Owning a French car, why why why?

Loved little French hatchbacks back in the day, had a 106 Rallye and a 405 Mi16 too.

Not had anything French recently although I have just ordered a new Trafic Crew Van, but I keep going in to see the A110GT, for some reason it really draws me in.

Each to their own, people like variety. You could pick any manufacturer, or Nissan, or Dacia or Mitsubishi. I dont think Renault review badly last I checked.
 
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I bought a Renault 5 Turbo 2 a long time ago, which was a great car that I fully restored from a virtual none runner, engine wise, and did a full paint and retrim job. Learnt the lesson that if you make something TOO nice you never enjoy it, you just worry about it. So I sold it to the guy who bought it new, a director of "Coy's of Kensington" a flash classic car joint where if you need to ask the prices they give you one of those withering looks. Nice chap, smoked hand made fags with his initials on them, gave me one and it nearly choked me, not drugs, just some Russian tobacco with zest... Had a gull wing Mercedes and a Miura, wore a diamond that looked to be out of the Tower of London, he even smelt expensive.

Then I got an Alpine GTA, another nice car, but getting OE parts for either these days is a nightmare, so not too bothered i got rid.

I went to a race meeting at Donington when the Peugeot RCZ was unknown in the UK. There was one in the paddock on trade plates and I have to admit from a distance I assumed it was some exotica, they did / do still look special. It had a big crowd around it all day. FWD though, so not my sort of thing.

Bought the then fiance a Talbot Samba as her first car. Being a man of my word I couldn't with ngood conscience retract my betrothal, but I was getting cold feet. I saw a crash test of one and thought that as she was a new driver and a poor one at that it might end my dilemma. She never got so much as a scratch on the damned thing....Stuck with the bint now.

turbo2.jpg
 
I've never owned one, but I did have a 308SW as a hire car back in circa 2006. It wasn't my choice, it was basically "here's a car whilst your company car gets repaired". I was really impressed by it, I imagine it was a high spec one as it had a 5 CD interchanger and panoramic roof.

I actually like the look of their recent stuff, there's a nice green 408 or 508 saloon I've seen about recently. Couldn't tell you what the interior quality is like though.

Was there a common issue with the old 206? I lost count the amount of those I saw accelerating down a motorway with their brake lights stuck on...
 
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Mekrel said:
Was there a common issue with the old 206? I lost count the amount of those I saw accelerating down a motorway with their brake lights stuck on...
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The x06 cars and x07s did have lots of electrical issues. My parents have a 307 and it's always throwing an engine light for non-issues.

I think x08 generation saw a significant jump in quality.
 
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Pending any in-depth research, I'd have a e208 if I was in the market for a small electric car. I test drove one last year and was very impressed.
 
Here’s a question, given Stellantis are moving as many of their vehicles to global platforms, when do Stellantis brands stop being French?

They now own:
Jeep
Alpha Romeo
Citroen
Chrysler
Pergeot
Mazarati
Lancia
Dodge
Ram
Abarth
Vauxhall
Opel
DS
Fiat

Only 3 of those are ‘French’ and Stellantis themselves are not even based in France.
 
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Mekrel said:
Was there a common issue with the old 206? I lost count the amount of those I saw accelerating down a motorway with their brake lights stuck on...
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I had a 206 as my first car which had this issue. A light kick to the loom in the passenger footwell sorted it :cry: .
 
Meatball said:
I had a 206 as my first car which had this issue. A light kick to the loom in the passenger footwell sorted it :cry: .
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Yep, I remeber thart issue, you had to pull the carpet a bit and sort the plug out. What a stupid thing to have as a problem. I had a 206 in Quicksilver trim and it had this issue, but the worse was a bolt snapping in the seat meaning it wouldn't stay where you wanted it. My ex crashed it and put us out of our misery. I don't miss her nor the car, but I know where I'd rather put my peepee.
 
Out in Italy currently and have a Peugeot 2008. As a car it's fine, but why you'd buy one over the competition is anyone's guess. The steering wheel is the main bug bear, it's not round and most of the top half sits in the way of the dash no matter how high or low you have it. And the lack of buttons is stupid. Oh I'd like to turn the aircon up a degree. That's 3 or 4 of the touchscreen button presses.
 
JonRGV250 said:
Kind of following on from the Richmond sausage thread..

Richmond sausages - why

When Richmond sausages are on offer, customers buy them like there's no tomorrow. What's so special about them? They have the lowest pork content (42%) to class themselves as a pork sausage. They are bloody awful. The cost of meat/kg is higher in Richmond sausages than a supermarket premium sausage
forums.overclockers.co.uk forums.overclockers.co.uk

What possible justification can anyone actually have for spending money on any relatively modern French car?
And I don't mean the proper stuffs they used to make, such as 205 GTi, 405 Mi16, R5 GT etc etc.
What makes someone wake up in the morning and think a French car will in some way improve their quality of life?
If you own one, then please do tell, because I can't think or a single reason other than the enjoyment of self-flagellation as to why one would purchase one.
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my 1st ever car was a 1993 pug 306. great car, never let me down.

our current 2nd car is a pug 308. admittedly not one i would have chosen but my uncle left it me in his will................ I cant knock it, its been reliable, the engine has some go in it and its comfy. (its a 2011 euro 5 i think it is 1.6l diesel so quite a dirty one) we have had it 8 years now and done 65k miles in it. (car has done just over 80k)

personally i think brand new pugs look really nice, i do not know about reliability but a pug e208 will be on our shortlist when we come to change - however the car i *really* have high hopes for (and is also french) will be a renault 5.

TLDR - I guess i am a fan of French cars tho i would not have said that without thinking about it just

PS i really like Richmond sausages as well......... sometimes a quality sausage just isnt what is needed... but a cheapo richmond (or aldi equivalent) with some bacon and an egg on a nice soft white bap is perfect for a hangover.

:)
 
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