French Cars - Are they as bad as some people say??
Discussion
Hi all. Last year some of you gave me some ideas as to what car to buy for about 1000 quid. I never ended up buying one because my car unexpectedly sailed through mot just needing 2 tyres. I am again finding myself on auto trader alot and 2 cars that seem to float my boat are the peugeot 407 & 407sw, and the citroen c5 2008 onwards.
A mate of mine keeps saying never buy a french car though. I used to have a xantia and loves it but tbh had to scrap it because of the brake pipes.
What are the thoughts of you peeps on the 2 cars i mention?
A mate of mine keeps saying never buy a french car though. I used to have a xantia and loves it but tbh had to scrap it because of the brake pipes.
What are the thoughts of you peeps on the 2 cars i mention?
I thought, they can't be as bad as people say can they?
The answer is yes, they can. I had a Peugeot 407 SW. What an absolute piece of s
t.
DPF issues, starter motor failed. ALL FOUR electric windows died once, and then the driver and passenger failed again. Central locking went haywire. The lights all started messing up. You'd brake and your indicators would come on. Trim fell off left right and center.
My other half also owned a Citroen C4, and it was pretty much the same theme with this. Utter garbage! Would never buy PSA again.
The answer is yes, they can. I had a Peugeot 407 SW. What an absolute piece of s
t. DPF issues, starter motor failed. ALL FOUR electric windows died once, and then the driver and passenger failed again. Central locking went haywire. The lights all started messing up. You'd brake and your indicators would come on. Trim fell off left right and center.
My other half also owned a Citroen C4, and it was pretty much the same theme with this. Utter garbage! Would never buy PSA again.
My experience with older (80s/90s) ones is that if you get a good one, they're perfectly decent, but a Friday afternoon special will be a complete disaster. Repeatedly.
They also always had this thing where the cooling systems felt like an afterthought, like they put the engine in there, stuck a radiator up front, and then just added hoses wherever they could fit them.
They also always had this thing where the cooling systems felt like an afterthought, like they put the engine in there, stuck a radiator up front, and then just added hoses wherever they could fit them.
Jag_NE said:
i understood that independent reliability data indicated that they were no significantly better or worse than the rest of the brands these days.
i think its pretty undisputed that 15 years ago Renault especially were selling some real garbage however.
I done a lot of reading into these reliability indexes before trying to justify an Alfa for myself. If there stats are to be believed then it's the big Germans who have been going to the dogs in recent years, Japanese (with the exception of Subaru) tend to be head and shoulders above the Euro stuff. Nowadays as you say their is no discernable difference between the French, German and Italian motors. i think its pretty undisputed that 15 years ago Renault especially were selling some real garbage however.
I currently have a pug, had a couple of niggles with it but no more than anything else I've ran.
I've owned quite a few French cars and none of them have given me much or any bother. They have all been relatively simple ones, however.
They were (with other cars in between)
Renault 5, ZX, ZX, AX, 306, Clio, Saxo, Megane, Saxo, Picasso and the current Megane.
None of these have had any rust at all, despite being old. Couldn't say the same of the Ford's, BMW or Merc I had.
All have had varying degrees of nice chassis and quite fun to drive. Lots of car for little money.
I rate them! But as I say, none have had particularly many things on them to go wrong.
I like them!
They were (with other cars in between)
Renault 5, ZX, ZX, AX, 306, Clio, Saxo, Megane, Saxo, Picasso and the current Megane.
None of these have had any rust at all, despite being old. Couldn't say the same of the Ford's, BMW or Merc I had.
All have had varying degrees of nice chassis and quite fun to drive. Lots of car for little money.
I rate them! But as I say, none have had particularly many things on them to go wrong.
I like them!
Had a new cactus as hire car when mine got hit.
Cursing a little abover the speed limit ( about 12 mph over ).
Pulled into a garage for Coffee, came out the thing was just smoke ! Some oil had fallen out of something onto something.
Still drove etc I just went slower to help it chill out a bit also the centre iPod thing took forever to load up. I'd reversed by the time the rear camera showed its face.
Utter crap
Driven them for years, never had any more problems that any of the other cars friends have.
Myth they are any better/worse than any other cars. The 2ltr HDI engines are bomb proof.
The Citroen C5x7 Exclusive is a fabulous car, comfort and load lugging at perfection levels. The 20 year old Xantia I have has zero rust !
