Frenchness

"lecrab" (superservaas) 07/07/2015 at 06:24 • Filed to: french, cactus, citroen, peugeot, renault

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Now that the delivery date of my recently ordered Citroën C4 Cactus is getting really close, something else has happened to me. I am transforming. What happened?

Growing up, my dad was a big fan of the aforementioned brand. I was taken on family vacations (to France, obviously) in GS’s, GSA’s, and later in XM’s. At the time of the third XM I was of legal driving age, allowing me to drive this beast from the Netherlands to the south of France with my dad falling asleep next to me. An experience I will never forget.

In France, I admired the Renaults, Peugeots and Citroëns in all their colors and trims. And I guess this is where it first started to happen. I was infected by the french car virus.

For years and years I ignored it, convincing myself that the rumours about the quality and reliability of french cars were true, and I drove almost anything that I could find that was nog french. Just a little while before my decision to grab a Cactus, I started, for the first time, to look for a french second hand vehicle to my liking. The Peugeot 407 break popped up, as well as the Citroën C5 break. Both plenty available on the second hand market at very agreeable prices. I don’t mind age and lots of experience for a well built car, so I looked at ten year old ones.

So, using a lot of words, I will now openly and unafraid, declare myself a fan of french cars. There, I said it.

KatzManDu > lecrab 07/07/2015 at 06:47

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There are some very pretty French cars, some very reliable French cars and some very performance-oriented French cars. Sometimes some of those attributes can be applied to a single French car.

2CV and 205 GTI as well as the Alpines, R8 Giordini, etc.

pip bip - choose Corrour > lecrab 07/07/2015 at 06:51

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nothing wrong with a French car fetish.

lecrab > pip bip - choose Corrour 07/07/2015 at 06:54

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Thank you kindly.

My citroen won't start > lecrab 07/07/2015 at 07:02

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I grew up around french cars too, I was driven around in a Evasion as a kid, my parents had Xantias and Xsaras and my first car was a ZX Dakar 16V, I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving them.

duurtlang > lecrab 07/07/2015 at 07:07

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If you’re looking at 10 year old 407s, you might consider a late 406 as well. They were built until 2004 and are generally more reliable than the 407. My 406 coupe is at 252k km now, I bought it with 167k km in late 2012. Nothing noteworthy went wrong with it and it has zero rust. Only the mid section of the exhaust needed replacement, which was cheap. I preventively replaced battery, radiator and belts. And fluids/filters and the like, obviously. One headlight bulb on each side in 85k km. Tires are still from the previous owner, with 3mm left. It’s a LPG car, so it’s cheap to run.

Where do you live? What part of the country?

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > lecrab 07/07/2015 at 07:24

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You should have a chat with duurtlang, Oppo’s resident Dutch Francophile.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > lecrab 07/07/2015 at 07:38

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Kudos! I’m also a French car fan - especially the classics. Would love to have a Citroën Traction Avant, Citroën 2CV, Peugeot 204, 304 or 504 in my garage someday! :D

LOVE the Cactus as well, but we don’t get Citroën here in Canada anymore since the late ‘70’s, early ‘80s! :(

lecrab > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 07/07/2015 at 07:49

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I do, from time to time. Well, in comments, that is. :D

lecrab > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 07/07/2015 at 07:50

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Yeah, sorry about that.

lecrab > duurtlang 07/07/2015 at 07:50

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I’m in Zuid Holland, just outside Den Haag.

I like the styling of the 407 way more than that of the 406. Anyway, right now it’s off the table as the Cactus is on its way. I’ll keep looking though.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > lecrab 07/07/2015 at 07:57

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Haha, it’s ok, just make sure you go tell the Citroën CEO to bring them back over here please, kthnx :P

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > lecrab 07/07/2015 at 08:02

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Yeh, if I bothered to click ‘All replies’ I might’ve seen that he replied about 20 minutes before me :) my bad!

lecrab > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 07/07/2015 at 09:39

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Ha, we’re all human. Well, sort of.

lecrab > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 07/07/2015 at 09:40

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I will.

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > lecrab 07/07/2015 at 09:41

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Never knew there were more Dutch oppos here. And so close by even. I’m afraid I’m not much a fan of French cars. I do like the big minivans like the Espace, 806, but my all time favourite is the Avangtime. The only French car I would like to own someday.

lecrab > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder 07/07/2015 at 09:46

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I discovered as I tend to read *all* the comments below the articles I like on jalop.

AndyG_UK > lecrab 07/07/2015 at 10:10

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I had a Pug 206 D-turbo once, vowed I’d never buy a French car again, now own a Citroën DS4 D-Sport 200thp (my OH really wanted it,amazing car, love it, no issues at all in 2 years oh and it’s brown and manual!) and an Abarth 500 (also awesome and no issues). We had 2 Mazda’s before that many issues while we owned them.

lecrab > AndyG_UK 07/07/2015 at 13:09

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I really like the DS line. I would have gone for an automatic, but that’s personal. I’m not one for ‘sporty' driving.

It’s kind of surprising that you had such a bad experience with Mazda’s. Personally I never owned a Mazda, but from reading a million reviews and stories and research, they seem to be pretty strong.

AndyG_UK > lecrab 07/07/2015 at 13:18

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I think both our next cars will be autos, they are so good these days and neither of us can be bothered with all that clutch and shifting gear rubbish anymore! I was surprised about the Mazda’s as well, brake callipers seizing, gearbox issues, gear selector issues on both, failed a\c compressor on one, failed cat on the same one, oil leaks etc these were an 06 and 07 cars, both low to average miles, fully serviced and well looked after, in saying that, I do like the look of the new CX3!