Hatred of French cars

[hairnet]

1 hour ago, chaseracer said:

And 205 😎

ask this man about shit french cars

he has 3

and only 1 is broken

had early sinker xantia that the old man had from 3 years old until 11years later he decided with only a 120 commute to do twice a week to buy a 523 bmw

me and the old git ran that for another 5-6 years and only sold it on cos she wanted something smaller - it was still going until 3 years ago

had 150 quids worth of c4 dizzle which she didnt like (so its a xantia in a dress) which ran on a sniff of dizzle and without caning it went like stink

not worth fixing when the clutch died - so she bought a 108 which is ok having been ragged round gb and ireland numerous times

while its technically a japanese car it has a french badge on it

c4 or xantia - WOOD AGAIN

see also 205 or dizzle visa if i could justify it being sat unused for 80% of its time here

[Cento16v]

The RCZ's too small for a weekend at the caravan unfortunately 3 up, so no chance of that!

[lesapandre]

Let's keep pedding the myth that French cars are rubbish. That means more for us...

French cars are tough and reliable and easy to look after mostly. They are meant to be - distances in France are huge, many people keep their cars a long time and buy them with their own money. There are still lots of small dealers with basic facilities. They are also driven by the French - who do love to thrash their cars. 

They have, beyond the clichés, produced some of the most interesting cars ever made. France is a nation of car enthusiasts.

Enjoy a Simca...

[eifion]

Over the years I've had 3 XMs, 1 DS, Two Peugeot 205s and a C4 VTS Coupe and they've all been great. The only real problem I can think of over the years is that the first XM (a 2.5 diesel) used to eat radiators.

[willswitchengage]

Does this not just tell you the average brain cell count of the typical PH poster?

France loves telling itself it is a working class country of egalité - cheap and nasty cars are therefore the order of the day to satisfy the patriotic proletariat. Feels natural to me therefore that PSA and Renault developed the way they have. As above though it's a big country therefore big distances to travel and French people look odd, therefore spawning odd looking cars.

[AnnoyingPentium]

12 minutes ago, willswitchengage said:

Does this not just tell you the average brain cell count of the typical PH poster?

[St.Jude]

The best French car I ever owned was a 1996 Peugeot 306 XLdt. 1.9 turbo dizzle, in green, I loved that car. If I knew then what I knew now, I would probably have it now. It had it's faults, and my knowledge of the motor car was non-existent then. My Dad drove it once, reckoned the engine was "shagged" and we PX'ed it for a 1999 Honda Civic 5 door hatchback. Up until my Corolla, the Honda was the best handling car I ever had. But I digress.

From the love of the 306, I ended up buying the Peugeot 107 I have now. In 11 years it's not given me any issues. It's had a clutch after 60,000 miles, I think it's probably due one now as it's suffered at the feet of my wife. But, there is a caveat to the Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1 - they're Toyotas. I think the only input PSA had on them, other than the exterior styling, were the brakes. Everything else was down to Toyota, and even then it had more to do with Diahatsu. 

Buoyed by two great Peugeots, I bought a Peugeot 3008. Fuck me, horrible awful damn car. Don't get me wrong, it was great on a motorway. It was comfortable, and it would pull like a train. But the interior quality is shit, they've given no thought to the ergonomics of the driver, materials are shit, not at all cheap, and my one tried to kill me.

Long story short, the electric power steering pump failed at 50mph, started screaming at me to stop the car as it was dangerous, and instead of giving some sort of steering assistance it just shut the whole pump down. I manhandled all 1,500kgs of a half laden car to the side of the road safely. The weight of the steering when the car was in this state was trying to move someone who was 20st and had overdosed on sleeping pills. My wife wouldn't have been able to move it. The cause of the failing power steering pump? Mismatched tyre pressures! One tyre was 4psi less than the other, and that was enough to make the gallic power steering ECU go on strike. 

As for PH, some parts are OK. But the parts that make you regret having eyes are easily found without even wanting to find them. 

[Shedking]

I remember one of the driving gods on there telling me that I'd not lived until I'd driven a car with the "4 rings of success " on the bonnet. In my opinion VAG stuff really is unreliable, I'll stick to French, 

[junkyarddog]

I love my Smoll flimsy French fancy. 

Quite possibly the favourite of my fleet.

Near enough 60mpg,comfy,and will happily cruise at 70+,easy to park and not an ECU in sight.

