SWMBO and I are both in agreement that after a blinding innings, the Passat will be moving on later this year. I've been tentatively looking around, impressed by the looks of the new Leon, winded by the cost of a Golf and thought progress had been made with our accord on a Rapid. 

 

 However whilst trundling back from the gym today one of these things passed by;

 

 

 Its the first time i've seen one. Its a Citroen. Its full of electronics. Its based on a Peugeot (ugh) platform. It has the resale value of dog dirt. BUT i'm strangely drawn to it. To the point where i'm considering popping into town to look at one in the morning. What the feck am I thinking?! I vowed never to entertain a French car EVER again after the Peugeot episode now i'm struck on something based on a Pug platform. The DS3 is supposed to be leading a revolution in the reliability and desirability stakes of the marque, but does anyone have any recent experience of Citroens? Whatcar slate them, Autoexpress love them so not sure what to think.

Stay right where you are, Sparks   I've called a couple of nice people. They'll be with you shortly and give you a nice jacket to put on then they'll take you to a nice comfy room with soft walls. It'll all be over very soon :yes:

Wouldn't you be worried that any second, it'll transform, leap up onto two legs and start speed skating?

 

I quite like the one that looks like an A5.

 

Gaz

Wouldn't you be worried that any second, it'll transform, leap up onto two legs and start speed skating?

 

I quite like the one that looks like an A5.

 

Gaz

 

 

 I could do with a rest Lee  

 

 I'd be more impressed calling the AA to a transformer in limp mode     

I really like the DS5 but the residuals scare me. As a second hand purchase at 18 months old or so it makes a much more appealing buy. Don't bother with the hybrid. It's barely more efficient than the normal diesel.

I had a sit in one of them when my sis was road testing a picasso,i actually liked it,quality seemed way better than the citroens i remember from years ago,nice looking car with a good spec....id have one......as long as it was brand new & i got rid of it before the warranty ran out.  would rather have one of these than a boring ford focus or vauxhall astra.

You only know how reliable 3 year old cars are, is after many get to 3 year old and older.

& it takes 5 years from being released to know what they are like as a 5 year old used car.

So the other stuff is Media talk.

 

Lots of electrics to go wrong, Mood Lighting etc etc.

 

Anyway,

i have not sat in the new Peugoet. 308,  but keep seeing the adverts, Lighter, Smaller Wheel raise the clocks up, 

& they have me almost hooked.

 

Then i remember when i miss fueled a lease car and the RAC brought me a New Automatic Petrol Turbo 308,

it was brilliant and drunk fuel like it was going out of style.

 

3 days later i hated it,

Remember the early days of Skoda? I don't think any of us are in a position to slate any other car manufacturers.

 

The DS4 looks great and Citroen have been getting some quite respectable reviews recently.

 

Would I buy brand new? Certainly not (due to epic depreciation) but they make for a great three year old buy.

 

I'd own one of these if there had been any used diesel manuals floating about before I bought my Superb... 

 

Edited 10 February, 201412 yr by silver1011

The last which customer satisfaction survey had Skoda 2nd and Citroen =24th, so good luck.

How do Skoda manage to get that results,& regularly,  it must be the low number of Skoda Owners, and the happy ones responding.

 

Only 66,000 Skoda sold in the UK in 2013, and many lemons,

and disinterested Skoda Dealers when people even have small problems.

Skoda UK Customer Services do like to try and 'make you happy', then they hand you back into the Dealerships and it often goes wrong again.

The 'Pulling Left' carry on and replacing tyres after months of messing Owners about is an example.

 

Lots of French Cars sold in the UK, many times more than Skoda, and often more sold than other VAG brands.

Hired a bright yellow DS3 sport and drove it round the Scotish Highlands for a week, great fun.

I think that'd make a fantastic buy at about 12-18 months old.

 

They're a lot less dull than our German Boxes too.

I'd have one in a heart beat if I could afford it.

I just bought a Citroen, hope it's not a dog then

Ive started similar threads previously as Id like to own some of the French metal thats on the market but second hand after 18 months is the only way it makes sense and then im not too sure id want to own it after the 18 month old remaining warranty runs out! As above, I love the look of the outside (and cabin!) of the DS5 and loved the older C6 and think the C5 estate is an amzing amount of hauler for the money second hand. When I was a young'un I had a real thing for the neighbours XM! Always a bit leftfield in my tastes it appears! I also took out a Peugeot 508 SW 200GT a couple of months ago and was seriously impressed in the way it went - in all respects. Its just that nagging doubt regarding reliability and dealer support...   

