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Once you've owned a French car, your automotive taste will either stay French forever, or become 100% anti-French forever. There is no middle ground. Also, if you drive a German car, you have to rag on French cars all the time, or the warranty is void. My initiation to French cars started when my dad switched his company vans from Toyota HiAces to Citroën Jumpys (Peugeot Expert, Fiat Scudo). They were ugly, but super functional, reliable and inexpensive. A year or so later, he added a Citroën Evasion van (Peugeot 806, Fiat Ulysse, Lancia Zeta), which was significantly more plush than the Jumpys, a very comfortable "boss van". My dad still claims it's the best car he's ever owned. Later, he upgraded the Jumpys to the newer generation and got rid of the Evasion. Later yet, when he laid off his two employees and downsized to just himself again, he replaced everything with a bigger Peugeot Boxer van (Citroën Jumper, Fiat Ducato, Ram ProMaster), complete with an electronics workbench etc. in the back. The lease is ending soon, but he's definitely going to keep it, it's perfect for what he does. He also had a Citroën Xantia van for a year or so, that he got as a part trade for the Evasion. I borrowed that car as much as I possibly could, since I had sold my Corolla a couple of months earlier. On the civilian side of things, a year or so after my dad bought the first Citroëns, my parents were replacing their third Mercedes (1996 C250 diesel), which was a heap of poo poo. The positive experience from the vans got my dad looking into their sedans and wagons, and he got totally hooked on the hydropneumatic suspension system. Then he found out that he could get a used Citroën C5 for about half the price of a Ford Mondeo etc. of roughly the same vintage and mileage, never mind any Mercedes worth spending money on. So they bought their first C5. It was a frightfully ugly car, and the interior was not very well put together. But it was ridiculously comfortable and reliable apart from the usual wear and tear on a well-used car, certainly a lot more reliable than their last Mercedes had been. At 280,000km, they replaced it with a newer used C5 wagon, which has been absolutely flawless so far. It's comfortable (of course), quiet and ridiculously roomy. Plus, you can raise and lower the back end with a button near the hatch, for easier loading/unloading. As for myself, I've only owned three cars so far. A 1988 Corolla, a 2008 Fiat Panda and my current car, a 2000 Peugeot 406. I've actually loved the design of the 406 for a long time, so I figured it was time to get one before big thirsty cars become completely outlawed. I honestly don't think I'll own a non-French car again anytime soon, the 406 has me completely spoiled. It's comfy, roomy, well put together (seriously) and quick enough to get out of its own way. It also handles like no ~1,5 ton family sedan has any right to, you have to drive like an absolute nutter to make it understeer, and it feels like it lives and breathes for curvy roads. And it'll sit comfortably at 150kph for hours and hours, "long legs" have always been a Peugeot strength, these are cars built to cross countries in comfort. French suspension = best suspension. KozmoNaut fucked around with this message at 18:57 on May 20, 2015 |
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May 20, 2015 13:44
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blk posted:How did you like the Mi16? They made it over to the states and I wonder how fun/high maintenance they are. Hella fun, but they rust like you wouldn't believe. I looked at a couple the last time I was looking to buy a car, and I ended up with a 406 instead at roughly the same price because maintaining an Mi16 through salty slushy winters would be an absolute nightmare.
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May 25, 2015 20:39
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