Myth they are any better/worse than any other cars. The 2ltr HDI engines are bomb proof.
The Citroen C5x7 Exclusive is a fabulous car, comfort and load lugging at perfection levels. The 20 year old Xantia I have has zero rust !
Last three cars have been Zsara Picasso - 3 years 100,000 miles no bills other than servicing, C4 Picasso - 3 years 110,000 miles no bills other than servicing, C3 Picasso - 7 years 130,000 miles one £500 bill other than servicing. All 1.6 diesels economical, sprightly enough for commuting, large enough for all my needs.
caelite said:
Jag_NE said:
i understood that independent reliability data indicated that they were no significantly better or worse than the rest of the brands these days.
i think its pretty undisputed that 15 years ago Renault especially were selling some real garbage however.
I done a lot of reading into these reliability indexes before trying to justify an Alfa for myself. If there stats are to be believed then it's the big Germans who have been going to the dogs in recent years, Japanese (with the exception of Subaru) tend to be head and shoulders above the Euro stuff. Nowadays as you say their is no discernable difference between the French, German and Italian motors. i think its pretty undisputed that 15 years ago Renault especially were selling some real garbage however.
I currently have a pug, had a couple of niggles with it but no more than anything else I've ran.
the best thing with French/Italian is that due to the generally misinformed general public, used values are often extremely depressed meaning that there are bargains to be had.
Had a couple of Citroen BX's, 'nothing' went wrong other than the auto-box lever switch thing was intermittant so the car wouldn't start, solved with a crocodile clip-lead for the starter solenoid kept in the car, and the second BX which 'blew a hydraulic sphere'. ZX's were fine, as was a Xantia. None were exciting. Miss the BX auto. :-)
Current car has a Renault DCi 1.5 in it. No problems, so far.
Current car has a Renault DCi 1.5 in it. No problems, so far.
loonzy said:
Hi all. Last year some of you gave me some ideas as to what car to buy for about 1000 quid. I never ended up buying one because my car unexpectedly sailed through mot just needing 2 tyres. I am again finding myself on auto trader alot and 2 cars that seem to float my boat are the peugeot 407 & 407sw, and the citroen c5 2008 onwards.
A mate of mine keeps saying never buy a french car though. I used to have a xantia and loves it but tbh had to scrap it because of the brake pipes.
What are the thoughts of you peeps on the 2 cars i mention?
If you mean the re-designed C5 model then I can't see that you'll get one for a £1000. Cheapest on AT is £1650, every other one is £2k+ A mate of mine keeps saying never buy a french car though. I used to have a xantia and loves it but tbh had to scrap it because of the brake pipes.
What are the thoughts of you peeps on the 2 cars i mention?
On topic... I had three Citroen XMs over a period of 15 years. All were reliable in as much as they always started and drove and stopped. Stuff did break or stop working, but nothing critical.
They were also dirt cheap and a lovely place to sit. The last one left my ownership with 197,000 miles on the clock
All of this depends on how much money you're spending.
At the £10k+ level, French cars will be no more or less reliable than their Japanese/German/Korean/Swedish brethren.
At shed money, I'd be tempted to stick with something German or Japanese. Shed values for French cars reflect the paranoia around reliability (for example, Citroen C5s are criminally cheap).
If you see a French car you like the look of (the Pug 407, for example), get yourself on a dedicated French car/Peugeot forum, and do your research on what goes wrong. Then buy a car that's had all the usual stuff sorted by the previous owner.
I did exactly this before buying an Alfa Romeo 166 V6 (back in 2008), and ended up with a well-sorted and reliable car that the previous owner had sunk a shed-load of cash into, fixing all the stuff that goes wrong with these cars.
At the £10k+ level, French cars will be no more or less reliable than their Japanese/German/Korean/Swedish brethren.
At shed money, I'd be tempted to stick with something German or Japanese. Shed values for French cars reflect the paranoia around reliability (for example, Citroen C5s are criminally cheap).
If you see a French car you like the look of (the Pug 407, for example), get yourself on a dedicated French car/Peugeot forum, and do your research on what goes wrong. Then buy a car that's had all the usual stuff sorted by the previous owner.
I did exactly this before buying an Alfa Romeo 166 V6 (back in 2008), and ended up with a well-sorted and reliable car that the previous owner had sunk a shed-load of cash into, fixing all the stuff that goes wrong with these cars.
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