The Peugeot 605 is an executive car produced by the French manufacturer Peugeot between 1989 and 1999, with a facelift in 1995. History The 605 was a saloon built on the same platform as the Citroën XM and was the successor to the critically well received, but slow selling, Peugeot 604, which went out of production four years earlier. The popular Peugeot 505 model was thus phased out in the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s in favour of two cars, the large family car 405 and the executive car 605. Peugeot kept the estate version of the 505 in production until 1992, and had planned to replace it with an estate version of the 605, but this was eventually abandoned. The car was launched in July 1989 in left-hand drive form; a right-hand version was launched onto the British market during the first half of 1990. At the time of the original launch, only petrol engines were available. In April 1990, the turbodiesel followed, and the naturally aspirated diesel was added in autumn 1990. High equipment levels, a luxurious interior, a smooth ride, and exceptional handling were strong points for the 605. But Peugeot had always struggled to succeed with large cars outside France and the 605 was no different. It was too similar in design and appearance to the smaller Peugeot 405 to command a price premium, while its dashboard also drew criticism for its uninspired design. PSA Peugeot Citroën, like Vauxhall/Opel, has not been able to address the "luxury brand" issue effectively, the automobile market seeming to reward segmentation by brands from one factory, like Lexus/Toyota, Acura/Honda, and Audi/Volkswagen. Also like the XM, the 605 initially suffered from quality issues that resulted in numerous breakdowns or malfunctions (particularly with the ambitious electrics). An extensive recall operation took place at great cost, in which most of the engine room wiring and exhaust system (as well as numerous other parts) were exchanged, but by then the damage to the car's reputation had been done. In 1995, Peugeot tried to solve the problems by unveiling an extensively revamped 605 (known as the "Phase 2" model); it received a facelift which looked modern at its time, but also the interior was vastly improved by giving it more ergonomic controls and a refreshed look. The naturally aspirated diesel was discontinued at this time, as the new 406 was placed