General Hire car reality check

[Shuggie]

I am still reeling after hiring a new Peugeot 208 for a couple of days. The Panda MJ is not well, having suffered a gearbox oil loss which had nothing to do with Fiat, and everything to do with a mechanic who forgot to replace a critical circlip holding the drive shaft on! I didn't want to put too many miles on the Panda until it's fixed in the New Year, so a hire car for a longish round trip was sensible.

When told that the car was a diesel 208, rather than the ubiquitous and execrable Corsa, I was delighted, but that feeling did not last. The 208 has a bizarre instrument setup perched high on the dashboard, with a tiny steering wheel that sits low, in your lap. Wherever the wheel is adjusted to, it obscures most of the instruments. Brilliant design. Next, I grappled with the touchscreen multimedia interface, which was clearly designed by someone who has never used a device made by Apple or Google. Dreadful graphics with lots of white block that blinds you at night. You can navigate menus to turn the display off, but change radio channels and it comes on again.

That's the good stuff, because this thing was awful to drive. The diesel engine is gruff, boomy and lethargic. The gearbox is clearly inspired by Victorian railway signal box technology, with longer throws and added weight. This thing is hard work to row along, particularly since the lever is placed low and far forward. You might wonder if the car was comfortable - well, no it wasn't. The ride is quite hard, joggly, and with a curious side to side springiness at the rear. Smooth road undulations on the A11 Attleborough bypass were translated into sickening bumps.

The Panda is, of course, noisy, bouncy and quite crude, but in context it's way nicer to drive than the Peugeot 208 and rarely uncomfortable. It's ergonomics are an object lesson in how to keep the major controls together in a convenient place. If I had been thinking of replacing the Panda, this experience has shown me very clearly that I'm better spending my money on keeping it going. Thank God we have a really good transmission specialist in Norwich (J Dain) to bring the Panda back to rude health.

So, the lesson here is: if anyone is thinking about replacing their Panda with anything but another Panda, do make sure that you get a good long test drive.

 

[portland_bill]

Reminds me of a Peugeot 206 hire car I was lent for 3 days back in 2001 when the Seicento was in for a warranty clutch.
Like yours, it was a diesel. A bit gruff and noisy, but was adequate.
The gearbox, like yours, had a long, heavy throw, but no real feel that it was connected to anything useful. The ratios were badly chosen. In 2nd you could drive at 30mph, but it was making a huge fuss. 2nd was happiest between 15-25mph. In 3rd, it would struggle and fight below 35mph. So travelling anywhere in a 30 limit was a noisy struggle. Stroke of genius.
The wipers went the wrong way, for a LHD car. This left a large unswept area top right of the screen, making me duck below it to see where we were going when raining. And I'm not tall.
The rear top corner of the front doors was angled back to a point. At eye level. I had to make sure I was at the door every time my Partner got in or out, or she'd have had her eye out.
Perhaps the French are better at art and fashion.

 

[Alsatian1]

I am still reeling after hiring a new Peugeot 208 for a couple of days. The Panda MJ is not well, having suffered a gearbox oil loss which had nothing to do with Fiat, and everything to do with a mechanic who forgot to replace a critical circlip holding the drive shaft on! I didn't want to put too many miles on the Panda until it's fixed in the New Year, so a hire car for a longish round trip was sensible.

When told that the car was a diesel 208, rather than the ubiquitous and execrable Corsa, I was delighted, but that feeling did not last. The 208 has a bizarre instrument setup perched high on the dashboard, with a tiny steering wheel that sits low, in your lap. Wherever the wheel is adjusted to, it obscures most of the instruments. Brilliant design. Next, I grappled with the touchscreen multimedia interface, which was clearly designed by someone who has never used a device made by Apple or Google. Dreadful graphics with lots of white block that blinds you at night. You can navigate menus to turn the display off, but change radio channels and it comes on again.

That's the good stuff, because this thing was awful to drive. The diesel engine is gruff, boomy and lethargic. The gearbox is clearly inspired by Victorian railway signal box technology, with longer throws and added weight. This thing is hard work to row along, particularly since the lever is placed low and far forward. You might wonder if the car was comfortable - well, no it wasn't. The ride is quite hard, joggly, and with a curious side to side springiness at the rear. Smooth road undulations on the A11 Attleborough bypass were translated into sickening bumps.

The Panda is, of course, noisy, bouncy and quite crude, but in context it's way nicer to drive than the Peugeot 208 and rarely uncomfortable. It's ergonomics are an object lesson in how to keep the major controls together in a convenient place. If I had been thinking of replacing the Panda, this experience has shown me very clearly that I'm better spending my money on keeping it going. Thank God we have a really good transmission specialist in Norwich (J Dain) to bring the Panda back to rude health.

So, the lesson here is: if anyone is thinking about replacing their Panda with anything but another Panda, do make sure that you get a good long test drive.

Completely agree about the 208, my girlfriend had one as a courtesy car while her aygo had crash damage repairs. She described it as 'boat like' to drive, the thing barely moved and the interior felt incredibly cheap. In a Fiat, generally they are quite honest about the hard plastics used and at least screw them together properly. In this Peugeot, the fitment of certain areas was awful, and the 'piano black' finish on the facia looked like the plastic on my washing machine.

She said like you the steering wheel and instrument setup was just plain annoying. I also didn't find it particularly comfortable as a passenger. She was glad to go back to her aygo (despite the fact I don't rate them either, not that I would tell her, a trip to Scotland and back nearly crippled me in that car).

