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I'd been looking around for a new ULEZ compliant car (thanks Sadiq !!!) and had a reasonable list of must haves/would likes, including Estate, Auto and Diesel. This unfortunately narrowed down my option, and far more than I expected, the price of used cars currently, further narrowed down the field. Despite my reservations regarding French cars, I opted for a Peugeot 508SW 17 plate, with 61k on the clock. It seemed to tick all the boxes and then some. It came with a 60 day warranty and to cut a long story short, its being returned in just over 50 days due to numerous issues and problems, that even the dealership are not willing to pay for.
Reading between the lines, I think they are just going to refund me and put the car into an auction and take the loss on it to get it off their hands.
Have I been unlucky, and should this put me off the 508 or indeed anything French. I've read the French cars posting on here, but that is 6 years old and the outcome seemed to be - stumble upon a good one and it'll be good, find a bad one and it'll be a nightmare/money pit. Is this still the case 6 years later, or have French cars got better/worse in that time ?
It is a pity the car had so many issues as it was very comfortable to drive, had lots of toys and safety features, nice and powerful (2L GT model, 180 HP) and was cavernous inside.
So, I'm back to looking at cars and have seen a few more of these within my price range, but am wondering if I should entertain them, or consider it a lucky escape and steer clear ?
I have a 2005 407SW - the one before the 508. In the family from new.
It has been and continues to be a great car.
I was chatting to an owner of a 508 and his advice as someone who traded in his 407 for one was "don't buy a 508"
I've had a 5008 since 2011, 130,000 miles - close to zero faults in that time
No idea how similar the two are underneath. What went wrong with your car ?
Despite my reservations regarding French cars
Which would be unfounded. It's not the 1980s and hasn't been for a while.
It ended up with several faults, the first obvious one was the heated seats not working. Looking on the French car forums, these is a regular one on the 508 and not too hard to rectify. Next, the Automatic headlight leveling' packed up and threw up a fault and Service light on the dash. The garage agreed to pay for a diagnostic check, but this showed two there faults, but nothing about the Headlight leveling.
At this point, the Automatic gearbox started slipping (like a clutch slipping). This was closely followed by (a couple of days later) a Fuel System Fault and an Engine Fault messages coming up on the dash.
At this point, I asked for a refund.
There were other minor issues too - rear screen washer not working, various paintwork issues, a trim panel missing from the boot that they promised to post me, but hadn't nearly 2 months later, CV joints started knocking, plus a few other random niggles.
All in all, the garage (Arnold Clarke) wanted me to do all the running around/diagnostics and then failed to offer any help once I had told them the issue and even the solution for many of them.
I had 3 307SW's between about 2000 and 2008, 2 as company cars, 1 private. All 3 brilliant, cavernous, reliable and comfortable. Several holidays with the family around France and skiing trips to Austria. I know not a 508 but thought I would share.
I'm sure the 508SW isnt a bad car, but the question is why bother when the Skoda Octavia estate exists?
Despite my reservations regarding French cars
Which would be unfounded. It’s not the 1980s and hasn’t been for a while.
My 2010 Renault Scenic with a catastrophic auto gearbox failure and notoriously unpredictable electrics would like a word.
Garage advised me to sell it when the electrics first started playing up, having dealt with many other shonky Renaults. How I wish I'd listened.
chakaping
Free Member
Despite my reservations regarding French carsWhich would be unfounded. It’s not the 1980s and hasn’t been for a while.
My 2010 Renault Scenic with a catastrophic auto gearbox failure and notoriously unpredictable electrics would like a word.
Garage advised me to sell it when the electrics first started playing up, having dealt with many other shonky Renaults. How I wish I’d listened.
2010 Scenic? 14 year old shonky car in being shonky shocker!
So the OP does not think we should be doing something to stop more people like Ella dying from air pollution?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-64624483
2010 Scenic? 14 year old shonky car in being shonky shocker!
It was dodgy for years. And so are loads of them.
If French cars have been shonky for as long as we can remember, I'll remain sceptical until they prove otherwise.
Ex has a similar vintage 3008?, lot's of adblue system problems.
I had a 2016 508 SW for four years (French spec but sounds similar to yours in terms of engine/equipment, although mine had the automated dual clutch gearbox not a full automatic). 30,000 km when I got it to about 60,000km if my memory is right. Maybe I was lucky but had no issues with it during that time, just regular servicing and the odd AdBlue top up. It was very comfortable and economic for such a large vehicle.
My 2011 508 SW has 120k & has been pretty sound.
I wondered what was wrong with the OP's car until he mentioned the words "Arnold Clark" then everything became clear.
The main reason people buy them over Octavias is that you get them far cheaper & get a lot more for your money.