Perfect.

[AnnoyingPentium]

I like Peugeots. I like the bizarre styling of their Citroen siblings, but I prefer the aggressive looks of a 306 or 406. My mate put me off the 207, her one is a 1.4 95hp and has been quite a bit of a lemon IMO.

[Fumbler]

4 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

I like Peugeots. I like the bizarre styling of their Citroen siblings, but I prefer the aggressive looks of a 306 or 406. My mate put me off the 207, her one is a 1.4 95hp and has been quite a bit of a lemon IMO.

IIRC they're rather heavy cars. Anything on the verge of 1 tonne zips around nicely with one of those engines plonked inside it.

[AnnoyingPentium]

1 minute ago, Fumbler said:

IIRC they're rather heavy cars. Anything on the verge of 1 tonne zips around nicely with one of those engines plonked inside it.

True, as are most of its competitors of the time though. This one has been rather unreliable though, on its second engine as of now. Oh well, I'd rather a 306 anyway. Lol.

[St.Jude]

9 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

My mate put me off the 207, her one is a 1.4 95hp and has been quite a bit of a lemon IMO.

Well they have a built in air freshener, with the liquid thing in the dashboard just in front of the clock.

So are you sure it's not just that air freshener smelling of lemons? 

[AnnoyingPentium]

Just now, St.Jude said:

Well they have a built in air freshener, with the liquid thing in the dashboard just in front of the clock.

So are you sure it's not just that air freshener smelling of lemons? 

Is that a thing?!

[Soundwave]

Used to run a 1.2 Clio, had absolutely no issues for several years. Part exed it when it began having trouble holding its oil in, despite numerous attempts to fix. Other than that, really liked it.

Couple of weeks ago, picked up a Phase 1 Laguna estate, still working to get an MOT on that but it's done 185k miles... if French cars are so flimsy, how'd it make it to 185k?

I think part of the problem is they depreciate way faster than their Teutonic counterparts, so they hit rock-bottom prices very quickly. When this happens, people don't bother maintaining them well, seeing it as a poor return on the investment. Then, being poorly maintained, they break more often and reinforce the stereotype. A stereotype generally propogated by mouthbreathers who formed their entire set of opinions on cars after reading a copy of Auto Express in a clap clinic waiting room in 1988, and steadfastly refuse to change them.
 

[St.Jude]

30 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Is that a thing?!

Yep!

My sister had a Peugeot 207 and it had one. Smelt alright, and it's a good idea in some respects. But I think it proved unpopular, so the later 207 models had this feature removed. 

[AnnoyingPentium]

My pal's is a 58 reg. I'll have to ask her about it... and she'll probably look at me as if I'm mad... 😆

[wesacosa]

I've had two. My Clio 182 Cup was Brilliant.  Had it for 2 or 3 years, only thing that broke was the reverse light switch

my XM has (so far) being a fecking pain in the arse

 

[AxWomble]

The only two cars I've owned have been French (1995 AX and 1997 106 1.5D), although it wasn't deliberate. I bought them because the right cars came up at the right time and I didn't want to shell out twice the money for a Yaris. I've driven various other Vauxhalls, Toyotas, Nissans and have looked after a few for family members. 

I wouldn't hesitate to our next car to be French  (I missed out on a ZX TD estate on Facebook last week) but then I'm quite happy to spend 6 months catching up on maintenance that the previous owners have neglected, something which seems especially prevelant with French chod. Also happy to spend time tinkering and have so far managed to avoid paying a garage to do anything - and I've done clutches, cambelts, suspension, and an ill-fated (but mechanically successful) engine swap. 

Long and the short of it - coming from a family who wouldn't touch anything from over the channel, I'm now pretty convinced that Citroen/Peugeot/Renault offer great value because everyone else thinks they're pants. THAT BEING SAID - I'd always err on the side of caution, pick a well proven engine in a car which they made a lot of and of which a fair number still survive. Follow these few rules and unless you pick a dog (could happen with a car of any make and is likely to cost more to put right in anything German) then you can't go far wrong. 

[AxWomble]

Current commuting weapon - 14,000 miles since August, can't be that badly engineered can it? 😂

[LoftyvRS]

Had my fair share in the past, 306's in XUD/HDI and GTI-6 flavour, a few 406's and they always just did the job. Overwhelming memory of beautiful steering feel, even in the 406's, something i've never felt since.

