French Cars - Oui ou Non??

r3nu4l

Parents have a '01 Clio, not one problem with it since they bought it

ds20prefecture

I currently run 2 Citroens. One has 207000km on the clock, the other 20000 miles. They are both from the 70s. Neither has ever let me down, and both provide more style, sense of occasion and engineering excellence than any other car I have driven.

@junkyard - MOOO!!!

RoundyMooney

Has anyone noticed that the French marques that appear to cause the most problems again and again are Peugeot and Renault? Anecdotally, I would tend to agree.

By and large however, Citroens come in for praise all around, again I would agree with this.

Given that all three are more closely related than rednecks at a wife swapping seminar, can anyone explain why this might be so?

And before anyone jumps in, yes, I can give multiple first hand accounts of woes experienced by me and mine in relation to Pugs and Rennies. I cannot say the same for Citroen and would have no qualms whatever about owning one long term.

colm_mcm

Citroen don't sell nearly as many cars here as Renault and Peugeot do. thats why people aren't mentioning them.

Guy:Incognito

RoundyMooney wrote:

Has anyone noticed that the French marques that appear to cause the most problems again and again are Peugeot and Renault? Anecdotally, I would tend to agree.

By and large however, Citroens come in for praise all around, again I would agree with this.

Given that all three are more closely related than rednecks at a wife swapping seminar, can anyone explain why this might be so?

And before anyone jumps in, yes, I can give multiple first hand accounts of woes experienced by me and mine in relation to Pugs and Rennies. I cannot say the same for Citroen and would have no qualms whatever about owning one long term.

Expectations? Why were vw and skoda seperated by about 12 makes in a reliability survey posted here a while back.

If someone buys something cheaper than an equivelant by a different make they will be less likely to moan about it when it breaks. How many people will buy a cheapo lcd and chuck it after a couple of years when it breaks, then buy another one. The same people buy a sony or panasonic plasma for a bit mre and moan when it doesnt outlive them.

Personnally I wouldnt have thought citroen were seen as any more or less reliable than the other two. I'd hazard a guess that renault and peugot outsell citroen (from the amount of cars I see around) so are likely to have more problem ones.


as a side note, I want a c6 to replace my safrane when the time comes.

colm_mcm

I think to say Citroen is more reliable than Renault says it all

Lyre61

I have had, 3 DS, a 2CV van, Dyane, Visa van, Visa, BX, CX Famille, 2 Xantias, Ami, I am on my second C5 and I have the SM.
I have been driving Citroens since I was 17 and got to say most of the problems associated with owning the older Citroens in Ireland is that they were all meddled with, fixed and adjusted by people who did not have a clue. From the BX on got to say I have had no problems. But that might have a lot to do with who I buy my Cars from

ds20prefecture

colm_mcm wrote:

Citroen don't sell nearly as many cars here as Renault and Peugeot do. thats why people aren't mentioning them.

AFAIK, Citroen sell as much as Peugeot here, give or take a thousand units. Renault outsell both of them.

@Stekelly - your point is valid, but the Citroen is not much cheaper than the peugeot when you look at it closely. Skoda score higher because their dealers aren't a bunch of arrogant fu(kwits, unlike VW.

@Roundy Mooney - Peugeot/Citroen are more closely related to Toyota and BMW than Renault.

Personally, given the choice between a C5 and a 406 I'd go for the 406 as they are probably better assembled. Given the choice between a C6 and a 607, 530i, E320, A6, Jag S-Type, Lancia Thesis, Chrysler 300, Lexus GS, Nissan Maxima or Renault Vel Satis I'd go for the C6. Anyone who buys (or doesn't buy) a car based on their resale value is a mug. And certainly not a car enthusiast.
They all lose money - no car is an "investment". Trying to minimise how much they lose is a defeatist's attitude. Influencing how much they lose by posting rhetoric is immoral, herdish and exposes a lack of imagination. Depreciation is a self fulfilling prophecy.

Caribs

Plenty of food for thought so. There's a range of experience etc so thanks for the input. I have a VW at the moment and never gives any trouble but will be going on the UK import trail soon so want to be armed as best I can. A mate in work who used to be a mechanic said avoid french where possible so wanted to get straw poll. Didnt realise the carnage would be this bad/good though..!!

Wishbone Ash

pburns wrote:

Have little faith in French cars in general with one exception

...the Citroen Berlingo van...

