Citroën BX 14E – 1988 – 1,167,645 km –

Not even a thousand bucks

We go back to 1988. Jan’s father purchases an almost new Citroën BX 14E, license plate ST-91-GK, and immediately has an LPG system installed. Eight years later, he thinks it’s time to say goodbye. The BX era is already over. At that time, you can buy a used one from just about any used car dealer, who will welcome you with open arms if you show an interest in its hydropneumatic suspension store subsidiary. You didn’t get any money if you decided on the spot to enter into a relationship with the Frenchwoman, but it didn’t make much difference. Jan also did not have to take out a second mortgage to become the happy owner of a BX: less than a thousand euros for an eight-year-old car. A small jump to the present: an eight-year-old Citroën C4 Cactus petrol (say, today’s BX) will cost you at least €8,000. Speaking of money, the BX was a bargain in its day. A spacious five-door hatchback with hydropneumatic suspension, disc brakes all around and almost 450 liters of luggage space for the price of a bare three-door Volkswagen Golf. Jan: “There was even talk of the BX being scrapped. It suited me very well, as the GSA started to get more and more rust. I never thought I would still be driving that car 27 years later.”

Reliable Japanese or drive through?

“For a long time we drove around 40,000 km per year. Small services every 10,000 km, large ones every 20,000. A major service costs around €800 with always some extra things, a small one costs around €400 and further around €1,000 per year for unforeseen or other major repairs. In short, about €3,000 to €3,500 per year, which works out to about 8 cents per kilometer. Long ago it was closer to 5 cents and I saw that gradually increase to almost 10 cents over 20 years to keep the car good and reliable, but I’m talking until about 2014, 2015. Then it changed. The bar in terms of maintenance went up. Instead of wisely buying a reliable Japanese car, we decided to keep driving the BX and restore it at the same time. In terms of maintenance, this meant more than just striving for a good and reliable car for daily use. Repairs were given another, higher goal: perfecting the car and preserving it for the very long term. Restoration quality repairs. This meant that we invested much more in the car than was strictly necessary to keep the car in good, reliable condition for daily use. Actually, from then on I am talking about restoration costs, which you cannot count as regular maintenance costs. If I look at the costs since 2016, the costs for regular maintenance have remained approximately the same. On top of that, restorations have been added.”

Value increase

The engine is still the original, even though Jan has some spare blocks on the shelf. By the way, we are still talking about the old 1.4, not the more modern TU engine. Jan: “In my opinion, the old engine is much better, I’m glad my BX has that. And it has become a sport to preserve the original. It would have saved me a lot in terms of costs to get one of those spare blocks when the original block needed major maintenance.” Because Jan wanted to keep the car as a vintage car and gradually restore it, he decided to keep the original engine block and therefore overhaul it. “Another example is the repair of an old damage to the rear right, which was not done properly in 1994,” says Jan. “It lasted for more than twenty years, but then the welds started to split. We turned it into a full-fledged restoration job. and now it is indistinguishable from new.”
All this is rewarded in the current value. “We have a nice appraisal report, where we can see the restoration costs are reflected in the continued increase in value of the car. We had depreciation until around 2005, after which the current value remained constant at the minimum. We have had appreciation since around 2012. If you take that into account, the costs are not too bad to drive a car for that long.”

ZX for the winter kilometers

In fact, the costs hardly played a role in keeping the car, Jan admits. “It’s so much fun to keep driving it. If I had been concerned about current value and costs, even every major service between 1996 and 2010 would have been too expensive to be economically justified. Luckily I’m not an accountant. But as I said, looking for a better copy at the time was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Mine has always been well maintained and that saved it. The majority of the BXs were neglected. Despite the low current value, I have always had it maintained and repaired and I never dared to start with a replacement. Too much risk of a bad purchase.”
Jan has never recommended the BX to acquaintances. Only now that the barrels are gradually being scrapped is it easier to find a good BX. “But now another cause is emerging that means we won’t be able to use the BX for all journeys for much longer: the supply of parts. We already have the successor to the BX for daily use in the winter, a ZX 1.6 Avoriaz from 1996. It has no hydraulics, but can take some brine, something we want to save the BX from this winter. And for the long journeys to France, where we have two houses, we continue to drive with hydraulics, the BX. In the coming years the mileage will slow down a little. That he will never leave again. should be clear now. My children will ultimately take over.”

Owner Citroën BX

Name: Jan Brakenhoff
Year of construction: 1965
Place of residence: Groningen
Occupation: Chemist/pharmaceutical (dr.)
First and previous car: Citroën GSA Break from 1982
What would you like to change about your car? “The cooling system.”
What is your longest trip with this car? “To Portugal.”

Maintenance history

• Replaced head gasket four times, first time at 459,150 km (October 11, 2002), second time at 840,202 km (February 15, 2012), third time 989,893 km (January 31, 2016), fourth time at 1,016,000 km (September 2016)
• Rear axle replaced due to excessive rust 1,019,728 km, November 2016
• Hydraulic hoses (octopuses) renewed twice, first time in June 2002 at 446,559 km, second time in 2018 at 1,063,616 km.
• The BX goes to the sheet metal worker twice a year (since 1988), just before and just after winter. Touch up spots on the body and bottom, epoxy and lacquer (body) or ML (bottom). Plus clean hydraulic lines and grease them preventively in thin, clear ML or a mixture of linseed oil and engine oil.
• Clutch cable preventive every 120,000 km
• Change LHM oil (suspension and brake system) every 100,000 km
• Rear wishbone bearings replaced twice, first time at 436,057 km (October 2002), second time at 986,655 (November 2015)
• Wear parts often preventively periodically.
• Lots of small (every 10,000) and large (every 20,000) turns

What’s wrong with it?

• The door catches are creaking quite a bit
• The car vibrates as if the drive shafts are worn
• The clutch makes a special noise when pressed
• The rear springs better than the front
• The engine and gearbox are leaking some oil
• The linkage of the switching mechanism shows quite a bit of wear
• The right strut is leaking