Peugeot 405
Registered from 1991 to 1997.
About this model
The Peugeot 405 is a large family car manufactured by the French automaker Peugeot from 1987 to 1997. Its production continued under license from outside Europe in Iran by Iran Khodro Company until 2020. It was voted European Car of the Year for 1988 by the largest number of votes in the history of the contest. About 2.5 million vehicles have been sold worldwide, both in left and right drive versions, as a saloon and estate. In early 2020, the 33-year production run of the Peugeot 405 was counted as the "twentieth most long-lived single generation car in history."
From the Wikipedia article Peugeot 405, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
What fails its inspection
Great Britain's MOT record for the 1994 1.9 diesel. 18 of 71 tests failed, 25%.
Better than 42% of 1994 cars. The typical one fails 24%, across 127 models with enough tests behind them to say.
| Where | Share of failures | Failed tests |
|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 50% | 9 |
| Suspension | 33% | 6 |
| Visibility | 33% | 6 |
| Lights and electrics | 28% | 5 |
| Steering | 28% | 5 |
| Body and structure | 22% | 4 |
The defects inspectors cite
- Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement
- Parking brake efficiency less than 50% of the required value
- Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc
- A direction indicator lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning
- A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn
- Brakes imbalance across an axle such that the braking effort from any wheel is less than 70% of the maximum effort recorded from the other wheel on the same axle.
Where it stands out against its peers
- Visibility: failed more often than 94% of 1994 cars — 33% of its 18 failed tests, where an ordinary 1994 car has 16%.
- Steering: failed more often than 93% of 1994 cars — 28% of its 18 failed tests, where an ordinary 1994 car has 5%.
Same model year only, at least 30 peer cars, zeros included. Every car has a worst part; this shows which, and how far from ordinary it is. A high share means more to check, not a verdict.
NHTSA's investigations are American; no European regulator publishes an equivalent record, so this section has nothing to draw on for a European car. There is no European equivalent of the service-bulletin register either.
Before you buy one
Built from what this car fails on, not from general knowledge of the model.
- Brakes — 50% of its failures
- Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement
- Parking brake efficiency less than 50% of the required value
- Suspension — 33% of its failures
- A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn
- The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired
- Steering — 28% of its failures
- Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc
- Lights and electrics — 28% of its failures
- A direction indicator lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning
- Visibility — 33% of its failures
- Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen
- Body and structure — 22% of its failures
- The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired