French cars.Good or bad? | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

Tue 20 Dec 2005 12:47

French cars.Good or bad? - barney100

I have always had a soft spot for French cars(no, not a bog in the south of Ireland)and once owned a Simca which was comfy and decent to drive. However, it tended to have bits drop off or rot away but it seemed to add to the character of the car. What are other peoples experiences of French motors?

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 12:52

French cars.Good or bad? - Pugugly {P}

Judging by what I've read here they still have character.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 17:42

French cars.Good or bad? - NowWheels

Judging by what I've read here they still have character.

miaow!

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 12:55

French cars.Good or bad? - Glaikit Wee Scunner {P}

I'd a 1979 Renault 18TL. Very comfortable and pleasant to drive. Great traction in snow with the engine hanging out the front.
Became a bit of a money pit at 60000 miles or so ; after an exhaust valve burnt out I switched to VWs.
My sister sees to have an above the normal amount of problems with Renaults and Citroens even from new. But they are a LOT cheaper than VWs.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 12:58

French cars.Good or bad? - turbo11

twice bitten.twice shy.Wouldn't touch one ever again.German or Japanese only for me,thanks.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 13:04

French cars.Good or bad? - Roly93

twice bitten.twice shy.Wouldn't touch one ever again.German or Japanese only for

me,thanks.

You've echoed my sentiments nicely, I had one brief foray into Citroen territory, and this has put me off. Flimsy build quality and constant electrical problems are the order of the day. The French should stick to making Wine and Cheese I think !

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 13:08

French cars.Good or bad? - dieselicious

I've had 2 citroen zx's (petrol & diesel), a citroen saxo, citroen xsara, and a peugeot 406, and have no trouble with any of them (apart from a heater matrix on the xsara)

They've been reliable, comfortable and i'd buy french again.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 13:18

French cars.Good or bad? - Group B

I had a J-reg Pug 405 Mi16. Had 18 months of fun ownership, then 6 months of nightmares. It had mechanical parts made of plastic that IMO should have been metal, eg. connector on the end of the clutch cable. The gearbox started to part company with the engine at just over 100k miles. The alloy bolt holes had stripped threads so couldnt be repaired easily. Originally bought it for £2500, and spent a total of £2400 on repairs.
To be fair it had probably been thrashed all its life...

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 13:20

French cars.Good or bad? - Adam {P}

I can't wait for Machika to read this.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 18:03

French cars.Good or bad? - machika

I can't wait for Machika to read this.

Here I am, lol.

I always take people as I find them and I tend to do the same with cars. My experience of French cars is mainly limited to Peugeot and Citroen, although I once had a Simca 1100, which was a rot box, but so were many cars of that vintage.

The ZX we had definitely did not exhibit great build quality but, like the two 309s I had, it had great ride quality and handling and, from a 1.4 engine, a decent turn of speed. Whilst it had a number of niggly probelms that required sorting out under warranty, it served me well for three and a half years. I recently saw an R plate model that was in great condition.

Then there is the Xantia. What a great car ours has been. No sign of rust after almost twelve years, yet they are supposed to be prone to rust. The paintwork has stood up well to the passage of time also. The engine has been great and, generally, very little has ever been replaced on the car, apart from the obvious bits that need replacing on all cars.

We have had the C5 for almost 3 years and, whilst it has not been faultless, it cost nothing to put the problems right, the biggest of them being the rear axle beam, which I did eventually get Citroen to agree to replace. Citroen made a real hash of the launch of this car and the early cars were subject to a lot of recalls, which did nothing for its reputation. Properly sorted, they are fine cars.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 13:25

French cars.Good or bad? - mr.freezer

1 turbo diesel 306, 0 to 135,000 miles, reliable until the 100k mark

1 HDI 206, 0 to 12,000 miles, felt like it was falling to bits after week two and workshop time confirmed this

1 Laguna petrol 60,000 to current 78k miles
Its a pool car so I think its probably been thrashed a bit but the trim is appalling and loose and it has random electrical faults that stop progress typically on a wet friday afternoon 100 miles from home
I think Renaults are cheap to buy but they know you'll be buying spares

I like Pugs though but they seem a bit flimsy too

you get what you pay for

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 13:23

French cars.Good or bad? - Turbodog

I've had exactly the same experience. I've had Fords (x2), Vauxhall, BMW, Mercedes, Mazda and Fiat, some of which have had the odd niggle, but the ONLY car I've ever had which has let me down, stranded by the roadside waiting for the RAC (twice) was a Citroen ZX Turbodiesel. It was a shame, as it was a nice car, but I can't stand unreliability, and when it suddenly started throwing thick black smoke out of the airvents whilst I was doing 70 on the M1 I knew our relationship was over. I bought it from new, in case you were thinking it was an old, poorly serviced thing, and the 2 breakdowns were in addition to all sorts of other problems with the gearbox and stuff. Sold it after 2 years, never again...

I think the French are good at design, but not so good at the execution.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 13:26

French cars.Good or bad? - Roly93

I think the French are good at design, but not so

good at the execution.

I think you are right, when we had our Xsara, I always said it was nice to drive, but I just couldn't put up with the niggles that were down purely to sloppy engineering design, ie selection of very poor quality electrical fittings in this case.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 13:37

French cars.Good or bad? - cumfray1

My Dad used to have a Peugeot 204 in the late 70's & what a piece of junk this car was. My old man usually kept his cars for 3-5 years but this one lasted 2. No end of problems with it, would only start after swearing at it in french & as for the rust, the word teabag springs to mind.
My missus 406 we've had for 3yrs & its had both front anti-roll bushes replaced, new exhaust with cat & front dvrs side coil spring twice. It's a P with 120k & considering other peoples faults with their pugs I consider myself lucky ours has had no serious faults. Overall I find its been ok although the mpg it gives helps.
P.S. Its currently awaiting a CV gaitor due to the current one being ripped when the coil spring collapsed.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 13:29

French cars.Good or bad? - Alan

My experiance has been Peugeot good Renault bad. Other people I have spoken to seem to think the same with citroen in between.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 13:34

French cars.Good or bad? - cheddar

Wifes '98 Clio has been fine, much more solid and better put together than her previous '95 Mk 1 Clio.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 13:59

French cars.Good or bad? - leef

Had an R-reg clio for 7 years from new.... It was the pitts!! never again will I have a french car...

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 13:59

French cars.Good or bad? - moosh

Barney,

Quote;

"but it seemed to add to the character of the car. What are other peoples experiences of French motors?"

Have a read here before considering a Reanult Laguna II.

www.honestjohn.co.uk/index.php?url=/carbycar/index...m

Avoid

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 14:08

French cars.Good or bad? - mr.freezer

And another thing, the Laguna (and most Renaults ? ) has plastic wings !

Are they engineered just to pass those Euro tests and not really that strong in reality ?

I know its just panels and its whats underneath that counts but it doesn't inspire confidence when the rest of the car appears to have been built on a very long Friday afternoon

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 15:07

French cars.Good or bad? - Altea Ego

"And another thing, the Laguna (and most Renaults ? ) has plastic wings !"

Yes and your point?

"Are they engineered just to pass those Euro tests and not really that strong in reality ?"

I would far sooner seriously crash in and write off a laguna ( as I did) than some japanese suicide box. YOu want to see the pictures of how strong it is when t boned by a bus?

------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 16:04

French cars.Good or bad? - mr.freezer

My points are these

1. It may not be cheap to put these on a car but it looks cheap and nasty as do most of the dashboards

2. does Renault have a history of making cars safer than other manufacturers ?
Or are they made safe only now that there are structured crash tests to aim to beat ?
How do they compare to more historical safe car makers such as Saab and Volvo ?
Is a 5 star Renault as safe as a 4 star Volvo or Saab in the real world ?

Back to the good or bad point though,

How can Renault have the nerve to go on about safety in their adverts when the cars fall apart just with everyday use

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 15:10

French cars.Good or bad? - jigsaw

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 16:10

French cars.Good or bad? - codefarm

My personal experience was when I got a Citroen BX Diesel as a company car. We ran a Rover 827 and Mk3 Cavaliers and experienced no problems with any of them, despite colossal mileages. We tried the BX as it was supposedly a great diesel and they wanted to save money on fuel.

