French cars??

kona

what is the consensus among you about french cars??

Personally i think they are heaps of gic, but ive heard a few good stories, just googling and saw the peugeot 206 comes in 1.1 but also a 2litre it must be a diesel???

groupb

The yaris is French and it has a good reputation.
As a matter of interest why would you think the 206 for example would be any worse than say a VW polo(spanish) or a Ford fiesta(german) ?

Run_to_da_hills

groupb wrote: »

The yaris is French and it has a good reputation.

The yaris is Fink??

groupb

Yes! always has been , apart from the jap imports.

kona

groupb wrote: »

The yaris is French and it has a good reputation.
As a matter of interest why would you think the 206 for example would be any worse than say a VW polo(spanish) or a Ford fiesta(german) ?

Is there a peugeot engine in the yaris?? i thought they were VVti???.
Personally i think european cars are rubbish, my aunt has a fiesta and its falling apart!!!
polos dont seem to wear to well either.
Is the polo designed and built in spain or just built.
wasnt the capri german built too??
Ive a mini and if i didnt enjoy it so much..................:D

or do you mean its built in france just like euro civics are english built???
so a jap yaris will have a different engine(they come in a 1.5 turbo!!!)

just wondering, what you lot think of them

bitemybanger

On my third peugeot now, 106 XL, 306 and now 106 GTi, never any problems.
alot of my friends have peugeots too and one or two have had problems but only the type you get on any car when it gets up the years.

kona

bitemybanger wrote: »

On my third peugeot now, 106 XL, 306 and now 106 GTi, never any problems.
alot of my friends have peugeots too and one or two have had problems but only the type you get on any car when it gets up the years.

so you reckon they are solid enough engines, i take it they are timing belts and not chains??
what mileage were on them before they gave hassle, and what was it, just wear and tear or overheating and the like:)

groupb

Just because its made in France does'nt mean it has a peugeot engine.
Its got a toyota engine.
I sold three clios in one week and one came from france,one from spain & one said finland on the country of origion.
Its the end product that matters.

ShayK1

groupb wrote: »

The yaris is French and it has a good reputation.
As a matter of interest why would you think the 206 for example would be any worse than say a VW polo(spanish) or a Ford fiesta(german) ?

Wait now......

Is the Yaris not a Toyota and therefore Japanese......??
VW polo is german and Ford American....?? Or am I gone mad?

kona

groupb wrote: »

Just because its made in France does'nt mean it has a peugeot engine.
Its got a toyota engine.
I sold three clios in one week and one came from france,one from spain & one said finland on the country of origion.
Its the end product that matters.

im sure the robots in france are the same as the ones in japan, im just talking about the design of them, ive seen the hassle it is to fit bulbs in a renault megane, that type of ****, i dont care where they were assembles, sure up to the 80s all cars in ireland were assembled here:)

Wertz

On my second Peugeot here although admittedly, I'm not long of tooth in the driving game.
Gone from 106 xn to 406 coupe (Italian really, but engine is french), not a hint of mechanical trouble from the 106...not had the coupe long enough to say (feckin' hope not!).
As an additional point, I scrapped my mother's car a few weeks back (gave her my 106)...an 88 reg 205 with about 90K on the clock. She had it for 4 years, bought it from a friend who had it from new....it never gave any hint of mechanical trouble either...and was driven to the scrapyard (would never have passed NCT this time round, doors/windows/locks giving trouble)
I'd have no problems buying Peugeot again. I don't know enough about Citroen/Renault to comment...

SV

There is nothing wrong with french cars..it's just another stupid stereotype.

groupb

ShayK1 wrote: »

Wait now......

Is the Yaris not a Toyota and therefore Japanese......??
VW polo is german and Ford American....?? Or am I gone mad?

Yep , you're mad! Thats like saying that everybody with the sir name "O Reilly" is Irish.

Kona , could you enlighten me more about the Irish motor "industry" that I lived through.

MuffinsDa

kona wrote: »

ive seen the hassle it is to fit bulbs in a renault megane

As opposed to extreme ease of fitting a bulb in a Golf or Audi A4, so well designed, piece of cake......

:rolleyes:

kona

groupb wrote: »

Yep , you're mad! Thats like saying that everybody with the sir name "O Reilly" is Irish.

