Peugeot...your thoughts

[Dan Gordon]

Morning all,

I have recently taken over (well...there was no one to take over from) as the Peugeot Sales Rep for Sainsbury Automotive in Central Western NSW and I was wondering what peoples views, or past experiences are with the brand? I am very eager to hear what people think, their opinions, what they think is good about the brand, what is bad, etc.



Dan :eclipsee_

[desGT]

Too expensive and generally underpowered, but LOVE the look of the 407. Good luck with the sales.

[Ringo]

*Ringo refreshes his screen to check that indeed he is on Ford Forums...not Le Peugeot Forem.

I have never owned one, but have been told by a South African Peugeot fanatic who was still driving a late 70's 404 (?) that the difference between his car and french agricultural machinery was that his car had indicators.....hence why his was still going strong.

[pommy b]

Coming from the UK where they are a dime a dozen, and having driven a 307 and a 207 on my last 2 visits back their as hire cars, I can honestly say nothings changed... still don't like them.

Good diesel engines though.

[Hally]

Good looking designs, overpriced, under powered, fragile and you don't want to own one out of warranty.

[hawke]

Having a Peugot in Australia is like having herpes. Once you get one, you cant get rid of it.

[Dan Gordon]

This sounds encouraging...hehe

[Neeek]

Being a Pom, IMHO Peugeot used to be synonymous with brilliant handling runabouts - 205GTi, 405Mi16, 306GTi6 and so on. Their small cars used to set the benchmark.

Since then, they have lost their way - styling's gone all weird, they're not as much fun to punt about as they used to be. But as others have said, their diesel engines are cracking, if not up to the same levels as BMW and the like.

And in Australia? Too expensive in a market flooded by cheap and reliable Japanese hatches, they're perceieved as premium cars when they're actually not and thus not many people (individualists excepted) will buy 'em. That's the crux of the problem with most European cars - Australia has to pay a premium for them, so they naturally assume them to be upmarket... and most of them aren't.

[Rev28K]

A workmate just picked up a 207 GTi for $32k and it seems like it has a lot of features for the money (maybe they feel compelled to compete with Renault). It shares it’s 1.6 litre turbo with the new Mini
It’s still got the new car smell so any faults haven’t really shown up yet – nice exhaust note, the seats are okay, torque peaks nice and early, long wheelbase and a good ride considering the 45 profile tyres on 17” wheels. The low blow turbo engine is TINY looking and it doesn’t have a lot of room around it for servicing – it indicates when it needs to be serviced itself (approx 20,000km intervals) but I’d say that it would be expensive.

Their design has gone backwards looks wise since they stopped using Pinifarina and they don’t make enough of their LeMans activities. I think that it would help their image if they had a “hero” car – something with the fantastic handling that their hot hatches were famous for. They have coasted on that reputation since the 205 GTi 1.6-1.9 litre years. The 4 series proportions always look narrow to my eyes and the overhang looks strange. Do they really need the 607 out here?

My views of Peugeot are coloured somewhat by the cute brunnete that sometimes smiles at me in traffic from here dark 307 CC.

Re: old Pugs. 504’s seem to be popular rally cars I’ve seen a few out here (as well as a 404 rally car) and they look like tough little things. They won the Safari rally a few times didn’t they?

[pommy b]

Originally Posted by Neeek

Being a Pom, IMHO Peugeot used to be synonymous with brilliant handling runabouts - 205GTi, 405Mi16, 306GTi6 and so on. Their small cars used to set the benchmark.

Since then, they have lost their way - styling's gone all weird, they're not as much fun to punt about as they used to be. But as others have said, their diesel engines are cracking, if not up to the same levels as BMW and the like.

And in Australia? Too expensive in a market flooded by cheap and reliable Japanese hatches, they're perceieved as premium cars when they're actually not and thus not many people (individualists excepted) will buy 'em. That's the crux of the problem with most European cars - Australia has to pay a premium for them, so they naturally assume them to be upmarket... and most of them aren't.

Nice to see another Pom in SE QLD!!

I still find it strange that Peugeot's are seen as premium cars here in Oz when nothing could be further from the truth.

They have been unable to recreate what they had with the old 205GTI. As small cars have got bigger, their 'small' cars have got heavier, fatter and dull. The 207 is not a patch on the Fiesta for handling in my opinion.

Is the 607 available out here? It's the luxury bardge that's got to be one of the fastest depreciating cars there is back in the UK. I think they were 30K GBP new and could be picked up for just over 10K GBP after 1 year.

