02-10-2009, 10:12 PM
Hiya,
Having major problems with my car as per usual when its out of warrenty but ive found something interesting online which occurs often with my car.. ill copy and paste from website.. It is long winded but is a definate MUST READ dont waste £4,500 like ive done and now screwed completely as cant get it back :-(
THE PEUGEOT 206 FATAL FAULT
ARE PEUGEOT WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO DIE UNTIL THEY TAKE ACTION?
In short, there have been instances where people have been driving their Peugeot 206 and have experienced a potentially life threatening problem which Peugeot are unable to resolve. The problem can be apparent in ALL models of Peugeot 206, no matter the age, engine size, condition or model.
The problem is simple: you can be driving along at any speed, in any gear and all of a sudden the whole car loses complete power. Every single warning light on the dashboard comes on and the car starts to lose speed at an alarming rate. Because the car has no power this means no power steering (which makes it much harder to steer) and the brakes go hard (which means it takes much longer to brake but when you're doing 70mph this isn't much help). Therefore if this happens in the fast lane of a motorway, there is a high chance you will be killed.
There is NO WARNING when this problem will happen. It comes completely out of the blue which makes it even more dangerous. If you own a Peugeot 206 and haven't had the problem yet, DO NOT THINK YOU WON'T. My car in particular was over 3 years old before the problem occurred. In fact, this is the reason Peugeot first gave for the problem - i.e. it only affects cars older than 3 years. This has since been proven to be false and can affect cars as new as 3 WEEKS!
All modern cars have an Electronic Control Unit (ECU). This is the "brain" of the car and is similar to a black box found within aeroplanes. If a fault occurs with the car, it should be registered on the ECU. You then simply take your car into your local official Peugeot dealership, they will hook your car's ECU up to their diagnostics machine and that will then tell them where the fault is and how it can be fixed. Except it doesn't. EVERY SINGLE reported engine cut out problem has NEVER registered on ANY ECU. This is where the main problem lies. Peugeot are unable to recreate the problem, there is no record of it on the ECU which basically means Peugeot do not know how to solve it.
So what happens if you experience the problem? Well, if your car is still within warranty, take it down to your local official Peugeot dealership and they will carry out any repairs free of charge. However, the repairs are POINTLESS. Peugeot don't know what the problem is so just try and replace things they "think" will solve it. They will do this even when your car is out of warranty which means you will be paying for repairs YOU DO NOT NEED. So far, the following items have been repaired/replaced on people's Peugeot 206's who have experienced the problem:
New ECU - cost between £600 and £1,000
ECU upgrade (where they upgrade the car's software)
New coil pack
New MAP sensor
New terminal connectors
New spark plugs
New sensors on the air intake
New fuel injector
New fuel injector wiring loom
The list goes on and on and on. Some of the above items fix the problem for a few days/weeks/months but eventually the problem WILL return. Remember because this fault does not show up on the ECU, it will also not show up on an MOT test which means if you're buying a second hand Peugeot 206 which has a clean MOT BE WARNED!
My Dad bought his Peugeot 1.4 LX car in 1999 (T reg) and gave it to me in 2002. I used it for about a year and I had no problems. Then the engine cut out problem began and kept happening. In the end I was told by the David Kerr dealership in Chelmsford, Essex (official Peugeot dealership) I would need a new ECU. Because the car was out of warranty, this would cost me £700. I begrudingly paid it and the problem went away. Well so I thought...
The problem conveniently returned a few days after the 1 year warranty on the ECU expired. It cut out whilst I was in the fast lane of the motorway. Luckily the road wasn't very busy and I managed to wrestle the steering wheel over to the left and get into the hard shoulder. So basically I crossed 3 lanes of traffic with no power, no steering control and no brakes plus at the same time losing speed rapidly.
I took it back to David Kerr who upgraded the ECU software. The problem went away for a couple of months and then returned. I returned to David Kerr at least 4 more times over the next 2 years and had more software upgrades, a new coil pack and other pointless repairs too numerous to mention. Each time I had to fork out between £40 and £100.
