Zel's Fleet Blog - BX, Jag XJ-S, Sinclair C5, Mercedes 208D & 230TE, AC Model 70.

[Zelandeth]

Let's just confuse things further by chucking the 107/C1/Auto in the mix too...while it doesn't maybe have quite the same simplicity of the older cars (by virtue of being...well...newer!), it's a cracking bit of clever packaging. Much I might not want to think about it, I know which one I'd rather be in if I were to be unfortunate enough to be in a shunt.

Think I really may have to look at moving mine on though. Poor thing just isn't getting used, and doesn't really fit rationally within the fleet. Especially as the unexpected and unplanned addition of the Activa to the ranks! Really don't like the thing having to live on street at risk during the school rush either.

Reckon if it were sold that would give me more than enough to pick up a decent Cherokee. That covers year round dog carriage duties and I don't mind parking it on street or under the tree. Also, if I have it six months then decide I actually don't like them, I'm not likely to lose much money given how their prices are going... waiting till the spring though as I imagine the snow tax has doubled the average price at present.

Then next big change I think will be three to five years from now. That will be dropping to two cars properly. Probably the Lada, and finally the Roller I've been after since I drove Craig's one back in 2004.

The coach is still on the cards too, but that's more of a whole family things as I've had buy in from everyone surprisingly on that as being a fun idea...even the non petrol heads. That's less time sensitive though, whereas the prices of decent Silver Spirits is starting to creep upwards now and I don't want to miss my chance to own one.

...I reckon the Rolls will be enough of a commitment that thinning the fleet first would be prudent though. While they're not as catastrophically expensive to live with so long as you do a lot of work yourself, the bits still ain't cheap. They're not actually too bad to work on either, far nicer than a Jag of the same era!

If the Activa has taught me one thing in this first few weeks though it's that I've rather missed luxury motoring.

Also reckon it will still be with me in several years... absolutely loving driving it so far.

Task for tomorrow: pull heater fan out and lubricate the motor. It started making dry bearing howling noises at me today. If all else fails, pretty sure I've got a good spare motor in the garage anyway. At least they're a doddle to get to in the Xantia. Unlike on some other cars I own. The one in the Lada is on top of the heater matrix and requires approximately an hour's worth of standing on your head to unearth, and you'll *never* find all the clips that hold the heater box together again no matter how carefully you remove them...at least one will ping off into the nearest inconvenient parallel dimension.

[daviemck2006]

The heater fan on a xantia is an easy remove, you dont even need to be a contortionist to get to it. I hag gabbys out a couple of weeks ago, I can only assume the connections on the plug werent connecting properly, as its ok now, thank you. Need it here in the current freezing temps.

[CitroJim]

Zel, you know my thoughts and love of the Series 1 C1/107/Aygo... And Robyn's We both love them dearly and they do run close to the accolade of best small car ever...

And they are lasting well too, by the looks of it... I still see plenty of 55 plate ones running round and still looking good

Great news on the Activa I have a few fans here in your off-site spares cache Pop round any time and we'll sort one out...

I'm in virtually all day today and you'll likely find my head buried in a CD Player...

[Zelandeth]

Well courtesy of the trains being disrupted between Euston and MK yet again today the Activa had her first "you need to be here ten minutes ago..." to go retrieve Abby from the station in Bedford.

That car can't half shift when asked to...

However the headlights are somewhat lacking on a damp road when there are no cats eyes and you've got oncoming traffic. I know they've had the relay mod done, so I reckon they're maybe just due a new set of lamps. Will grab a new set of Nightbreakers at the weekend. I tend to treat them as a service item these days anyway. If that doesn't help, will check the aim as it might be a bit low. Speaking of headlights, I can't believe how many cars you see out there with only one headlight working... surely the drivers must notice!

Glad to report that the brakes have really improved in the last week or so, took the pads and discs a little while to bed in while the brakes felt a bit wooden, but they now seem to have done so and you get that proper "oh lord, my face is going to come off" feeling when going for the middle pedal as a Citroen should be able to provide. There was a bit of vibration under braking before, but that really seems to have died down now too.