[RATT]

I am a fan, I couldn't say why. Just find the uniqueness of them appealing.

[Neeek]

Originally Posted by Rev28K

Re: old Pugs. 504’s seem to be popular rally cars I’ve seen a few out here (as well as a 404 rally car) and they look like tough little things. They won the Safari rally a few times didn’t they?

I forgot about Peugeot 504s - my Dad had one in the late 70s. Metallic dark green, it was. Loved it. And they are as tough as anything - there's a reason they are (still!) so popular in Africa.

When the nuclear holocaust's dust has settled, cockroaches will rule the world. And they will drive the only cars that survived the devastation - Peugeot 504s.

[sgt_doofey]

Might want to try the Aussie Forgs web site: http://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/index.php

Having owned a 307 now for coming up to two years, I can't say that there is anything wrong with it. A bit expensive, probably, yes. We paid $38k for the top of the line 307 XSE Touring Wagon 2.0L HDi.

Power wise, people probably thing it's underpowered when you see that it only has 100Kw for the 2.0L HDi. Having said that, it doesn't matter as you have 320Nm of Torque on tap from as low as 1750rpm which is able to overtake. Just this morning I passed two cars this morning. Accelerated from 90km/h in 5th gear to overtake and was easily doing 130km/h afterwards. No need to downshift to get her going.

Comfort: not too bad. Haven't done any really long trips in it but am going to drive it to Melbourne in July, so I'll find out then.

Fuel Economy: We're average roughly 6 - 6.5l/100kms.

Repairs: We've had two faults which were both fixed by the dealer without any questions asked. The first was a faulty exhaust pressure sensor. The other was a faulty brake switch.
There has also been a product recall which was something to do with the brake pressure sensor that could affect the ESP. Our car checked out OK. This recall was done on the 407 range earlier in the year.

Servicing: Minor service at 20,000kms - cost about $350
Major service is coming up at 40,000kms and might cost close to $800.
I think servicing is probably not that more expensive considering the service intervals are every 20,000kms. So compare that to a Falcon with 15,000km intervals. If you travel 45,000kms in both, the Falcon has 3 services compared to the 307's 2, so costs probably even out.
(This is comparing dealer servicing costs as that is where we are getting the 307 serviced until the warranty runs out. I know it'll be cheaper elsewhere)

Parts: Parts seem expensive, especially through the dealer. A set of wiper blades for the 307 cost approx $120 for the front 2. That's a bit ridiculous! Am trying to source other ones through Bosch but they haven't been available in Australia, but I think they might be now.

There are a number of enthusiasts around the place and a number of specialist Pug mechanics, so there are plenty of resources around should you have issues. Check out the Aussie Frogs website above for more details.

[Rodp]

I was considering a 207GTi, plenty of go, well appointed, miserly on fuel and pretty well priced. Unfortunately, all the dealers I went to didn't have a demo for me to take out for a spin. I quite like the look of the current range, one thing that did bother me was one of the service intervals of the 207 apparently required a ~$1000 service every 30k. Don't quote me on it though.

[sgt_doofey]

Originally Posted by Rodp

I was considering a 207GTi, plenty of go, well appointed, miserly on fuel and pretty well priced. Unfortunately, all the dealers I went to didn't have a demo for me to take out for a spin. I quite like the look of the current range, one thing that did bother me was one of the service intervals of the 207 apparently required a ~$1000 service every 30k. Don't quote me on it though.

http://www.peugeot.com.au/PEUGEOT/AU...ceSchedule.pdf

20,000km service intervals. The major is at 40,000kms. The diesel engine is about $700, so the petrol engine should be less. Check the dealer for the menu priced servicing.

[Fantome]

Does this mean you are going to trade in the black Commodore on a Peugeot? Anything is an improvement I guess. Anyway good luck with the new job Danno!

[Dan Gordon]

Hehe thanks boss. Nah I will be keeping Eva (Thats what I named my Commodore...cause I think the name is hot hehe). I will be using the company Peugeot I am getting from work for work.

I am starting to run into a little logistical problem at home however. We live in town and have a car port for 2 cars, yet our "fleet" is;

1x Holden Commodore 2001 VX Executive Series 2 (Black with chrome mags and a sports exhaust
1x Ford Fairlane 1992 NL with horrible brake shudder and broken rear air suspension (Good for towing wanna-be trains though...DONT ASK! )
1x 2001 Holden Rodeo Crew Cab
1x 2000 era Proton Jumbuck with a sports exhaust and chrome mags

And now the Peugeot...I am running out of room!