In early March of this year (2006), the car cut out again and refused to re-start. I called The AA out and they said "the car has a serious electrical fault and is too dangerous to be fixed by the roadside". I was then towed to David Kerr where I left the car and refused to take it back. You can read what happened next here.
Although this problem has received lots of publicity both online, on TV and in the press, Peugeot are still being extremely complacent and are not doing ANYTHING to rectify the problem (they may well be trying to solve the problem behind the scenes but from a customer point of view it just isn't good enough).
If you own a Peugeot 206 and have experienced this problem, please sign the online petition here (this petition is located on another website and is not connected to dontbuypeugeot.com). It is the only way Peugeot will listen.
Peugeot do NOT seem to care about their customers. The way they have handled this whole situation proves this. From Head Office down to dealership level (who to be fair are only acting on what they are told by Peugeot Head Office), they really couldn't care less. Remember, the Peugeot 206 recently came 99th out of 100 in a poll of driver satisfaction carried out by AutoExpress magazine. Do not buy a Peugeot 206.
The Drive of Your Life? More like The Drive That Could End Your Life.
Now onto the website writers incident in selling his car to peugeot dealership in chelmsford essex
MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE DAVID KERR DEALERSHIP, CHELMSFORD
QUICK LINKS: The Phone Call | Disclaimer
"I AM BUYING IT FOR MY DAUGHTER - SHE IS JUMPING UP AND DOWN WITH EXCITEMENT"
Please read the Disclaimer at the end of this article. This report has been posted on this website as a side issue to the engine cut problem (which is the main reason this website has been set up). PEUGEOT, AS A COMPANY, ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR EITHER THE INITIAL SALE OF THE CAR (I.E. WHEN I SOLD THE CAR TO THE STAFF MEMBER) OR THE SUBSEQUENT ADVERT ADVERTISING THE CAR FOR SALE.
As described in detail in the peugeot 206 fault feature, the Peugeot 206 I had was originally purchased from the OFFICIAL Peugeot dealership called David Kerr, which is located in Chelmsford, Essex. You can visit their website here. Each time there was a problem with the Peugeot 206, we returned it to the David Kerr dealership. After the last problem which prevented the car from starting, we asked The AA to tow us to the David Kerr dealership where we left the Peugeot 206.
We refused to take the car back because both my Mum and myself had lost all confidence in the Peugeot 206 and did no longer want to drive it as we did not feel safe using it. Due to this, we asked the David Kerr dealership to buy the car off us. If they thought the Peugeot 206 was so safe, there was no reason for them not to buy it off us. They could easily sell it on themselves to a trader or just "lose it" within the industry. I am sure this wouldn't cost the multi-million pound Peugeot-Citroen Motor Company much. When we asked them to buy it off us, we were told that the David Kerr dealership does not buy cars more than 4 years old. Instead they said we should have a go at selling it privately...
When this option was given to me I said I would not feel happy selling this car onto someone else when I knew full well there was a potentially fatal problem with the car. Upon hearing his, the person I spoke to on the phone who worked in the service department of the David Kerr dealership (I am withholding his name for legal reasons) said I would have no problem in selling it because "the MOT is fine". This may very well be true but if I sold the Peugeot 206 onto someone else and that person then died in an accident due to the engine cut out problem, I would never be able to forgive myself. I couldn't afford to have this on my conscience and I couldn't believe that the David Kerr dealership even suggested this as an option!
The person I spoke to said he would ask a few traders to see if they would be interested in buying it off us. Unfortunately no traders were (I wonder why!) but he said a member of his staff would like to buy it (again, his name has been withheld for legal reasons). We were offered £1,450 for the car (in contrast according to www.parkers.co.uk Peugeot 206's of similar specification and age are worth between £2,000 and £3,000) which we accepted. We went down the following Saturday and were paid in cash for the Peugeot 206. He said he was buying the car for his daughter and she was "jumping up and down" with excitement. The car was taxed until July and the MOT was valid until June.
