10000

Hello,

I do not know much about French cars. We were thinking about buying a peugeot 307sw since they are good on fuel and insurance compared to nissan xtrail. But are peugeots good cars, generally speaking? Of the 3 french cars listed here, which ones are good or bad?

Thanks!

grannybunz

Hi

We have had both Renaults and Citroens over many many years. We have actually found Citroens to be more reliable. Dealerships in the UK- not used for many years now, I have to add, were less good than those here.

We are currently driving a new C4 Picasso diesel. Very very ecconomical, handles well and easily big enough for the two of us.

Look at some comparison sites

Novocastrian

I've driven Renaults before in France and only had one major problem, but now I've got a Citroen C4, like granny except mine's a 2008 1.6hdi. I like it so far.

But at the risk of hijacking the OP's thread, I have a car related question too.

Does anyone know whether trickle chargers are available here and if so what are they called and where could I buy one?

I'll be garaging my car for about 9 months in a couple of weeks and would prefer not to arrive back next June to a flat battery.

Thanks in advance.

cyrian

Hi Novo
I bought a booster which is available from Norauto.
It is a separate battery that you can use instead of jump leads from another car.
You attach it to the car + to battery - to chassis and start as normal.
They also have chargers. You can check their site online.
The French name is "un booster".
If I leave my car too long there is not enough power to start it although the battery is not completely dead and this is perfect for my needs.

Cheers

Novocastrian

Thanks for the suggestion cyrian, but from the Norauto website

"Un booster contient une batterie au plomb, qui se décharge naturellement. Pensez à recharger complètement votre booster après l'achat, et après chaque utilisation.
En cas de non usage fréquent, rechargez votre booster tous les 2 mois en hiver, tous les mois en été.
Ne jamais laisser votre booster en état de décharge totale."

Is that going to do the job? What I was thinking of was something I can plug into the wall at one end and into the cigarette lighter at the other which will just deliver enough current to keep the car battery fully charged over the winter.

Is that what you used this to do?

cyrian

No - I use it as jump leads.
That is what the breakdown guy used when I couldn't get started the first time.
I just suggested it as an option in case you hadn't come across it before.
The last time I recharged the booster after several months it took only 5 minutes to become fully charged.

Novocastrian

Ah, that sounds more promising. I'll look into it more.

The thing is in the old days, I would have just taken the battery out of the car and put it in the house, which we leave set at a minimum temperature of 5C.

These days though there is so much software in the cars that I'm not sure that that would be a good idea.

cardi

Try this.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SOLAR-POWER-.../dp/B002V9JEF0

Novocastrian

Ooh, that's more like it. I don't suppose I could prevail on you further as to whether it's sold in stores in France and if so which ones.

I don't have a .co.uk amazon account or for that matter a .fr one.

Peabrain

Hi,
My wife bought a Peugeot 307SW around nine years ago, and it's still with us, battered but very reliable. Nothing major has happened. If I were you and buying one now, make sure you get a decent size engine. Since there was no Jeremy Clarkson around to advise her at the time, she bought a 1.6 version, which is rather sluggish on gradients when the car is loaded and the ac going. Apart from that it's a decent enough car, does what it says on the tin, is quiet, well-equipped and thought-out, and reasonably comfortable. Lots of room if the back seats are (easily) removed and otherwise will seat six.
Whether or not Peugeots are good cars generally speaking, I wouldn't know, but given the progress made by the car industry in general I'd have thought you could buy one without many qualms. I'd have thought the same could be said of the other two as well. The advantage of buying a French car when living in France is that you will find dealerships or garages most everywhere. With my Mercedes it isn't always that easy to find a garage close by, whereas Peugeot garages abound.
PB

bigglesworth

I spent many years off and on in Africa where there were generally two car makes of choice.

Mercedes, or Peugeot.

They both have the reputation of going on for ever.

Luciole

Peugeots are pretty good imo. The diesels are probably the best on the market and the engines are used by other manufacturers. I still think Citroens are a bit quirky, even though they have now dropped the fancy suspension. Renault are probably the worst of the three, imo. Their build quality has been found to be only fair on some models, but overall I think you probably get what you pay for. Generally Renaults are cheaper, but.......
I have had a Peugeot 205 & 206 and about to have a look at the 208.

capricorn2013

I have had 2 renault clios and they were great cars - reliable and cheap to run. I currently have a peugeot 206 and the engine is not a patch on the clio's.

However I only drive automatics so manual gearbox may be different.

Novocastrian

I'd have thought both of those would be massively underpowered for automatic.

Just curious, why that choice?

grannybunz

I only drive automatics as well, not having learned to drive until I was 40+.

My first car was a Renault 5 auto and it was a fabulous little car, really lively, though the bodywork finally finished it off.

All the cars we have driven since we got rid of the second car have been auto The last 4 have been Citroen diesel autos and they have got better and better.