Source of this article: Consumer Report Author: Chen Ziqing
At a time when the sales of French cars continue to encounter Waterloo, some French car owners have reported the quality problems of the vehicles.
Recently, Mr. Zhang of Beijing reflected that his Peugeot 408 car has repeatedly appeared in the problem of shock absorbers emitting abnormal noises since last year, and the problem still exists after replacing related parts, and Dongfeng Peugeot manufacturers and 4S stores have not provided specific solutions, so Mr. Zhang also posted complaints on the black cat complaint platform.
"Consumer Report" found on the platforms such as Car Quality Network and Auto Home that many netizens reported that the Peugeot 408 had the problem of the shock absorber emitting a strange sound. So, is the above problem a common problem for the quality of the Peugeot 408 model? What is the response of Dongfeng Peugeot to this? Consumer Report conducted an interview on this.
▲The new Peugeot 408 (Source: Dongfeng Peugeot official website)
The problem of shock absorber abnormal noise is difficult to treat
"As soon as the car passes through some bumpy sections, even if the speed is not fast, there will often be all kinds of noises in front of the body." Mr. Zhang told Consumer Report.
In April 2018, Mr. Zhang purchased a Peugeot 408 car at a Dongfeng Peugeot official 4S store in Beijing. However, since October 2020, the car has had a malfunction with abnormal body parts.
"Last October, I first noticed a strange noise in the front of this car during driving, similar to a 'clucking' and 'clucking' sound." Mr. Zhang said that after discovering the problem, he reported the situation to the 4S shop where the car was purchased. "The 4S shop said it might just be because it was cold, so let me open it again to see if I said it again."
However, the problem of vehicle noise subsequently became more serious. "When you turn a corner and pass a little pothole, the vehicle will make a strange noise, and these sounds are very uncomfortable to hear." Mr. Zhang said.
Subsequently, Mr. Zhang sent the car to the 4S shop for maintenance, and the other party replaced the right shock absorber of the front car for the vehicle. "The staff of the 4S shop said that it was the abnormal noise emitted by the shock absorber, so they changed the shock absorber for me.
▲Multiple maintenance records of Mr. Zhang's vehicle in the 4S shop (photo provided by the interviewee)
However, after this repair, the problem of shock absorber noise reappeared. "This time the noise came from the left front of the vehicle, and it was another problem with the shock absorber." In desperation, Mr. Zhang could only send the vehicle to the 4S shop again for maintenance in April this year, and the other party replaced the left shock absorber of the front car for the vehicle.
Unexpectedly, in June this year, the problem of abnormal noise of the left front shock absorber reappeared. "I sent the car to the 4S shop again for maintenance, and the 4S shop staff said that they could not find the cause of the abnormal noise, and if there was a problem, they could only continue to repair it." Mr. Zhang said.
So far, after many repairs, the problem of the shock absorber noise of Mr. Zhang's vehicle has not been cured.
The abnormal sound of shock absorbers is suspected to be a common quality disease
Regarding the reason why the vehicle shock absorber has repeatedly emitted abnormal noises, Mr. Zhang believes that the vehicle itself has quality defects and workmanship defects. Mr. Zhang said that he had found many complaints on the Internet about similar failures of the Peugeot 408 model.
However, since Mr. Zhang's vehicle has exceeded the warranty period, Mr. Zhang said that 4S shop and Dongfeng Peugeot did not give a specific solution on how to solve the fault. "At that time, the maintenance during the warranty period did not solve the problem, so although the warranty period is now exceeded, should Dongfeng Peugeot manufacturers also provide a truly feasible solution?"
On December 30, a relevant person in charge of the Dongfeng Peugeot 4S store where Mr. Zhang bought the car told consumer reports that the problem of shock absorber abnormal sound reflected by Mr. Zhang does exist, and the 4S store has been actively dealing with problems for car owners, and we have feedback to manufacturers. As for the specific cause of the repeated abnormal noises of the shock absorber, the person in charge said that "it is impossible to explain for the time being."
"Because of the shock absorber abnormal sound problem, the customer has come to our shop to repair twice, the most recent problem, because the vehicle has exceeded the warranty period, Dongfeng Peugeot manufacturers also agreed to replace the shock absorber for free, but the customer requested a lifetime warranty for the shock absorber, and asked to ensure that there is no longer a shock absorber abnormal sound, the manufacturer also said that it is beyond their scope of authority." According to our understanding, the problem of Mr. Zhang's vehicle should not be an isolated case, and some vehicles of the 408 model have similar problems. The person in charge of the above-mentioned 4S store said.
▲Many people complained that peugeot 408 had a shock absorber abnormal sound failure (source: car quality network)
"Consumer Report" found on the car quality network, auto home and other platforms that many netizens reflected that the Peugeot 408 model had a fault with a different sound from the shock absorber, and for vehicles that were still in the warranty period, some netizens said that the 4S store provided free replacement of accessories. For vehicles that exceed the warranty period, the owner can only repair them at his own expense.
So, is the above problem common to the quality of the Peugeot 408 model? What are the solutions to this problem from Dongfeng Peugeot? To this end, Consumer Report sent an interview letter to Dongfeng Peugeot, but as of press time, it has not received a reply.
Guo Xiaoming, a lawyer at Shanghai Zhonglian (Chengdu) Law Firm, a well-known legal blogger@ Tandian, said: "According to relevant laws and regulations, in this case, if the consumer can prove that the 4S store failed to effectively and properly handle the fault within the three-guarantee period, then even if the vehicle has exceeded the three-guarantee service period, the 4S store and the Dongfeng Peugeot manufacturer should still carry out maintenance for the consumer to solve the fault problem." ”
Guo Xiaoming pointed out that if the failure problem of the above Peugeot 408 model belongs to the quality of the model, it is due to the design, manufacturing, identification and other reasons that generally exist in the same batch, model or category of automotive products that do not meet the national standards and industry standards for personal and property safety, or other unreasonable dangers that endanger the safety of persons and property, according to the relevant provisions of the Regulations on the Administration of Recall of Defective Automotive Products, Dongfeng Peugeot manufacturers should take recall measures. And bear the cost of eliminating the defect and the necessary cost of transporting the defective car products, causing other losses to the owner, shall also bear the liability for compensation.
Some senior automotive engineers pointed out to consumer reports that shock absorbers are vulnerable accessories in the process of automobile use, and the working state of shock absorbers will directly affect the smoothness of car driving and the service life of other parts, affecting driving safety.
"If the shock absorber emits an abnormal sound, it means that the shock absorber itself may have problems with looseness and poor performance, and if the abnormal sound problem is not cured, it is recommended that the owner drive the vehicle cautiously." The automotive engineer said.
Mr. Zhang said that at present, he has consulted his lawyer on the issue of rights protection, "If I really can't solve the problem of vehicle failure, I can only defend my rights through legal channels."
Official data show that in the first half of 2021, Dongfeng Peugeot sales reached 25,000 vehicles, however, such sales are obviously not satisfactory, dongfeng Peugeot promotional posters do not even mention specific sales figures. At present, Dongfeng Peugeot is using new brand identity and actively adapting to the trend of electrification to reverse the decline in sales. However, in the face of quality problems exposed from time to time, coupled with the actual misalignment of model products and the actual needs of Chinese consumers, the French cars represented by Dongfeng Peugeot are doomed to continue to face a more difficult road.