Try telling that to the gang who kidnapped the Post Mistress last night. They had to abandon their operation when their Berlingo broke down on the M50. :D:D

JHMEG

This should be made a sticky:



2005 What Car? reliability survey based on warranty claims etc., not anecdotes or hearsay

colm_mcm

There's bound to be some reason that warranty surveys and customer satisfaction surveys, and mechanics, and car traders, and taxi drivers all conclude that Renaults are rubbbish.

Possibly a conspiracy.

junkyard

colm_mcm wrote:

There's bound to be some reason that warranty surveys and customer satisfaction surveys, and mechanics, and car traders, and taxi drivers all conclude that Renaults are rubbbish.

Possibly a conspiracy.

Looks like it alright, how much is a new Laguna again? I still have all this Nothern currency to get rid of.:D

peasant

Interesting reliability survey ...

Your average citroen is twice as likely to break down as your average Subaru ...but it only cost 1/4 of the price to fix (again, on average).

So ...in the long run, the Citroen would still be the cheaper car to run.

RoundyMooney

I don't care what anyone says, 40 warranty claims out of 100 vehicles is not on.

On those figures I'm disappointed with Citroen's showing, vindicated by Alfa Romeo's, bemused by Peugeot's, and slightly confused by Ford's, as I had the impression that they had upped their game somewhat.

Then again, look at where Land Rover ended up.

peasant

The VAG group result is also highly puzzling.

Skoda giving a very good impression, the other "cheapskate" Seat also doing fairly well, while the "mother" Volkswagen just manages mediocrity and the "luxury brand" Audi languishes at the bottom.

You'd think t'would be the other way round ...

Wishbone Ash

Edit - Delete Post.Wrong Forum??

RoundyMooney

peasant wrote:

You'd think t'would be the other way round ...

Absolutely.

A triumph of build quality over design maybe? If so, fair play to the Czechs and the Spanish.

peasant

But my personal favourite ....

boardsters beloved BMW ....17

boardsters biggest foe FIAT ...just one step lower on 18


bruhahahahah

junkyard

Well at least you can watch telly in comfort in your BMW whenever they breakdown.;)

Guy:Incognito

junkyard wrote:

Well at least you can watch telly in comfort in your BMW whenever they breakdown.;)

Unless its an electrical problem.

RoundyMooney wrote:

I don't care what anyone says, 40 warranty claims out of 100 vehicles is not on..

I know, those bloody rovers.:)

Incidentally for a car maker that supposedly a pile of crap (renault), being 2 in 100 off ford and 4 in 100 off bmw isnt bad. They are also in the middle to low bracket for repair cost.

What the hell is happening to mitsubishi? £600 average repair cost, something fairly big must be breaking.

JHMEG

Stekelly wrote:

Incidentally for a car maker that supposedly a pile of crap (renault), being 2 in 100 off ford and 4 in 100 off bmw isnt bad.

Does that mean Renault aren't that bad, or does it mean that BMW and Ford *are* that bad?

None of the above even made it into the top half of the list.

Guy:Incognito

JHMEG wrote:

Does that mean Renault aren't that bad, or does it mean that BMW and Ford *are* that bad?

None of the above even made it into the top half of the list.

I was just making a point that bmw, ford and for that matter audi are seen as top brand but in reality they are the same (ish) as a brand that is apparently "crap"

junkyard

peasant wrote:

The VAG group result is also highly puzzling.

Skoda giving a very good impression, the other "cheapskate" Seat also doing fairly well, while the "mother" Volkswagen just manages mediocrity and the "luxury brand" Audi languishes at the bottom.

You'd think t'would be the other way round ...

I could tell you loads of horror stories about VAG... in fact I think I already have.:)

prospect

junkyard wrote:

I could tell you loads of horror stories about VAG... in fact I think I already have.:)

Funny,

SKODA, top THIS YEARs reliability index.
Are they not VAG?

sk8board

Interesting in that list above from 2005, that Seat, VW and Skoda are 3stars, while Audi (the only premium brand among them) is only 1 star.

prospect

1 Skoda
2 Mazda
3 Honda
4 Suzuki
5 Ford
6 Lexus
7 Hyundai
8 Bmw
9 Volkswagen
10 Seat

jayok

Prospect - what poll is that?

prospect

jayok wrote:

Prospect - what poll is that?

www.reliabilityindex.com

jayok

Thanks.