To Repair 1990 Audi 100 vs Change Cars (Einhorn Hofmann)

[rob]

>Rob: Thanks for the perspective.  You have quite a few cars, and bad luck
>with quite a few of those door locks.  I'm surprised its not the Peugeot
>giving you the most trouble with the reputation they have in North America:-)

Interesting!, The French are very patriotic when it comes to car ownership, so of course tons of them in France, and of course also in any of their former territories, e.g. Algeria etc etc. 

Peugeot are regarded as a 'value' brand in the UK, similar to Ford, and some past models were regarded as poor, but the 504 was *the* bush Taxi in parts of Africa, and the 205 was considered very stylish in its time (the 80's). The Hdi (High pressure Direct injection Turbo diesel) is a very well regarded engine. My car is a 406 Hdi Estate, which I simply inherited when my Father died, up till then the Audi was my daily car.

 The 406 (introduced mid 90's) was well regarded for appearance, handling and overall package, one thing you usually get with a French car is excellent ride quality, other than that it's a just a standard automobile, with in my case a meagre 90bhp, but decent torque. It is in no way outstanding, but good family transport and it was my Dads so I'll use it till it falls apart and I fit in like a local when I'm in France. I've put 50 000 miles on it with no problems (apart from key fob disintegrating!), so whatever used to be the cause of Peugeot having a bad name is not apparent in this car. I think the N American auto industry is very self-protective and loves to create barriers to entry (those DOT approved headlights?!), or else have the media do it for them, e.g. Unintended acceleration... or now the ridiculous hoo-haa about diesel emissions..