Kona , could you enlighten me more about the Irish motor "industry" that I lived through.

err, relax
Ford cars were assembled in cobh, BMC cars were assembled on the Naas road. the cars used to come in on huge pallets in the docks, and were assembled in the factories. It was to create irish jobs, thats why original irish classics are valued more here than the same cars just built abroad.;)

I think you are wrong with your idea of french/italian /jap cars:eek:, its where they are designed that counts, would you call a austin allegro, or a morris mini seven irish cars,?? sure minis were made by BMC in australia, could they be irish and aussie??.
the aussies built RHD mustangs too, so would you class mustangs as aussie??

its a well known fact the brits were **** at designing cars, and the germans over engineer everything.
the japs build solid cars and when they have a problem they fix it....rust in 70s and 80s jap cars, now its not as big a problem.
the brits knew about rust, what did they do?? put the bare shells on trucks and moved them in the open in rain hail or shine between the two factories at longbridge:eek:

these are examples of good and bad, it a attitude.

kona

MuffinsDa wrote: »

As opposed to extreme ease of fitting a bulb in a Golf or Audi A4, so well designed, piece of cake......

:rolleyes:

eurothrash:D;)
germans over engineer stuff, where a clip will do they will design a super magnetic field thing that will hold in bulbs, then when they break its e4000 for a new one:D:D:D:D

where as on another car the same function maybe carried out by a clip, which costs e2 to replace:D

Mental Mickey

ClioV6 wrote: »

There is nothing wrong with french cars..it's just another stupid stereotype.

That's what I'm thinking? If you listen to too many people's opinions, you'll never do anything.........?

MuffinsDa

kona wrote: »

eurothrash:D;)

Well my car is as "eurothrash"y as it gets (Saab), and I can tell you that changing bulbs on it would take the guts of 35 seconds if you do it at a slow pace, otherwise, 20 seconds would do! and it used -guess what- a clip.

Guy:Incognito

kona wrote: »

the peugeot 206 comes in 1.1 but also a 2litre it must be a diesel???

It's not that big a deal really. Plenty of small hatch's come in "hot" form (I'm assuming that 2.0 is a GTI but it might not nessicarily be). The Clio comes in a 197bhp 2.0. In the Uk it also come sin a 140 ih bhp 2.0 aswell. The Saxo, Clio, Renault 5 , 106 etc etc etc all came in GTI versions.


As for French cars in general, Iv'e had a few without issue outside of standard maintenance. My current 97 Partner van just clicked over to 175,000 miles and is driving really well, starts 1st time every morning. My clio I bought new in 2000 is still going 100% as my mothers car. Had 2 Safranes that were tip top. Few other Renaults in the family, none of which have given trouble. Ironically enough, the 2 jap cars I had, an accord and a Rover 620 (same car) fell to bits.

kona

MuffinsDa wrote: »

Well my car is as "eurothrash"y as it gets (Saab), and I can tell you that changing bulbs on it would take the guts of 35 seconds if you do it at a slow pace, otherwise, 20 seconds would do! and it used -guess what- a clip.

sure they build planes too! they are sweedish too(and afaik they dont use the euro lol):D:D

i just class Euro as german ,italian and french its wrong i know.

back on topic anyways so the consensus among you is that peugeot, renault, citroen are okay, no hassle with the engines, finish, chassis, electrics ecu etc

Is there any mechanics here who work on these things with anything to say??

kona

Stekelly wrote: »

It's not that big a deal really. Plenty of small hatche's come in "hot" form (I'm assuming that 2.0 is a GTI but it might not nessicarily be). The Clio comes in a 197bhp 2.0. In the Uk it lso come sin a 140 ih bhp 2.0 aswell. The Saxo, Clio, Renault 5 , 106 etc etc etc all came in GTI versions.

i know that but it just seems alot for a 206...they scream 1.1:D:D
the renault 5 gt turbo is one sexy beast, quick too;)

bitemybanger

kona wrote: »

so you reckon they are solid enough engines, i take it they are timing belts and not chains??
what mileage were on them before they gave hassle, and what was it, just wear and tear or overheating and the like:)

Yea, solid engines, most common problems ive noticed on peugeots is electrical like starter motor, altenator, fuel pumps. all consumables and will have to be changed on most ageing cars then other things like wheel barings, head gaskits, nothing major. my friend has 250+k miles on his 306, everything still works on it.

eamon234

Toyota Aygo is French also - the Peugeot 107 and the Citroen C1 are all pretty much the same car with different badges - I had great pleasure in telling that to an Aygo driver the other day who was blowing about Japanese quality
A lot of Ford's diesel engines are made by Peugeot / Citroen also

