it be! 09058CJ



The 09058 relates to how many days after November 9th 1976 (don't ask me why they started counting then!) the car was built. 27th August 2001 being that day, so definately a later 2001 car.

The CJ relates to where it was built. In this case, CJ is Rennes la Janais. The factory is approx 4 miles south west of the centre of Rennes. Interesting to know!
 
#153 ·
Useless fact of the day for you :D

Basically they have always date marked there cars from the start used to be AM62 etc but this only gave a year of manufacturing and because they where making so many with lots of new variations etc they decided to change it to the newer system as it was more precise and it then gave them the day month, year and where it was made.
:thumb:
 
#154 ·
Picked up the manuals yesterday.....

9 in total I think it was and they are very very useful indeed. They cover all the engines offered, all the body shells and seem to cover mechanicals, bodywork, electricals etc. There won't be much I can't figure out.





It even covers all the special tools and includes instructions on making tools to do jobs, such as front bumper removal!

Gives me something to read on these long, dark cold nights (bloody hate this time of year. 8 hrs daylight max. What's that about?)
 
#158 ·
That's a stroke of luck then
Well, it is and it isn't......I bought the Xsara on the basis that it's just about the same car bar the body work and gearbox as the Rallye, except it handles better.....much better as it turns out. The fact they are much maligned because of their looks, just makes it more fun. No one expects to get left for dead at the lights by a silver Xsara wearing a set of alloys :D

The real fun but for me now will be adding the Xsara rack and, quite possibly, the rear beam to the Rallye. Not exactly OEM (but part of the PSA group) but they are such an upgrade that it would be criminal not to put them on the Rallye.
 
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