406's have feelings too!

[STALLED]

Well....

Do your 406's get treated the same way mine does. Ever since I have bought it back in April last year, my close circle of friends and aquaintances have continually paid it out and have poked fun at the car, sometimes not even realizing it. 406 is pretty rare down here - probably only ever sold around 2000 of them nation wide as they were expensive at the time compared to the japanese offerings and also the fact that french cars still remain unpopular here due to the french nuclear testing back in the mid 90's - right at Australia's doorstep, there were reports of peoples cars being keyed down at the local supermarket etc!!!

Anyways things my car has been called include:

"Thats a nice Holden Commodore you have there" - Very similar to your Omega, still I don't see the resemblance between both the cars? Has been called this twice - one male friend and one female, both oblivious to the fact I drive a Peugeot....maybe the badges are similar?

"The Classical Music Car" - references to the fact that the 406 is usually bought by old people in Australia who cash in their superannuation check. I'm 18 FFS and classical music has never been played in the 406!!! How is the 406 a classical music car - any explinations here?

"Sleazy, arrogant french car!" - I hope this wasn't a reference made to me I can't see how there is any "sleazy" element in the 406. It would have to be one of the most consertiviave cars around out there? Oh and I really dont know where "arrogant" came from.....!?!?!

"French piece of sh*t" - Was called that the other night up at the pub by a Astra driver. I think he was just jealous!

What is the point of this thread - to share your other stories regarding the 406 and the nasty things it has been called! Anyone got anything?

Joel

[DaiRees]

You must have misheared them, it's obviously "Sleazy, arrogant French!...... but that's a damn nice car"

[Eric]

TBH mate Anything French generally is looked down on by many here (especially Jap fanbois) as being unreliable and having dodgy electrics (OK I'll give them the electrics one.)

People will slag off Saxos as being Chav, Pugs as being unreliable etc.
The yseem to think 100k is the max mileage a French car will ever run to without turning to a clown's car and all the doors fall off.

But mention to them 205Gt-i, 306 Gti-6 R5GTT and suddenly you've got all Jap owners slavering and chomping at the bit about French cars!
As they are known to be some of the best drivers cars ever made (well apart from the R5 but that was still fun.)

I always think that if you love French cars, you are a driver - The French make some of the best damn chassis and revvy engines out there and their cars are nothing if not fun to drive.

The 406 is no exception, for the money all French cars offer one of the best second hand buys on the market if you can manage with the electrical problems that came as standard.

Shame the later French cars have tainted the image of them where reliability is concerned.

So next time your mates dis your car you can smile at the fact that you know a decent car and badge snobbery is something that people who don't understand cars engage in.

[mjb]

I always seem to be on the receiving end of jokes about French reliability... until I pull out my phone and show them the 140000 mile photo, oops the 150000 mile one, oh dear what am I thinking the 160000 mile one... ;)

[Welly]

Yes, it's a shame that most people here see the 406 as a working car like a Taxi and yet it's only once you have owned on that you can afford it any respect at all.

It's kind of 'don't dis a 406 until you've tried one'

The biggest weakness for me with a Peugeot is the feel and sound of the doors shutting and the interiors are not exactly class leading. I like my interior but it does have problem areas with quality. Peugeots always seem to fall short here.

The 406 is an honest car really and I struggle to think of something I could replace it with that would do the same job in the future, the comfort on journeys being top of the list here.

[Eric]

Yes, it's a shame that most people here see the 406 as a working car like a Taxi and yet it's only once you have owned on that you can afford it any respect at all.

It's kind of 'don't dis a 406 until you've tried one'

The biggest weakness for me with a Peugeot is the feel and sound of the doors shutting and the interiors are not exactly class leading. I like my interior but it does have problem areas with quality. Peugeots always seem to fall short here.

The 406 is an honest car really and I struggle to think of something I could replace it with that would do the same job in the future, the comfort on journeys being top of the list here.

The closest I can think of for the money would be a Rover 620Ti.
I owned one and it was a great ride apart from awful handling, exploding gearboxes and windows and oil leak from the headgasket.
Such a nice car to drive a real motorway cruiser like the 406 but had a very handy dollop of power to go with it.
It was probably closer to the V6 than the HDi tbh.

[HDiAndy]

I always seem to be on the receiving end of jokes about French reliability... until I pull out my phone and show them the 140000 mile photo, oops the 150000 mile one, oh dear what am I thinking the 160000 mile one... ;)

Too true, you can gurantee most 406's will still be running long after Mondeos and Vectras have gone to meet the scrapman at 130k

[xplosiv]

The biggest weakness for me with a Peugeot is the feel and sound of the doors shutting and the interiors are not exactly class leading. I like my interior but it does have problem areas with quality. Peugeots always seem to fall short here.

Not so sure on this point, have you been in a mondeo recently, the seats are not as commutable and it has the same plastic look of the 406, the interior of the 406 I think is fine. Nothing rattles and it all works ok. I have the one question why did somebody feel the need to add the fake walnut trim (it would have looked far better with the strips matching the colour of the car or silver. Apart from that I cannot see a problem, looks like all the other 6 year old cars to me if not slightly more modern.

Andy

[STALLED]

The 406 is an honest car really and I struggle to think of something I could replace it with that would do the same job in the future, the comfort on journeys being top of the list here.

Likewise with me.

Considered replacing the 406 numerous times with somthing like a 206 GTI/RSC172/GTI-6 but to be honest every time I ride in one, I really miss the comfort of the 406 and its ability to eat up KM's with ease. If I were to upgrade, it would definately be a 406 coupe or a 406 V6 Manual SV sedan! Bloody performance bargain I reckon!

I just can't justify the cost of buying a new car - Everything else out there doesn't feel like a premium over what I have at the moment!

Joel

[TooT]

406 V6 Manual SV sedan! Bloody performance bargain I reckon!

Yep