I hope this reply isn't too late. I've owned 4 Peugeots in my life (starting with an 81 505 Turbo Diesel) and I had a favorite uncle who owned them since the '50s (both in Europe and in the US). He passed away in '75 but apparently left me the genetic code for loving these cars. The only reason I don't drive one now is that I cannot find one to buy!

I've also owned a 505 gas wagon (not a very good car because it turns out it was actually built on the Peugeot light TRUCK chassis, not the sedan chassis and it rode like a truck and because the tranny was a 3 speed auto but geared for trucks, it rev'd at about 4k RPM at 65 -- very, very noisy). My last one was an '87 gas turbo. It was unbelievably FAST but came with "sport" seats and lowered suspension, so the ride was never up to Peugeot comfort standards, in my opinion. I finally walked away from it about a year ago after spending $2k on the engine but then the tranny went out.

As for parts availability, the internet has really helped that situation out a lot. I started using a shop/parts house in the Calif bay area. Their prices were really, really good. If anyone needs their address I'm sure I can find it with a little trying.

The best one I owned, by far, was an '82 505 Turbo Diesel. It was very reliable, ran great, and was incredibly comfortable. The great thing about diesels, of course, is that they will cruise all day at 80 mph at 1500 rpm. They are surprisingly quiet at speed and get great gas mileage, too.

At one time there was a mechanic shop in Salem, OR called French Auto World (it was actually more of a wrecking yard). He had a 504 sedan but had installed a 505 turbo diesel engine. It was a very, very nice car. If I had my dream car, it would be to put the 505 gas turbo engine in a regular 505 sedan. That way you'd have speed AND comfort.

The biggest problem that Peugeot had in the U.S.A. (IMHO) was their god-awful dealer network. There weren't many "Peugeot dealers" but there were a LOT of Ford dealers that sold Peugeot, Chevy dealers that sold Peugeot... you get the picture. They didn't train their techs very well and Americans got very frustrated with the little things that went wrong. In my experience, most of what went wrong was stuff that was added for the U.S. market (lots of electrical switches, air conditioning, cruise control units, that kind of thing). Also Peugeots take a bit of regular servicing, which American drivers/owners tend not to keep up on. By the time Peugeot really got their reliability up to par, it was too late (the market had already soured on them) and they pulled out of the U.S. market.

It's interesting to note that if you look at the Peugeot corporate web site, what you notice is that you can buy a Peugeot anywhere in the world EXCEPT the U.S.A. and Canada. They are still incredibly popular not only in Europe but also the middle east and also Africa. They're really durable, comfortable autos.

Thanks for letting me rant. I do like my "new" old MB 73 280C but the Peugeot (in my book) is a much, much better car -- but that is probably an unfair comparison, since there is a 10 year difference in engineering know-how between the two. I remember in the early 80s Road & Track did a comparison of the 300D and the Peugeot 505. The MB came out on top, but not by a lot. I always thought, though, that a more fair comparison would have been the 240D vs. the 505, because the 300D cost SO much more than a 505. I always thought the 240D was more in its price league. In that comparison, I do feel that the 505 was a much better car.

Catrinus