I hate my 107 :(

[iiisecondcreep]

So, after having to get rid of my beloved 206 I got myself a little 107 on finance from Arnold Clark. It is a 56 place (reg Jan '07) with 21k miles when i bought it. I paid £5.5k for the car, and will be paying back an additional £2k on top of that for the finance.

Reasons being: Good fuel economy, £35 pa road tax, quite cheap to insure, under manufacturers warranty til jan 2010, and i figured with the car only being 1.5years old it should be as good as problem free, and anything major that did go wrong would be covered under warranty, right? Wrong.

First of all, when I test drove the car I noticed it was a little stiff going into first, the salesman assured me this was normal but as the car would be serviced before I picked it up if there was anything wrong they would pick it up. Wrong.

Within 3 months it became impossible to get it into first and it had to go back to the garage to have the clutch adjusted. I was assured again that that was the problem fixed. Wrong.

5 months after that the gears became incredibly stiff again, even with the clutch flat on the floor the gears were grinding loudly when I changed gear, especially reverse. Went back to the garage, car needed a new clutch. Car had 28k miles on the clock at this point, clutch wasn't covered under warranty.
How much for a new clutch? £200 plus VAT and labour. They ended up paying for the part but I still had to fork out £200 for labour.(I did phone around for prices for the clutch and the price was the same everywhere becuse of the type of clutch this car needs).

In october the car went in for its first service with me (at Arnold Clark as I have a prepaid service plan).
I was quoted £375 for work needing done. That was 2 tyres, brake discs and pads and a few other (non essential) things. Brakes alone costing £225. So I declined to have any of the work done, thinking I'd find things much cheaper elsewhere.
Wrong.

Cheapest price I got for the brakes was £120. I've not had them done yet, MOT due in January so will get them done then. And whatever else ends up needing done

I now need 3 tyres, so I've been shopping round for prices. Most places advertise just under £20 for tyres fitted for small cars. Seems ok.
Wrong.
This car takes this tyre size: 155/65T14
Which I can not get new for less that £32 each, and thats not including valves or balancing.

The whole point in getting this car as opposed to just buying an older car for a grand or whatever was thinking it wouldn't cost a fortune in repairs etc.
Yeah i save money on petrol and road tax, but the insurance isn't any cheaper than my 206 was (which had a bigger engine, more mod cons, was much more comfortable to drive and a hell of a lot more fun), in fact it cost me more to insure the 107, and i am definitely spending more on repaying the car and repairs than I am saving on petrol and road tax.
The car is not comfortable to drive, the seats are awful. Made worse by the fact that i have a bad back, I actually dread getting in the car on bad days because the seats make it so much worse.

Buying this car was a big mistake

[bluetyler]

Buy a Citroen C1 instead I have just replaced a clutch on one with 10000 miles on it. Crap japanese engineering.

[toddy2]

hi,,i think the rule of thumb here is buy a peugeot!!!!!!!
not a jap toyota with different badges on it.
i don't think £32+val/balance is an expensive tyre.
as for the faults,,these are wear and tear items that you get with any car(tyres/brakes etc,,,,)
toddy

[chopper1192]

I've had 2 x 107s, and they're both been excellent. Indeed, they have less service bulletins and have cost Pug less in warranty claims than any other pug model for 2 decades.

Lets take a look at your experience, point by point.

Originally Posted by iiisecondcreep

I paid £5.5k for the car,

You can get them for £6.5k new, if you squeeze hard, so you've been fleeced right from the word go. The dealers have a huge margin to play with on the 107.

Originally Posted by iiisecondcreep

First of all, when I test drove the car I noticed it was a little stiff going into first,

Why on earth did you still buy it? Why did you invest so much money in a used car without a professional inspection beforehand?

