Ann-Louise C.

Absolute pain confirming my address! Wouldn't accept my county or phone number. Nearly gave up and didn't bother ordering

In April 2018, my husband finally had to let his much-loved Peugeot 206 Roland Garros go since, at 18 years old, she had finally reached the end of her life.

My husband having been very happy with his previous Peugeot, and wanting something similar in look and feel, we purchased a four year old Peugeot 208 GTi, with slightly below average mileage (26,000 miles), in excellent condition, with only one previous owner and a full service history. We purchased the car from a main dealer, with extensive experience of selling and maintaining Peugeot cars.

Having purchased through a main dealer and from our previous experience of owning a Peugeot, we were expecting a reliable vehicle and trouble free-motoring. Sadly, this has proven to be far from the case, since in the few months that we have had the car, we have experienced repeated problems.

The first occurred problem only about three weeks after we had purchased the car. The dealership (which is the 'public face' of Peugeot) had put inadequate oil into the vehicle during its pre-sale service. The next, in October 2018, was a problem with a suspension mounting. We then had to have a shock absorber replaced in December 2018. This was followed by a fuel pump failure, which left us stranded on Christmas Day 2018 - and ruined our entire Christmas vacation, as it rendered the car un-driveable. The fuel pump was repaired on 7th Jan 2019. Just 10 days later, on 17th Jan 2019, we experienced yet another engine failure, so the vehicle is currently once again off the road and being repaired.

We accept that the shock absorber could possibly be the result of 'wear and tear'. However, we have been told by both the AA and our local garage that we should not have experienced either the suspension mount or fuel pump problems in a car of this age.

We recently contacted Peugeot UK about our experience with this vehicle. Although their Customer Service team responded very promptly, their response was bland and wholly inadequate - to quote it directly 'Thanks for your email about your Peugeot 208 and your feedback. I'm sorry you feel this way'. Not only does this response not address the problems we reported with the vehicle, it also problematises the customer, rather than offering any form of apology.

Of greater concern, our local garage did some online searches on professional forums and found the fuel pump issue to be a commonly experienced problem with the Peugeot 208 GTi. We have also looked online and found that is it commonly reported on Peugeot owners' forums. Presumably, therefore, Peugeot is aware of this problem, but has chosen not to take action in respect of it. This is clearly unacceptable and compares unfavourably with how other manufacturers, such as Toyota, deal with similar quality issues.

My husband has been driving for over 30 years and in that time we have had several vehicles. For its age, this is far and away the most troublesome vehicle and the most disappointing, frustrating car purchase we have ever had.

Despite having been previous Peugeot enthusiasts, it is with genuine sadness that we have to say that we have lost all trust in and enthusiasm for Peugeot cars. Indeed, we are actively looking to rid ourselves of this vehicle, as it cannot be relied upon. It is highly doubtful that we will ever purchase another Peugeot car again, nor could we now recommend one to anyone else

We purchased a four year old, low mileage car with only one previous owner and a full service history from Perry's Preston Motor Centre in May 2018. We went to Perry's because they were supposedly a reputable dealer, which we believed would ensure a reliable vehicle and trouble free-motoring. How wrong we were!

For peace of mind, we also purchased a two year extended warranty cover package, which we were told at purchase would cover us for 'anything mechanical', with associated labour costs, for two years. This has proven to be completely untrue.

We were very satisfied with our experience up to the point of purchase - the sales staff were very friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, our after-sales experience has been atrocious.

The first problem happened only a couple of weeks after our having purchased the car. Despite this being the case, we had a battle to get a Perry's service centre even to look at the vehicle. The problem turned out to be that the mechanics at Perry's Preston Motor Centre had put insufficient oil in when they'd serviced the car before selling it.

Since then, we've had two additional issues with the car, both major one a problem with the front suspension and the other a fuel pump failure (which left us stranded on Christmas Day!). We've been told by both the AA and our local garage that we shouldn't be seeing either of these issues in a car of this age.

When we tried to invoke the extended warranty cover for the suspension problem, we were given every excuse in the book for why it wasn't covered - the type of cover you have doesn't cover this; you've done too many miles; it's not an electrical fault. So we've ended up having to pay for repairs.

Overall, therefore, our experience with Perry's has been deeply unsatisfactory. Despite being relatively new, the car is giving us lots of trouble. Perry's after sales 'care' is non-existent. The extended warranty extra cover is a total waste of time and was intentionally mis-sold.

I would never, ever buy another car from Perry's, nor would I trust them to service a vehicle - and would strongly advise others to avoid this company.