The Ford dealer I use now sells a lot more cars of other makes than it used to.
"Pretty much anything so long as it's not French," the salesman told me.
The branch manager has told the salesmen not to sell anything French from group stock, even if the customer asks for it.
Once a car has been supplied by a branch, it goes on that branch's budget.
The manager is convinced every French car goes wrong, so it's bound to drag down the profits of his branch if he lets a salesman sell one.
Sound commercial thinking?
Or rabidly anti-French for no good reason?
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Well it took a good few years for SWMBOs Clio and later my Xantia to show any signs of needing extra attention. So unless they've gone downhill I think he's wrong.
Of course I can understand why he doesn't want a pigging ugly Peugot on the forecourt :-)
John
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Oops - this should be in motoring.
Could someone shunt it across, please?
Done
Last edited by: smokie on Wed 2 Mar 11 at 16:50
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Perhaps they don't want to show the Fords up??
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I think he's turning away some good business.
Stuff that might be slow to shift or that's particularly rare, complex or comprises an Espace I can understand. But I'd have though mainstream Renaults, popular Citroens such as the Picasso or Berlingo and Peugeot equivalent would make a tidy slae for little risk.
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The salesman told me he 'got away' with selling a nearly new Clio, but only because there was plenty of factory warranty on it.
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Yes it seems that he/they are anti French cars, uncalled for IMO, re Renault anyway.
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Talking to the salesman where ive bought my car, they bought a load of Pug 107 and 207s in - he said he cant wait to see the back of them, nearly all they have sold have come back for warranty work.
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>>>he said he cant wait to see the back of them, nearly all they have sold have come back for warranty work.
He's obviously not had trouble with any Suzuki lately???
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>> they bought a load of Pug
>> 107s in - he said he cant wait to see the back of
>> them, nearly all they have sold have come back for warranty work.
>>
I wonder if the mechanically and internally identical Toyota Aygos give the same problems??
There is a lot of unfounded prejudice in the trade against French cars - my experience is that they aren't perfect. But then very few cars are. Merc diesel injector problems, anyone?
Our C8 is nearly 8 years old, and fine. My 2CV is even older and has only let me down once in 10 years when a spark plug came out - such an easy fix once the engine had cooled down. Try that on a modern car!
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>> I wonder if the mechanically and internally identical Toyota Aygos give the same problems?
Are they completely identical?
Ford build their Ka's on the same line as the Fiat Panda / 500, but are they not completely different engine ECU and looms and there's other changes too i think? Suspension components etc. even if they do all measure up to the same locations on the body shells.
Rattle will know
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>> >> I wonder if the mechanically and internally identical Toyota Aygos give the same problems?
>>
>> Are they completely identical?
Yes, along with the C1 they come out of the same plant specialy built to produce the trio.
Slight styling differences, and different badges, but otherwise identical.
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I was so irritated by manifestations of this bigotry back in the Other Place that a verse sprang unbidden into my head. I am not clever enough to find it there, but it went something like this:
So, you don't like French jalopies? You think Renault cars are carp?
Forgive me if I sound a little elderly and sharp,
But it's partly just a question of how long you've been alive
(And even I'm a tot beside a Renault 45...)
Yes, never mind de Dion or Jenatzy or the rest:
It's a former Axis maker that you're going to say is best.
You'll disparage all Frog motors in your sour Rosbif way
And remain sublimely ignorant - gorblimey, REALLY ignorant -
Of Bugatti and Hispano
(Of course, they must be guano)
And sluggish Talbot-Lago and Delage and Delahaye...
Tchah!
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Do any of you remember the 200+ post over on the darkside, started by some poor soul who had a diesel Espace? That was pretty dreadful but I have had no grief in 6 years from a 307 Hdi and there a lot French cars on our roads. One dealership avoiding them just leaves other people to pick up the trade.
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Sounds like a perfectly reasonable policy to me.
If I were in that line of business, I would do exactly the same.
Based on workshop experience with the horrors, I hate French cars, and wouldn't wish one on anyone but an affirmed enemy.
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My local garage's owner stated to me he hated working on all French cars .. and pre 2006 Fiats.
He is very competent and tends to get the jobs other garages can't solve.. Like faulty Renault autoboxes.
I think his hatred is partly explained by the sheer awkwardness of working on some of them -
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When I sold Renaults in the early 1980s, they were not known to be any more unreliable than most other makes.
I think the other makes have come on leaps and bounds since then in terms of quality and reliability.
