A few of us on here like a little French car

[philw696]

Lovely.

 

[williamsmix]

It’s the same as the Peugeot 104 ZS, just more basic

View attachment 134975

My wife bought a new Peugeot 104 in the 80’s. Mechanically it was very good, but the bodywork was awful; paper thin steel that quickly rusted through. We drove it until it fell to pieces at about 10 years old and then scraped it! But, on reflection, it was actually quite good value for money because we never spent anything on it …

 

[Tallman]

My wife bought a new Peugeot 104 in the 80’s. Mechanically it was very good, but the bodywork was awful; paper thin steel that quickly rusted through. We drove it until it fell to pieces at about 10 years old and then scraped it! But, on reflection, it was actually quite good value for money because we never spent anything on it …

In the late 80’s got my Gran’s 104 after she put it in a guardrail at age 80 - big scratches/dents all along the side, a few spray cans of tectyl solved that problem..

 

[Motorsport3]

Would that qualify a little French car?



Picked up today, drove from Alpine Canterbury back to London, freezing temp but clear blue sky. Very Alpine like!
Couldn't scratch the surface of the chassis. Drove it home like a saint gave a good wash and put to bed.

 

[CatmanV2]

Would that qualify a little French car?

View attachment 134988

Picked up today, drove from Alpine Canterbury back to London, freezing temp but clear blue sky. Very Alpine like!
Couldn't scratch the surface of the chassis. Drove it home like a saint gave a good wash and put to bed.

I think so. Lovely things in the flesh. Well batted, sir!

C

 

[Andyk]

Would that qualify a little French car?

View attachment 134988

Picked up today, drove from Alpine Canterbury back to London, freezing temp but clear blue sky. Very Alpine like!
Couldn't scratch the surface of the chassis. Drove it home like a saint gave a good wash and put to bed.

A desirable French car. Not words that come out of my mouth usually. It’s a fantastic car and amazing drive from what I read. Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

[williamsmix]

Would that qualify a little French car?

View attachment 134988

Picked up today, drove from Alpine Canterbury back to London, freezing temp but clear blue sky. Very Alpine like!
Couldn't scratch the surface of the chassis. Drove it home like a saint gave a good wash and put to bed.

What one did you go for? Looks like one of the earlier cars with the smaller wheels. I’ve heard they’re supposed to be very good value vs the S etc. I rather like the original Premier edition …

 

[philw696]

Would that qualify a little French car?

View attachment 134988

Picked up today, drove from Alpine Canterbury back to London, freezing temp but clear blue sky. Very Alpine like!
Couldn't scratch the surface of the chassis. Drove it home like a saint gave a good wash and put to bed.

Certainly meets all of my requirements and I also will be looking forward to your updates.
For myself currently the only modern car I lust after.

 

[Andyk]

What one did you go for? Looks like one of the earlier cars with the smaller wheels. I’ve heard they’re supposed to be very good value vs the S etc. I rather like the original Premier edition …

Looking at Autotrader there is around 8k difference between the cheapest early car the S with both around 25k on the clock. The next cheapest early car there is 5k difference.

 

[williamsmix]

Looking at Autotrader there is around 8k difference between the cheapest early car the S with both around 25k on the clock. The next cheapest early car there is 5k difference.

I was looking at these last summer. A low mileage S that was a couple of years old could be had for around £40k with the Premier Edition in the £30-35k zone. Although there are now some very low mileage Premiers on the market with big ticket prices … I watched Harry’s video on these and his recommendation - as I recall - was to go for the standard car over the S; as a daily driver / for UK B road fun.

 

[Motorsport3]

What one did you go for? Looks like one of the earlier cars with the smaller wheels. I’ve heard they’re supposed to be very good value vs the S etc. I rather like the original Premier edition …

I went for a well specd "pure". It has the upgrade stereo, parking sensors around, telemetrics and loved the colour. It was a dealer demonstrator for 2024, registered exactly a year ago and and as you say probably one of the last with the smaller wheels.

Regarding value, because it was a demonstrator and a year old, was about 20% off what would be invoice price. In addition benefiting from 4.9% pcp rate, so I thought a good deal to trigger as I read that it's will be probably in production till the end of 25 and that's about it.

There are a few around to choose but it is becoming one of the favourite track day cars so chose to avoid buying privately.

