Are French cars really that bad?

I wouldn't buy small and French again.

My Saxo VTR (owned from new between 2003 and 2005) lasted around 50-60,000 miles before things started going seriously wrong. Lots of creaks and rattles, the clutch release bearing was on its way out, the suspension was already going soggy, and the engine had begun to make some rather odd noises.

It might be a rather sad affair to outright avoid French cars from now on, but a sour-taste tends to linger in the back of your mind after being stung once.
 
Hmm a lot of the discussion in this thread centres around cars that are 10 years old rather than the quality of French cars now. Hopefully they would have improved build quality since 2003?

For the record I had a Peugeot 206 once, that was awful :p
 
chanjy said:
Hmm a lot of the discussion in this thread centres around cars that are 10 years old rather than the quality of French cars now. Hopefully they would have improved build quality since 2003?

For the record I had a Peugeot 206 once, that was awful :p
Click to expand...

Well... I was looking at cars from 05-08, so not that old. But yes they're 2nd hand, I wouldn't buy a new french car as there are better quality cars only 1-2 years older for the same money. :p
 
I have had 4 French cars over the last 12 years, three Citreons and a Renault. All MPV barges (2 x Picasso, 1 x Grand Scenic 1 x Grand Picasso) all have been totally reliable, but they were bought new, and changed at 3 years old.
Not sure I would buy an old one though, there's a lot of electrics to potentially go wrong.
 
I had a 107, 2006 plate and the only issue i had was when it hit the fuel reserve (its ment to do 30 miles once you hit that) the car only did 1 mile then refused to go anywhere. I got the car when it had done 200 miles and was just under a year old so that could have been the reason as for a car to barely do any miles in the first year.
My partner got a brand new C3 Picasso last year. 8 months and not even 9000 miles it started grinding. Turns out it was the adjuster spring on the belts had come off. It was all fixed by the local dealer under warranty. The only car I know to get a new cambelt before its a year old but its more really bad luck i think. Few other issues are the windy back windows come down all by themselves. Constantly having to close them. Only once they've gone all the way down and let the rain in. Usually its just a tiny bit but you can hear the traffic + tyre noise more than normal.

We'd most likely get another french car. If any parts do fail you at least know its not going to be hard to find someone scrapping the same car for parts.
 
paradigm said:
I wouldn't buy small and French again.

It might be a rather sad affair to outright avoid French cars from now on, but a sour-taste tends to linger in the back of your mind after being stung once.
Click to expand...

But then that argument falls over when you consider the new Twingo (small and French) is the Mercedes Smart car underneath. Renault also own a very large share of Nissan and have done for years, does that make Nissan French as well?

The days of major car makers being independent or defined by a nationality are long past.
 
Had a Peugeot 207 petrol for 4 year now, its currently at 128k miles I got it when it was at 55k miles.

In terms of engine running it has been good. Other than general maintenance now and again and the occasional small issue. Just keeping on top of the oil and filters generally tends to work.

Hanging out to get a new car though, small petrol doing long distances regular isn't the most comfortable.
 
Had a Saxo VTS for a few years cracking little car, never let me down.

I've had more problems with Golf's lol

Found every Japanese car I've owned have been bullet proof!

It's a lottery, always has been......
 
SarGara said:
But then that argument falls over when you consider the new Twingo (small and French) is the Mercedes Smart car underneath. Renault also own a very large share of Nissan and have done for years, does that make Nissan French as well?

The days of major car makers being independent or defined by a nationality are long past.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't own a Smart either. Nor a Nissan, but not for reliability and build quality issues.
 
A number of reasons, mainly stemming around perceived interior quality. But I certainly won't pretend that brand/image isn't playing a part too!
 
I've had two and both were the most unreliable cars I've owned. Both were clios. First one had it's entire engine replaced after two weeks. clutch was replaced after 15k miles.
Second was a direct insurance replacement after I managed to write the first one off. Clutch went again after just 10k on that one. Fuel injection system had to be replaced after two weeks. Top dead sensor after a month. All coil springs in less than a year through corrosion. Steering collar after six months.
 
