It was the beginning of the end for Top Gear at this point.

Their one-off end of season specials became in every episode and they just ran out of ideas.

Do you still own a Peugeot by any chance Andrew?

Top Gear became ever more pathetic and I stopped watching it long before this stupid clip. I only managed 4 minutes of it before its childish absurdity became overwhelmingly unbearable. Even if I had seen it, it wouldn't have put me off buying our Peugeot 2008.

Ok but the point that I am trying to make is that buyers of new cars still remember this feature and a Peugeot salesman I know told me that potential customers are be influenced and it still makes his job difficult .

We should be thanking the motoring press rather than attacking them. It’s the fear of a public flogging that keeps them from churning out garbage.

That's a fair theory, but I'm not sure about the practice. As we all know, the motoring press depends on the motoring trade for ad income, so only a truly dreadful car will get any severe criticism. As a general rule a new model will get a cheerful welcome with all its plus points applauded. I'm not even an occasional reader, but I suppose regulars will develop a knack for reading between the lines to work out what has not been mentioned ?

And as regards 207s and the dreaded 1.6 HDi engine, my example has led a blameless existence for 12 years. Perhaps the flaw was in recommending too-long oil change intervals - we all know about those too.

In the late 90's I test drove a 206 Gti, what a dreadful car. I could not find a comfortable driving position for starters and once on the road the car had no traction whatsoever (dry roads). Apply throttle and wheel spin, embarrassed at lights by every lesser car out there.

Next drive was a 1.8 Focus. On paper not as quick but on the road better in every way, bought it.

Our neighbour 2 doors away had a new 406 and one morning I saw him looking at the rear screen, or lack of it, glass crumbs everywhere. Dealer refused to sort under warranty (it was only 2 days old) saying it was vandalism. So off to windscreen company who fitted new screen. When he got home he opened to boot and the corner of the boot lid hit the glass and shattered it again. Luckily for him it was a Motability car and they took up the fight and he got a replacement car. After that its always been Mondeo's.

Wifes company had a leased Boxer van supplied by a dealer with the word Pratt in the name. It was a total disaster and the supplier was totally incapable of sorting any issues as were the lease company who insisted it went back to the supplier every time (40 miles away). Eventually the boss rang the garage to speak to Mr Pratt to be told "Pratt has retired". Obviously still plenty left at the garage.

I do not understand why each new model seems to ignore many lessons which should have been learnt from its predecessor, for example what makes a seat comfortable. Maybe each time round the designers try to correct for previous complaints ?

I seem to remember the driving position of the 206 was lower than the 205. 206 looked nowhere near as nice as the 205, actually not many small cars have ever looked as good.

Edited by mcb100 on 28/06/2020 at 12:21

We loved the two diesel 205s that SWMBO had 30 years or so ago, much less so the 206 that followed them. Agreed, the new ones look very good, and having sat in some I personally wouldn't have a problem with the small steering wheel.

But I would object strongly to having to prod a touchscreen to change heating and AC settings. And although a PHEV would suit me well next time, I'm not paying over £40,000 for a 3008.

Clarkson and Co could always make a good show of it, but characterising drivers by their make of car isn't in itself very funny. But maybe as I'm an Audi driver that's a 'Mandy Rice-Davies moment'.

Had a 206 as a loan car once, didn't like it at all. At the time I had a 205 Style, 1.1 4 speed, kept from 28,000 to nearly 100,000 miles. When I purchased it was 9 years old, just one owner from new.

Avant, according to Autocar the new Golf's heating controls are very intuitive to use