To cut a long story short it was just not suitable for the kind of abuse we dished out - hundreds and hundreds of motorway miles, at high speeds, day in day out, loaded with equipment.

The timing belt went at about 39,000 miles which wrecked the engine. It was in the dealership for a couple of months while that was sorted out, as these cars are so complicated even the dealers struggle with them. It was never right again, with various fluids always springing a leak. Finally a crucial rubber band went while it was being driven down the M3, which caused the suspension to sink on to the stops, the power steering to shut down, and which also stopped the brakes from working. At that point we got shot of it.

There are a number of people on this site who really like Citroens, including somebody who criticised me when I mentioned this before, for not having read the manual which apparently contains instructions on how to handle a 'hydraulic failure'. I admit I had not read the manual and did not know what to do, other than using the auto gearbox and handbrake to slow down.

People do like French cars because they are quirky and characterful, and a lot of Backroomers will tell you they never have any problems with them, which is great. I personally would not go near one.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 16:33

French cars.Good or bad? - Baskerville

>The timing belt went at about 39,000 miles which wrecked the engine. It was in the dealership for a couple of months while that was sorted out, as these cars are so complicated even the dealers struggle with them.

You have to be joking. The XUD engine was one of the most successful engines of any type ever made. It was dead simple and in the BX there is a lot of room to work on it. A cambelt failure is not good on most cars but an engine rebuild in a proper workshop doesn't take "months." More like "a day" in fact.

You were had.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 16:35

French cars.Good or bad? - Adam {P}

An engine rebuild in a day?

Either the garage you go to has you as it's sole customer or the engine never needed rebuilding in teh first place.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 17:31

French cars.Good or bad? - Baskerville

"More like"

If he can exaggerate so can I.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 16:54

French cars.Good or bad? - Dude - {P}

The fact that French cars appear at the bottom of all the car reliability surveys is surely a powerful message to all tempted to buy Gallic tin/plastic ware.!!!!!!

When it comes to styling flair and suspension design, the French have always been leaders, but their low grade components, electrics and poor build quality will ensure they remain at the bottom of the reliability league tables until they get their act together.

For these reasons, I would`nt touch a French car with a very long barge pole and will stick with German/Japanese.!!!!!

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 17:45

French cars.Good or bad? - Dulwich Estate

The only French made car I'd think about buying is a Toyota Yaris - and then I'm not so sure.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 17:57

French cars.Good or bad? - mjm

I've had 3 BX's, a 16TRS, a GTI and a 16valve. I had the 16 valve for 8 years. It had 144k on the clock when I sold it. It was a rocket of a car. I now have a Xantia. Total breakdowns so far with all of them, one battery and one octopus. Broken trim, malfunctioning electric bits, none. All bought as private cars, secondhand.

Before that I had company Ford Cortinas and Sierra 2,3 deisels.
They all broke down, repeatedly.

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Wed 21 Dec 2005 01:06

French cars.Good or bad? - blue_haddock

The only French made car I'd think about buying is a

Toyota Yaris - and then I'm not so sure.

If you believe the techinicians they say they have more problems with the french built yaris than they do with the Jap built ones.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 20:30

French cars.Good or bad? - Bromptonaut

>The timing belt went at about 39,000 miles which wrecked the

engine. It was in the dealership for a couple of months

while that was sorted out, as these cars are so complicated

even the dealers struggle with them.

Your dealer was havin a larf!. The engine and drivetrain on a BX was utterly conventional. The suspension, while esoteric, was well proven and by 1983 had been around pushing 30 years. Village garages in the UK were never keen but dealers had no excuses.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 20:46

French cars.Good or bad? - codefarm

Your dealer was havin a larf!. The engine and drivetrain on

a BX was utterly conventional. The suspension, while esoteric, was well

proven and by 1983 had been around pushing 30 years. Village

garages in the UK were never keen but dealers had no

excuses.

