Owning a French car, why why why?

My late stepfather had a Citroen BX? Wasn't a CX, anyway it was constantly going wrong and needing repairs usually expensive needed the entire hydrolastic suspension replacing at one point... as soon as was paid off got shot of it pronto. Father was given (fleet car) when I was a kid a Peugeot 505 I think it was? Long time ago now... awful suspension rock hard and automatic gears were scary as in took an age to engage (put foot down.... nothing happens - OOF kick in the back as it kicks in) was quite happy to be rid of that too

Things may have changed in the meantime...
 
My dad has had a few French cars…

I think he has a 2008gt ev. Defo ev defo Peugeot currently. Seems really good. I’ve driven it a bit. Not as nice as my 5series though.

The only thing I recall bad about French cars is the 3rd gear. They use to have terrible gearbox’s.

Why the hate?

French invented front wheel drive too.

In fairness I doubt I would buy anything other than Japanese or German.
 
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Skynet5 said:
My dad has had a few French cars…

I think he has a 2008gt ev. Defo ev defo Peugeot currently. Seems really good. I’ve driven it a bit. Not as nice as my 5series though.

The only thing I recall bad about French cars is the 3rd gear. They use to have terrible gearbox’s.

Why the hate?

French invented front wheel drive too.

In fairness I doubt I would buy anything other than Japanese or German.
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The steering wheel is in the 2008 is the hottest pile of steaming trash known to man. You literally cannot get in the car without contorting your knees/body (because the wheel is so low), and you cannot at all adjust the wheel so you can see the dials, because it has a flat top that cuts right across the speedo.

Also the luggage rack "press stud" thing has just popped off.

The charging app is made by absolute idiots (it is basically unusable).

The childlock for the rear doors only works when the rear windows are deactivated (there is no physical child lock switch on the door -- although the logo where a physical switch used to be is still there, lol).
 
Renault and Citroens have most of the best options TBH. Renault for the hot hatches, Citroen for comfort. Even the current C3 isn't bothered by potholes. The bigger and older Citroens with hydro suspension are so smooth. They manage to do it in cars which aren't super heavy too.
 
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This thread is nonsense, I have a near 18 year old Clio and my old man has a near 20 year old Kangoo.

They never break down, they always start, we have never had big repair bills, they easily pass MOT every year, they have been considerably less trouble than many people i see complaining of horror bills they have had with their fancy pants Merc, BMW or near brand new EV.

They are so cheap on used parts from breaker yards that they are incredibly cheap to repair when something does need changing.

They rust slower than any other brand i have owned, I had a Ford in the past and it was a heap of rubbish rotter that rusted to death at 12 - 13 years old.
 
My Mum had 4 French cars in the Past Two Citroen Ax One Saxo Expose and Saxo VTS no problems with any of them. Her Audi A4 on the other Hand was a bag of Unreliable tosh.She Is now on her second Nissan Qashqai which has Renault bits in it and has be super reliable. Next one getting delivered November which she is gonna buy outright at the end of the pcp.

My Peugeot 208 2015 110 GT Line has been in the family since new, my cousin had it with no faults at all and i had it off her in June. Passed all its MOT’s. Only major work it’s had is coil springs and wet belt changed.

Missus has a 2022 Peugeot 508 GT Line and love it after a Vauxhall Mokka that drunk coolant and a very Unreliable Vauxhall Insignia.
 
Gav_r26 said:
Because it makes you apreciate the 1 week of the year, that everything actually works! On the flip side the R26 is such fun to drive, you put up with the fact something doesnt work most of the time.

This weeks fun trick ...........



.... requiring a butter knife to start it :cry:
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Met a man in a pub carpark, and now have 2 working keys, for half the price of one from Renault. Result!
 
I bought a 407 because it happened to be there in the dealer next to the garage when I scrapped my Focus and I needed a car straight away. It was the only car they had of the size I wanted at the price I expected to pay.

I didn't hate it at first.