The other thing on the to do list is to investigate that squeak/rattle from the back end. My money is on either the rear seat backrest or the tailgate being responsible. Gabriel had a horrendous rattle from back there which after several weekends I tracked down to the plastic trim on the inside of the tailgate...so that will be my first stop.

If it wasn't such a quiet car I'd probably not even notice it!

Somewhat amusingly it's almost exactly the same noise I've been doing battle with in the Lada since I bought it - in that case I think I've traced it to the backrest latches on the rear seat but so far it's resisted all attempts to get it to be quiet for more than two minutes. Annoyingly it's one of those noises that is impossible to provoke without the car in motion too. Which is a problem as everyone else in the house is mortally afraid of driving it!

[CitroJim]

Pleased to hear the latest instalment of Activa news Zel

If you're now hunting down minor things like squeaks from the rear then things must be good

[Zelandeth]

On a lot of cars I'd not bother - but she drives so well that it's worth sorting stuff like that to make it as close to perfect as you could ask from a car this age.

[CitroJim]

On a lot of cars I'd not bother - but she drives so well that it's worth sorting stuff like that to make it as close to perfect as you could ask from a car this age.

That's just absolutely excellent Zel

[Hell Razor5543]

Be aware that, as with all old French cars, you leave ONE thing needing to be fixed (even if it is just a light bulb). If you fix everything it will confuse the car and she will break down in unpredictable, illogical ways (as the car will now be very confused; it expects to find a fault somewhere!).

[daviemck2006]

Be aware that, as with all old French cars, you leave ONE thing needing to be fixed (even if it is just a light bulb). If you fix everything it will confuse the car and she will break down in unpredictable, illogical ways (as the car will now be very confused; it expects to find a fault somewhere!).

As Gabby has done to me. However long Ihave owned it and 4000 miles with only one blown indicator bulb and she has gone on strike

[Stickyfinger]

Never fix a light bulb inside the car or a suspension bush will fail...........

[Zelandeth]

Put fuel in it. We're hosting a bunch of friends tomorrow for a pre-Christmas get together and I know full well that I'll get sent out on fetch and carry duties at some point.

£76 worth of fuel in...that's a big tank! Ouch. Granted, it is the premium fuel that I use too. Shell's V-Power Nitro stuff in this case.

Could be worse, the tank in a Silver Spirit is 105 litres if I remember rightly...

[Zelandeth]

New (dip beam) headlight lamps fitted to the Activa. I remember the offside one being a royal faff on Gabriel thanks to the air conditioning drier/receiver assembly being in precisely the wrong place. This is in a different place on the Activa - but only because the ECU box is in the way instead. Ended up with the air con pressure switch, coolant level sensor and lid off the ECU box to attempt to get me hand in. Changing the bulb was actually easy enough - the 15 minutes of struggling was trying to get the blasted spring clip back on the plastic cover on the back of the headlight. That was fluffing fiddly! One of the turnlock fasteners on the back of the ECU box snapped as well when attempting to lock it back in place which was annoying. Will need to track down a replacement.

Also had a minor brief panic earlier in the day when a warning light very briefly blinked at me. It wasn't one I immediately recognised by location, and as soon as I glanced down at it, it had vanished again. Turned out to be the level warning light for the windscreen washers! Don't think I've ever had a car with a light for that before...resolved by topping up the windscreen washers...

[CitroJim]

I might have one Zel...

Also had a minor brief panic earlier in the day when a warning light very briefly blinked at me. It wasn't one I immediately recognised by location, and as soon as I glanced down at it, it had vanished again. Turned out to be the level warning light for the windscreen washers! Don't think I've ever had a car with a light for that before...resolved by topping up the windscreen washers...

In all the time I owned that car I never once saw that one! I've only eve seen it once on one of my old V6s...

At least you know it works!!!

[Zelandeth]

The washers have had a lot of use the last couple of days thanks to the grime all over the roads! It's the one at the top far right corner in case you wondered. Think it only stays active for a minute or so after the washers have been used too.

Speaking of the washers I do need to secure the washer bottle filler properly as it's obviously broken free of its attachment point at some point. I suspect a cable tie will do for now...

[CitroJim]

I suspect a cable tie will do for now...

That's the usual fix but again, I may have a spare one here... I know I did and got it for one of the cars but can't recall which now...

They're a right PITA to change though...