The "French" fight back.

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Tue 20 Sep 2005 20:40
The "French" fight back. - mjm
Between approximately 1980 and 1990, my job included a company estate car. At the time company policy was Ford, Granadas for the ?management? and so on. We service/technical people had Cortinas, replaced by Sierras when they were available. I had one Cortina and 3 Sierras from new. The Cortina was a 1,6L; the first Sierra was a 2,3D, the other 2 being 2,3DLs.

I experienced the following breakdowns with them: -

Cortina 2 broken fan belts.

Sierra 1 3 broken drive belts, 1 broken gearbox, 1 broken starter motor.

Sierra 2 2 broken drive belts, 1 broken clutch cable, 1 broken brake vacuum pump.

Sierra 3 1 faulty fuel gauge, causing me to run out of fuel. I only had this vehicle for about 2 months.

I then moved to a different department, didn?t need a company car, and started buying my own(used) vehicles. I started with a BX16TRS, then a BX19GTI, then a BX19 16v. Current car is a Xantia 2,0 petrol Exclusive.

I experienced the following breakdowns with them: -

BX16 none
GTI none
16v 1 battery
Xantia none to date after 2 ½ years.

Fords? wouldn?t give you tuppence for em.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 20 Sep 2005 20:49
The "French" fight back. - rustbucket
>>Fords? wouldn?t give you tuppence for em.

I have had a company vehicle for over 30 years now and the most reliable easily fixable, when I have had a problem where ever I might be in the country have all been fords. The most unreliable difficult to fix or unable to get parts quickly have been Renault, citreon, volkswagon,pugeot,


--
rustbucket (the original)
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 20 Sep 2005 21:13
The "French" fight back. - Xileno {P}
Oh no, please not another thread on this subject.
Every make has its supporters and critics. In our family we have Renault, Toyota, VW, Saab, Vauxhall, Volvo and Mitsubishi. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses. Each to their own.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 20 Sep 2005 21:28
The "French" fight back. - Number_Cruncher
The French don't need to fight back - they've already effectively won!

We in Britain already buy many more of their cars than they do ours.

Indeed, if we displayed only a fraction of the national loyalty towards motor manufacturers, we might also have kept our own car manufacturing companies.

While people will go on about Allegros, Maxis, K series HGF, and so on, French cars aren't exactly free of doubt over quality and reliability. For which, one only needs to look at the way Citroen are dealing with their snapping springs.

In some parts of France, spot the non-French car is a reasonable game to pass the time!

Number_Cruncher
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 20 Sep 2005 22:36
The "French" fight back. - Vincent de Marco
We in Britain already buy many more of their cars than
they do ours.

And why is that ?
- - - - - - -
I am the only Pole over here.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 20 Sep 2005 22:38
The "French" fight back. - smokie
Didn't I read that the French get some kind of tax break if they buy French?
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 20 Sep 2005 22:44
The "French" fight back. - bikemade3
Fella at work today mentioned that the French have no such thing as RFL is this true?
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 20 Sep 2005 22:43
The "French" fight back. - Roberson
>>We in Britain already buy many more of their cars than they do ours.

'ours'. Which cars do you mean? The last one of the mass manufacturers that actually built here was Rover, but as for Fords, havn't they been built elsewhere for a while?

I'm not a great lover of Fords (almost the whole family isn't), but it is each to their own and everyone has an opinion on it. It would be a boring place if we all drove the same thing.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 20 Sep 2005 23:31
The "French" fight back. - martint123
I had 26 years of 50,000 miles a year. Mainly Viva's Astra's, Cavaliers, Vectras - an odd Citroen Volcane.

Other than broken glass, the only failure or breakdown was a clutch cable on the volcane, fortunately the 200 mile drive home with no clutch was mainly free flowing motorway.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link

From which small car to buy at which price point to the best UK-built cars, our Top 10s have the lot. Click now for your shortlist.

Unsure of what to buy? Our Top 10s are here to help you....

Choosing a child seat can be a quite baffling experience – there are so many sizes, types, brands and price points available that you might not know where to start.

How to choose the right child seat