THE PHONE CALL
A few days later, we noticed this car parked down a side street next to the David Kerr dealership:
The mobile phone number on the advert seemed extremely similar. After checking my mobile phone, it was the mobile phone number that belonged to the member of staff at the David Kerr dealership who had bought the car off us days earlier supposedly for his "daughter". It was our car which was being sold for £1,000 more than we were paid for it. The only noticeable difference was that the car had been given 4 new hubcaps and the original Peugeot 206 cassette radio had been replaced with a CD player. Does this warrant an extra £1,000 on the price tag? At the end of the day, we don't care that the car is now being sold for more money than we got for it. This isn't the point. I never paid for the car in the first place so it is no skin off my nose. The main thing that concerned me though was surely they weren't selling this car under the guise that it was a safe car, were they?
I decided to find out what the seller of the car would say when confronted with the question "Is this one of the Peugeot 206's that suffer from the engine cut out problem?". So a friend of mine rung the number to find out. This is a full transcript of the conversation which I do have a recording of. I am not posting the recording online for the time being due to legal reasons but this may change:
Seller: Hello
Us: Hi, my girlfriend rung you up earlier in the week about the Peugeot 206 you have for sale*
Seller: Oh yes right
Us: I was just wondering if it was still for sale
Seller: It is yes
Us: Oh it is
Seller: It goes in the paper on Monday
Us: Okay, excellent. We have both been deciding whether we want to buy a car recently and she has read somewhere that some of these have an engine cut out problem
Seller: That's right, yeah
Us: Is that the case?
Seller: Not on this one. It is the 1100's that are affected
Us: Right, okay
Seller: This is a 1400
Us: Okay, cool and what is the pric......
Seller: I bought it a little while ago because I was going to get a smaller car but to be honest with you I have been used to a Land Rover so am fed up with it which is why I am selling it
Us: Okay, so you haven't had it too long yourself?
Seller: I have had it about 3 weeks and it hasn't cut out on me. I work for Peugeot main dealer so I know them inside out,back to front, wrong way round and everything!
Us: Okay, fantastic. And how much is it?
Seller: It is £2,450 or nearest offer
Us: Great and it is in Chelmsford?
Seller: No it is in Meadway, Benfleet
Us: Okay, well I will give you a ring back to arrange a visit
Seller: Okay. When did she see it then? Did she drive past it?
Us: I think so yes like earlier in the week
Seller: Has she got a silver mercedes?
Us: Er...no
Seller: Oh right, it's not the one. The actual car is in Benfleet but I work in Chelmsford which is where she may have seen it
Us: Well that's great, cheers for that mate bye
Seller: Bye
* A female friend of mine had rung up earlier in the week as well
As you can see from this transcript, the seller is blatantly lying about the history of the car. The car may have not cut out on him during those 3 weeks but it did the same to us. It went for days, weeks, months without cutting out. To sell this car knowing FULL well there has been a history of problems with it is dishonest and is risking the life of any potential buyer. The comment about the engine cut out problem only affecting cars with an 1100cc engine is also INCORRECT. It has affected all models of Peugeot 206 regardless of engine size.
Peugeot are aware that a private sale took place between myself and a staff member working for David Kerr but are NOT aware the car is now being sold on again. To reiterate, both the initial sale of the car and the subsequent advertising of the car are NOT the responsibility of Peugeot.
I can't persuade people not to buy a Peugeot 206 but before you do, have a long hard think about buying any Peugeot or Citroen car. Do a search on Google and you will be surprised about the high amount of bad reviews these cars have. Remember, just because a Peugeot 206 hasn't had the engine cut out problem YET, there is no guarantee it won't in the future...
<A name=disclaimer>DISCLAIMER
The actions described in this article are the responsibility of the individuals mentioned and are not endorsed or connected in anyway to the Peugeot-Citroen Motor Company or to the David Kerr dealership. The initial sale of the Peugeot 206 (from myself to a staff member) was a private sale and although it took place on Peugeot premises and involved a Peugeot member of staff, Peugeot as a company can take no liability for any problems to arise from it. Peugeot have been made aware of this website and the content contained within and I will post any correspondence I receive from them as and when it arrives.
safe shopping when buying your car avoid citroen and peugeots like the plague as i am going to...
