rapport25 wrote:I wish peugeot made decent cars again and I would be back
Rappy
They do. My 5 year old 407 has been stunningly reliable and is far nicer to driver than a Passat (sorry to be so blunt) and carries an array of toys (which all still work faultlessly) that would impress an F117 pilot.
My year old 308 has racked up an awesome 23k miles at the hands of my unforgiving missus, drives easily as well as any Glof or Fucus, and has a bigger and better equipped cabin than either (when you're my size a bit of interior space is welcome), and has also been faultless despite the hard life, and with no DMF on the 308 I can relax on that score too.
Pug are making some very decent cars, with some better ones till just arriving or on the horizon. Don't believe the detractors who still live in 2001 in their minds.
TopDonkey wrote:One of the biggest reasons i see lots of people switching from PSA cars over to VAG group cars (use cars that is) is the inability of the diy mechanic to find out whats going wrong with the electronics and tap into the ecu's and read and test them, I know you can buy a chinese actia and run pirate software, but psa are always trying to stop it and lock it down
Partially correct. You still need relatively expensive (although still cheaper than PSA kit) equipment in order to be able to read non engine codes, such as ABS, body systems, aircon etc. The price of legitimate Planet or compatible Lexia has more than halved in the last year, making it possible to get proper licenced for as little as £114 (cheapest I've yet seen it), which while more expensive than VW group compatible systems is a lot cheaper than the official VW equipment. A freind of mine who is an electronics engineer (he writes engine maps and programs cash machines for a living) is working on an interface for me for PSA - if he is successful, and I am confident he will be, I'll have a fully operational Planet compatible system for about £50-£60, including the licenced software I'll have to buy myself. Ironically, he is modifiying one of the VW protocol ones as he doesn't think it's much different, but I'm afraid the technical ins and outs went way beyond me.
The other issue is that modern spanner monkeys really are losing the plot and have becoming Playstation operators - repairing a modern car is no harder than one from 30 years ago. Instead of being able to strip and rebuild as set up carbs, which I can do, I have had to learn to use a multimeter as well. The fault code reader is the last port of call, not the first.
VWs (and some Seats) biggest issue at the monent is ABS failure on cars from the Polo, up to the Passat (and some commercials too) from late 2004 on. They will replace the pumps even out of warranty, so long as the brake fluid has been changed every 2 years at an authorised VW stealer. On a 5 year old VW it can cost enough to write the car off, and aftermarket warranties won't pay either as it's a design fault, leaving the buyer with a hugely expensive bill. Never buy a modern era VW without a full and scrupulous official VW history.
Very very shinny now and silver 
Since I joined, it seems a lot of the regulars are straying away from the righteous path of the Peugeot...
the passat website is not as good as the 406 oc for general banter anyway