This dealer actually had any number of excuses! Too long ago to worry about now. I got a Rover 620 as a replacement so I was happy. It was definitely the best part of two months I was using rental and borrowed cars until the Rover came free, by this time they'd already decided to get rid of the BX in any case. I was just glad it wasn't my property.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 17:49

French cars.Good or bad? - kevls

i had a peugeot 405 for eight years it was great then things started to go wrong parts where dear. they make a good car now the new renault laguna the peugeot 407. i dont think there build quality is a good as the jap cars or other europen car makers i would leve well alone.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 18:01

French cars.Good or bad? - mare

We have a Citroen C3. It's OK, i really like the high up driving position (after all, it's based on a van), and the ease of driving.

Some of the trim is a bit flimsy and certainly not child proof. But the design is well thought out with some nice touches. Drives well too.

It has had a couple of moments, twice the power steering has gone AWOL, but this was cured by stopping and switching off, and restarting. Never completely conked out.

My wife's cousin used to work for a large Citroen dealer, dealing with the warranties and recalls. Her advice was never buy a Citroen until they've been out for 2 years.

I really like the Renault Megane, shame it's not as brave inside, the Laguna and 406 always looked good and the Peugeot 306 still look good, even on L reg. As for Citroen, the DS, CX and GS are fantastic looking cars.

With my own money, i'd probably buy Japanese. My Almera may not have "character" but it's a cheap reliable box on wheels for me and my laptop, and that's all i need right now. Maybe one day, I'd love a DS.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 18:15

French cars.Good or bad? - Roberson

"French cars. Good or bad?" You shouldn't really have asked that question, not on this forum :-p

We, as a family, have has stacks of them. Of the 13 cars my dads ever had, 9 of them were French, 3 Brit and 1 Spanish. The worst of those were 2 of the Brits. My Granda had twice as many, mainly used them as part of his work as a company representative, covering some considerable mileage. None of his let him down. We only ever had problems with 2 of our French cars, a snapped clutch cable on a BX (could happen to any car) and the Laguna, which had an intermittent injector fault.

A lot of people are quite biased against the French (not with out reason in some cases, granted) but too many people jump on the bandwagon and seemingly over exaggerate problems.

We've tried many different makes of cars over the years, but we prefer products which seem to be predominantly French. If you like it, go for it, because the roads would be dull if we all insisted on driving the same thing. After all, some the UKs favorite cars aren?t exactly the epitome of robustness. Don't forget that the HJ site favorite car has an engine which was built with the aid of the French, because the manufacturer in question probably couldn't do it themselves :-P

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 18:37

French cars.Good or bad? - rip

What?s been forgotten is value for money, a second French car is pretty much unbeatable for this. E.g. two years ago bought a xantia (first French car, all Japanese prior to this) for £800, two years on still got it, and could just about break even if sold today. Thing which went wrong, err? nothing. Just service items like filters and tyres. I cant say for French makes in general but after 90,000miles it still is stunning condition inside and out with no rust (at all) and appears to be well built, 9 years on. Maybe PSA should give out this secret to ford of similar vintage, i.e. rust proofing.

In fact when i go out in my second car (honda civic, slightly newer with 60k miles) the only thing i remember when i get out of the civic is how many more rattles the civic has and how much more noisier and cramped it is inside! Oh yes and i paid £5k for the civic many years ago.

I thin the xantia is better all round, not to mention the cost savings; this includes the issue of if anything were to go wrong inbuilt into the sale price.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 18:51

French cars.Good or bad? - madf

French bodywork is far better than Ford vis a vis rustproofing.

Ford electrics are far mor relaible than Freench.

The Peugeot 106 front disk design appears to be designed to seize the pads in the calipers: my local garage is less than enthusiastic about repairing French cars cos they are difficult to work on and time consuming. I agree. A mechanical comparison of a Ford Feista Zetec vs a Peugeot 106 gives Ford a thumbs up.

French electrics? Quality of connectors? The swear filter prevents me:-)

madf

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 18:58

French cars.Good or bad? - mikeyb

Just got rid of my 3 year old Citroen Picasso - few minor things under warranty, but in 40K never broke down, although the trim was a bit flimsy.

