Are French cars really that bad?

micknmace

I used to have a Renault 19 'H'reg a few years back & to be honest I can't knock it. All the bits that needed replacing through wear & tear were pushed to the limit. A prime example being when I snapped the cambelt & sat trying to start it for 10mins wondering what the problem was. Had another cambelt fitted & drove it for another couple of years. Admittedly a bit more rattly than before but I don't know a renault that doesn't rattle. A small price to pay considering.
After having a different make of car for a couple of years I have now reverted back to a French motor in the form of a Citroen Xsara VTS. Have owned it for 18months now & I LOVE IT!!!

andygb

I think that this all boils down to LUCK!
I would class myself as a bit of a "petrolhead", so my heart tends to rule my brain at times, but if we have ever had two cars, then one has to be reliable and "boring".
I have found BMW 5 series to be very comfortable and solid, but not particularly reliable, and they are very expensive to maintain/repair.
About rust - no car built in the last fifteen years should be showing any signs of rust, not even Alfa Romeos which I love.
Some French cars are complicated (Citroen suspension), and their electrics have always had a question mark about them, but then so did Italian and British cars.
One of my most reliable cars was a little 1.4 Toyota Corolla, which we used in the Winter. We never used it in the Summer, and only taxed it for six months of the year, but it never let us down, and everything worked - fantastic.
We have a Mondeo 1.8 Verona (2000) now, and it is one of the most economic (500 miles plus on a tankful), comfortable (Italy and back - not in one day though!!), and reliable, and parts are so cheap.
If I was looking for a replacement car for the Mondeo, then it would be one of the following:
Low mileage Mondeo (2001) ST220
Toyota Avensis 1.8
Mazda 6

hewhoisnotintheknow

andygb wrote: »

I think that this all boils down to LUCK!
I would class myself as a bit of a "petrolhead", so my heart tends to rule my brain at times, but if we have ever had two cars, then one has to be reliable and "boring".
I have found BMW 5 series to be very comfortable and solid, but not particularly reliable, and they are very expensive to maintain/repair.
About rust - no car built in the last fifteen years should be showing any signs of rust, not even Alfa Romeos which I love.
Some French cars are complicated (Citroen suspension), and their electrics have always had a question mark about them, but then so did Italian and British cars.
One of my most reliable cars was a little 1.4 Toyota Corolla, which we used in the Winter. We never used it in the Summer, and only taxed it for six months of the year, but it never let us down, and everything worked - fantastic.
We have a Mondeo 1.8 Verona (2000) now, and it is one of the most economic (500 miles plus on a tankful), comfortable (Italy and back - not in one day though!!), and reliable, and parts are so cheap.
If I was looking for a replacement car for the Mondeo, then it would be one of the following:
Low mileage Mondeo (2001) ST220
Toyota Avensis 1.8
Mazda 6

Its interesting what people say about the suspension, ive worked on it a couple of times and ive managed to do the services on it without any problems. If you look up about the design it is actually very simple, the same design is used on a lot of luxury cars

I am not a mechanic, just look at things in a logical order

wizk1

maz403 wrote: »

Sorry I asked.... glad you took note of the request for any positives

To be perfectly honest, the new Clio is a very good looking car, very comfortable, spacious, well equipped. And fingers crossed, you'll possibly have one of the good batch.

The trouble with Renault (and pretty much every other French/Italian car manufacturer) is that they make some marvellous cars, and if you have a trouble-free one, you've got a winner. When they go wrong however, they do so flamboyantly (would you expect anything less from the French and Italians?) and will cost you big time.

If yours is brand new, you should have at least a 3 year warranty. So during that time, put your mind at rest and enjoy your new car :beer:

cyclonebri1

Inactive wrote: »

The clio is a fantastic car, utterly reliable car, never ever goes wrong.


( My nose has just grown about 2 foot.:D )



The truth, they are utter junk, like all Renault's..sorry.

Come on Inactive, have you ever owned one, or had friends that have?
Some things obviousely poisoned you aginst them.

Ever since VX brought out FWD cars in about 1980 I've had astras, cavaliers, calibras and vectras. But when the kids got thier own cars I borrowed the odd renault.

The family history so far has been;

Daughter 1, L reg clio 1.4, New 53plte clio 172, presently 04 megane diesel
Son in law, New 53 clio 172
Daughter 2, presently 55 megane scenic

Wife, N reg 1.4 clio, New 53 clio diesel, presently 07 megane diesel

Me, 55 megane est diesel.

Do you honestly thing we would have stuck with renault if we had experienced many problems?, of course not.

Ps None of our cars has seen a renault service centre, I do all the family maintenance, even under waranty conditions. I will conceed that the 2 main dealers in our area could just be the reason for any local prejudice.
(they are also main dealers for Honda, Toyota, Land rover etc and aren't thought of that well in those areas either:p

Inactive

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Come on Inactive, have you ever owned one, or had friends that have?
Some things obviousely poisoned you aginst them.

My Daughter owned a Clio, it was a money pit, head gasket, gearbox, constant electrical faults, the final straw was when the front suspension collapsed.

I live in a village where a Main Renault dealer is based, I see the newish Renaults being recovered almost every day, the Renault mechanics tell me the horror stories in my local, none of them drive Renaults I hasten to add.

So you can keep your Renaults thanks, you are welcome to them.

gaz_jones

I owned a Peugeot 306 for about 2 and ahalf years. Not once did it let me down. The only problem I had with it was the electric window came off its rail. Other than that absolutely fine.

hewhoisnotintheknow

insurance doesnt really care about reliabliy

they care about how likely it is to get pinched, vandalised and the type of people that drive the cars

they dont care if it breaks down every day, or never

hewhoisnotintheknow

Inactive wrote: »

My Daughter owned a Clio, it was a money pit, head gasket, gearbox, constant electrical faults, the final straw was when the front suspension collapsed.

I live in a village where a Main Renault dealer is based, I see the newish Renaults being recovered almost every day, the Renault mechanics tell me the horror stories in my local, none of them drive Renaults I hasten to add.

So you can keep your Renaults thanks, you are welcome to them.

so if you went to a honda garage you wouldnt see hondas being recovered for repair?

And the same honda garage wouldnt be able to tell you any horror stories as they just sit about with their feet up as they never have anything to do?

When i had a new car the garage came to collect it for servicing on a low loader as they could pick several up at a time with one guy

cyclonebri1

Atomised wrote: »

I only started this thread because I want to learn more about cars and was wondering why an old clio , rather than the ford focus , was the cheapest to insure if I start driving. I'm sure people wouldn't keep buying the same make of car if they were ALL dodgy. And French car makers would all be bankrupted by now

Feel like i've started a war:o

No you didn't start a war, it was already declared and there's no sign of a truce. So long as it stays friendly it's fine.

On the bright side you get what you asked for, peoples opinions.

But some of the comments are like asking a kid if they like cabbage, they hate it, but theyv'e never tried it ;)