French Cars, Why Are They Unpopular?

French cars never really picked except for the Citroen CX. Other than being forcibly used in its former colonies French cars are bland and lack the appeal of Japanese or German cars.

The Citroen company went bankrupt and was bailed out by the French gov and merged with Peugeot which was its major rival, since then even Peugeot has been on the decline

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Used to admire this model but people say it is a money pit. The 406

Reliability issues was their undoing but partnering with nissan has helped with the recent models.

Renault Lori ya nguvu

unreliable plus design za upuzi, kuna siku tulitafuta fuel filter na mech wangu kwa 505 Peugeot we finally found it huko chini next to the gas tank, such parts that need servicing should be very easy to reach , ukipata puncture you better be a body builder the nut and screw are one so when replacing a tyre you should be able to lift it with one arm as you try and thread it to the wheel hub and this while squatting ! Such a silly design !! they horn was a lever etc etc

Saw a documentary of a town in Ethiopia where people use old Peugeot cars that were introduced by the French in the mid-20th century.

Casablanca imejaa citroën kila chochoro

What about jammed doors. My neighbor has a 504 Saloon KXY, a 1989 Model. he has a chubby wife who has learned how to exit through the windows because the doors locks jam every now and then. Mind you no central locking on this model just mechanical locks.

Ri

Rink

In Europe thyre very popular esp Renault and Peugeot.

Peugeots ruled the African market (including the Kenyan one) for decades. The 404, 504, 505 were legends of the 50s to 80s …

But from the mid 90s as they faded away, the new Peugeots that came to replace them (406 etc) were not as robust and being more complex not easy for our roadside mechanics to deal with, therefore they were unable to fill the shoes of their predecessors … And the decline began

The was a time when all govt vehicles were Peugeot, all matatus/shuttles and pick ups were also Peugeot, rally cars were Peugeot. Then the japanese started to dump their mtumba junk in Kenya. The Peugeot was the car built for Africa.

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Kwani that 504 taxi service ya kuenda Mombasa ilikua inakimbia aje? Those departure and arrival times maze waaah.

Poor engineering by the French ,doors used to jam, the carburetor, starter and alternator used to fail ,parts were over priced by kalasingas Toyota killed Peugeot when it entered late 80s

Pure legend … The 504 is now fifty three years old and went to places in Africa where no Landover ever did … Lakini hawa vijana wadogo wa JDM na mavitu kama Toyota Rumion hawawezi jua hivi

This was the 404 … The 504 would follow later and reduce journey times by two hours

Hii 504 ni nzuri saana. I can recommend this to offroaders an wale wakuishi kichakani. Rule, get one mechanic usually an old one for your 504. Hawa pekejeng generation hawatambui hii masin

Growing up we had a neighbour with a Citroen. My only memories of that car was seeing it being pushed just about every morning.
My other neighbour had a Peugeot 504. We had a lot of fun stealing that car. One time we were headed to Club Sikiliza and the cops stopped us somewhere near the Canadian Embassy. Afande akauliza driver’s licence. My friend, still in high school and babyfaced, reaches for the dashboard and hands over his retired (probably in his 50s or 60s) father’s driver licence. The cop called his friend and they had a really good laugh.
Anyway we sorted that issue the Kenyan way and the jolly fellows even volunteered that there was another road block right ahead. So we ended up going to Maggies instead. Back to the 504. I loved it. We would race it to Ole Polos those days when that route was so desolete you would literally be the only car on the road for several minutes. The thing had proper legs.

You must be a 90s kid otherwise you wouldn’t have found pushing any car in the 80s and 90s uncommon…if your old man’s car didnt need a little nudge from time to time then you guys were proper dynasty. Every car owner back then was a mechanic of sorts

Wepesi