No I don’t . Most car manufacturers are multi national anyway - seen who Stellantis own?- and stories of unreliability assume their own momentun. Of course I’m not saying that people make it up , but bad news is much more fun to post about than good. As I said , take ND gearboxes - some failures are enough to convince some key board nerds that every single car is affected.
True, but if you google ‘are Mazda’s generally unreliable’, and then google ‘are (given French brand) unreliable’, compare and contrast.
However, the thread isn’t meant to be a this manufacturer v that manufacturer, just a general discussion of whether French cars are great and nothing to see here (and maybe that is indeed the case, as as stated, I see shed loads on the roads, so people are clearly prepared to shell out their £400 a month on them) , and the years of back stories and ‘general’ impression is trash, or alternatively maybe, just maybe, they might not be the best place to put the PCPer’s £400 a month.
Regarding the ND gearbox, you’re correct about a certain percentage doom scrolling and thinking the worst, but on the same token, you maybe have an equal percentage jumping down peoples’ throats at the merest thought of something not perfect with ‘their’ ND.
Regarding multi national players etc, a given manufacture X still has the brand on it though, so as much as manufacturer X could play the victim concerning this and that partnership, their brand still is on the bonnet. A reputation don’t stand on fall on which manufacture supplied the suspension coils.
VW for example, are kind of the opposite. Despite whatever issues are associated with them, ‘it’s a VW’ is still typically considered by my many average joes, as a sign of quality. Indeed, I couldn’t tell you how any Skoda and SEAT owners I’ve known (and still do!), who say ‘it’s basically a VW’ as a way to ‘up’ their own car lol. A neighbour told me even the salesman said that very line to him whilst he was test driving (and eventually bought) an Arona. But I wonder how many VW owners said ‘It’s basically a SEAT’.
L 123 PMD Black 1.4 Renault Clio owed 1998 -2007
Had part exchanged her for a Fiesta [which was part exchanged for a Mondeo]…don’t go there as to why !
Only choose it because it was Black but it turned out to be super reliable ‘up hill and down dale’ in Yorkshire back in the days when I used to work full time and be all over …from Oakworth, Keighley to Bradford, Wakefield, Halifax, Leeds etc
Only issue I started having as she matured was having to get her tyres resealed regularly due to loss of air pressure. Never failed an MOT and reasonable prices to service etc
[Donated her to neighbours daughter who was learning to drive] and bought
BULLIT [2005 1.8 2.5 NB] as present to myself when I sold my house in 2007 to move in with late father as his full time carer in Whitby
and I still have Bullit even though she’s had to be welded, undersealed and her cills and arches replaced
The Clio didn’t experience any corrosion issues during my ownership …but she was always garaged…unlike Bullit who wasn’t garaged until 2019
French cars…an ex work colleague had a Citroen Diane 2 cv which he loved and I 
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I think Renault had a 4 year warranty going on until it was binned a few years ago? Who knows, maybe they weighed up how many came back in for warranty work in years 4, against how many new customers the 4 year warranty attracted? Or maybe they binned it as they’re so reliable it was pointless giving a 4 year warranty anyway 
Apparently as owners see no benefit from having a 4 year warranty 
Going from memory, a neighbour used to have a Renault van for quite a few years which I recall was fine. A neighbour, a couple of doors down, the daughter used to have an orange Cr*ptur, so when I see the neighbour I’ll ask how that was.
I think that you should ask this question of Range Rover owners. They are by far the most unreliable vehicles on the road but for some reason people just can’t help themselves 
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Very good point.
I’d imagine a lot of that comes down to the ‘badge’.
But I’d imagine no one buys a regular French car for the badge kudos.
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I bought an almost new, top-of-the-range, Citroen Zantia back in 1993. It had more faults and problems than all the other cars I’ve had in my life put together times two (at least). After less than 2 years I gave up and replaced it with a Nissan Primera. Not had, or considered, a French car since.
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I agree with you. If he wants to go on about french cars go to there site. Shell we start about Eco Boom . I think not 
Yes, like someone who wants to go on about ‘bloody cats!’ could do so on a cat forum, someone who wants to discuss their ‘favourite beer’ could do on a beer forum, or someone who wants to talk about ‘the tuxido studio in Bali’ could do so on, uh, another forum 
To be fair, we are within the ’ Life, The Universe and (almost) Everything!’ category of the forum here. So this discussion would likely qualify under that last designation.
Of course there’s always the option to scroll past threads that may not appeal.
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Here’s a useful article on most/least reliable manufacturers with around 30000 drivers surveyed. https://www.whatcar.com/news/reliability-survey-most-reliable-cars-brands/n26159
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Yes, the thread was about why do people buy them when they’re ‘supposed’ to be unreliable. Seemingly not unreliable, going by some comments. So case close. They’re great 
btw, those what car ‘surveys’, they sure are a great source
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No, best not to, as that’ll no doubt get onto the wet belts also in a number of Peugeot and Citroen car engines.
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Recalls are not great for anyone involved, however if you lost the use of your transport because it can’t be resolved quickly that’s poor.
BBC News - Citroen owners left stranded over airbag safety risk - BBC News
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Yes, that ‘stop drive’ notice is not the nicest for anyone. I was wondering how that would affect things if one just ignored it, i.e, got their recall slot in 2 months time say, but just drove it around until then, and almost as I thought that, I read an owner could get fine of up to £2.5K and the owner’s insurance would probably not be valid, if they chose to drive regardless. Wouldn’t want that type of recall for anyone. Kind of like a car version of a covid lockdown.
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And also in my grandson’s Ford Fiesta. 
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I’ll add my 2p here. Have a 2005 Renault Clio and it’s never failed me. Granted it’s only done a little over 50,000 miles (including an NC500 trip and a few festival weekends) but it’s been serviced every year and only this year failed its first MOT, for a faulty hazard switch.
Largest expense so far was replacing all the brakes, steering and suspension bits at the end of last year plus I had the wheels refurbished - total was under £1000. I did some sums at the time and, if I remember correctly, the ownership experience has worked out at less than £20 a week to buy initially and then maintain for 20 years. The original battery lasted 17 years(!), outlasting the alternator. Coil pack was £25, boot lock was less than £10. Cleaning up the cloudy headlights was £10. Bit of corrosion on one of the rear light plugs £0. Replaced the spare, the original was older than the lad who swapped it for me £70. Belt, water pump and thermostat was £110.
I also have 4 or 5 pollen filters on a shelf that I kept buying despite the car having no air con. Durrrr.
It’s worth more to me sitting there on the drive than it would be to sell it. The CrossClimates on each corner probably make up half of its current value. Many other cars have come and go since but none have been as trouble free.
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My father had a series of Renault 16’s in the 1970s……. of course a very different Renault Company in those days. They were really great cars. The 16 was one of the first “hatchbacks” and as a small business owner he found this wonderful for moving stuff around.
FWD too-again unusual at that time.
His parents (my grandparents) had a Renault 12.
Funny looking car- but never seemed to cause them any problems.
I was in Bilbao area last week, and the hotel gardener arrived in a 12 Estate-see photos.
Even funnier looking- but this thing must be 50 years old.
Can’t be too bad.
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My uncle had a 16TS , and it made most of the British made cars in its sector - Cortina , Cambridge , Victor - look like museum pieces, if not as much as his Fiat 125 S did .