Kindest regards
zeon
Having major problems with my car as per usual when its out of warrenty but ive found something interesting online which occurs often with my car.. ill copy and paste from website.. It is long winded but is a definate MUST READ dont waste £4,500 like ive done and now screwed completely as cant get it back :-(
THE PEUGEOT 206 FATAL FAULT
ARE PEUGEOT WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO DIE UNTIL THEY TAKE ACTION?
In short, there have been instances where people have been driving their Peugeot 206 and have experienced a potentially life threatening problem which Peugeot are unable to resolve. The problem can be apparent in ALL models of Peugeot 206, no matter the age, engine size, condition or model.
The problem is simple: you can be driving along at any speed, in any gear and all of a sudden the whole car loses complete power. Every single warning light on the dashboard comes on and the car starts to lose speed at an alarming rate. Because the car has no power this means no power steering (which makes it much harder to steer) and the brakes go hard (which means it takes much longer to brake but when you're doing 70mph this isn't much help). Therefore if this happens in the fast lane of a motorway, there is a high chance you will be killed.
There is NO WARNING when this problem will happen. It comes completely out of the blue which makes it even more dangerous. If you own a Peugeot 206 and haven't had the problem yet, DO NOT THINK YOU WON'T. My car in particular was over 3 years old before the problem occurred. In fact, this is the reason Peugeot first gave for the problem - i.e. it only affects cars older than 3 years. This has since been proven to be false and can affect cars as new as 3 WEEKS!
All modern cars have an Electronic Control Unit (ECU). This is the "brain" of the car and is similar to a black box found within aeroplanes. If a fault occurs with the car, it should be registered on the ECU. You then simply take your car into your local official Peugeot dealership, they will hook your car's ECU up to their diagnostics machine and that will then tell them where the fault is and how it can be fixed. Except it doesn't. EVERY SINGLE reported engine cut out problem has NEVER registered on ANY ECU. This is where the main problem lies. Peugeot are unable to recreate the problem, there is no record of it on the ECU which basically means Peugeot do not know how to solve it.
So what happens if you experience the problem? Well, if your car is still within warranty, take it down to your local official Peugeot dealership and they will carry out any repairs free of charge. However, the repairs are POINTLESS. Peugeot don't know what the problem is so just try and replace things they "think" will solve it. They will do this even when your car is out of warranty which means you will be paying for repairs YOU DO NOT NEED. So far, the following items have been repaired/replaced on people's Peugeot 206's who have experienced the problem:
New ECU - cost between £600 and £1,000
ECU upgrade (where they upgrade the car's software)
New coil pack
New MAP sensor
New terminal connectors
New spark plugs
New sensors on the air intake
New fuel injector
New fuel injector wiring loom
The list goes on and on and on. Some of the above items fix the problem for a few days/weeks/months but eventually the problem WILL return. Remember because this fault does not show up on the ECU, it will also not show up on an MOT test which means if you're buying a second hand Peugeot 206 which has a clean MOT BE WARNED!
My Dad bought his Peugeot 1.4 LX car in 1999 (T reg) and gave it to me in 2002. I used it for about a year and I had no problems. Then the engine cut out problem began and kept happening. In the end I was told by the David Kerr dealership in Chelmsford, Essex (official Peugeot dealership) I would need a new ECU. Because the car was out of warranty, this would cost me £700. I begrudingly paid it and the problem went away. Well so I thought...
The problem conveniently returned a few days after the 1 year warranty on the ECU expired. It cut out whilst I was in the fast lane of the motorway. Luckily the road wasn't very busy and I managed to wrestle the steering wheel over to the left and get into the hard shoulder. So basically I crossed 3 lanes of traffic with no power, no steering control and no brakes plus at the same time losing speed rapidly.
I took it back to David Kerr who upgraded the ECU software. The problem went away for a couple of months and then returned. I returned to David Kerr at least 4 more times over the next 2 years and had more software upgrades, a new coil pack and other pointless repairs too numerous to mention. Each time I had to fork out between £40 and £100.