 

[Andyk]

I was looking at these last summer. A low mileage S that was a couple of years old could be had for around £40k with the Premier Edition in the £30-35k zone. Although there are now some very low mileage Premiers on the market with big ticket prices … I watched Harry’s video on these and his recommendation - as I recall - was to go for the standard car over the S; as a daily driver / for UK B road fun.

Prices certainly on Autotrader haven’t moved much from when you were looking. Great drivers car and the only issue I can see is woeful luggage space if using daily.

 

[zagatoes30]

Prices certainly on Autotrader haven’t moved much from when you were looking. Great drivers car and the only issue I can see is woeful luggage space if using daily.

How much luggage do you carry daily? From my point of view it's a laptop bag and the odd bit of shopping. The BMW is the load lugger and dog carrier

 

[Andyk]

How much luggage do you carry daily? From my point of view it's a laptop bag and the odd bit of shopping. The BMW is the load lugger and dog carrier

Yes but if this is your only car to use daily which not everyone has more than one car you will struggle to get luggage or a big shop in it unless you travel alone. The boot space is not well thought out at all and interior storage was pretty poor as well. A friend was really interested in one and it was going to be his only car. I went with him to the Cardiff dealer when he test drove an S. Loved the looks, the drive was just amazing but didn’t buy as he would struggle to do the monthly shopping let alone a weekend away with his wife. He bought a 718 Cayman GTS in the end. Two boots in that and better storage in the cabin. Alpine is a great car but maybe if you need to carry anything other than a plastic squashy bag use it for fun.

 

[Motorsport3]

The luggage space is small, no doubt about that. It has one on the front and a bit bigger at the back but would take some thinking to pack say for holidays away.

But other than that it can certainly be driven as a daily. It's really easy to live with compared to say an Alfa 4C or an Elise. I had both in the past and while they both felt more special I remember that you really needed to have both hand on the steering all the time (non assisted). It was really easy for the Alfa to scratch its belly going over speed bumps and the elise was noisy in the cabin (zero insulation and thin canvas roof) that was really not for long distance or highway driving. You have none of that in the Alpine.

 

[Andyk]

The luggage space is small, no doubt about that. It has one on the front and a bit bigger at the back but would take some thinking to pack say for holidays away.

But other than that it can certainly be driven as a daily. It's really easy to live with compared to say an Alfa 4C or an Elise. I had both in the past and while they both felt more special I remember that you really needed to have both hand on the steering all the time (non assisted). It was really easy for the Alfa to scratch its belly going over speed bumps and the elise was noisy in the cabin (zero insulation and thin canvas roof) that was really not for long distance or highway driving. You have none of that in the Alpine.

Spot on, only a small thing but everything is amazing with this little car and if the luggage space is OK for you then you have one of the best drivers car for the money. Enjoy.

 

[williamsmix]

Prices certainly on Autotrader haven’t moved much from when you were looking. Great drivers car and the only issue I can see is woeful luggage space if using daily.

Yes, I agree about luggage space, it wouldn’t be good for a month long road trip across Europe. The Cayman is a much better mid engined car for that … And as for the 4C that someone mentioned above, well that has a tiny rear boot for 1 or 2 Sainsbury’s bags max! But such a beautiful looking car it makes me wonder if I could put that problem to one side(?)

 

[philw696]

1990 Citroen XM Black Manual, 5 speed Left Hand Drive in...

1990 Citroen XM Black Manual, 5 speed Left Hand Drive in Houx, France - For Sale | Car & Classic, €11,000 XM 2.0 carburettor 01/03/1990 S...

www.carandclassic.com

 

[zagatoes30]

1990 Citroen XM Black Manual, 5 speed Left Hand Drive in...

1990 Citroen XM Black Manual, 5 speed Left Hand Drive in Houx, France - For Sale | Car & Classic, €11,000 XM 2.0 carburettor 01/03/1990 S...

www.carandclassic.com

Love the DS and can actually see plus points in the CX but the XM always seemed to stretch the concept too far and then the C6 went a different route but could only come form one manufacturer and I like that too

 

[philw696]

Love the DS and can actually see plus points in the CX but the XM always seemed to stretch the concept too far and then the C6 went a different route but could only come form one manufacturer and I like that too

What I like with the XM is it's quirky and as modern as I want to go.
The Luxury of the interior is really good.
Might even increase in value too which is a bonus today.