Crap build quality
Discussion
Anyone beat this list of woeful faults with my 306 Cabrio (a £20,000 car, supposedly built by Pininfarina, one of the most highly respected car builders in the world)in 18 months / 18k???
- Roof mechanism faulty on delivery, several parts replaced
- Incorrect gauge readings due to poorly fitted ECU
- Sticking electric windows
- Door panel fit so poor that >3 on stereo volume causes vibration - diagnosed eventually by Clarion as "shit car"
- Failed boot central locking acuator resulting in xmas presents being stuck in boot on xmas day
- Broken key due to trying to get boot open to free presents
- Wind noise from roof at 10mph - dealer fixed it by tightening the roof latches to the point where it was henceforth impossible to open the roof
- Total failure of roof hydraulics resulting in liberal spraying of fluid all over car, roof and mate's wife. £450 to replace 2 pipes, plus 4 week wait for the parts. In AUGUST. The only bloody sunny month this year!
Last Pug I ever buy. Not that they care, most probably...
- Roof mechanism faulty on delivery, several parts replaced
- Incorrect gauge readings due to poorly fitted ECU
- Sticking electric windows
- Door panel fit so poor that >3 on stereo volume causes vibration - diagnosed eventually by Clarion as "shit car"
- Failed boot central locking acuator resulting in xmas presents being stuck in boot on xmas day
- Broken key due to trying to get boot open to free presents
- Wind noise from roof at 10mph - dealer fixed it by tightening the roof latches to the point where it was henceforth impossible to open the roof
- Total failure of roof hydraulics resulting in liberal spraying of fluid all over car, roof and mate's wife. £450 to replace 2 pipes, plus 4 week wait for the parts. In AUGUST. The only bloody sunny month this year!
Last Pug I ever buy. Not that they care, most probably...
Is it a coincidence that this is posted on a site favoured by TVR aficionados? 
Calling all Tuscan owners
...surely you can beat miniman's minor ailments? 
Where is your local Peugeot dealer buried...hopefully near the b
d who sold my wife a Seat Ibiza and has the ability of a constipated snail to supply spare parts! 
Get the picture?
Calling all Tuscan owners
...surely you can beat miniman's minor ailments? Where is your local Peugeot dealer buried...hopefully near the b
d who sold my wife a Seat Ibiza and has the ability of a constipated snail to supply spare parts! Get the picture?
quote:
I'm just waiting for the day when he calls me up to try and sell me a new Pug when the lease runs out next month... I suspect there may be a few choice words exchanged
The subaru dealer who wrote off my impreza 2 years ago sends me a letter every 6 months inviting me to take it there for a service. Muppets!
That's why french cars rock - they always seem more interesting to own. You play 'guess what's going to break next' with them, and when parts randomly 'fall off' on a journey - it's oh so much fun when you're stuck on an A-road with a socket set trying to reattach what has just hit the tarmac with a clunk!
(Fellow pug owner - a H-plate 405 SRi here!)
The fact I'm going to the teutonic reliability of VW in my next car (a 150bhp mk2 Golf GTI 16v no less) signifies I'm a little under-enthusiastic about going french and playing guess-the-failing-part again!
(Fellow pug owner - a H-plate 405 SRi here!)
The fact I'm going to the teutonic reliability of VW in my next car (a 150bhp mk2 Golf GTI 16v no less) signifies I'm a little under-enthusiastic about going french and playing guess-the-failing-part again!
I had a G-plate 405Mi16x4 with 90,000 miles when I sold it (boring car, much to competent to have fun in), I had no problems in the 10K miles I did, but, the next owner had the climate control fail, 900 smackers to replace
Now have a 206 for the wife, it regularly goes back to the garage because the alarm keeps going off. They keep saying they cannot find a problem, but it still goes off at random times. It is going back today after being returned yesterday
Now have a 206 for the wife, it regularly goes back to the garage because the alarm keeps going off. They keep saying they cannot find a problem, but it still goes off at random times. It is going back today after being returned yesterday
Kevin, is the alarm going off on the street or in the garage? All this ralk of TVRs setting off alarms in multi stories etc makes me laugh.
Never once have I managed to get one to go off (not loud enough obviously) yet if I leave my car out on the road for an hour – the bloody alarm will go off three times guaranteed!!