Maybe French cars have not made the same amount of progress.
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>> JD power reliability for family cars:
Thats satisfaction, not reliability.
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>> I hate French cars, and wouldn't wish one on anyone but an affirmed enemy.
But however much you gripe and bawl, you still might be doing them a favour NC. Serve you right for being such a bigot...
:o}
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I called the AA out to mend a snapped clutch cable in my old R19 diesel a few years ago. I heard the mechanic swearing under his breath about ' French cars', but he said he hadn't been called out to a 19 for a while...
I liked mine in many ways: the engine was great, and it was very comfortable as a long distance cruiser, but the electrical system played up, and I sold it with 80k miles on the clock.
My sister in law has a Clio and hates it.
A colleague has a 1997 Peugeot 405 estate and loves his.
I looked at the C4 Picasso when deciding on my current car, and though I was tempted, I was in the end put off by reports of faults.
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 3 Mar 11 at 01:21
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The Frenchies do OK in the warranty direct tables (no. of repairs * cost)
www.reliabilityindex.com/manufacturer
PS. I know its traditional to bash the French - we've got into the habit of it after 1000 years!
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I've had 30 Citroens since 1998 and have never really had any significant problems. So many people tell me that French cars are terrible; long may it continue I say, it saves me a fortune!
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>> I've had 30 Citroens since 1998
I've had 3 cars since 1998 - is that a stray zero? Or did they only last 5 months each?
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No extra zero. 29 or 30, I've lost count. I've had lost for a short time and several at a time at various times.
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"So many people tell me that French cars are terrible; long may it continue I say, it saves me a fortune! "
Hear hear!
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Seems a bit of an odd one when you consider most cars are a mix and match of countries coming together.
Obviously he doesn't mind the French engined Ford's he sells, or the Valeo parts equipped cars, the Saint-Gobain glass etc... etc...
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...most cars are a mix and match of countries coming together...
That's a point, although there aren't many French engines in Fords any more - I don't think.
Ford manufacture bits in Belgium, Spain, Germany, UK, but not France - again, as far as I'm aware.
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fleetworldgroup.co.uk/news/2010/Sep/0434001301.htm
The 1.6 and 2.0 diesel is the product of the PSA Ford tie up.
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Although a product of the PSA tie up, I think both engines are made in the UK. I stand to be corrected on that one, mind you.
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...I think both engines are made in the UK...
A million diesel engines made in Dagenham each year.
Doesn't say which ones, but the 1.6 and 2.0 are popular sizes, so quite likely are part of that number.
www.ford.co.uk/AboutFord/CompanyInformation/FordinBritain
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reason they dont like french stuff is because of the complex electrics they now fit that need dealer only attention to fix when it DOES go wrong
can bus anyone?
renault clip
multiplex
in my personal opinion that is all mine i still think that all french cars converted to right hand drive wiring looms have inherant red herrings put into them to slow us down as a nation
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A friend has a new clio. Seems a fairly simple machine, on the face of it there doesn't appear to be much that could go wrong with it. It impressed me in that respect - it looks quite simple to assemble one.
He's had 1 possibly 2 dealer visits for small beer stuff (funnily enough, electrics!). There's a known weakness in a bit of the trim too. Other than that, plain sailing. It is pretty low mileage right enough and he looks after it well.
Servicing prospects don't look as great though. Funny design with the engine bay and the way the engine is mounted restricts access to most ancillaries.
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I had a Peugeot 407 coupe from new for three years. Had every electrical gimmickry known to man. Utterly reliable and was still like new when it went. If it weren't for rapidly growing kids, I'd still have it.
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"Pretty much anything so long as it's not French," the salesman told me.
Yeah, and all Fords rust :-)
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My Mondeo was rusting by the time it was 3 years old. Bottom of doors.
I could not possibly have a French built car like a Veyron though even if you gave it to me. No. Well maybe.
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Out of the 40+ cars I have owned, only two have been French.
They were probably my fourth & fifth cars, a R5 TS then a 5 Gordini. Lots of problems with both, but I had no trouble selling either privately, and without losing too much money. I have been fortunate to have very reliable cars, including a Marina and Fiat 128, so those two Renaults have probably put me off buying a French car since, which is completely & utterly illogical because it was so long ago.!
I shall have to take the plunge one day and buy another French car. Friends of mine have had excellent service from 306 and 406 diesels, and continue to do so.
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Motoring Francophobia - Tooslow
