Pug 206

Roweyboi

Roweyboi

Roweyboi

Associate
Joined
22 Apr 2007
Posts
253
Im going to view a peugot 206 this evening...now this is only the 2nd car ive ever viewed. the first car i viewed i bought. so what exactly do i look for when im there? do pugs have any common faults?
its a 1.4, LX, X reg, if that helps anyone. any advice would be appreciated...obviously not the 'dont get one' advice tho :)
cheers
 
To quote an old post of mine.

I have driven one in one of my driving lessons, the interior was nasty, it was slow, driving position was horrid and the pedals were typically French. It died and was replaced with a Corsa which felt 100 times better, which is certainly saying something!

Reviews seem to agree with me:

Build quality issues, awkward pedals and poor driving position, slack gearchange
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Most of the engines in the 206 are loud, not helped by the obvious lack of noise insulation while there's intrusive wind noise at higher speed. It certainly doesn't feel very refined. The lack of support in the front seats can make longer journeys tiring and the cramped driving position doesn't help comfort either - it's certainly not a car that is designed for long motorway journeys.
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However it's desperately showing it's age - especially compared to the newer 207 and the awkward driving position, cramped rear and lack of refinement are only half the story. The scratchy plastics on the dash and flimsy build quality do it few favours either.
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There have been plenty of recalls for things such as seat belt issues, possible failing airbags, windscreen wipers problems and suspension faults. 206s can suffer from indicator stalk problems and check electric door mirrors (where fitted) too
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Crudely-grained interior plastics, hatchback less fun to drive than expected, odd driving position, close-set pedals, some reliability problems
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The mechanicals are robust and well-proven. However, the 206 can be unreliable: we've had reports of problems including engine cut-out, wiper and headlight failure, central locking faults, dodgy audio equipment and general electrical glitches. Owners are also reporting poorly-made seats and trim faults, disturbing engine noises and gearbox problems. Customer satisfaction and reliability surveys back-up our anecdotal evidence: the 206 can often be found in the bottom 20 cars in big surveys.
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http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/carreviews/driver_power_2007/207814/peugeot_206.html

It's one of the most familiar models in the UK, but the 206 is proving to be a letdown in the long term. It's climbed two places over its 2006 position, but there are some familiar drawbacks. An awkward driving position and sloppy gearchange are exacerbated by grabby brakes and a tendency for sporty variants to lose grip at the rear when cornering at speed. The new 207 improves on these failings, but only time will tell if it can better its predecessor’'s reliability and build woes.

“The quality is disappointing. And there's a permanent problem with the driver's seat. I have to continually force it back so I can actually get in.”
Mr Bev Theobald - Gloucesterhsire

“Great fun, but difficult to live with - mainly due to poor pedal positioning which aches your legs after long journeys. ”
Mr Michael Dawson – South Yorks

“Overall it is good fun. Considering it only has a 1.6 engine, it picks up well, makes a good noise and handling is pretty good. The only problem is that the fun goes out of the window when I think about reliability. I bought a new car to avoid hassle but it spent five months of its first nine months faulty and in for repair! I waited almost three months for a faulty airbag to be fixed and when that was resolved, I had all manner of engine and ignition problems that took it off the road for another three months. This is a real let down and has put me off of Peugeot as the dealers don't seem to be able to fix the problems. ”
Mr Anton Keyte - Warks

“Decent car for the price paid, however not very economical with fuel. ”
Mr John Cooper - Sevenoaks

“Good little car on the whole, though 'road noise' when travelling is quite loud - economy is excellent, however.”
Mr John Tidmarsh - Worcestershire

“I am generally pleased with my car I have had no major problems with it although it has developed an annoying vibration behind the dashboard when you reach a certain rev. It's a harder ride than I expected and you can watch the fuel gauge drop as you are driving, but it is very quick and fun to drive. ”
Mr Andy Hawkins - Surrey
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http://www.dvdcompare.net/peugeotfault.php

THE PEUGEOT 206 FATAL FAULT

ARE PEUGEOT WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO DIE UNTIL THEY TAKE ACTION?

In short, there have been instances where people have been driving their Peugeot 206 and have experienced a potentially life threatening problem which Peugeot are unable to resolve. The problem can be apparent in ALL models of Peugeot 206, no matter the age, engine size, condition or model.

The problem is simple: you can be driving along at any speed, in any gear and all of a sudden the whole car loses complete power. Every single warning light on the dashboard comes on and the car starts to lose speed at an alarming rate. Because the car has no power this means no power steering (which makes it much harder to steer) and the brakes go hard (which means it takes much longer to brake but when you're doing 70mph this isn't much help). Therefore if this happens in the fast lane of a motorway, there is a high chance you will be killed.

There is NO WARNING when this problem will happen. It comes completely out of the blue which makes it even more dangerous. If you own a Peugeot 206 and haven't had the problem yet, DO NOT THINK YOU WON'T. My car in particular was over 3 years old before the problem occurred. In fact, this is the reason Peugeot first gave for the problem - i.e. it only affects cars older than 3 years. This has since been proven to be false and can affect cars as new as 3 WEEKS!