Originally Posted by iiisecondcreep

5 months after that the gears became incredibly stiff again, even with the clutch flat on the floor the gears were grinding loudly when I changed gear, especially reverse. Went back to the garage, car needed a new clutch. Car had 28k miles on the clock at this point, clutch wasn't covered under warranty.
How much for a new clutch? £200 plus VAT and labour. They ended up paying for the part but I still had to fork out £200 for labour.(I did phone around for prices for the clutch and the price was the same everywhere becuse of the type of clutch this car needs).(

There was a fault on early 107s with release bearings failing and these were recified under warranty. The othe issue with 107 clutches is that they're on a revvy engine with little low down torque, so people rev the excessively to get them moving sharply off the line. It's a simple matter of the previous driver being a twonk - wea is wear and is immediately appraent when the old clutch comes out. The norm for a properly driven 107s clutch is about 60-70k miles - friend of mine runs a driving school with 107s, and even with his ham fisted students this is what he gets from them

Again, sadly, this would have very likely been noted prior to purchase if you'd invested in an AA/RAC inspection.

Originally Posted by iiisecondcreep

I was quoted £375 for work needing done. That was 2 tyres, brake discs and pads and a few other (non essential) things. Brakes alone costing £225. So I declined to have any of the work done, thinking I'd find things much cheaper elsewhere.

That's very expensive for brakes - discs and pads on these should cost about £160 fitted. Again, nacked brakes and dying tyres should've been noted by a conscientious purchaser.

Originally Posted by iiisecondcreep

The whole point in getting this car as opposed to just buying an older car for a grand or whatever was thinking it wouldn't cost a fortune in repairs etc.
Yeah i save money on petrol and road tax, but the insurance isn't any cheaper than my 206 was (which had a bigger engine, more mod cons, was much more comfortable to drive and a hell of a lot more fun), in fact it cost me more to insure the 107, and i am definitely spending more on repaying the car and repairs than I am saving on petrol and road tax.
The car is not comfortable to drive, the seats are awful. Made worse by the fact that i have a bad back, I actually dread getting in the car on bad days because the seats make it so much worse.

Buying this car was a big mistake

My 107s each cost under £100 to insure fully comp.

NEVER trust your life to cheap nasty tyres - the differenc between budget and top-draw premium tyres can be as much as 30 mtres stopping from 60 in the wet. Anyone shopping around for tyres at £30 or less needs their bumps feeling. Dunlop SP sports are good all round tyres, and shopping around you can get them for sub £40 each, but £45 is probably nearer the norm and still excellent value really. Try driving my 407 where the original Pirellis are £150 EACH if you think you've got problems.

The 107 accelerates quicker than a 1.1 206 by quite a margin, uses less fuel doing it, and has much better front legroom.

I'm 6'3", 235lbs, and have an out-of-alignment pelvis where I was run over in 2002 and I found the 107s comfortable on long journeys, if a little basic. that said, it's a CHEAP BASIC CAR. If I'd wanted greater comfort, more toys, more performance etc, I'd have bought a bigger, more expensive car, then doubtless be moaning about how much it was costing me.

I'm very sorry to hear you've had a bad experience. I'm always saddened when a pug lover has a bad time of things, and it sounds like the dealer has been quick to sell you a tired example at an OTT price, then shaft you with the cost of maintenance further down the line.

Nevertheless, the faults and wear you describe are down to the previous owner/driver and can't really be blamed on the poor little 107. Additionally, you've not done your homework and paid over the odds, and then bought a lemon because you were silly enough to "trust" a dealer. Unless you are a professional mechanic or engineer, as was I at one time, you should always invest in a professional inspection. £100 spent on the AA/RAC beforehand would've picked up all these faults and the dealers would've been compelled to put them right before punting the car on to you.

Originally Posted by bluetyler

Buy a Citroen C1 instead I have just replaced a clutch on one OE with 10000 miles on it. Crap japanese engineering.

The clutches are made by Valeo, and last time I checked it wasn't a Japanese firm...

