Are French cars really that bad?

Inactive

I live near to a Renault Main dealer, all Renault's in the sales teams car park at the front, round the back where the mechanics park their cars it is full of Toyota's, Honda's, Mazda's etc.

The horror stories they tell in my local about Renault's would make a good book.

Quinny_2

I currently run a 406 HDi,on a V reg,which I bought at auction 4 years ago with 72k on the clock.

49k later,it runs perfectly,and has never let me down so far.

It gets an oil change every 6k,and other servicing/filters at 10k.

The only thing it's needed in all this time,are the drop link bars which are a weakness on them,other than that,I've had no real problems to speak of.

gilbert_and_sullivan

jackieb wrote: »

We once had a Renault 21 Savanna (i'm going back a few years here!). It was dreadful. By far the worst car we've ever had. It was never out of the garage. We traded it in after 6 months - the shortest time we've ever had a car. We normally keep them about 4 years. It certainly put us off ever getting a Renault again.

It had about 40k on the clock and was less than 4 years old so shouldn't have been an old clunker either!

You just never can tell, i had a diesel Savanna many years ago, was a superb car, but the few parts that did go wrong were ridiculously expensive (do my own maintenance, so haven't had the dubious pleasure of the dealer), bought at 113K and sold on some 5 years later it gave good service.

Pity really though, some French cars really are good designs and nice to drive with very comfortable non sporty (read hard enough top shake your fillings loose) suspension....thinking latest Citroen C5 diesel with proper auto box for example, and i'd love a C6, they'd be a nice car whilst under warranty but terrifying once outside of it.

poppy_f1

i have a 53 C3 and never had any problems with it

jammin_2

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

they'd be a nice car whilst under warranty but terrifying once outside of it.

I think that's the nail on the head, for all French cars.

iolanthe07

My daughter has just traded a 307 that was absolute crap - always letting her down. The electrics in particular gave no end of trouble.

Volcano

Renault state on their website that:

Renault is the only manufacturer with 8 models awarded the highest 5-star Euro NCAP Adult Occupant crash-test rating.

http://www.renault.co.uk/about/safety/euroncap.aspx

Do they spend their cash on areas other than reliability?

jeannieblue

Mutter wrote: »

VW, killed my Audi A4, she went to live in Lithuania I think.

(Love to the honarary mechanic Jim by the way Jeannie, I follow his progress, please tell us more with pics)

Jim is very well thank you Mutter! Jim also advises that it was the garage that killed Bertha. If you had taken Bertha to a nice reliable garage with a Jim to keep an eye on things, it could've been alot different..

Jim and his pals are good at reviving Bertha's - at a reasonable price too. You can't fault the car due to incompetent main stealer grease monkeys...

Trying to post a pic of Jim and it just isn't happening Mutter - I'm not very good at this.....

jeannieblue

Best I can do Mutter is a 'linky' thingy of Jim the Mechanic........ he's not had a day off work since he started work in March.

http://www.canyouputthekettleon.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/MG_73301.jpg

:D:D

wizk1

I had a Citroen Saxo as my first car, and couldn't wait to be rid of it. I secretly wanted someone to steal it, to get it out of my hair. Every other week, some mechanical or electronic issue arose, until I decided enough is enough, and bought a Fiat Bravo (Yes!!! A Fiat!!!), and never regretted that decision. I liked it that much, I eventually replaced it with the new shape Bravo. (Which I also love)