 

[SeanW]

Had a 207 as a courtesy car last year..."You'll love it..." the man says..."virtually brand new, only the 3rd person to have it"

It was horrible!! Tacky black plastic - most of it shiny (so it caused terrible glare - reflecting straight into my eyes) the seat was ergonomically designed apparently...maybe for a small French woman, not for me. Not to mention the stupid bubble design which meant I had a permanent list when driving. The 1.2 petrol engine sounded like a diesel.
The only positives were that it was relatively economical, had a reasonably good cruise control and it wasn't mine, so I knew I could give it back.

Had a Boxer hire van yesterday...same tacky plastics, but a pretty good engine (Ford 2.2l diesel), albeit somewhat clunky gearbox.

 

[Gavv8]

My wife has a Picasso and one of my daughters has a 206....needless to say I avoid both cars like you would dog sh*t in the street.

 

[The Beard]

That review highlighted virtually every criticism made of that car by road tests. I've never actually driven one, but I have to admit that the number of French cars that have ever floated my boat can be counted on the fingers of both hands.

Or maybe only one hand.

They are:

Citroen DS23 Pallas. Peugeot 504 and 505 estates. Renault Alpine A110......and off-hand, I can't think of many more. Of the modern French car ranges, only the Citroen DS models make me look twice.

 

[dave]

i was loaned a 508 that too was crap https://www.fiatforum.com/croma-ii/317643-peugeot-508-sw.html

 

[The Beard]

Had a Boxer hire van yesterday...same tacky plastics, but a pretty good engine (Ford 2.2l diesel), albeit somewhat clunky gearbox.

Don't forget that the Boxer is a FIAT Ducato by another name so the tacky plastics are present in the Italian products as well. Not forgetting as well that all three makes of this van are made in Italy. Although the 2.2 engine has been credited to Ford, like the GM/FIAT diesel tie up, Peugeot and Ford have had a similar relationship.

In the 2nd generation of the Sevel vans the Citroen/Peugeot versions had one of their own engines and the FIAT had their own. That still applies in some respects as the mid range engines are the 2.2 Ford/Peugeot motor or the IVECO Sofim 2.3.

At either end of the size range are the aforementioned 2.2 and the 3.0 SOFIM (IVECO)

 

[Alsatian1]

This not liking hire cars thing isn't just a Fiat owners perogative. My mum got a courtesy multipla once and hated it, even though I was over the moon with it

Crazy looking interior, bubbly exterior, wide as a house. All these things my mum hated and I loved them.

 

[Shuggie]

This not liking hire cars thing isn't just a Fiat owners perogative. My mum got a courtesy multipla once and hated it, even though I was over the moon with it

Crazy looking interior, bubbly exterior, wide as a house. All these things my mum hated and I loved them.

It's not a question of not liking hire cars, rather a matter of highlighting shoddy, thoughtless design which shows what a good job Fiat did 10 years ago with the Panda (even though it does certainly have a few warts).

I have had a few surprises with hire cars, notably a few years back in Germany when I was handed a key with the Chevrolet logo. The key fob stated "Aveo" which meant nothing to me, and my heart sank when I saw the car. But, a few miles down the road I discovered an unpretentious and refined little car with all the basics right, including a fluid and comfortable ride. If I had to replace the Panda, I'd happily have an Aveo.

 

[portland_bill]

There are lots of people out there who have chosen a Peugeot. Are they all disappointed, or just don't know or care. Perhaps we should all give Peugeots a lot of space due to their driver's not being happy bunnies.

 

[The Beard]

Crazy looking interior, bubbly exterior, wide as a house. All these things my mum hated and I loved them.

I loved the Multipla as well. Yes it was a bit odd, well, ok, weird then. But if you looked at the rear screen, it's beautifully curved. The Darth Vader dashboard was also strange, but everything you needed was there, high up and close(ish) to the driver's line of sight; and the high mounted headlights? The higher up your headlights are, the greater the range and while there might be regulations concerning how high the dipped beams are, there aren't any for main beams or spot lights.

If you take a look at Honda's later 3 abreast seating competitor, to my eyes at least it's singularly devoid of any kind of design flair, whereas the FIAT is covered with cues.

A friend of mine who is a holistic therapist used to carry his massage table in his Multi without any trouble at all and when it was written-off in a car park by a BMW, he struggled to find another and ended up buying a Renault Scenic, which gave sterling service. Right up to the point where the digital dashboard gave up the ghost after 9 months and it cost him several hundred pounds. He's since traded it in for a Yeti.

In the summer I was talking to a man at the National Cycling Centre in Mancland who had a later version of the Multipla and said he was going to keep it until it fell apart because it was one of the few cars he could buy that would take him, his two sons, their bikes and camping gear away for a weekend. Unless he wanted to buy a van of course......which he didn't.

 

[The Beard]

There are lots of people out there who have chosen a Peugeot. Are they all disappointed, or just don't know or care. Perhaps we should all give Peugeots a lot of space due to their driver's not being happy bunnies.

People who I've spoken to who've bought Peugeots of late have chosen them not because of how good the cars are, but because of the deals, such as their Just add fuel scheme. One colleague said their recovery service while on holiday was great, with a courtesy car, their broken down car picked up and taken to the garage and returned a few days later.

Apart from when the battery went a couple of months ago, I haven't had a breakdown in over 8 years and almost 85,000 miles so haven't needed that level of customer service

 

[Gavv8]

In terms of nice surprises when hiring cars we booked a golf diesel for our annual jaunt around Ireland this summer and were given a brand new 3-series BMW....which was nice.

 

[The Beard]

Upgrades are always nice.

 

[dragonwagon]

Several years ago I was given a 206 courtesy car when someone restyled my Marea from behind. I returned the Pug as undriveable after 60 miles in it, choosing instead to use my 1959 Series 11 Landy !.... it was more comfortable, ergonomically superior and far, far better on the road.