Never once have I managed to get one to go off (not loud enough obviously) yet if I leave my car out on the road for an hour – the bloody alarm will go off three times guaranteed!!
I have to say that I would never touch a Pug again:
306 XSi - Safety recalled 3 times, 2 stereos, 1 CD player, leaky air con, half the dashboard fell off when disconnecting phone charger (very funny as I had a car full of mates), blown gear box after 6000 miles. The worst fault was I had the car serviced and they checked the brakes, 2 days later the rear brakes are metal on metal! The dealer no longer exisits.
306GTi6 - Owned for 2 months and it had already started to squeak and rattle.
206GTi - Car goes into dealer for service, they have cocked the booking up and say 'bring it back next week'. That Saturday I was hammering down the M3 when the temp gauge drops to zero and the air con runs hot. By the time I had stopped the head gasket had gone and the head and block ! had warped. The reason was the rad was faulty and had literally exploded. Did peugeot pay for the replacement engine? Did they fook, £5500 later and it was back on the road. They did, however, offer to pay for a new rad.
Don't touch 'em anymore, Jap motors all the way now.
Nik
306 XSi - Safety recalled 3 times, 2 stereos, 1 CD player, leaky air con, half the dashboard fell off when disconnecting phone charger (very funny as I had a car full of mates), blown gear box after 6000 miles. The worst fault was I had the car serviced and they checked the brakes, 2 days later the rear brakes are metal on metal! The dealer no longer exisits.
306GTi6 - Owned for 2 months and it had already started to squeak and rattle.
206GTi - Car goes into dealer for service, they have cocked the booking up and say 'bring it back next week'. That Saturday I was hammering down the M3 when the temp gauge drops to zero and the air con runs hot. By the time I had stopped the head gasket had gone and the head and block ! had warped. The reason was the rad was faulty and had literally exploded. Did peugeot pay for the replacement engine? Did they fook, £5500 later and it was back on the road. They did, however, offer to pay for a new rad.
Don't touch 'em anymore, Jap motors all the way now.
Nik
My folks had a string of Pugs becoz there was a decent, honest and reliable Pug servicer in the area ... thank God, becoz the cars were pants. Even our ace mechanic couldn't figure out how the hell the induction worked on a 604 my dad picked up cheap. After a while he bypassed a few air filters and assorted plumbing by drilling a bloody great hole through one of the pipes.
I have fond memories of one night when Dad was driving us home briskly cross country and the car decided to go into "silent running" mode. We were suddenly plunged into total darkness. Thank god he had a mental picture of the road ahead and managed to keep his head.
After that he switched to VWs and Audis.
I have fond memories of one night when Dad was driving us home briskly cross country and the car decided to go into "silent running" mode. We were suddenly plunged into total darkness. Thank god he had a mental picture of the road ahead and managed to keep his head.
After that he switched to VWs and Audis.
I've had two Tivs and neither has broken down, but to be fair I've had a few problems that caused me some minor angst.
Best dealers in my experience are Subaru and Rover. Great service from both!
Worst have to be Volvo, Toyota and BMW. Arrogant sh1tes the lot of 'em!
Some examples:
1, Wifeys Toyota delivered with accident damage! Dealer had 4 attempts to put it right. Took 3 dealers to finally get the car to track correctly, and (surprise surprise) the brake fault I had been complaining about from new, and which had been the subject of many trips to dealers (no fault found sir!) was finally diagnosed 3 weeks after the end of the warranty. And yes, you guessed it, I had to pay for the repair "cos it's out of warranty sir!"
Never ever ever ever will I buy Toyota again.
2, My brand new Volvo S60. Delivered with a host of electrical gremlins, a truly awful engine/gearbox rattle thats so loud I've had passers by comment on it when stopped in traffic and more trim squeeks, rattles and buzzes than a Mothercare Superstore.
It also has a nasty habit of dying when accelerating away from junctions/roundabouts.
3 dealers later and none of the faults are fixed.
1 dealer did have a fix for the "dying" problem, but wanted to charge me £250 cos its was a non official performance kit fix!
The worst incident followed a minor shunt I had late last year. The car skidded on some mud left on the road by contractors and hit a kerb. Broke the wheel and bent the suspension. Main dealer repair.
