Are French cars Crap ?
Discussion
Davi said:
Arif110 said:
name said:
Maybe its just citroens....?
Nope - it's French cars. It's just that occassionally - you might end up with one that works.
I think you'll find it's more a case of occassionally you end up with a crap one, but because it's french people scream from the hill tops about it just to run it down. My citroen isn't my first french car by a long way, and it wont be my last. My father has had many french cars, my uncle is a mechanic for a french company. They'll all admit you will get a shit one now and again, but on the whole I think most people like to run french cars down purely because they think it's cool to.
My Wife's colleague has a company BMW that has had more major surgery on it in the few weeks of ownership than any car I've ever known. Her boss has a Fezza 430 that has literally covered more milage on a tow truck than under its own steam, My Brother has a Audi that is constantly disapearing into the garage for it's latest fault to be repaired. but it wouldn't be cool to diss them would it.
Completly agree. I have had a Saxo VTR and currently have a Clio 182. Both almost faultless. The Clio had an oxygen sensor replaced and that's about it.
On the other hand, my dad had a 528 BMW and had the engine replaced twice, a Merc clk 320 which was always in the garage with one problem or another and now has an slk 350 which has bene in the garage at least once a month for the last year with a re-occurring problem that merc cannot solve.
Shouldn't the thread be named "Are German cars crap?"
Well I've had my Clio, for 4 years/50k miles now, and it doesn't have the solid feel of a VW, but it was considerably cheaper than the equivalent Polo. But more importantly, its never let me down, starts first time, every time, despite me thrashing it within an inch of its life, so on that basis I'm pretty pleased with it.
ps. Had to replace a broken hazard warning light switch?!?!?!?! Not good considering I've never used, just happened to knock it whilst changing the headunit, and it wouldn't switch off.
ps. Had to replace a broken hazard warning light switch?!?!?!?! Not good considering I've never used, just happened to knock it whilst changing the headunit, and it wouldn't switch off.
tycho said:
On the other hand, my dad had a 528 BMW and had the engine replaced twice, a Merc clk 320 which was always in the garage with one problem or another and now has an slk 350 which has bene in the garage at least once a month for the last year with a re-occurring problem that merc cannot solve.
Shouldn't the thread be named "Are German cars crap?"
Shouldn't the thread be named "Are German cars crap?"
I think its more a case of German cars not necessarily living up to the reputation of "German reliability".
Its been pretty much dispelled recently that the German manufacturers are significantly more reliable than their competitors anyway. When companies such as Mercedes and BMW get blasted for poor reliability then you have to question the whole thing. Even Porsche has had problems with blown engines and big payouts on warranties.....
Anyone remember the fiasco of the VAG ignition coils?
The difference is that Germans carefully craft an image and pay fortunes to maintain it. The French know that memories can be long and hence just go for the quirkiness or odd angle rather than trying to convince us that a Megane is as reliable as a Golf....
They're not all crap but the build quality is (or has been) hugely variable hence why you find people who say they are shit and some people have no problems. We had two 205 gtis at the same time, mine was reliable but the wife's broke down on a weekly basis even though it had less miles on, got thrashed less and had a better service history.
Personally I wouldn't buy a french car again because it's too much of an unknown and they don't make anything good enough to make it worth the risk.
Personally I wouldn't buy a french car again because it's too much of an unknown and they don't make anything good enough to make it worth the risk.
I have to admit to having had a couple of Xantia's as company cars over the years. Nothing major went wrong, but it was funny to see the build quality from one to the other.... the second one had loads of extra screws all over the place - just to keep things in place and non-rattling. Quite funny. Ended up playing a game with a colleage of "hunt the screw".... worked though. No dash rattles or squeaks.... 
never really found any of the citroens that have been in the family to be unreliable.
Lady S' folks have had various Citroens for many years
and LS has had a AX, taking it to 90k miles over 10 years with only an altinator going in that time. and now a berlingo thats done 65k in 3 years - only mechanical has been a ignition coil go.
had a C4 for 8 months before selling to get my MX-5 again a great car with no problems.
do like citroens for their quirkyness
Lady S' folks have had various Citroens for many years
and LS has had a AX, taking it to 90k miles over 10 years with only an altinator going in that time. and now a berlingo thats done 65k in 3 years - only mechanical has been a ignition coil go.
had a C4 for 8 months before selling to get my MX-5 again a great car with no problems.
do like citroens for their quirkyness
I am currently on my 87th car ( I get bored easily!) and can say that I have had no problems with French cars, although I have heard that recent (02-current) Renaults are seriously poor on the electrics front. To be honest, the most problems I have had have been from German cars and Fords, Fords are cheaply built crap and idiots tend to buy because they are common and easy to repair and German cars are often over-rated, flaky, hugely problematic and costly to repair when they go wrong. Trim and electrics are just as likely (perhaps even more so) to go wrong as the worst of the french stuff, for example I had a 6 year old BMW 728i back in the day and honestly, it was the worst car of the whole 87 cars I have had, hands down!! From rotting and leaking window rubbers, to very thin glass that very easily chipped windscreens, to constant and expensive electrical problems, pieces of trim would fall off and motors/mechanisms would fail regularly, 13 separate problems appeared in the first month and a half of owning this pile of crap! I have owned VWs that have rotted, had lots of problems with electrics and some stupid design flaws like a wiper switch placed so close the the ignition barrel that you had to hold the ignition key with the ends of your fingers to avoid turning the wipers on! Fuses blew constantly for no apparent reason and paintwork would wear down in places unlike any car I have ever seen. In short, German cars LOOK good and seem to be well put together superficially, but often that beauty is not more than skin deep...