In early March of this year (2006), the car cut out again and refused to re-start. I called The AA out and they said "the car has a serious electrical fault and is too dangerous to be fixed by the roadside". I was then towed to David Kerr where I left the car and refused to take it back. You can read what happened next here.
Although this problem has received lots of publicity both online, on TV and in the press, Peugeot are still being extremely complacent and are not doing ANYTHING to rectify the problem (they may well be trying to solve the problem behind the scenes but from a customer point of view it just isn't good enough).
If you own a Peugeot 206 and have experienced this problem, please sign the online petition here (this petition is located on another website and is not connected to dontbuypeugeot.com). It is the only way Peugeot will listen.
Peugeot do NOT seem to care about their customers. The way they have handled this whole situation proves this. From Head Office down to dealership level (who to be fair are only acting on what they are told by Peugeot Head Office), they really couldn't care less. Remember, the Peugeot 206 recently came 99th out of 100 in a poll of driver satisfaction carried out by AutoExpress magazine. Do not buy a Peugeot 206.
The Drive of Your Life? More like The Drive That Could End Your Life.
Now onto the website writers incident in selling his car to peugeot dealership in chelmsford essex
MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE DAVID KERR DEALERSHIP, CHELMSFORD
QUICK LINKS: The Phone Call | Disclaimer
"I AM BUYING IT FOR MY DAUGHTER - SHE IS JUMPING UP AND DOWN WITH EXCITEMENT"
Please read the Disclaimer at the end of this article. This report has been posted on this website as a side issue to the engine cut problem (which is the main reason this website has been set up). PEUGEOT, AS A COMPANY, ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR EITHER THE INITIAL SALE OF THE CAR (I.E. WHEN I SOLD THE CAR TO THE STAFF MEMBER) OR THE SUBSEQUENT ADVERT ADVERTISING THE CAR FOR SALE.
As described in detail in the peugeot 206 fault feature, the Peugeot 206 I had was originally purchased from the OFFICIAL Peugeot dealership called David Kerr, which is located in Chelmsford, Essex. You can visit their website here. Each time there was a problem with the Peugeot 206, we returned it to the David Kerr dealership. After the last problem which prevented the car from starting, we asked The AA to tow us to the David Kerr dealership where we left the Peugeot 206.
We refused to take the car back because both my Mum and myself had lost all confidence in the Peugeot 206 and did no longer want to drive it as we did not feel safe using it. Due to this, we asked the David Kerr dealership to buy the car off us. If they thought the Peugeot 206 was so safe, there was no reason for them not to buy it off us. They could easily sell it on themselves to a trader or just "lose it" within the industry. I am sure this wouldn't cost the multi-million pound Peugeot-Citroen Motor Company much. When we asked them to buy it off us, we were told that the David Kerr dealership does not buy cars more than 4 years old. Instead they said we should have a go at selling it privately...
When this option was given to me I said I would not feel happy selling this car onto someone else when I knew full well there was a potentially fatal problem with the car. Upon hearing his, the person I spoke to on the phone who worked in the service department of the David Kerr dealership (I am withholding his name for legal reasons) said I would have no problem in selling it because "the MOT is fine". This may very well be true but if I sold the Peugeot 206 onto someone else and that person then died in an accident due to the engine cut out problem, I would never be able to forgive myself. I couldn't afford to have this on my conscience and I couldn't believe that the David Kerr dealership even suggested this as an option!
The person I spoke to said he would ask a few traders to see if they would be interested in buying it off us. Unfortunately no traders were (I wonder why!) but he said a member of his staff would like to buy it (again, his name has been withheld for legal reasons). We were offered £1,450 for the car (in contrast according to www.parkers.co.uk Peugeot 206's of similar specification and age are worth between £2,000 and £3,000) which we accepted. We went down the following Saturday and were paid in cash for the Peugeot 206. He said he was buying the car for his daughter and she was "jumping up and down" with excitement. The car was taxed until July and the MOT was valid until June.