My thoughts:

The worst car I've ever driven was a Citroen CX Familiale estate. I'm not normally carsick but I almost threw up while driving it when it decided to drive at the speed limit (when the engine got warm, it's maximium speed was 15-20mph, a bit like a modern diesel in limp mode) :rolleyes:

Dad made the mistake of buying his one & only French car a fair few years ago (dad is normally a Ford owner through & through) a Renault 21 Savannah. He had no end of problems with it, the cause being a substandard wiring loom. To replace said loom was more than what the car was worth.

My sister had a Xara Picasso for a fair years and it had the build quality of a baked bean tin, she hit a large pothole driving home one night & killed it (broke the suspension) other cars may well have survived but hers didn't.

My car (Ford fiesta diesel) has a french made engine so I fear the worst. :(
 
I've ran my Clio (55 plate mk 3, 1.5 dCi) for 5 years and 55,000 miles. It's now coming up to 10 years old and 100,000 miles and I'm quite pleased truth be told.

I've only had to replace consumables on it. Although this year has been a bit of a stinger - pair of springs, track rod end, drop links and suspension arm - I would attribute that to my locale and driving style. I do home visits all day long (care) in the middle of Snowdonia on awful roads. I live in the middle of it too so it never gets an easy ride. I reckon if I lived in a city or just did motorway runs with it I wouldn't have had half of these things. The glow plugs have also been changed this year. I don't think any of the above are unacceptable. Perhaps I'm making excuses but I guess if I am that's a sign of how much enjoy my car. I recently had a 63 plate Focus 1.0 125 Ecoboost as a courtesy car and as much as I enjoyed the engine the car itself was quite poor I felt. Really rattly steering column, unattractive dashboard and vague steering. I was glad to get back in my Clio! The only electrical issue I've had was a broken indicator stalk but that was fixed easily enough with a replacement.

As with most cars these days I think service history is significantly more important than brand. If someone doesn't bother servicing their car they likely don't care much for it and don't look after it.

There are some interesting and myth-busting figures re: mechanical reliability which show up German marques as worse than the French if you want to search those up. If I wanted to 'upgrade' to a more reliable marque I'd definitely go Japanese. I see going for German marques as a bit of side-step in that respect. VW have excellent perceived quality and marketing departments but I was really surprised by how many newish cars were coming in with serious failures when I worked at a VW dealership.
 
koolpc said:
Megane 06 was an electrical nightmare!!
Click to expand...

2004 Megane here, sounds like you had as many problems as I had with the electrics. Sensors left, right and centre. Rear windows lowering on locking the car, not being able to close them again without removing the battery first.

Other than the electrics, was a lovely car to drive to be honest. Still, wouldn't buy French again after the problems I had :(
 
paradigm said:
A number of reasons, mainly stemming around perceived interior quality. But I certainly won't pretend that brand/image isn't playing a part too!
Click to expand...

But the more expensive Nissan's are good cars, e.g. R35 :D
I would love to have S13 or S15...

Just look at it, so nice :D
TcQt035h.jpg.png
 
Got a 2002 Clio Mk2 Ph2 that i've had for 5 years and covered nearly 50k miles in it, now on 93k, its been pretty much faultless with me, look after the car and you'll be fine, as with most cars.
 
I have an 05 Peugeot 307 which had done about 80k when I got it, mechanically its pretty sound, the only electrical bit I have replaced is the washer pump and a fuse (which popped after I let the monkeys a Kwick Fit at it)

I did have the clutch done recently, but with 100k on the clock and 2 "careful lady owners" I think that is a fair point to have it replaced,
I did also change the water pump and timing belt when I got it but that was mostly because it had limited service history.

As said before, it really seems to be a lottery when buying them, but I think that applies to all cars to a degree!

However, all this being said, the car is boring as hell to drive and understeers like a bitch on occasions... so I can't really recommend them!

On a fun, but really unrelated side note, the only amusing electrical issue I have seen in a car was on my friends old corsa,
Which flashed the headlight in time with the indicators, but only when indicating left!
He ended up ploughing it into the central reservation of the A27 after skidding on some black ice, probably the best considering that state of that thing!
(He did walk away with only minor bruising to the ego, so its all ok to make fun of! :D)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom