Drove something a bit slower today

"twochevrons" (twochevrons) 04/18/2017 at 08:00 • Filed to: Citroen, New Zealand, Auckland

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Auckland has traffic problems on an LA-like level, so for yesterday’s excursions, I decided to borrow my parents other Citroën (yes, we really are that hopeless) that’s a polar opposite to the sporty, highly-strung BX 16v that I posted the other day. It’s a shabby but much-loved BX19 TRI, with plush seats, a lethargic automatic transmission, and the softest suspension known to man. When you’re never getting much past 30 MPH anyway, a supremely comfortable car with no sense of urgency whatsoever is the perfect antidote to road rage.

pip bip - choose Corrour > twochevrons 04/18/2017 at 08:07

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mmmmm...............Frenchie

duurtlang > twochevrons 04/18/2017 at 08:25

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I had a 1990 BX 1.9 diesel (no turbo, 70 hp) with an automatic 2 years ago. That ZF transmission really was tuned for comfort, there was nothing sporty about that car at all. Accelerating before speedbumbs was entertaining though, comfort to the extreme. 360k or so on that car by the way.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > twochevrons 04/18/2017 at 08:29

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Sounds like the old BXs have been pretty reliable, considering?

Cé hé sin > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 04/18/2017 at 09:07

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They’re OK if kept dry. Otherwise, rust sets in everywhere.

Cé hé sin > twochevrons 04/18/2017 at 09:09

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I haven’t seen a BX in a very long time.

It was followed by the Xantia and I haven’t seen one of those in a long time either. Next came the first C5 and there aren’t many of those left either.

duurtlang > Cé hé sin 04/18/2017 at 09:20

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Not really. Only the pre-facelift was rather rust prone, so that ended around 1987 or so. Later ones still rusted, but less so than most cars of the same vintage. Japanese cars, Opels, Fords, BMWs, Fiats, they all rusted more than the post-facelift BX (in my experience).

The Achilles heel here is the plumbing of the suspension system. With age it’ll leak (old rubbery bits if I’m not mistaken), and depending on the location of the leak it can be a lot of work to get it fixed.

Cé hé sin > duurtlang 04/18/2017 at 09:26

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That’s interesting. I read recently an article by somebody keeping a BX on the road and it was the endless rust that eventually caused him to give up.

duurtlang > Cé hé sin 04/18/2017 at 09:34

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Do you remember the year of that BX? Did it have amber or white indicator lights on the front?

BXs will rust, there’s no denying that. If you live in a place where a car encounters a lot of salt I’m sure it’s a struggle to keep any 30 year old winter driven car on the road.

Cé hé sin > duurtlang 04/18/2017 at 14:36

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Can’t recall I’m afraid.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > twochevrons 04/18/2017 at 17:30

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Yes! I absolutely agree :)

Saying that, when you’re late to work you can still hustle a manual non-turbo diesel one relatively effectively ;)

I really must get mine back on the road. I’ve got some work to do on my mum’s car, but after that I’ll see about getting the old girl into the garage for some hydraulic remedies...