Several years ago had a MKI Laguna which was ok until 130K then everything went in a few months, but very comfortable and felt reasonable well built.

Interesting point about peoples perception that Peugeot is better than Citroen given that in the main they share most mechanicals and platforms. I wonder if people feel that if they pay more they are getting a better car?

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 18:58

French cars.Good or bad? - BobbyG

Well, think its fair to say I like French cars:

E Reg 309 Style
H Reg 309 GL
J Clio RT
M Citroen ZX 1.9D Avantage
P Citroen ZX TD Aura
T Scenic rtdt
51 Scenic Dyn sci
04 Scenic II Dynamique

None of them have had any issues that I would consider to be abnormal except my second 309 which was a 1600 engine and , as it turned out, renowned for carburettor problems.

The main reason for choosing the cars I do is price, a Scenic will be cheaper than a Touran, the ZX were cheaper than golfs etc etc

I will quite happily continue to buy French.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 19:24

French cars.Good or bad? - tyro

My experience of French cars is limited to our Berlingo (which is actually built in Spain, but we'll let that pass). Other than that it has been 4 Fords.

In general, the interiors of the Fords have been a lot better - the Berlingo has a lot of flimsy plastic, and has been prone to leaks.

On the other hand, the Berlingo has been faultless mechanically (at 53,000 miles and almost 4 years).

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 19:14

French cars.Good or bad? - machika

In fact when i go out in my second car (honda

civic, slightly newer with 60k miles) the only thing i remember

when i get out of the civic is how many more

rattles the civic has and how much more noisier and cramped

it is inside! Oh yes and i paid £5k for the

civic many years ago.

I thin the xantia is better all round, not to mention

the cost savings; this includes the issue of if anything were

to go wrong inbuilt into the sale price.

>>

I would concur about the lack of rattles, as our Xantia is completely free of rattles and squeaks. Not bad for a car which has (supposedly) indifferent build quality. Where do they get this reputation for rusting from, also?

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 19:10

French cars.Good or bad? - Clanger

When I bought my daughter's AX in the summer it was the 19th Citroen I've bought. I won't list all the others (stop cheering at the back). Add to that list Renaults 4 and 16 and I'm firmly in the Francophile camp. None of the French cars I've had have ever stopped working while I've owned them. They have all given satisfaction to a greater or lesser degree. Electrical suspension niggles on the XM and rust on a DS, an Ami and a couple of CXs. Like all cars you can get good and bad ones from the same manufacturer. Get a bad Citroen and, like the little girl with a curl, it can be horrid. Fortunately, by knowing a little about the breed and sticking uncompromisingly to service recommendations, I've avoided serious traumas. So far ...
Hawkeye
-----------------------------
Stranger in a strange land

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 20:45

French cars.Good or bad? - Big Bad Dave

I had a string of bomb-proof large Peugeots, 504, 505, several 605s and current 406. The 406 is by far my least favourite, it?s way too small and it just doesn?t have my confidence? It?s not stranded me as yet but 2 coil failures in two months, battery failure, exhaust ripped off, drop links... but hey, it?s was a 4-year old, fully loaded V6 bought for a month?s pay and that?s why I keep going back to Peugeot - bangs for buck. I wish I hadn?t gotten rid of my last ultra reliable 605, but it was looking shabby at 9 years old with multi-prangs from neighbours and shoppers.

I?ll probably buy a 607 next when they drop below 3k (there are already about 10 for 4k on autotrader) although I had a rummage round the new Citroen C6 last week and fell in love with it. Huge, luxurious, both ugly and attractive in equal measure and bound to suffer from monster depreciation - a curse for new buyers but a blessing for me.

French cars good.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 21:00

French cars.Good or bad? - tack

I hope French cars are better than they used to be. I just took delivery of a brand new Citroen C4 1.6Hdi VTR+ 5dr hatch today!

1st impressions?

Silent running at 55mph on the M11. Man, it barely whispered and no road noise!

Excellent speed limiter & cruise, punchy for a 1.6Hdi

Comfy seats, great dash and info.