4 weeks later, when I got the car back, it drove like a nightmare. Really frightening. Got me tape measure out and the wheelbase on the accident side was 15mm shorter than on the other side!
Complained to dealer who tried to tell me "they're all like that sir". Bollox says I, (I'd just measured and identical car in the car park, and it was, not surprisingly, perfectly symetrical).
They finally agreed to come and take it away, and they found some extra bent bits they hadn't spotted before. Got the car back just before Xmass.
Xmass Eve dawns and the car starts making dreadful banging noises from the front. Frantic search for dealer thats open and finally find one. They diagnose loose suspension bolts and proceed to torque it all up as it should have been. Oh, and yes, they did charge me for it!
Never ever ever ever buying a Volvo again.
Andy 400se - (its a bit troublesome too sometimes, but it at least has some redeeming features!)
Best dealers in my experience are Subaru and Rover. Great service from both!
Worst have to be Volvo, Toyota and BMW. Arrogant sh1tes the lot of 'em!
Some examples:
1, Wifeys Toyota delivered with accident damage! Dealer had 4 attempts to put it right. Took 3 dealers to finally get the car to track correctly, and (surprise surprise) the brake fault I had been complaining about from new, and which had been the subject of many trips to dealers (no fault found sir!) was finally diagnosed 3 weeks after the end of the warranty. And yes, you guessed it, I had to pay for the repair "cos it's out of warranty sir!"
Never ever ever ever will I buy Toyota again.
2, My brand new Volvo S60. Delivered with a host of electrical gremlins, a truly awful engine/gearbox rattle thats so loud I've had passers by comment on it when stopped in traffic and more trim squeeks, rattles and buzzes than a Mothercare Superstore.
It also has a nasty habit of dying when accelerating away from junctions/roundabouts.
3 dealers later and none of the faults are fixed.
1 dealer did have a fix for the "dying" problem, but wanted to charge me £250 cos its was a non official performance kit fix!
The worst incident followed a minor shunt I had late last year. The car skidded on some mud left on the road by contractors and hit a kerb. Broke the wheel and bent the suspension. Main dealer repair.
4 weeks later, when I got the car back, it drove like a nightmare. Really frightening. Got me tape measure out and the wheelbase on the accident side was 15mm shorter than on the other side!
Complained to dealer who tried to tell me "they're all like that sir". Bollox says I, (I'd just measured and identical car in the car park, and it was, not surprisingly, perfectly symetrical).
They finally agreed to come and take it away, and they found some extra bent bits they hadn't spotted before. Got the car back just before Xmass.
Xmass Eve dawns and the car starts making dreadful banging noises from the front. Frantic search for dealer thats open and finally find one. They diagnose loose suspension bolts and proceed to torque it all up as it should have been. Oh, and yes, they did charge me for it!
Never ever ever ever buying a Volvo again.
Andy 400se - (its a bit troublesome too sometimes, but it at least has some redeeming features!)
quote:
Now have a 206 for the wife, it regularly goes back to the garage because the alarm keeps going off. They keep saying they cannot find a problem, but it still goes off at random times. It is going back today after being returned yesterday
Probably the internal sensors - well known Peugeot fault, from which my 106 also suffers.
Still love it though - totally mechanically reliable and great fun, like my TVR. Also squeaks and rattles like my TVR, but I really couldn't give a
Maybe I should sell both and buy myself a Golf, because it is nice and quiet and has damped grab handles
WTF? >> Edited by cockers on Wednesday 4th September 12:28
VWs can be unreliable too - my Sister-in-law currently has her 3 month old Polo in the garage with gearbox problems, leaking oil everywhere etc. She's probably never ever broken a speed limit in it, so it's not that she thrashes it everywhere...
Her dealer experience has been pretty atrocious as well - they're currently waiting for some seal from Germany, which should be here in a few weeks. WTF!!!!That engine & powertrain must be used in a sizeable proportion by all of the VAG group....
Her dealer experience has been pretty atrocious as well - they're currently waiting for some seal from Germany, which should be here in a few weeks. WTF!!!!That engine & powertrain must be used in a sizeable proportion by all of the VAG group....
Very interesting thread this. Not wishing trouble on anyone but it is comforting to know that it's not just the Brit specialists who have reliability problems.
