Peugeot have really upped their game!

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 08:29

Peugeots haven't always been great cars have they? I mean growing up, and even looking at cars from a few years ago they were bland, boring and just something nobody really thought about.

Yesterday I booked the day off work to go hunting for a new car for the Mrs. She'd looked online and was dead set on a Clio. Fair enough, but I did ask her to look at three or four other models just for comparison. If she still wanted the Clio, at least she'd knew it was the right car for her.

The models we decided to view were the usual suspects. Ford Fiesta, Peugeot 208, Toyota Yaris blah blah blah

Up until yesterday, I'd never visited a Peugeot dealership. In fact, I don't think I'd ever sat in one.

We saw the Clio first and then went to the local Peugeot dealer. There was a new 208 in the showroom we both though was fantastic. I really liked it. Everything about it to be honest. Don't think unless I was being silly picky could I find much wrong.

Then something strange happened. I started seeing what the other cars were like. The new 508 in top spec (gloss black) looked leathal. What a car!! Then I jumped into the next car sat next to it which was an SUV 3008. WOW. I've owned German cars for the last four? years (two BMWs and an Audi) and I was simply stunned. Not sure if anyone on here has sat in the new Peugeots but they definately aren't like they used to be. They must have brought a new design team in or something.

Anyways, back to the 3008. It has all the bells and whistles (almost across the entire range). Parking sensors front and rear, cameras, virtual cockpit.....I joking asked for the price and my jaw hit the floor! Surely that's a mistake? This looked like a 50k machine, but the new retail price without discounts for the top spec was under £30k. You get a pre-reg or a year old one and it's down to the low 20s!

Hang on, what's the catch? gas guzzler? something I'm not piecing together? Nope, great economy for it's class (much, MUCH better than mine).

So I started looking online and found a 2008 GTLine model, automatic which I wanted for £20.5k.

Phoned the dealer and after 10mins haggling he offered me another 1k off the price, low APR rate and gave me a good price for the Audi. Turns out, I can be in a much newer (arguably better) car for less money a month taking into account the fuel savings. Damn I'm tempted. It's a very different car, but I really liked it! The reviews also seem very favourable.

any Peugeot fans? Never thought I'd ever say something like that

p.s. Yeah, I'm getting old.
p.p.s My Audi has economy of a sports car, performance of a tractor (19mpg around town)

Long/Short Version: took mrs out looking for a clio, I nearly bought a Peugeot

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 08:35

hahahahaha, brilliant

THAT'S the Peugeot I remember!

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 08:38

You see I know that's what they used to be like, but the ones we sat in yesterday were anything but cheap plastic.

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 08:40

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
They tend to have horrible depreciation, and fall to bits

so a newish used one, with a lot of depreciation already on it under warranty 'could' be a good buy? I did think they seemed cheap?

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 08:47

tek81 said:
I've only ever owned one Peugeot; a 207 GTi. It was the most unreliable, hateful, nasty, cheap, evil, horrific.....car that I've ever owned. Never again. Not worth the risk.

I'd have never have bought that....but these new ones do look really good? Unless it's like posh paint on a rotten shed?

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 08:48

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Yeah quite possibly.
I was looking at the 308GTi something something something 300bph something about 18 months ago. Its a hell of a car but expected residuals were just scary. If they fall like that they will be absolute bargains in 2-3 years.

I'd never buy a brand new car, always looked at year old ones. You get a good chunk knocked off and the remaining two year warranty.

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 08:52

Firestar_3x said:
Some very very epic Peugeots of old, 205, 106, 405 Mi16, always had a soft spot for the 309 gti, these are the cars i remember, then it all went pear-shaped and largely still is.

Yes! That's a good point. The old, old Peugeots were a bit of a cult classic. Ahhhhh, those were the days

You're right though. They went through a bit of a blancmange stage.

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 08:54

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
You should always check before doing this, the best deals are on new cars and its quite possible to get large amounts off.
Try carwow quickly would be my recommendation. I think I was offered about £5k off the 308, and the dealer was willing to haggle more.
The list price is often no where near what people actually pay

Yeah, already did carwow, drivethedeal, orangewheels

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 08:59

11% carwow, but still makes it £8,000 more than the one I was offered. Must be that Peugeot depreciation kicking in. It's a late registered '18 plate.

I have to travel 2.5hrs each way for it though, as the dealership I was in had their ones for a lot higher price.

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 09:24

RedvGreen said:
We have a couple on the fleet at work (2008 and 3008). We've had no end of troubles with them after around 6 months. Electrical faults, and most horrifyingly of all, auto gearbox failure on the motorway happened to the 3008, whilst barely 3 months later, handbrake fail (electronic) with the 2008.
We've found them to be like the Vauxhalls on the fleet, amazing to sit in and drive when brand new, but after a few months, stuff starts going wrong and you begin to wonder what the actually economics of owning a car that spends around 25% of it's life being repaired actually gives you?!

No wonder they kept saying "well give you free AA cover with it" then

Mmmmm

Seems more positive owners reviews than negative ones, but are of course a few worrying ones. Just checked the same reviews for my current car which is similar reading. Guess all cars have faults. Not as bad as a range rover though! or is it?

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 10:14

vanpeebles said:
Get another mrs instead

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 10:30

Acme said:
They have really upped their game recently yes. I must admit I do like the look of quite a few of the new cars they offer. Previously for quite a long while they were just dreary unreliable crap.

I know it won't be popular, but I really liked the 508

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 10:49

Nasher said:
20k on a Peugeot, that depreciation is going to sting.

They reckon 11k in 4yrs if I do a PCP. PCP gives me more of a discount it seems, even if I pay it off with a tesco loan a day later.

I'm sure it was Peugeot giving the discount, not the dealer

If they do drop like a stone though, maybe keeping the car on a PCP is best. That way I know what's what. Imagine if in four years it worth £500

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 11:00

Nasher said:
They all drop like a stone.

If there's a real risk that the car will be worth much less than £11k, then that would be a better idea.

That's if I even bother at all......I did really like it though.

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 11:27

200sols said:
That is one ugly car

Fortunately the replacement (launched in 2017) is completely different

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 13:00

Bug One said:
The 2017 2008? They only changed the grill.

Each to their own. No one dreams of owning a Peugeot. But for a relatively cheap mid sized runabout - it does the job.

3008 I'm on about mate

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 15:48

TacticalFish said:
TL;DR of this thread, buy Japanese

Speaking to another customer, they had spent months comparing cars and narrowed it down to three. The 3008, a Volvo and a Mazda.
They ordered the Peugeot. The Mazda is a good shout though, and I have had (and enjoyed) Japanese in the past.

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 15:50

SoliD said:
all have steering wheels that get in the way of the dials! How can it be that hard?

Didn't get in the way on my test drive. In fact, I thought the icockpit was easily as good as the audi virtual cockpit

actually, how can it get in the way as the cockpit is really high up?

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 16:49

phil-k said:
I'm looking at getting a 308sw soon, a lovely looking car inside and out

The new models are really nice aren't they. I was very surprised.

glenimp617 · 7 Feb 2019 at 17:47

Vish Petrol said:
The new 508 looks awesome

You sit it one if you get the chance. The interior looks even better than the exterior!
Plus, in the flesh they really do look amazing! Photos don't show off how low down they are. They aee almost sportcar low. Not good if you have a bad back though, you'd never get in it.

Hats off to the designer, but I guess the people working on the underneath needs to up their game (unless the new ones are ok? I guess time will tell)