Peugeot 306?

[tigerstyle]

I'm needing a new car soon, and for a budget of upto around £1000 a Peugeot 306 seems to tick a lot of boxes, wondering what the OcUK masses thing of them in a snog/marry/avoid type fashion.

I'd specifically be looking at HDi Meridian Estates, for the engine characteristics and the high(ish) spec levels the car has inside, electric things, aircon, half leather seats etc.

Any things to look out for on them?
What else would you buy for the cash?

 

[Rob Turbo]

The aircon won't work, it never does in 306's, watch out for wonky rear wheels, can be an expensive fix. I've had a few 306's not bad cars, the HDi remaps well, I have stage 1 and 2 remap files, just need to get my 406 running on the Bosch (like the 306) instead of Siemens management and I'll be remapping again!

 

[pokerking]

Had 3 all in the space of a year when I first passed!

306 R Reg, 1.9 D! Insurance wise was very good for a first car, big compared to a 106 and Fiesta so to me it felt a little safer! Very poor engine though, pitifully slow, very good on fuel however. Everything seemed to work ok, didn't have AC. Brilliant first car.

306 HDi 2.0 Meridian. Was a fantastic car such an upgrade to the 1.9D. Had half leather and all electrics, also rain sensing wipers. Everything worked ok and not a fault to mention engine wise, ran like a dream. Quite noisy though. AC never worked as the pipes get corroded been so old. Would cost too much to fix.

306 1.6 Meridian, Best of the bunch. Much quitter inside due to been an Petrol so you got no nasty plastic rattling on idle at traffic lights and such. Again been an Meridian it had half leather and AC plus electric windows and wipers. AC did not work and it was very good on fuel too.

All in all cant fault the 306 they were all brilliant cars and very cheap to buy and maintain.

For me much better than the usual stuff around this price range.

 

[topshot]

If you can save a bit more and get a Gti-6. Excellent cars, had my old one for 8 years with no major issues. Great fun to drive, last of the decent peugeots in my opinion. wish I had never sold it to be honest.

 

[CaptainUnlikely]

I had two, a 1.9D with no spec except an electric sunroof and central locking, and a 2.0HDi LX which added remote central locking, electric front windows, AC which as above didn't work and not much more, so both quite basic. I did a fairly hefty commute of 80 miles a day for about 6 months in the 1.9 and a further year or so in the HDi. Both very good on fuel, the 1.9 I had some issues with but it did have moon miles. The HDi I don't think I had anything go wrong with, bought on 80K and sold on 120K, saw it last year still going strong!
Common issue seems to be the heater matrix which went on my 1.9, wasn't cheap to fix as it's the same as most cars, needs the dash removed which is quite a lot of labour so can get expensive. I think the only other problem I had was a slightly dodgy door sensor which meant that sometimes when I locked it, it would unlock right away. Trying again a few times or opening and shutting the doors usually fixed it and it never unlocked itself once locked, never did track down which sensor was the problem.

 

[~Mike~]

306 1.6 Meridian, Best of the bunch. Much quitter inside due to been an Petrol so you got no nasty plastic rattling on idle at traffic lights and such. Again been an Meridian it had half leather and AC plus electric windows and wipers. AC did not work and it was very good on fuel too.

Great little car that one. (my AC packed up as well)

 

[tigerstyle]

Have heard the rear beams can be trouble, and that swapping the whole thing isn't too hard to diy. Happy to get into that. Or refreshing the bearings can be done.
Heater matrix, happy to diy also.

No dodgy rust traps, or other hiding horrors?

 

[CaptainUnlikely]

Mine were both very rust free at 15 and 10 years old respectively, never found a single bit on either.

 

[Traffic_Warden]

Galvanised body's so rust shouldn't be an issue .

As above AC not working and rear beams failing. Both issues I had on my 1.9Dturbo apart from that they are so comfy! And great cars in general.

 

[Rob Turbo]

They don't seem to rust, unless they've been in an accident!

The rear beam swap isn't really hard, especially if it's got rear disks, if it's got drums you have the added bonus of brake bleeding as well, still not hard though, once the bearings have gone they usually ruin the shafts and eventually ruin the rube as well, it may pay you to replace the bearings and seals before they go. I did that on my last 306, still have the beam sat in the shed ready for if I get another 306!