The engine was designed by Toyota in Europe and is built in Poland. The structure was designed in Europe, and then each individual marque applied their final styling and trim tweaks. The whole car is assembled by TCPA in Czekoslovakia, and this is an independant firm set up in collaboration with, and funded by PSA and Toyota. Apart from the funding, the Nippon Denso spark plugs, and the transmission (which really does come from Japan), it is very much a European venture.

Lately I'm not doing much mileage in the 407 (I have several motorbikes and a 308 as well to share the burden) , and I loved my 107s so much I'm considering another. however, used values are so buoyant I'd never consider buying used, it's just not worth it. Even 2 and 3 years ago respectively when I bought my last 107s, I sold them each on at a year for about a £100 and £200 loss respectively - you couldn't buy a used car and drive it for a year and expect a warranty for £200, so to be able to do that with a new one was marvellous. larf to drive, economical, group 1 insurance (your insurers were having a larf if they though your 206 could be lower than group 1 - you should've gone elsewhere), cheap tax, and while not totally faultless as reliable as any modern era pug, and then some. Cheap, basic, rugged and a bit of a grin to muscle round the country lanes. Yeah, think I've convinced myself

[bluetyler]

I do believe there is no such country as Czechoslovakia, I believe they separated.On 1 January 1993 Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. If you want to be picky.

[chopper1192]

I think you're correct!

Did you know there is an "Independence for Yorkshire" campaign running somewhere? Bizarro.

[iiisecondcreep]

Originally Posted by chopper1192

I've had 2 x 107s, and they're both been excellent. Indeed, they have less service bulletins and have cost Pug less in warranty claims than any other pug model for 2 decades.

Lets take a look at your experience, point by point.

Hi there, thanks for all your input, very informative.

I bought the car last October from Arnold Clark. I guess this was the first mistake!
I did try to put a link to my post when I was buying the car, but I haven't got enough posts to put a link in yet.
What happened was my 206 died, basically, a coil failed, there was a power surge and the ECU was fried. It was a '99 1.4 206 GLX, it was also a cat D write off. I need a car to get to work and uni (uni would be 3.5hrs travel on public transport either way ) so I had to make a decision then and there: fork out potentially over £1k to repair the car (new ECU plus mot due in couple of weeks) or get a new car. I decided new car, and I had a week to get one.

Because I was buying the car from Arnold Clark and the car was being serviced before I bought it, I never thought to get an independent inspection.

With regards to the brakes and tyres, I've had the car for over a year now so I'd be expecting to replace them around now anyway as I do quite a lot of miles.
And as for comfort, I would love to have been able to buy a bigger more comfortable car, but unfortunately as I am a full time student I simply couldn't afford something better.

Do you mind if I ask who you insured your 107's with?
I did shop around for insurance and my provider at the time was the cheapest I found (Elephant). It wasn't a lot more than my 206, only about £20... but I was still shocked. (I think my 206 was group 4).
I am currently insured with Admiral multicar and my premium for this year is £230, and that was the cheapest quote I got by over £100. I'm 26, so I can only assume this is due to me being a student. I did have an accident early in 2006 but Admiral only penalise for accidents within the last 3 yrs so thats not it either.

[chopper1192]

If memory serves (I've been through a 207, a 308, a 407 and several motorbikes since then) it was boring old Swintons. it's a group 1 E car, the lowest of the low, so there's no reason it should be costing more than virtually any other car

The missus is with Admiral and I looked at insuring the 407 through them and nabbing the mulitcar discount, but it still worked out a lot more than Chris Knott, who are well worth a call (thye 'sponsor' several pug clubs websites).

The 107s are great and it's taken the opposition nearly 5 years to catch up and none have convincingly surpassed it for the money, although the latest facelift has turned it from cute to gash in one fell swoop. I'm very likely to get another, but I'll bear in mind what I'm getting for my money - a small, cheap, basic car.

[iiisecondcreep]

MORE problems.

