Car stalls

"Usually when my car stalls, I have enough time to coast to the road shoulder."

After 10 minutes, he would normally be able to restart his car.

How many times has his engine stalled?

"Too many times to remember," he said.

Mr Leonard Se and his Peugeot 1007, which has been hit by a host of mechanical and electrical problems.

Sometimes, he gets a hint that his car is about to stall when the battery light on the dashboard flashes and the revs on the tachometer start to drop.

Yet mechanics often fail to find the fault during diagnostic checks.

This was reflected in the service history.

"I would be told, all is in working order... No fault found," Mr Se said.

"But how can that be? On average, every three months there is a problem with the car."

Mr Se may not be the only 1007 owner with problems.

Two others, a 41-year-old sales manager and a 30-year-old events manager, told The New Paper on Sunday that they have had similar problems.

But once the problems were diagnosed, they seldom recurred, they said.

The sales manager, who wished to be known only as Mr Tan, said his 1007 continues to stall, but less frequently.

"It can be twice a week or once a month (the number of times the engine stalls). I can never predict because there are no tell-tale signs before the engine dies."

In Europe, netizens who own the 1007 have complained about the sliding doors.

On RoadTestReports.co.uk, netizens highlighted issues ranging from passenger door failure to high petrol consumption on the 1007.

A few solutions have been offered by those who have faced problems with their passenger doors.

One tip involves spraying the contact points on the electronic doors with a water dispersant like WD40.

Another solution is to simply disconnect the electronic door so that it will only open manually.

The New Paper on Sunday contacted the local Peugeot dealer on Friday and again yesterday.

But it did not reply to our questions by press time.

Mr Se does not blame AutoFrance for his problems.

While he is thinking of selling his car, he hopes to 'listen to options' from the Peugeot agent.

He added that the service 'has been fantastic'.

"The service staff attends to me promptly and will try to explain what they think is the problem," said Mr Se.

"I can't fault the staff but I'm just tired of visiting the workshop more often than other drivers."

zaihan@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The New Paper.