My anti-MB - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

pentoman · #1 05-15-2009, 07:27 AM

This is my Peugeot 206, I don't think you get Peugeots any more in the US and wanted to show you. Those that remember them will hopefully remember they had a good smooth ride and nice handling and keen performance - any former owners on here?
This was the last model of car to be mass produced in the UK

. But is of French origin for those who don't know.

It's pretty much the opposite of my MBs - built in the 21st century, fitted with a/c, a CD changer, two airbags, rain-sensing wipers from the factory, adjustable steering column, cup holders, self diagnosis, coil packs, sharp rack-and-pinion steering, a good stock hi-fi with a remote on the steering column, and a quiet engine, everything you do not get on a 190!

I really enjoy it, it's very keen in the bends, very easy spacious and practical to live with every day, cheap to fix and only needs a service every 20,000 miles (!), and has good suspension with a nice ride/handling balance for a small car. It even is safe with a 4 out of 5 star euro safety rating. They do have a bad reputation for being unreliable but mine's only had a coil pack problem touch wood, so I won't complain yet, it's at 90k miles. I don't think it's built to last as long as a W201, but it seems good enough so far. For some reason they haven't fitted ABS which is irresponsible. Also I think the dampers are shot because it pogos badly, in fact dangerously, on big dips at speed, however I can't work out if this is because it might have dual rate springs?

The engine's a 1.6L 8v with 90bhp and 5-speed - rather old fashioned but it's very torquey, weighs nothing and is low geared so up to our 70mph speed limit it feels pretty spritely (I think you would say it has good pick-up?).

I bought it after being lent it as a courtesy car during the head rebuild on my 190e 2.5-16. I found it so much fun that I then bought it. It also cost a lot less than my 2.5-16.

#2 05-15-2009, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pentoman

I don't think you get Peugeots any more in the US

Because its French, nobody wants to buy one.

pentoman · #3 05-15-2009, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ForcedInduction

Because its French, nobody wants to buy one.

Lol, is this the 'freedom fries' thing?

cmbdiesel · #4 05-15-2009, 08:20 AM

I remember the 505's pretty well. Friends dad used to buy those and Mercedes as their family cars, until one day the 505 self combusted in his company's parking lot. Took 5 other cars with it. Last one he ever bought.
Can't say that the aesthetics of the 206 does anything for me, kinda looks like a Daewoo Lanos, I can only imagine it is a better handling car though.

sfloriII · #5 05-15-2009, 09:48 AM

I remember the Peugeots when they were still here in the States. I've always liked the way they look, but this new one does look a bit bland to me. Remember their bicycles? I wonder if they still make them.

I'll second your thought about the expense of the 190-E 16 valves!! Ugh. Now with my diesel VW I still enjoy all that torque, but less speed..... and less expense!

tankdriver · #6 05-15-2009, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pentoman

Lol, is this the 'freedom fries' thing?

No. They were not reliable and you couldn't get parts, which were too expensive.

My cousin (in France) just sold his 206. Nimble car.

Honus · #7 05-15-2009, 10:06 AM

I've always heard that Peugeot makes a nice handling car. I wouldn't mind having a diesel 505.

Mr.Kenny · #8 05-15-2009, 10:24 AM

In the U.S. Peugeots have the same reliability as a Yugo;... there used to be a saying "as long as you own a French car, bad Karma in the other part your life is temporarily suspended, God, Satan, all the angels and the Universe have taken pity on you".

awsrock · #9 05-15-2009, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sfloriII

Remember their bicycles? I wonder if they still make them.

I still see tons of those around here on campus. They all look like they are from the 80s, though; I'd bet that they don't make them anymore (at least here in the US)

I always like the 505 too..it looks a little dated now, but back when I got my first car, they were always a charm to see on the road (along with the occasional Alfa Romeo 164!)

There is a guy that lives in my home town that always has one or two 505s. I think he recently got one of those weird looking Citroens too.

pj67coll · #10 05-15-2009, 10:49 AM

My family back in South Africa used to swear by Peugeots. I used to swear at them.
They had, 203's (I think) lot's of 404's, 504's including a couple of wagons. Never had a 505 though there were lots of them about. The ride was fairly smooth. Everything else was crap. No other vehicle I've ever seen in my life rusted as badly as these pieces of junk. Not to mention several family members (including my own parents and I) being stranded in the middle of nowhere when the vehciles overheated. I remember seeing a nice looking 505 in a parking lot of a local grocery store where the driver got out, closed the door and a fist sized chunk of rust fell out of the bottom of the car from the bottom of the fender. Our 404 wagon had such bad rust you couldn't put your feet on the floor in the passenger side in front in the end as the metal had completely eaten away along the left side and front of the floorpan. It was held to the vehicle only by where it joined with the transmission tunnel and the box section under the seat. I also remember my cousin and her husband who'd just bougtht a 504 wagon that they were delighted with. They were supposed to be making a cross country trip from CapeTown to Durban to visit the family. They showed up in a Mercedes 190E instead. The 504 had only been on the road a few hours when it overheated. They had to go back home and borrow one of the fathers Mercedes. Maybe their quality has improved in recent years. But I have no intention of ever bothering to find out.

- Peter.

R Leo · #11 05-15-2009, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ForcedInduction

Because its French, nobody wants to buy one.

Maybe you should have told that to everyone buying Airbus airplanes.

JRS · #12 05-15-2009, 03:22 PM

We had a 504 diesel ('75 I think) in the late '70s. It was a comfortable car, but sometimes it was tough to get that diesel started in upstate NY winters.