Good materials, good shut lines,

However, rear passenger offside door needs shutting twice. Doesn't seem to catch right. Flimsy glove compartment door.

Car made strange booming sound just once going round roundabout as I touched brakes (probably won't.....I hope....replicate later)

slight high pitched clicking from front passenger seat. Think it might be head rest spars in their holes.

Apart from that, seems ok......ask me next week though and it might be a different matter. I hope not!

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 20:57

French cars.Good or bad? - Mondaywoe

My first car was secondhand Mini 1000 - brilliant little car and very reliable, so in 1979 I decided to splash out on a brand new Mini Clubman. It was delivered to me with a big hole in the middle of the dashboard where the ashtray should have been (eventually delivered a few weeks later) I took the car home anyway and found the gears were really stiff to engage - back to garage - engine and gearbox out and gearbox stripped - new syncro. Then the battery split right across the top (!!) new battery ......Then the floor started to leak....and so it went on.

In utter disgust of BL products and influenced by the fact my folks had bought a Renault 12 I decided to go French and traded in the Clubman for a Renault 18. Great car - utterly reliable. The R18 was eventually replaced by a Renault 11 'Electronique' - superb car with digital dash and synthesised speech (this was early 80s!!) Kept it for years and enjoyed every minute. Then I traded it in for a R21 which I hated and sold after a few months (not sure why in retrospect - just not my kind of car) The R21 was changed for a R19 Chamade - again utterly reliable, though relatively lacking in character.

The R19 gave way to my first Citroen - the Xantia. I first saw the TV adverts for it and felt it had the looks, advanced technology and practicality that put it way beyond its contemporaries. Kept it for 9 years and traded it in for the C5 in 2002.

My favourite was far and away the Xantia - a greatly undervalued car in my opinion and much much more reliable than people would have you think. (My sister still has a Xantia which she bought in 1995 - never gives a moment's trouble.)

What I maybe should say is that I've serviced all my cars myself right up until the C5. Now, because I have much less time and energy (+ a lack of workshop manual!) I have to leave the C5 to the dealer. I firmly believe though that French is fine - provided they are properly maintained and driven.

Abuse or neglect them, however, and they'll bite you where it hurts!

Graeme

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 21:30

French cars.Good or bad? - Xileno {P}

I have had the following:
Peugeot 205 GRD (still got, recent buy)
Renault 18 (very reliable but got rusty)
Renault 20 (as above but also amazingly comfortable)
Renault Scenic MK1 (Reliable but a bit roly poly for my liking)
Renault Laguna MK2 (Awesome V6, 180K miles, reliable and comfortable)
Renault Megane dCi (15K, nothing gone wrong yet except sticking sunroof, fixed quickly in 10 minutes by the dealer)

Brother had a Citroen GS and BX, Both reliable, the GS suffered bad rot unfortunately.

And I have a Renault Dauphine that I am restoring!

The dealers make a huge difference. I am lucky that the Renault dealer I use is brilliant. Unfortunately when I lived in a difference part of the country, the dealer there wasn't nearly so good - although this is quite a few years ago so matters may be different now.

When things have gone wrong, the dealer has quickly diagnosed the problem and repaired it as rapidly.

We also have a Toyota and I also like VW's. I would say the Japanese still are top for reliability but I have found my french cars to be about the same as VW, averaging it all out. You can interpret that whatever way you like but I am happy to buy french.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 23:00

French cars.Good or bad? - Malcolm_L

I had 6 French cars in a row, a Renault 16 which I bought from my father which blew the bottom seals 3 months later and crocked the engine. (He let me repair on his property, gee thanks dad!)
I replaced the engine with a 16TX engine which didn't quite suit the original gearbox, very short geared but great fun.
This rotted through, despite being Ziebarted from new.

A 16TX which was the most unlucky/lucky car I've ever had, bought from a Renault dealer, the distributor went in a week. The gearbox disintegrated at 6 months and then again at 13 months, just outside warranty and Renault declined to contribute.
I was shunted twice in the car and then ran in the back of some-one else (My lucky day, he was so wasted he couldn't even get out of the car!).
Finally, got written off by a 17 year old who'd passed his test 9 days previously, I knew the car wouldn't pass an MOT and had already arranged scrap it and buy another car.
I was feeling generous and rang the guy to say I wouldn't pursue the claim, his father got the wrong idea and thought I wasn't insured and insisted on going through insurance - £600 later, couldn't stop laughing for weeks.