Anyway, I was interested in the dimensional accuracy comment. The first chassis we ever built (in a shed with string and tape measures for setting up before welding! It's long since scrapped and we do them symmetrical now, honest!) had a wheelbase difference side to side of about 12mm. Not happy with this, we checked it against three (uncrashed) cars on the drive at the time, a 1991 3 series - 6mm difference; a 1995 Cappucinno - 6mm difference; and a 1995 Westfield, no difference at all.
Score one for the little Brits, hurrah.
Anyway, I was interested in the dimensional accuracy comment. The first chassis we ever built (in a shed with string and tape measures for setting up before welding! It's long since scrapped and we do them symmetrical now, honest!) had a wheelbase difference side to side of about 12mm. Not happy with this, we checked it against three (uncrashed) cars on the drive at the time, a 1991 3 series - 6mm difference; a 1995 Cappucinno - 6mm difference; and a 1995 Westfield, no difference at all.
Score one for the little Brits, hurrah.
quote:
Best dealers in my experience are Subaru and Rover. Great service from both!
Not Rover in my experience - used to have a company Rover (all the company cars were Rover) and it kept going back to a certain Midlands based Rover dealer. Everytime they wouldnt do the work, came back with more faults that it went in with - and that was everyones...
Turns out that the woman looking after the fleet for the company (a company employee) was on the take from the dealer to place all the business there. The dealer in turn then didnt do the work and pocketed the pure profit.... Rover dealers??? Pahhhh
Cheers,
Paul
P.S. This is true - we found out when the company changed to Lex and everyone got new company cars - not a single one Rover..... ahhahha did we laugh!!!
You didn't by any chance work for the Lipkin group did you? Sounds just like when my Dad worked there he had a similar experience. Never could figure out why he kept getting rovers - not one of them went for more than a couple of weeks without something going pear shaped... (this was back in the late 70's early 80's)
My Pug 106 is worth about £1,500. The Bosch mono-point fuel injector started playing up, making the car impossible to drive except in the style of a kangaroo.
Dealer charged me £60+VAT to diagnose the throttle potentiometer u/s. Only you can only buy the whole fule injector thingy - cost was going to be £500-600 fitted. i.e. more than a third of the value of the car!
Bought a Haynes manual and a used injector from a breaker for £50.
Fitted it, but the bloody thing didn't work. Got the old one and decided to ignore the Haynes manual advice: 'under no circumstances remove the cover on the potentiometer as it is a non-serviceable item'. Opened it up, breathed on it, refitted and hey presto - worked perfectly ever since!
And as for Peugeots hour and a half labour time for replacing the part - I can now change a mono-point fuel injector on a 1.4 106 in about seven minutes!
Dealer charged me £60+VAT to diagnose the throttle potentiometer u/s. Only you can only buy the whole fule injector thingy - cost was going to be £500-600 fitted. i.e. more than a third of the value of the car!
Bought a Haynes manual and a used injector from a breaker for £50.
Fitted it, but the bloody thing didn't work. Got the old one and decided to ignore the Haynes manual advice: 'under no circumstances remove the cover on the potentiometer as it is a non-serviceable item'. Opened it up, breathed on it, refitted and hey presto - worked perfectly ever since!
And as for Peugeots hour and a half labour time for replacing the part - I can now change a mono-point fuel injector on a 1.4 106 in about seven minutes!
Must be a record, but from 1984 to 1999 I did nearly 500,000 miles in total in various Rover group products from Mg Maestros to Rover Vitesses, and not once did I have a single breakdown. Moreover, none of my colleagues who ran Rovers in the same period had a breakdown either. On the other hand the BMWs and Vauxhalls and Fords we had were forever stopping unannounced.
And just don't get me started on the Audi 80 tdi we had. It got nicknamed Christine (Steven King novel) cos it was so unpredictale!
Andy 400se
And just don't get me started on the Audi 80 tdi we had. It got nicknamed Christine (Steven King novel) cos it was so unpredictale!
Andy 400se
My brother hired a punto which was brand new and drove from manchester airport for about an hour to my house. By the time he got here, he had put quite a decent selection of bits that had fallen off in his hands in the glove box. Fortunately the steering wheel was not one of the parts.
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