No, some of the best cars we've had in our family have been French. They've all been far better cars than Vauxhalls and Fords. We've had a Picasso that we've used as a work hack for about 5 years and probably done around 50k in it and it's only needed a water pump and cambelt in that time. I also think French cars are some of the comfiest cars out there. Then you look at fun factor, their probably the best out there for hot hatches. A lot of their reputation unfortunately is just very bigoted views from English car enthusiasts. I would agree their cars from 20-30 years ago were poor. Citroen AX springs to mind, we had one it was 
although we did drive it to Scotland and back from Berkshire once. I think they have definitely solved their quality issues now though.
I'd personally buy a Renault/Citroen/Pug over a Vauxhall/Ford any day.
although we did drive it to Scotland and back from Berkshire once. I think they have definitely solved their quality issues now though. I'd personally buy a Renault/Citroen/Pug over a Vauxhall/Ford any day.
stemac76 said:
I am currently on my 87th car ( I get bored easily!) and can say that I have had no problems with French cars, although I have heard that recent (02-current) Renaults are seriously poor on the electrics front. To be honest, the most problems I have had have been from German cars and Fords, Fords are cheaply built crap and idiots tend to buy because they are common and easy to repair and German cars are often over-rated, flaky, hugely problematic and costly to repair when they go wrong. Trim and electrics are just as likely (perhaps even more so) to go wrong as the worst of the french stuff, for example I had a 6 year old BMW 728i back in the day and honestly, it was the worst car of the whole 87 cars I have had, hands down!! From rotting and leaking window rubbers, to very thin glass that very easily chipped windscreens, to constant and expensive electrical problems, pieces of trim would fall off and motors/mechanisms would fail regularly, 13 separate problems appeared in the first month and a half of owning this pile of crap! I have owned VWs that have rotted, had lots of problems with electrics and some stupid design flaws like a wiper switch placed so close the the ignition barrel that you had to hold the ignition key with the ends of your fingers to avoid turning the wipers on! Fuses blew constantly for no apparent reason and paintwork would wear down in places unlike any car I have ever seen. In short, German cars LOOK good and seem to be well put together superficially, but often that beauty is not more than skin deep...
Is this a new record? Resurrecting an eight year old thread??My personal experience of the French cars I've owned have been fairly reliable. Owned 4, only 1 was complete rubbish.
My dad had a mk1 Megane. It was used daily for a 40 mile commute, think the only thing that went wrong was a power steering pump.
I owned:
92 Citroen ZX. Good car, better equipped than equivalent Astra or Escort of the time. Only issues over the 3 years i owned it were a few intermittent warning lights on the dash, wiring fault to the starter motor and eventually a new clutch after 3years hard labour on the M8.
98 Citroen Xsara. One problem. Kept cutting out when braking. Citroen couldn't fix it although they had the car plenty times to try. Got rid after 6months.
2001 Clio. Owned for 4 years. Airbag warning light came on. It was the connector under the drivers seat had unplugged itself. High level brake light had to be replaced. Covered 52000 miles in the time I owned it.
2002 Laguna. Front electric windows stopped working. No other faults. Owned for 4 years.
Never owned a Peugeot but would certainly favour Renault over Citroen. I feel Citroen tend to have more minor electrical gremlins than Renault.
My dad had a mk1 Megane. It was used daily for a 40 mile commute, think the only thing that went wrong was a power steering pump.
I owned:
92 Citroen ZX. Good car, better equipped than equivalent Astra or Escort of the time. Only issues over the 3 years i owned it were a few intermittent warning lights on the dash, wiring fault to the starter motor and eventually a new clutch after 3years hard labour on the M8.
98 Citroen Xsara. One problem. Kept cutting out when braking. Citroen couldn't fix it although they had the car plenty times to try. Got rid after 6months.
2001 Clio. Owned for 4 years. Airbag warning light came on. It was the connector under the drivers seat had unplugged itself. High level brake light had to be replaced. Covered 52000 miles in the time I owned it.
2002 Laguna. Front electric windows stopped working. No other faults. Owned for 4 years.
Never owned a Peugeot but would certainly favour Renault over Citroen. I feel Citroen tend to have more minor electrical gremlins than Renault.
It's only been three years, time for a thread bump.
Only French car I had was an 04 Laguna 1.9DCi Sport Tourer (estate...).
Reliable, comfy, good to drive. Key cards were a pain in the arse and it needed two window regulators and a front spring.
2003 320d Touring before it? Utter garbage, a 14ft long collection of rust, oil leaks, shagged dampers and three turbos. Rubbish.
I had a long term loan of a 1.6VVT Megane, 2005. Again, reliable and comfy but gutless.
Only French car I had was an 04 Laguna 1.9DCi Sport Tourer (estate...).
Reliable, comfy, good to drive. Key cards were a pain in the arse and it needed two window regulators and a front spring.
2003 320d Touring before it? Utter garbage, a 14ft long collection of rust, oil leaks, shagged dampers and three turbos. Rubbish.
I had a long term loan of a 1.6VVT Megane, 2005. Again, reliable and comfy but gutless.
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