I just bought a Citroen, hope it's not a dog then

 

But yours is based on a van platform with minimal fancy electronics.

There is nothing wrong with 'French' cars.  Here's a friends 2006 C4 petrol, he's owned it from new and is always serviced ontime (independant garage)

 

Never broken down on him and in his current job he is driving approx 1300miles a week.  Apart from regular servicing & the odd bush replacement I think the only other item he's had to replace was the manifold as it cracked around 200,000miles.

 

I've also noticed on many occasions the amount of 'French' made parts in the Octavia (mainly electronics).. Surely the French cars can't be all that bad?

 

I've had a few and will no doubt buy more

No they are not all bad, they sell lots so even if only 5% are wrong,  5% of 5,000,000 cars catches the attention more than 5% of 100,000 cars from another manufacturer.

 

French cars at least get recalls and faults rectified,

which is rather better than some other European Manufacturers like German and CZ ones.

 

Turbos are quite a common problem sadly with Citroen/Peugeot, but then if you are one of the 95% that never has a problem,

why would you complain.

 

The engines are shared among a fair number of other Manufactures including ones building cars in the UK & nobody seems to pick faults with their Models. Or consider them particularly unreliable.

 

george

The 1.6 and 2.0hdi engines are put in fords and volvo's, you don't hear that many going wrong in them, in fact I bet you can find loads of V50 & v70's with the 2.0 HDi lump in it with intergalactic miles. I know I've said it before but I've had a Xantia and a C5 plus two lagunas and neither of them have me any trouble whatsoever.

How do Skoda manage to get that results,& regularly, it must be the low number of Skoda Owners, and the happy ones responding.

Only 66,000 Skoda sold in the UK in 2013, and many lemons,

and disinterested Skoda Dealers when people even have small problems.

Skoda UK Customer Services do like to try and 'make you happy', then they hand you back into the Dealerships and it often goes wrong again.

The 'Pulling Left' carry on and replacing tyres after months of messing Owners about is an example.

Lots of French Cars sold in the UK, many times more than Skoda, and often more sold than other VAG brands.

They rate so highly because Skoda has quite a cult following and many of their owners fill these surveys in to almost over compensate and prove that they are as good as any other car ie BMW and Audi etc. most joe public never fill these in, I know I never have.

Nail on head,

because as we know Audis and BMWs are not that reliable.

 

& 'if everything in life was as reliable as a Golf', we really would be in the sharn.

I've never said French cars were ugly. Some of them are very nice looking cars.

Wouldn't even consider one again unless it had lots of warranty.

 

I know Dacia does warranties up to 7yr not sure about the other Frog motors.

 

Complex electronics are a risky business in an expensive car, in a budget car, well; it's your money.

 

 

I know Dacia does warranties up to 7yr not sure about the other Frog motors.

 

 

Dacia are Romanian though. Its an interesting point - all the campanies that supply five or more years as standard are Korean or Japanese. I like the fact they obviously have faith in their product but Id also like to know how many claims are made and how much it costs them.

To be fair look at VAG:

 

 - Turbo reliability on some models

 - Lets not even get started on the fabia 2 vRS

 - PD170 injector issues

 - Injector loom issues too

 - Air con compressor failures

 - Tandem pump issues on certain diesels

 - DMF issues

 - ESP brake system issues

 - EGR issues

 - DPF issues

 - DSG 7 speed issues (not as far as I'm aware a recall in the UK)

 - Cracking paintwork at certain points on some models

 - Electrical gremlins also exist (Fan's, water in fuse box, the passat chassis and it's drainage/electronics issues)

 

Then we've got customer service:

 

 - Recalls, what are they?

 - They're all built like that.

 - What you want your car in less than 6 months issues.

 - Changing spec and options being removed.

 - Some interesting service from certain dealers (but not all of them).

 - Making people pay when other manufacturers are replacing the same faulty items FOC.

 

 

Lets remember it's not all roses in camp VAG and just because we have them, doesn't mean they are faultless.

The Japanese and Korean with the 5-7 Year Warranties build them in Mainland Europe or the UK and are careful with Quality Control.

The Romanian/French Build outwith Mainland Europe and are getting careful on Quality Control.

 

Then VAG give a 3 year Warranty, will sell you another 2 years, build anyplace, and Quality Control hardly matters,

they are after all the Volkswagen Audi Group,

You are privilaged being allowed to buy their products.