A fellow in my building is away in austria visiting and working at some winerys. I am car sitting an imaculate peugot 405 mi. I drive it to work and back on occasion (more and more often), the problem is, it is for sale, and i like it. It is a well put together, fun to drive car. heated seats, power everthing. anybody have good or bad experiences with them thar' cars?
Peuwhat? Ken, I remember a Car and Driver write up some time ago that made mention of the shoddy workmanship, problems with electrical components not working properly, drab overall design and the kicker for me was that they wouldnt let their mother drive one becouse it was "dangerously under powered" uzzled: Sounds like a winner , I say go for it :TU: D. :moonu:
The danger with owning a Peugot is that they pulled out of the US market some time ago. (Late eighties?) Makes parts really expensive.
d/b that sounds like the le-car thing. the 405 is not underpowered, not that i would beat on or race a car that is not mine. :3gears: the parts thing is bad tho.
Ken, everything bad you hear about the 405's electrical components is true, the French used Lucas electrical components, AKA, Lord Lucas, Prince of Darkness, Being into British Bikes I can tell you first hand how bad Lucas stuff is.
The old joke is: Why do British drink warm beer????? Answer: Lucas made refrigerators too!!!!!!! :beer Lucas stuff really is a nightmare.
Now, now, now...Lucas isn't REALLY all that bad...as long as once every two years, you take every connection in the entire car harness apart, clean the contacts, and put it back together with dielectric grease. I really don't know where Lucas go t such a bad name... :spank: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Used to have an MGB. Fun car, but until I cleaned/greased up every durned connection, strange things would happen, like the windshield wipers running by themselves(!)... Favorite T-Shirt: Shocked-looking fellow with the caption: "Whaddya Mean, Doc, A LUCAS Pacemaker!!!" :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
I forgot: World's Worst Car: French Engineering, German Styling, British Electronics, Italian Mechanicals. Looks like the Pigout has 2 of the 4 knocked down... ou:
Peugeot is not a car you would want to take on a long trip,unless you were planning on breaking down along the way. I've had the misfortune of working on a few of these junks and don't think they are a good car. Another junk to avoid: Renault :eek2:
sorry Dale but ......the Lucus headlight switch is......... Dim-Flicker and Off :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :bglasses:
Perhaps the best course of action is to pound your friend's car mercilessly. You'll feel better and parts failure can be blamed on poor French craftsmanship. Everybody wins! :3gears:
MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY DAVE!!!! my lotus had lucas electrical stuff....had, something caused a heck of a fire...........
Certainly not a cold climate car. Few older examples around here. Block heaters, inline water heaters & electric battery blankets & they still won't start in the extreme cold! Owners seem loyal as they always seem to driving the same brand.
The thing with Peugeots is that you have to learn to work on them yourself and know where to get parts. I think you can still car Jersey and order new parts through Peugeot and there is a guy in VA that has a mass of used parts. I know all this because my dad has an '85 505 S Wagon (currently out of commission w/a blown head gasket). Best story with it was when we broke down in Georgia. The starter went. Took the mechanic, who more than likely had never seen one, 2-3 hours to change it. I think he said he used like 3 extension bars to get to one of the bolts. On the plus side, the heated seats are really nice in the cold. I don't know about 405s, but the 505 wagon also has an extremely tight suspension. And two facts on the 505, it uses a torque tube like the old buicks and the 4 cylinder is a hemi designed engine.