 

[233]

306 td once screw modded officially the fastest car in the known world women will swoon blokes will admire you and supercar owners will look the other way

Being serious though decent enough motors albeit air on never works and if the rear wheels are wonky your looking at a £500 bill

 

[Steve_bullockuk]

I've owned 2 Rallye's in recent times. Hands down the best car I have owned for the smiles per miles factor at such a cheap cost. They do require a lot of TLC though. It is definitely a love/hate type of deal with these.

However, as people have said, you need to look out for the rear beam issues which seem to plague high mile examples. You can get a good idea if there is an issue with these simply by breaking hard. If you hear a knocking under hard breaking from the rear then it will need rear beam mounts. The parts are cheap and it is a job that can by done on the drive without much issue.

Also, make sure you check for knocking under full-lock from the front suspension. This will indicate faulty top mounts.

Also, second hand rebuilt rear-beams can be bought for not as much money as you might think.

 

[Berger]

Had a GTI-6 and a Rallye.

Watch for worn dampers and springs occasionally snap.

Camber on rear beam is a sign its knackered. Aircon won't work as said above.

If you do look at a GTI the clutch will most likely be heavy, new genuine clutch and clutch cable will sort it, the routing of the cable passes the exhaust which dries it out.

Gearbox is notchy when cold, but smooth when warmed up.

Rear beam mounts will be worn by now, replace with OE only or solid mounts, aftermarket are crud.


HDi seem to be good and reliable engines!

 

[[TW]Fox]

If you can save a bit more and get a Gti-6.

I can't see why buying a GTi-6 3 door is the best idea for somebody who wants a diesel estate?

 

[Berger]

Another thing, the rear callipers can be a pain. They seize up over time and pretty much stop working. You need to check the compensator valve works properly and that the sliders and pistons are free. Most of the time you won't notice until an MOT fail for handbrake efficiency.

A new set of discs and pads which shouldn't be more than fifty quid and greasing the right parts fixes it. Once working as long as the cars used regularly they will be ok. If left to stand the rear discs rust and are very difficult to clean up again properly as you will never brake that hard on the road to involve them much.

 

[fonzee]

True that ^ must have swapped 3 pairs of rear calipers now on various cits/pugs due to them seizing :/

Great cars though, for under a grand I can't think of much better. They don't rust/are generally reliable and drive well.

If going for the HDI, get Y reg onwards, half the tax.

 

[eatcustard]

Electrics always problems with electrics

 

[tigerstyle]

Thanks all, the advice given exactly covered the points I needed to look at more closely on them. Got one with a bent rear beam for cheap, had the whole beam swapped out for a refurb unit with all new discs/pads/hubs/bushes I supplied myself. So should be set to go for a while now! The brakes were £25, could've spent £50 but really didn't need to, save that money for the fronts, and no load compensator on the later models so no hassles there.

Wired in my Pioneer headunit today, and can keep using the steering stalk controls which is cool, and have a few small mods to do over the next weeks, EGR blank, 15" wheels to put on with new tyres replacing the 14" ones and ditchfinders on it now.
Then once it proves to be reliableish stage1 tune with remap+cat removal and swap the backbox over to an open flow type one, mostly in the hope of improving mpg and giving it a bit more grunt, but for now she's fine!

Just found out yesterday it's got a faulty MAF on it, unplugged it for now but going to try cleaning it tomorrow. Missed out on getting a Y for the cheaper tax, over a few years of use it won't add up to much though.











comes complete with ultra rare rear load cover, and the even rarer under engine tray too (not shown in pics)

 

[Berger]

Good buy, those seats are really comfortable too.

Should be able to get 15" "cyclone" alloys pretty cheaply which are a direct fit. People put 195/50/15 tyres on these as they are cheaper than the correct size of 195/55/15, it may not bother you, but it makes the car look a little odd, will sit a tad lower and the speedo will over-read slightly.

 

[tigerstyle]

I bought some 15'' laser Peugeot alloys for it already! Don't really like the cyclones they suit the sportier hatches better IMHO. And have heard the same about the tyres too. The guy who sold me the alloys passes on lots of tips.