I noticed a few months back that the brakes were scraping, mainly when I was going over uneven ground (but sometimes also on perfectly flat ground). Best described as feeling and sounding as though the bottom of the car was scraping along the ground.

My car was due a service anyway, so I told Arnold Clark when I took it in about the scraping, and after the service they told me it was because I needed new brakes. So I got my new brakes (discs and pads) fitted at Kwik Fit and it was MOT'd at the same time.

Noticed driving the car home that the brakes were still scrapng, so i took the car back in asap, they took the brakes off and checked them and found nothing wrong that could be causing the scraping.

As the scraping didn't seem to be affecting the car actually slowing down and according to the garage they were fine I assumed it must just be something I'd have to live with.

Recently I've noticed the scraping getting much worse again (I've only had the brakes since end of Jan) then this morning, after driving 10miles, I was only going at about 5mph and I needed to stop so I pressed on the brakes, immediate loud scraping and... nothing. The car didn't stop, it didn't even slow down any further, I had to use the handbrake to stop.

I'd have said it was ice on the brakes if I hadnt already driven 10miles through town so already plenty of braking to clear any ice, also the scraping happens at any time. And the car definitely didn't slide either.

But then when i started driving again after that (I wasn't on public road when this happened, thankfully) the brakes seemed fine.

So car is going into Arnold Clark on Friday (they're fully booked til then), but I was wondering if anyone has any idea what could be causing this?

[roy_newell]

Originally Posted by iiisecondcreep

MORE problems.

I noticed a few months back that the brakes were scraping, mainly when I was going over uneven ground (but sometimes also on perfectly flat ground). Best described as feeling and sounding as though the bottom of the car was scraping along the ground.

My car was due a service anyway, so I told Arnold Clark when I took it in about the scraping, and after the service they told me it was because I needed new brakes. So I got my new brakes (discs and pads) fitted at Kwik Fit and it was MOT'd at the same time.

Noticed driving the car home that the brakes were still scrapng, so i took the car back in asap, they took the brakes off and checked them and found nothing wrong that could be causing the scraping.

As the scraping didn't seem to be affecting the car actually slowing down and according to the garage they were fine I assumed it must just be something I'd have to live with.

Recently I've noticed the scraping getting much worse again (I've only had the brakes since end of Jan) then this morning, after driving 10miles, I was only going at about 5mph and I needed to stop so I pressed on the brakes, immediate loud scraping and... nothing. The car didn't stop, it didn't even slow down any further, I had to use the handbrake to stop.

I'd have said it was ice on the brakes if I hadnt already driven 10miles through town so already plenty of braking to clear any ice, also the scraping happens at any time. And the car definitely didn't slide either.

But then when i started driving again after that (I wasn't on public road when this happened, thankfully) the brakes seemed fine.

So car is going into Arnold Clark on Friday (they're fully booked til then), but I was wondering if anyone has any idea what could be causing this?

It sounds like your biggest mistake of all is after all the hatred to your dealer for selling you a lemon and continually mis diagnosing etc that you keep going back there!

Stop taking it to Arnold Clark if I were you, if they are liable then go there once you already have it assessed and know 100% what the issue is.

For the brakes to completely not work then that would most likely be servo/brake master cylinder problems or a split brake pipe or something similar. If it is you may be covered under warranty as those items would not be due to wear and tear. And couldn't be ice on the brakes as otherwise your hand brake would do exactly the same (The handbrake is just a different mechanism but still applies the brakes in the same way). So its the way they are being applied that is causing the issue, not the brakes themselves.

But the weird thing is you say you could hear scraping from the rear which would indicate the brakes themselves. And the servo/master cylinder will be in the engine bay.
You really need a better garage if they changed them under a month ago and you almost ran off the road due to them.

When you got the brakes "replaced" do you know if it was just pads or discs and pads (or drums and shoes if your car has drums on the rear which I think it does)