Satisfaction Surveys - Japs good; French baaaaad...

pburns

I've seen a couple of surveys - the Top Gear survey and some other European polls.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/survey/

Basically Honda, Lexus/Toyota, Mazda, Subaru etc. do very well. French and Italian rate very poorly. Surprisingly perhaps, Peugeot, Citroen & Renault do even worse than Fiat/Alfa...

Does anyone any experience to support or contradict these general trends?

I lusted after an Alfa 156 for a couple of years, couldn't bring myself to sink my own money into it. Ended up with a Mazda 6 Sport Touring. Luv it - great handling & handsome - but why can characterful European cars have the substance to match the style?

colm_mcm

It's generally accepted that Japanese cars don't tend to break down, and that Italian and French cars do more than others, however French and Italian cars tend to be cheaper, more attractive and better specced.

Guy:Incognito

pburns wrote:

Does anyone any experience to support or contradict these general trends?

I bought a new clioo in 2000, sold it to my mother in 2002 and she still drives it. My cousin bought a 2002 clio in 2003 and still has it. I bought a 93 safrane a couple of weeks ago and my godfather has had a string of Lagunas ans R19's.

Besides the TBelt going in my godfathers latest Laguna (it was overdue) none of these cars has given 1 problem between them. My Safrane has every toy available and all work perfectly. I'm a fan of Renaults and will definately buy again.

pburns

I always think French cars have great showroom appeal. My father bought a Renault in the late '90s & it had all the bells & whistles. Within 3 years (high mileage but well serviced) it was a pile of crap.

Japanese cars aren't as well speced as Renault/Citroen, but they're much better kitted than VWs for example. They don't put stuff to market for showroom appeal until they're pretty sure it actually works.

And as for style, well there are some pretty cool Jap cars around these days, I think it's a bit of a cliche that they're all boring.
Mind you, Toyota is probably the worst for dull cars. Current Corolla & Avensis are hideous.

Archeron

I used to have a Honda and a Toyota, and those cars just kept going forever. Now, I am the sad owner of a '05 Peugeot 307 and it is a big pile of scrap. In the year that I've owned it (Bought brand new) I've had two relacement headlights as the factory fits were very wonky, faulty wiring in the indicators, the clocks on the dash have a life of their own and the fooking thing randomly decides to not start on me. Like last night for example, I was stuck in a garage for 45 minutes waiting for it to get out its huff and start again. Oh, and it tends to judder at high speed and the headlights can switch themselves off whenever they feel the urge. (even travelling at 80mph on a motorway)
So anyone looking at buying a peugeot, dont. Go buy a 91 Honda instead, you;ll have less trouble. In fact, go buy an '88 Yugo, you'll still probably have less trouble.

Eoin

I drove a new 01 Peugeot 206 for two years and the only problem I had in two years was when the brake light wouldn't turn off, and that was a very quick fix. Not one problem in two years of driving my Alfa either. The VW Golf I had was pretty unreliable though, as was my mini, so I guess that's only a 50% success rate!

joolsveer

My 2003 megane is in the bottom ten in 2004 and 2005 and I would have to agree with this result. Great car, very well specced, let down by poor build quality and poor dealers. I think I will bite the bullet and go for a suburu next time if I can stomach the trade in value of the megane!

Moanin

I had a Peugeot 307 HDI for 4 years and its now passed on to my wife as a second car. with 90k miles on the clock.I had and still have had no problems with this car ansd would recommend it.At the end of the day all car manufacturers are producing lemons.I owned a Golf IV before the peugeot and had nothing but trouble with it!