I moved camp to Citroen with a 2nd hand BX 16TRS which was one of the first in the country, very quirky but quite appealing.
Moved up to a new BX 19RD which I thought was very good for a diesel, relatively smooth, certainly quieter than 16TRS and quite capable.
I then went for a BX19GTI which as everyone knows was a great car, except that this prat went for the auto version which was about the worst engine/transmission match that decade.
The torque converter went at 29k, clouds of smoke and and no forward motion in Bristol's very busy one way system. Can't remember hearing quite so many horns all directed at little old moi.
Clouds of smoke was theme again after a very fast run up to Fort William one Thursday night/Friday morning, I was 4 up with a lot of luggage and I cooked the rings.
Should have gone for a manual Peugeot 405 GTI which handled like a dream.

I then got a pre-reg Xantia Turbo D for a too good to miss price and thought it was the bees knees, had it tweaked by Van Aaken and sold it on at 67k when I entered the world of company cars.

A lot of experience of French cars but not too painful, I still prefer a Megane to a Focus when hiring.

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Tue 20 Dec 2005 23:46

French cars.Good or bad? - blue_haddock

I love french cars (well peugeot's actually!) i've had a 205GTi, 309 GTi Goodwood, 205 STDT, 306 S16 and now got a 106 Roland Garros.

Personally i wouldn't be seen dead in a ford.

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Wed 21 Dec 2005 07:39

French cars.Good or bad? - L'escargot

Personally i wouldn't be seen dead in a ford.

If you were seen in a ford you might well be dead. However, if you were seen in a Ford ..........!
--
L\'escargot.

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Wed 21 Dec 2005 01:01

French cars.Good or bad? - Avant

Coming late to this thread (as I usually do - I read them just before going to bed; strangely relaxing!!) I see things fairly evenly divided between hurray and boo.

The strongest message seeme to be - buy French only if you have a good dealer within reach or do your own servicing and repairs.

Personally I echo Xileno's findings, both in great affection for the 205 GRD (SWMBO had one of these and a Sceptre, much the same thing - both much, much better then the 206 that followed them), and in the Renault experience.

I had 7 in a row - 20TS, two 18 GTX estates, a 21 GTX Savanna, an Espace TXE, a Safrane 2.2 and a Laguna V6. All very reliable over huge mileages, all looked after by Cross Roads Garage in Oxfordshire.

They were company cars - this job has more salary and no car ao I can't afford the depreciation: hence the Golf and now the A4.

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Wed 21 Dec 2005 07:45

French cars.Good or bad? - L'escargot

I'm not sure that cars can be categorised as good or bad on the basis of their country of design or manufacture.
--
L\'escargot.

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Wed 21 Dec 2005 08:20

French cars.Good or bad? - Round The Bend

GOOD is my experience.

1996 Laguna 2.0 RT from new 80k in 2.5 years.
1998 Scenic 1.6 Alize from new 75k in 5 years
Currently 2005 Grand Scenic 1.6 Expression (new again)2k to date.

No problems, pleasure to own and drive.

______________________________________

Time to get on with some work ???

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Wed 21 Dec 2005 09:04

French cars.Good or bad? - daveyjp

Most of the French cars I have been in were hire/courtesy cars. Renault Clio (not bad, but backwards wipers mean its a no-no for me, rain isn't cleared well enough for RHD), Pug 206 (awful seating-pedal position and the seat was very soft - took it back after a day and swapped it), Pug 307, two of these (both with less than 1,000 miles) on both the engine management light was on constantly, back wiper didn't work on one.

I also have a neighbour who had a 307 for 18 months and it spent a good part of this in the garage.

An uncle has just got rid of his Safran which had nearly 200,000 on the clock and he had no trouble.

Best French car we have owned were our two smarts.
Needless to say I will be avoiding French motors, unless it's another smart!

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