[flappist]

Hi Dan. My 22c worth.

Your brand does not seem to have almost any presence at all in rural/regional areas so you will probably not be concidered by a large percentage of your potential customer base.

How you solve this without spending $lots on marketing is difficult. I just did a search on my nearest dealer and found there is on only 100km away. I didn't know it was there.
I can easily tell you where most of the ford/holden/toyota/mazda/subaru etc and even merc/bmw/audi etc are within 200km of here.

My personal experience; never driven one, don't know anyone who has, don't know much about them other than they are french and are sometimes featured on SBS shows.
I suspect that other than actual owners and a few of our googlists, most would be in the same catagory.

Good luck with it.

PS, are they FWD, AWD or RWD, the web site is inconclusive?

[drew`SEVNT5]

old 205GTi's, 405Mi16's, 306S16/GTi6's were great cars.


Now? Just boring, bland, eurotrash with no distinguishing features. Might as well buy a VW.

[GasoLane]

I want one!

[sgt_doofey]

Originally Posted by flappist

PS, are they FWD, AWD or RWD, the web site is inconclusive?

FWD.

Some of the older one's are RWD. I think from the x04 series back.

[Paxton]

Originally Posted by flappist

PS, are they FWD, AWD or RWD, the web site is inconclusive?

Mostly Front.

Peugeot's quality has gone upwards since they closed down their Factory in the UK.

The way I look at Peugeot/Citroen is that they are just French Toyotas. The only reason they are seen as prestige cars, is because they cost so much. If Ford sold a Focus for the same price with the inclusions that you don't get, they would be a laughing stock.

The other problem with French cars is because their Autos are so bad.

[Fantome]

[QUOTE=I am starting to run into a little logistical problem at home however. We live in town and have a car port for 2 cars, yet our "fleet" is;

1x Holden Commodore 2001 VX Executive Series 2 (Black with chrome mags and a sports exhaust
1x Ford Fairlane 1992 NL with horrible brake shudder and broken rear air suspension (Good for towing wanna-be trains though...DONT ASK! )
1x 2001 Holden Rodeo Crew Cab
1x 2000 era Proton Jumbuck with a sports exhaust and chrome mags

And now the Peugeot...I am running out of room! [/QUOTE]

Easy, leave the Proton and Peugeot on the street ( no-one in their right mind would steal either, even in our town ), your dad will go bush in the Rodeo, give mum the Commodore and sell me the Fairlane cheap. After all, I'm the one with the wannabe train driver in the family!
Will have to fill the rest of you in on this whole train business sometime

[sgt_doofey]

Originally Posted by Paxton

The other problem with French cars is because their Autos are so bad.

I think the latest generation have a vast improvement over the earlier models in this regard. But I can't really comment as I have a manual. Didn't want to drive another boring automatic car...

Actually, as an aside. The wife and I hired a 206 in Europe back in 2005. Driving that at 170km/h on the German autobahn's was fantastic. It felt like it was doing 60km/h, it felt so right on the road. The poor little 1.4L Diesel was revving nicely at about 4000rpm though.

I can throw the 307 around here at home a little bit, when the wife isn't watching, and it feels really good. It sticks like sh... mud on the road.

[FPV 5TH]

Peugeot : nuff said

[bingoTE50]

I would not be too discouraged . In the country it is as much about the whole package , sales team, service ,warranty , community support programs ( local netball club sponsored by Pug etc etc ) We are in a changing market and Diesels are becoming more and more popular , be it right or wrong .
If you sell some and have an issue , you have to handle it right or the whole community will find out ...just my 2cents worth...

[mikestp]

205 T16... id have one

as for the rest of Peugeot, they should start putting the diff at the right end of their cars

[JACK250]

My step mum has a 307CC, when the roof is off you literally can't have anything in the boot, and it's so underpowered that if you try to start off in second it jumps around like a normal car in 4th!

[XRtowcar]

Wifes got a 307 XSI with a five speed two litre.
Nice enough car, practical layout, good seats, little underpowered but with good features.
No probs so far.
Equivilent Mazda 3 at the time cost five grand more.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by JACK250

My step mum has a 307CC, when the roof is off you literally can't have anything in the boot, and it's so underpowered that if you try to start off in second it jumps around like a normal car in 4th!

Erm, why would you want to start in second?