Peugeot 206cc WOES

Paul_H · November 22nd, 2005, 8:26 PM

Peugeot 206cc
Purchased: 2nd April 2005
Registration: 05

After purchasing my Black 206cc Allure back in April, I have had nothing but problems. Immediately after picking it up I noticed some faults. And I was not happy about the way the dealer tricked me into the remaining finance.

Firstly, he told me the interest rate as 4.5%. It was only when I went to pick the car up this was 9%. After putting down a deposit and then the final balance I felt like I had no choice but to sign the finance agreement. He gave the impression that I would loose all the deposit I had put down on the vehicle if I decided I didn’t want the car anymore. And that I had no choice as the car had already been registered in my name etc.

Would he change the rate?! No way! He told me I should have known to double this to get the correct rate… I have since learnt that in their training they are taught to refrain from giving away the full APR. Not a good start.

Fault after fault became apparent on the car and even a letter to the MD of Peugeot didn’t help. I received a reply from him only 12 days after picking the car up saying he was ‘sorry’ about the way treated and he would ‘look into it’. Still heard nothing and its now November!

Due to the distance between myself and CONCOURS PEUGEOT (Haslemere), they said to hold on with the faults and to have them all fixed under warranty repair when the car went it for its free 6 month check up. Now, obviously for any make of car you can take it to that particular make of car’s garage. I opted for my local 10 minute away dealer – WALCHRY PEUGEOT. After accepting that I could do nothing about the extortionate finance rate I put my faith in Peugeot that my car would be returned fault free. Little did I know.

By this stage the following faults were present:
- Roof leaking in 3 places. (From both clips and the rear driver window).
- Doors not closing properly – having to slam them to get them to shut.
- Headlights were mis-aligned which made driving at night difficult.
- Brakes squeaking
- Wind noise from the drivers window
- Unexplainable noise from the rear when driving.
- Passenger seat loss of memory
- Problem with radio memory seems to always divert to radio 1.

Went to collect the car on the arranged collection date, only to be phoned when I was nearly there to say it was not ready. Bearing in mind this was as they were closing!. 3 days later and finally the car back. Again just as they were closing as I had to go after work. The guy informed me all the faults had been fixed and the roof was leak free.

Less than ¼ mile down the road and I could see water dripping form the passenger side clip. Immediately called the garage and they said that they had tested it. Absolutely disgusted. On my return home I inspected the entire vehicle. This is when I found the damage WALCHRY had caused whilst my vehicle was in their possession.
- Passenger door was pushed in to the vehicle and so did not align with the other panels on the car.
- From above the passenger door on the roof continuing all the way down the body work across the boot and down the rear of the car over the lexus lights until the bottom of the bumper were various deep scratches in the paint work. Also found on passenger door.
- Right headlight was failing to work causing an awful sound when driving.
- Chunk out of my alloy wheel
- Scratches on the front bumper where they had the headlights out to realign.

Immediately called the Peugeot garage. The most senior person there was a supervisor. I described the damage and I have to admit I was very angry. I don’t know what happened next. The next thing I remember was waking up with a nice view of the concrete road. Luckily my mum was nearby and apparently I collapsed on the floor. My mobile still being connected to Peugeot they were quickly told I needed medical attention. Not that they cared.

Saturday morning. The next day. Car was taken over to WALCHRY PEUGEOT, WALTON ON THAMES, SURREY. They would not admit anything wrong and that the service manager was not there to look at the car and so he would come and visit me on Tuesday. They informed me that they door had to be realigned to try and stop the leaks! – Have you ever seen a 206cc with the door pushed in???? Apparently this is ‘normal’ to stop leaks. They also advised of the new style sills being fitted to stop leaks – well proof they don’t work!!!

After this went all the way to CONCOURS in Haslemere. They looked over the car and agreed the faults and the damage. The sales manager informed us that to reject the vehicle we had to write direct to Peugeot themselves. This is in fact wrong as per the law it’s the dealer who sold the car who you have to reject the car too.

Several strongly worded letters later, diary of all the telephone conversations and still waiting for an answer.

Had a call today for the director of Concours Peugeot. He informed me that Peugeot would not accept the car back. He said that he didn’t want a second hand car back as he would lose too much money on it. He also said that he didn’t want a car that was damaged and leaking. He didn’t seem to care that what he didn’t want, I have. All he seemed to care about is whether he would make a loss. He said that Peugeot themselves may offer me a new car as a replacement – But he would not as it would cost him too much money. He then informed me that Walchry had informed him that they had been trying to contact me to get a date for the car to go in for repair. Walchry Peugeot have my home, mobile, email and home address. No contact made. No messages left on the answer machine. Conveniently a letter arrived a couple of days after speaking to Andrew Martin form Walchry. Offering to repair the damage and apologising for not contacting me sooner. Ummm…..

Finance company have now got back to me to say that Concours are only offering a repair. Considering the legally own the car due to outstanding finance, they don’t seem to care that I have been sold a faulty vehicle. I suppose all they car about is getting their money and the extortionate interest back.

Peugeot have now said that they will repair the vehicle and nothing more. They are even saying they have never seen the vehicle even though I drove all the way there the minute it started leaking. The finance company will not fight this anymore and their answer now is that if I disagree with Peugeots reply then I need to sue them and they will counter sue Concours Peugeot…..

WHAT SHOULD I DO?

Has anyone had any experiences like this before?

How did you go about rejecting your vehicle?

Any advice / information appreciated……

The car has had none stop faults form the start…. From everything I have read – once they start leaking they never stop…………

The more I read and the more I hear ~ The only option I seem to have is to somehow get them to agree and sign something to back up what they say. They are assuring me that once fixed the faults will be gone and that the car wont leak. I don’t think they will agree to this somehow as I’m still waiting for paperwork from over a month back I requested. I don’t see that if they have sooooooo much faith that once repaired it wont leak, why they cant promise me a full refund or a brand new car if it leaks after they have had the chance to repair it.

Please someone help me…..

Lesson learned – NEVER BUY A PEUGEOT!

Lilleput · November 22nd, 2005, 9:17 PM

My mom has a 206cc and it has been fine, other than a oil pump dieing, i think you have just been unlucky with the dealer..

Z Draci · November 23rd, 2005, 10:14 AM

"You can see if your car is reliable or French." - Jeremy Clarkson

In California, there are laws that protect the consumer from lemons.
A normal American would hire an attorney and talk some business with those scumbags. Once they know you are not going to back down and accept their ****, they will change their attitude completely.

Document everything that happened so far. Be sure you can prove what has happened!
Tell an attorney what happened and see what happens from there.

monkeymax · November 23rd, 2005, 1:15 PM

First off I'd like to say that's pretty disgusting behaviour from Peugeot. It's not the first time I've heard of something like this and is a reason I'll probably never buy a new car...

I don't know how much help this'll be but I've got a Peugeot. Though mine is 14 years old! Reason I mention though is for parts, if I need to get from Peugeot, I go to the dealership called 'Charters'. Here where I live now, there's a Charters about 2 minutes walk from me, but when I lived in Guildford, they were my nearest Peugeot dealer there too. They are based in Godalming which is just up the A3 from you... I can't vouch for servicing as I've never serviced my car there (try to do all I can myself - not possible with your car). However, for parts they've always been great.

I recommend that for future servicing you look for non-dealerships. But first check the paperwork to make sure you don't void the warranty or anything by going elsewhere for work on the car - I remember this used to be an issue years back as dealerships used to tie you in to going back to them...

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