Biro

Kona, what's your point? What are you angling at? Most companies have at least one good car, if not then at least one good idea.
And FYI, the british were very good at designing cars, they were just crap at assembling them. In fact, the British had some of the worlds best engineers. That's all in the past now though.
There's a lot more to a good car than reliability. If there wasn't, we'd all just get a load of old corolla's and be done with it. (new Toyota's aren't what they used be in reliability steaks).

kona

im just wondering, i drive a british car, i can appreciate the design, and thats why i love the thing, also the engine is fantastic and it amazes me how durable it is for its age designed 55 years ago, revised in 1984, handles better than anything on front wheel drive and so small but yet so big AND was designed 50 years ago...BUT
who puts a dizzy on the front of a engine behind a grille??
who runs a fuel line 3cm away from a exhaust manifold.
who doesnt bother with rust proofing, i can see numerous ways of improving on the design of the brake drums(i can accept this may have little to do with BMC engineers)

yes BMC had hyrolastic and hydrogas suspenion, citroen had the air suspension, but thats about it!

i know there is no such thing as a perfect car and i like my car even the faults , but im hearing bad things about french cars and i just want to see what a general opinion is.
i hate them but thats just my opinion(apart from the odd few absolute legendary cars they built)

im with you on reliability i prefer my handling non powerd and my engine to be raw, and alot of torque steer!over boring armchair-on-wheels!!! that and fixing is part of the fun!

Biro

Peugeot have had a few. Pretty much all their GTi's were good, if not excellent. The worst being the 138bhp 206 GTi, which wasn't a bad car, it was just underwhelming against it's competition.

bazz26

kona wrote: »

sure they build planes too! they are sweedish too(and afaik they dont use the euro lol):D:D

Actually if you want to be a bit anal, Saab like Opel and Vauxhall are owned by General Motors so that makes them all American.

Seth Brundle

'er indoors is one her second Pugeuot. Both were more reliable than my BMWs. Water pump housing went on the first. No issues with the current '00 206!
The only issue with Pugs that I have come across is that their dealership staff are ignorant pricks but then again this applies to many dealership staff of other marques!

groupb

Kona Renaults were also assembled in wexford , but that still does'nt come near all the cars on the Irish market at the time.
Whats this rant about the British could'nt design anything. The jap car industry started by copying British designs.
Then you tell us that you love the design of your British car?
Citroens did'nt do hydragas but they were air suspended?
The 5gt turbo - a sexy beast?
I think you should go back to the history / reference books.

Timmaay

Biro wrote: »

the british were very good at designing cars, they were just crap at assembling them. In fact, the British had some of the worlds best engineers. That's all in the past now though.

+1, The Kseries engine still is a brilliant engine, designed by good british engineers, it's still used in lots of motorsports and sports cars such as lotus 7 copies. The only problem was Rover skimped with the head gasket when assembling it, any mechanic will tell ya to avoid them because of this:rolleyes:.

French cars have a bad name for reliability, but arn't any worse than other manufacturers. I consider this a good thing, it means they depreciate like crazy and I can pick up a good 3-4 yr old car for next to nothing.

kona

Timmaay wrote: »

+1, The Kseries engine still is a brilliant engine, designed by good british engineers, it's still used in lots of motorsports and sports cars such as lotus 7 copies. The only problem was Rover skimped with the head gasket when assembling it, any mechanic will tell ya to avoid them because of this:rolleyes:.

French cars have a bad name for reliability, but arn't any worse than other manufacturers. I consider this a good thing, it means they depreciate like crazy and I can pick up a good 3-4 yr old car for next to nothing.

nah dude, twas the thermostat ,when it opened it caused a thermal shock between the in rushing cold water and the hot cylinder head/block, which caused warping and the head gasket went.
i think the heads on them are alloy and the block cast iron which worsened the problem. so thats a design flaw with the engineers, but they did rectify it.

ye the k-series is a great lil engine all in. Nissan bought the rights to the a-series and the B-series afaik a variation of the b-series is still in production.

group b i never said citroen did hydragas, BMC did.
and yes the reault 5 gt turbo is a very nice car, a modern classic.
clio V6 anybody??
The french did make nice cars, but made ALOT of ****e apart from the GTi versions i cant think of a amazing peugeot?

the japs did copy some british designs, and made them better, the brits did the hard stuff great, but when it came to easy things like rustproofing they fupped up, also small little things that are on their cars that look like not much thought went into them(reccomended engine oil for a A-series changed 3 times for the same engine!lol just a coincidence that when they reccomended 15W30 they had huge warranty claims on gearboxes).

Ford, BMC, Renault thats a fair chunk of the irish car market 30 years ago. Im sure other manufacturers assembled cars here because afaik it was government legislation.