Peugeot 406 Coupe

Soldato
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Hi all,

I've been having musings recently about replacing my Mx5 with something a bit more comfortable - and I keep on coming back to the Peugeot 406 Coupe, notably the 3.0 V6.

You can pick up an early, immaculate example for around £1800-£2k these days, these are quite well specced. From what I read, they're also reasonably quick, with around 200bhp?

Has anyone had one? What downsides am I missing? What's the economy like? Anything in particular to look for when buying?

Thanks :)
 
Soldato
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I still really like these. I was half tempted to buy one but at the time couldn't afford the insurance on a V6 and the 2.0 wasn't really powerful enough to get the most out of it.

Only downside for me was the interior (dash was just carried straight across from the 406).

You can get them relatively cheap now too, only thing i remember seeing a lot of when i wanted one was stone chips on the front (and lots of them!)

Make sure you look at the ones with leather as the cloth interiors ming.
 
Soldato
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[TW]Fox;20163244 said:
It's been ages since I looked at these but seem to remember the V6 having rather expensive yet awesome Brembo brakes.

Yep, the V6 comes with Brembo brakes - apparently they're expensive to fix, but fine for replacement pads etc.
 
Associate
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Not too useful but my friend had one of these. The brakes were amazing and pretty fast too. I remember him complaining a little about economy but meh... :)
 
Soldato
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The Brembos are often nicked and fiited to 306 GTi6s, and I can confirm that they are rather good!

MPG figures aren't actually all bad either for a V6 :)
 
Associate
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I looked at one of these when I passed my test, settled for being sensible in the end but it was a lovely car. I think it was a V reg, inside was a bit dated, as you'd expect, cloth coming away at seems, seats didnt work properly, that sort of thing. It was a 2 litre which in the end was what made me choose something else, as its a big car and the engine was pretty awful. Insurance was pretty much comparable to pretty much everything I was trying at the time too.

The V6 by all accounts is supposed to be brilliant, and i think if it had been a V6 I would have gone for it.
 
Soldato
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I had one of those:

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Lovely bit of kit! Cambelt can be expensive to get done - and decent history is a must - but they're very stylish and comfortable cars.

They can cost an absolute fortune to run if you're unlucky, however, so buy carefully. I did a few thousand miles in mine though and had no issues, averaged 26.5mpg usually. That wasn't being particularly gentle, either.

Lots of kit, make a nice noise, refined, very sweet to drive....couldn't really complain. They're not particularly fast but I did find it engaging to drive, especially on sweeping country roads. One thing - bodywork (especially the bumpers) is unobtanium and ferociously costly to replace so be wary of ones with cosmetic damage.

They were made in Italy too, as well as being designed there. Lots of nice detailing too, so they feel quite special inside and out.

Someone on this forum bought it, is it still going? :D
 
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Associate
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It's all a bit Reddish...
Someone on this forum bought it, is it still going? :D

Yeah still going great :)

My girlfriend decided the car needed some aerodynamic adjustment and the best way to achieve this was a fist size hole in the front bumper and some go faster stripes in the paintwork on the driver's side :(

I'm not entirely blameless and whilst making 'enthusiastic progress' over a speed bump managed to crack the exhaust, which needed to be replaced :o

As Lashout has mentioned, trying to find a replacement for the bumper is proving to be a nightmare and for the time being I've decided to leave it and revisit at a later date.

All in all it's been a great car to own.

The noise it makes still puts a smile on my face and I'll sorely miss the car if I have to get rid.
 
Man of Honour
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My dad had a 406 Coupe V6 for a few years, it's an awesome car. The best car a French company has ever made.
 
Associate
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I had the pleasure of driving one of these from Stevenage up to Doncaster and it really is an excellent car for the money. This particular example had a custom stainless steel exhaust which really added to the to epic sound from the V6.

Can't believe they can be had for this price as they are usually highly spec'd.

Great cars and one of the best cars Peugeot have made.
 
Soldato
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My Dad had one of these for a while some years back (long story) ...that one was a 2.2 HDI so not as nice as the V6 but none the less I always kind of liked it. The only problem was the memory of the 530D Sport in replaced looming large in my mind (it wasn't really through choice). However it did ride rather well I thought, the seats were comfortable and it did look good, whatever you might think about the rest of the car I think it's hard not to like the looks.

I wouldn't say the interior was one of it's strong points though. It was alright, not bad but not good really.
 
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