Current OH has a 2011 207 thing, again does a job of being an car and seems to be holding up. Was pleasantly surprised that 3 years ago we managed to get the PAS pump replaced under warranty by Peugeot as it's a known thing, that saved us over £600. One thing I despise about the 207 is the throttle response, being the 1.4 8v XU? engine it's really fluffy and not responsive and i'm shortly to be learning my lad to drive in it so that might be a challenge for him.

[motorpunk]

Had a 306 dTurbo, loved it.

Had a 309 Sri, liked it.

Had a Scenic which caught fire with my kids in, utterly hated it.

Mate was manager of a Pug dealership. I can’t ever buy a modern one as long as his tales of woe are in my head. Sorry. 

[AxWomble]

19 minutes ago, LoftyvRS said:

One thing I despise about the 207 is the throttle response, being the 1.4 8v XU? engine it's really fluffy and not responsive and i'm shortly to be learning my lad to drive in it so that might be a challenge for him.

It'll be a TU, and having driven both older and newer examples I can say for certain that it's the map and the fly-by-wire throttle at fault. Everything I've driven past about 2009 seems to be the same - naff all response and then BANG, REDLINE! Very hard to control compared with anything using a throttle cable. In comparison, I could easily double-de-clutch in our old AX with the same basic engine as the 207, with the exception of the injection system.  My mum's Yaris (2016) is particularly bad - okay once up and going but moving off in 1st is a difficult balancing act and is not in any way smooth. 

[LoftyvRS]

5 minutes ago, AxWomble said:

It'll be a TU, and having driven both older and newer examples I can say for certain that it's the map and the fly-by-wire throttle at fault. Everything I've driven past about 2009 seems to be the same - naff all response and then BANG, REDLINE! Very hard to control compared with anything using a throttle cable. In comparison, I could easily double-de-clutch in our old AX with the same basic engine as the 207, with the exception of the injection system.  My mum's Yaris (2016) is particularly bad - okay once up and going but moving off in 1st is a difficult balancing act and is not in any way smooth. 

That's the puppy, all or nothing. Our lad has had a couple of rudimentary lessons with me on disused car parks and either stalls the bastard or launches it like at Santa Pod, and it's genuinely not his fault.

 

[Metal Guru]

Only had two French cars , a 1997 Laguna RT 1.9dti and the not really very French 107.(2012).

The Laguna was a very nice car once it had a new gear box ( 18 month old car) , after I’d told Arnold Clark what I thought of his company. 

The 107 was as reliable as you’d expect a Toyota to be.

[beko1987]

I've had pretty much nothing but old French cars in my driving career (bar a Ford puma which rotted away...) 

Simple to fix, cheap to fix, cheap to maintain, easy ish to work on, warm, comfy, goes forwards and backwards. Winner in my book! 

[GeordieInExile]

My 306 GTi was brilliant and it's the car I most regret letting go, it needed a new cat and a couple other bits but it was otherwise solid. My Twingo GT was no bother as well and allowed me to escape unhurt after crashing it into a barrier, so I'm grateful for that.

[cort16]

I’ve had loads and of french cars including some obscure stuff like an Avantime and Megane R26 and had less issues with them than most of the German ones I’ve owned.  
Last year I had a 2014 DS5 and that was a lovely car, really interesting and well finished interior . 
The only ones that scare me arethe ones with hydro the  suspension . 

[DodgyBastard]

13 hours ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

I like Peugeots. I like the bizarre styling of their Citroen siblings, but I prefer the aggressive looks of a 306 or 406. My mate put me off the 207, her one is a 1.4 95hp and has been quite a bit of a lemon IMO.

I prefer the aggressive look of my 305, 504 and 505.

[maxxo]

I come from a family of French car lovers

3x xsara picassos, first one was an early X reg with teething issues, the rest have been spot on considering they're owned by my grandparents who don't really maintain their cars

I've had 2, a xsara picasso which needed a fair amount of work

The work:

Clutch

Sills

Springs

Shocks

Few other little things

Got a 2003 MK1 C5 now, this has also needed a fair bit of work

Rear arm bearings

gearbox electrovalves

Spheres

Otherwise just service items

 

I love French cars, especially Citroens and I think they're great, never really let me down and only 1 failure to proceed in the picasso 

The way they seem to resist rot, especially the C5 is fantastic 

I've also heard the new ones are a massive step up in reliability, especially renault