Dispatches Do Brasil: The 11th Hour

As any one who lives near wild baboons will tell you, they are incredibly smart animals.

@Beerboy12 It's all relative.

@Beerboy12 I am often compared to a baboon by others, and believe me the baboons take offense to it.

You mean like Germany's TUV? There are zero French cars in their list of the 20 most reliable cars in Europe and 9 French cars in the list of the 20 least reliable cars in Europe. Half of the most reliable cars are Japanese and none of the least reliable ones. Merde is what you make of it. http://cars.uk.msn.com/features/the-most-and-least-reliable-cars-in-europe

Beerboy, the engines are great and are used by BMWs in their 1.6 cars. If there are problems, there doesn't seem to be a recurring one that labels the engines as unreliable. They are also relatively new, but they are able to produce many different levels of hp and provide good fun. The ICE engine in this is the same as the engine in the RCZ and is the one that produces the most hp. Where PSA errs is in other areas. For example, there has recently been a big recall for many Peugeot and Citroën cars. Unfortunately, it seems that a suspension bit can fail and the fender will catch the wheel and have the obvious very unpleasant consequences. PSA engines, even in Brazil are considered quite good. They do seem to make more mistakes than others in other areas. Regardless, this is a styling exercise and shows that they haven't forgotten beautiful. If they would improve their general quality they would surely grow. They do seem to be very hit and miss. Renault in contrast seems to hit a lot more than they miss.

@CJinSD Like you say, it's all relative. IIRC, TUV was recently involved in a scandal where it was shown they favored German manufacturers. Little surprise there, German Inc. is very well oiled as is Japan Ltd. Like when talking of Consumer Reports, there are lots of people out there that value some style and better drive in their cars at the expense of being bored to death by absolute reliability and their minds numbed by either very boring or weird design.

@Marcelo de Vasconcellos So are you trying to suggest that Germany's TUV gave out half of their top rankings to Japanese cars because "German Inc. is very well oiled as is Japan Ltd.?" Isn't it more likely that all of the most reliable cars in Europe would be Japanese without pro-German bias? Engineering excellence isn't boring, but I'm not a marketer's dream.

@CJinSD I have no idea what TUV's motivations are. in fact, it's rather surprising that they concede so many positions to Japanese cars. I however have a healthy distrust for any of these rankings. Any can be misused and abused at any point and those who blindly follow them, and others like it, will be easily misled. As to being a tool, I'm not. But what I value is different than you. What I saw in this car was a valid and high level engineering in engines, and a sense of style that will hopefully lift PSA from the doldrums they've been in. At no point did I claim they are at the pinnacle of reliability. I mistrust them because I have seen many bad, inexplicable things. However, I also do know quite a few people who have only positive things to say. I for one hope they can get their act together because for now I admire them from afar. But I do admire their sense of style yes. And their ride, when they're working. When the're working they're as good if not better than most things out there. As to Japanese cars being very reliable as a whole, even the absolute champions of reliability, there is little question of that. What I have often said is that the difference now is not as great as some believe. There is also that in pretty much all other areas where cars are judged, they ain't bad but they're hardly the best.

@CJinSD > I have no idea what TUV’s motivations are. in fact, it’s rather surprising that they concede so many positions to Japanese cars. This is a list that lists the Boxster and other Porsches as the most reliable, which is odd because the Germans aren't known for their sense of humor. Seems akin to yelp sorting, where actual quality helps but so does paying them.

@CJinSD .

@CJinSD If you look at the TUV methodology, the Porsche sports cars' placements make sense. They inspect cars and rank them relative to their peers based on calendar age. Their inspections are comprehensive, as used for a Top Gear plot when they each bought old sports sedans. The number of defects they find on the Porsches is low because they see very little use relative to more mainstream cars.