@*&$ing French cars.

It's been well over a decade since French cars were sold in this part of the world. You've hit on the reason why. Comfy, nice handling in a French sort of way, but my goodness the engineering and quality control left a lot to be desired. 

Ever tried to change bulbs on a Ford? In the end it turns into something between you, the car and the guy who designed the thing. So took me 45 minutes to do only one bulb  including scratches on hands and arms....... Btw now i have a Peugeot 2008 which is fine to me. ADAPTIVE audio system. Like in those Bentleys......

It is not a French thing .Most modern car makers do everything possible to prevent the amateur mechanic/owner doing anything whatsoever. They want you to go to the dealer.

Bruce

Bruce

I say this with all respect. Is it possible that, being and admirer of the Triumph Stag, you are more tolerant of the deficiencies of French auto design?

I have no idea what you mean. I can repair mine with a hammer, easy. Anyway 3000 miles this year and no problems so it is going just fine..

I have never owned a French car, and unless they improved their manufacturing quality I would not either. I could fancy an old DS though. Utter cool.

Bruce

A friend had a DS convertible, power hydraulic everything, a great smooth drive, one of Citröen's best looking cars, loved the single spoke steering wheel but the repair bills were astronomical.

I remember the hassle of changing the oil filter in my mate's Renault Five. It put me off French cars for life.

Not very well finished but this DS Special Edition certainly has a lot of style.

I seem to remember a motoring programme a while back doing a piece on the several hours required by the service dealer to change a headlight bulb on Renault Megane (the model with the TV advert about wiggling your arse).   As a long-time fan of Mercedes I suppose I couldn't be expected to be a fan of French cars.  The only French car I've ever rated is the coupe version of the Peugeot 406 but that was solely on looks. 

To replace my front indicator bulbs you need to take the front bumper off. Genius! And German.

On the other hand in my experience it's rare to need to change a bulb in a German car.  I think I've changed one in over 10 years in mine.  

Perhaps you don't ever switch the lights on?

We've done three in my wife's German sports car (small, red, goes fast )  in the last month!

My worst car was an Audi A6.

Sorry, an old Alfasud Veloce... Now, that was terrible!

Mostly don't need to these days, Mr Mole.  On modern Mercs the lights are automatic. 

Then it must be that Mercs have higher quality bulbs than others  LEDs perhaps?

Then it must be that Mercs have higher quality bulbs than others  LEDs perhaps?

Probably Metal Halide (HID) lamps, approx 5-10k hours life expectancy, some designs can be longer.

I had a friend in the mid 80's who bought a Peugeot sedan for his wife, and based on the results of that vehicle, I can see why their foray into the US market was short lived.  Thing was falling apart (literally) in about 2 years...a true mechanical nightmare.

I'm not a fan of french cars but up to last year we had 5 renaults at home. One laguna that I sold after 9 years of use, one megane 2007 and 3 meganes 2012-2013.

With the laguna I spent in average US$165/mo, including cost of the car less selling price and all repairs. (not included tires, brakes and other regular maintenance.

Three of my four sons use the maganes 2012-2013 and are happy with them. I continue using the 2007 on a daily basis. I prefer it against a montero that may wife uses (and love, even if most of the electronics are failing since new) and the VW amarok pick up that most of the time is parked at home.

I was going to buy a mercedes (a200) but after a friend had a problem and had to wait months for a spare part I decided to continue renault. Then I was going to buy a BMW (120), but other friend had a flat tire and took long to reach a city, and had to pay US$400 for a new one because the car has no spare tire, I decided to continue megane again.

Different experiences with cars. 

Regards.  Erich

That's fair. I've had one halogen dipped beam go pop in 21 years of driving BMWs. And that's it - for bulbs. However, in the event that...... There's no other way of replacing it.

I have only good memories of the one French car I've ever owned (or driven), a 205 XS. Non-injection 1.4 engine, light body by today's standards and super communicative steering. (Oil and filter were easily done myself, and new plugs and distributor cap as necessary).

The only downside I seem to remember was the quality of the fabric and fittings, plastics especially. This is where a subsequent Mk2 Golf GTi scored, though, if I'm honest, it didn't have half the driving pleasure. Though the bourgeois gravitas wasn't to be denied. (Ah, those smug, fat-bottomed, Teutonic residuals).

My mechanic brother put down the 205's smiles per hour to a lightweight body on what he considered to be oversize wheels and a softish suspension, perfect for what he deemed 'sh1t French country roads'. Whatever, I liked it. It also had the most comfortable driver's seat of any car I've ever driven, and the opening rear quarterlight windows, perfect for those pre-aircon days.

Chris

Had a 205 1.9 GTI for a while. Great traction and cornering, better than the golf imho. In the days I used to smoke,though,  I never  needed a lighter as the dashboard  was constantly "smoking". 

Ah, you raise another bug bear there, Erich: the seeming determination of car manufacturers to do away with the spare wheel.

Initially they started with those awful thin wheels which looked frankly silly on any car with beefy alloys.  Last time I was in a Mercedes dealership looking at the new C-class and discovered even that silly wheel has been dispensed with. The salesman was trying to justify to me why no spare wheel was necessary e.g. "you hardly ever get a puncture, and if you do one of these kits that temporarily seal and inflate it is all you need".  What about a full blow-out or a puncture through the side-wall I asked? Hmmm.  Sales-pitch evaporated.  

It might be a man thing, but I do not want to have to rely on a breakdown recovery service if I get a puncture: I want to know I can replace the wheel myself and be one my way. This seems to me a naked cost-saving device camouflaged as space/weight saving.  Am I alone in being irritated by this rouse?   

One of our cars runs on run flat tyres and we carry a spare. I don't mind a skinny spare as a temporary measure but no spare is just plain crazy. You don't get a spare wheel because you don't get punctures often? Then why do they fit airbags and anti lock brakes or seatbelt pyrotechnic pre tensioners. I've had more flats than airbags deployed, seatbelts going into emergency survival mode or collisions avoided purely by the fitment of ABS combined, so Merc's probability argument  has reached the wrong conclusion and omitted the wrong feature. As so often happens when marketing (and weight reduction at any cost to reduce emissions no matter what the inconvenience) goes up against fact, the twaddle wins.

MDS,

It´s a pleasure to drive fine British or German cars, but I'm careless with cars. I remember when I bought fine low profile German tires for my Laguna, after a week I broke one tire, and in the next, my wife did the same with other two. We went again to Michelin.

If I had a Mercedes after a week for sure I finish with a pile of scrap. We don't have Autobahn here, and streets are sometimes rough.

That's why I prefer just common cars and for my wife Jeep or pickup type.

But I always say, my next car is going to be a ...

I promise I'll have a fine one (for the weekends) and I will treat it with delicacy.

Regards.

Erich