THE PHONE CALL
A few days later, we noticed this car parked down a side street next to the David Kerr dealership:
The mobile phone number on the advert seemed extremely similar. After checking my mobile phone, it was the mobile phone number that belonged to the member of staff at the David Kerr dealership who had bought the car off us days earlier supposedly for his "daughter". It was our car which was being sold for £1,000 more than we were paid for it. The only noticeable difference was that the car had been given 4 new hubcaps and the original Peugeot 206 cassette radio had been replaced with a CD player. Does this warrant an extra £1,000 on the price tag? At the end of the day, we don't care that the car is now being sold for more money than we got for it. This isn't the point. I never paid for the car in the first place so it is no skin off my nose. The main thing that concerned me though was surely they weren't selling this car under the guise that it was a safe car, were they?
I decided to find out what the seller of the car would say when confronted with the question "Is this one of the Peugeot 206's that suffer from the engine cut out problem?". So a friend of mine rung the number to find out. This is a full transcript of the conversation which I do have a recording of. I am not posting the recording online for the time being due to legal reasons but this may change:
Seller: Hello
Us: Hi, my girlfriend rung you up earlier in the week about the Peugeot 206 you have for sale*
Seller: Oh yes right
Us: I was just wondering if it was still for sale
Seller: It is yes
Us: Oh it is
Seller: It goes in the paper on Monday
Us: Okay, excellent. We have both been deciding whether we want to buy a car recently and she has read somewhere that some of these have an engine cut out problem
Seller: That's right, yeah
Us: Is that the case?
Seller: Not on this one. It is the 1100's that are affected
Us: Right, okay
Seller: This is a 1400
Us: Okay, cool and what is the pric......
Seller: I bought it a little while ago because I was going to get a smaller car but to be honest with you I have been used to a Land Rover so am fed up with it which is why I am selling it
Us: Okay, so you haven't had it too long yourself?
Seller: I have had it about 3 weeks and it hasn't cut out on me. I work for Peugeot main dealer so I know them inside out,back to front, wrong way round and everything!
Us: Okay, fantastic. And how much is it?
Seller: It is £2,450 or nearest offer
Us: Great and it is in Chelmsford?
Seller: No it is in Meadway, Benfleet
Us: Okay, well I will give you a ring back to arrange a visit
Seller: Okay. When did she see it then? Did she drive past it?
Us: I think so yes like earlier in the week
Seller: Has she got a silver mercedes?
Us: Er...no
Seller: Oh right, it's not the one. The actual car is in Benfleet but I work in Chelmsford which is where she may have seen it
Us: Well that's great, cheers for that mate bye
Seller: Bye
* A female friend of mine had rung up earlier in the week as well
As you can see from this transcript, the seller is blatantly lying about the history of the car. The car may have not cut out on him during those 3 weeks but it did the same to us. It went for days, weeks, months without cutting out. To sell this car knowing FULL well there has been a history of problems with it is dishonest and is risking the life of any potential buyer. The comment about the engine cut out problem only affecting cars with an 1100cc engine is also INCORRECT. It has affected all models of Peugeot 206 regardless of engine size.
Peugeot are aware that a private sale took place between myself and a staff member working for David Kerr but are NOT aware the car is now being sold on again. To reiterate, both the initial sale of the car and the subsequent advertising of the car are NOT the responsibility of Peugeot.
I can't persuade people not to buy a Peugeot 206 but before you do, have a long hard think about buying any Peugeot or Citroen car. Do a search on Google and you will be surprised about the high amount of bad reviews these cars have. Remember, just because a Peugeot 206 hasn't had the engine cut out problem YET, there is no guarantee it won't in the future...
<A name=disclaimer>DISCLAIMER
The actions described in this article are the responsibility of the individuals mentioned and are not endorsed or connected in anyway to the Peugeot-Citroen Motor Company or to the David Kerr dealership. The initial sale of the Peugeot 206 (from myself to a staff member) was a private sale and although it took place on Peugeot premises and involved a Peugeot member of staff, Peugeot as a company can take no liability for any problems to arise from it. Peugeot have been made aware of this website and the content contained within and I will post any correspondence I receive from them as and when it arrives.
safe shopping when buying your car avoid citroen and peugeots like the plague as i am going to...
Kindest regards
zeon