3cmPJDe.jpeg


But it didn't take long for me to hate it. I had it for four years and two months and I think I probably hated it for four years of that.

/edit - just noticed from my pictures that it had a sun roof. I don't think I ever opened that, not even once. If I had, it would probably have stuck open.
 
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I don't have much love for French cars for some unknow reason but on holiday in Mallorca this year I was given a Peugeot 3008, and it was one of the better hire cars I've been given in Europe.

My first car was a piece of **** 4 speed Peugeot 106 with less than 50hp, which still had a choke, so maybe that's where my dislike comes from.
 
I've been the owner of a Citroen C3 2019 BlueHDI 100hp diesel for just over 4 years and I've been very happy with that thing, no faults at all and 108000 km on the counter. I wouldn't touch their PureTech petrol varients of the car with a 10 foot pole though. I bought it brand new in 2019 for 135.000 DKK(we got a nasty tax on cars here in Denmark) or around 15800 pounds and have just agreed to sell it to a dealer as part of an exchange coming up on the 30th of October for 95000 DKK or around 11100 pounds. So when I calculate the TCO(includes everything, service/maintenance, insurance even diesel and tires) each kilometer has cost me no more than 1.34 DKK or 0.16 pounds. Now the interior will make most sane people go insane over time, something as simple as a proper cup holder is a very foreign concept for the french it seems but darn that car was and still is very economical. But daddy wanted new wheels so I've bought a 2021 Seat Leon e-hybrid FR.
 
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silvagti said:
42c7cc8a62.webp
Never owned a French car but could be tempted if Renault bring out a modernised electric version of the 5 that looks like this concept!

Renault 5 E-Tech electric prototype - Renault

Discover Renault 5 E-Tech electric prototype, the modern electric city car. Design, driving range and more. Everything about the future 100% electric icon.
www.renault.co.uk www.renault.co.uk
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i think that looks fantastic as well... i hope that is the car they release (albeit i would drop the offside cameras and take mirrors if it was an option)
 
I had a Peugeot 208 as a hire car in Lefkada recently. What an absolute POS.

The biggest issue is that it had a rev limiter in reverse gear, no matter what I did with the clutch/accelerator it wouldn't go past 2k revs in reverse. In neutral, I could rev and hold it at 4k,5k revs but chuck it in reverse, it software limits back down to 2k. Not sure if it's some rubbish safety measure but when needing to reverse back up some very sketchy single track roads up in the mountains to let people past, things got pretty terrifying.

We actually got stuck reversing out our villa which had a very steep entrance, as the car refused to do it. Ended up purposely stalling it then putting the handbrake on quickly when it jolted back a few inches and repeated this several times till I had enough space to do a 3 point turn and go out forwards :D

Steering wheel is also stupid. The 2018 release meant you couldn't see the dials properly so they fixed the 2022 model in the most French way.....Limiting the rack height so it no longer blocks the dash, meaning (as mentioned above) you wack your knees getting in it all the time.
 

when i was a kid we had a renault fuego which i was happy to tell everyone shared a back windscreen with a porsche 924/944

there was nothing wrong with it and it was a reliable well made car from what my dad tells me
 
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I really like the Citroen sub brand of DS. They make a DS9 which I think it’s a beautiful looking car.

But it’s got the Pug 508 under pinningsso I don’t think I’ll ever take the risk to buy one.

It’s bloody gorgeous though.
 
I had a C4 years ago. Decided I didn't want a Focus but something similar sized but different. Bought the Citroen C4 VTR+ 2.0 litre diesel.

Plus points:
* It was different?
* It was a nice place to sit and pretty comfy

Negatives:
* Chocolate injectors
* DPF filter forever whining
* 2 of the door internals broke leaving me with doors that wouldn't close/lock on 2 occasions! I literally had to tied the door shut to get home on one occasion...

The best thing that car did though was upset me into going wild for my next purchase. A Subaru Impreza STi. :D That is a car i miss.. :(
 
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