All modern cars have an Electronic Control Unit (ECU). This is the "brain" of the car and is similar to a black box found within aeroplanes. If a fault occurs with the car, it should be registered on the ECU. You then simply take your car into your local official Peugeot dealership, they will hook your car's ECU up to their diagnostics machine and that will then tell them where the fault is and how it can be fixed. Except it doesn't. EVERY SINGLE reported engine cut out problem has NEVER registered on ANY ECU. This is where the main problem lies. Peugeot are unable to recreate the problem, there is no record of it on the ECU which basically means Peugeot do not know how to solve it.

So what happens if you experience the problem? Well, if your car is still within warranty, take it down to your local official Peugeot dealership and they will carry out any repairs free of charge. However, the repairs are POINTLESS. Peugeot don't know what the problem is so just try and replace things they "think" will solve it. They will do this even when your car is out of warranty which means you will be paying for repairs YOU DO NOT NEED. So far, the following items have been repaired/replaced on people's Peugeot 206's who have experienced the problem:

New ECU - cost between £600 and £1,000
ECU upgrade (where they upgrade the car's software)
New coil pack
New MAP sensor
New terminal connectors
New spark plugs
New sensors on the air intake
New fuel injector
New fuel injector wiring loom

The list goes on and on and on. Some of the above items fix the problem for a few days/weeks/months but eventually the problem WILL return. Remember because this fault does not show up on the ECU, it will also not show up on an MOT test which means if you're buying a second hand Peugeot 206 which has a clean MOT BE WARNED!

My Dad bought his Peugeot 1.4 LX car in 1999 (T reg) and gave it to me in 2002. I used it for about a year and I had no problems. Then the engine cut out problem began and kept happening. In the end I was told by the David Kerr dealership in Chelmsford, Essex (official Peugeot dealership) I would need a new ECU. Because the car was out of warranty, this would cost me £700. I begrudingly paid it and the problem went away. Well so I thought...

The problem conveniently returned a few days after the 1 year warranty on the ECU expired. It cut out whilst I was in the fast lane of the motorway. Luckily the road wasn't very busy and I managed to wrestle the steering wheel over to the left and get into the hard shoulder. So basically I crossed 3 lanes of traffic with no power, no steering control and no brakes plus at the same time losing speed rapidly.

I took it back to David Kerr who upgraded the ECU software. The problem went away for a couple of months and then returned. I returned to David Kerr at least 4 more times over the next 2 years and had more software upgrades, a new coil pack and other pointless repairs too numerous to mention. Each time I had to fork out between £40 and £100.

In early March of this year (2006), the car cut out again and refused to re-start. I called The AA out and they said "the car has a serious electrical fault and is too dangerous to be fixed by the roadside". I was then towed to David Kerr where I left the car and refused to take it back. You can read what happened next here.

Although this problem has received lots of publicity both online, on TV and in the press, Peugeot are still being extremely complacent and are not doing ANYTHING to rectify the problem (they may well be trying to solve the problem behind the scenes but from a customer point of view it just isn't good enough).

If you own a Peugeot 206 and have experienced this problem, please sign the online petition here (this petition is located on another website and is not connected to dontbuypeugeot.com). It is the only way Peugeot will listen.

Peugeot do NOT seem to care about their customers. The way they have handled this whole situation proves this. From Head Office down to dealership level (who to be fair are only acting on what they are told by Peugeot Head Office), they really couldn't care less. Remember, the Peugeot 206 recently came 99th out of 100 in a poll of driver satisfaction carried out by AutoExpress magazine. Do not buy a Peugeot 206.

The Drive of Your Life? More like The Drive That Could End Your Life.
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http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.u...ers-manufacturers/15943-peugeot-206-ecus.html

I'm adding this thread purely as help to anyone who owns a Peugeot 206 which has or is behaving in, what can only be described as, a dangerous manner.

Our case begun about 6 months ago where, for no apparent reason, our 206 started to inexplicably lose power whilst travelling at speed, then immediatley pick up again, causing a jerking motion. Sometimes it wouldn't pick up again at all and grind to a halt. This was particularly dangerous when happening in the fast lane of a motorway. Other problems would include massive over revving whilst at a standstill, general stalling and jerking in slow moving traffic. Driving became very stressful (not to mention a bit of a lottery as to whether you made it home in one piece).

The thing is that when it was taken in to the dealer, they hooked it up to the computer which would show absolutely no fault at all, leading to a speculative diagnosis on each visit which invariably cost money (since the car was way out of warranty) for parts changed, which turned out to be unecessary.

To cut a long story short, our car gave out a crack on the way home from work one night, and the following mornign wouldn't start. It turned out that the coil pack had blown and spiked the ecu (the engines central computer). We had it towed to an alternative Peugeot dealer who's service manager told us it would cost about £1100 to fix. He seemed aware of this problem and agreed to fit a non Peugeot ecu if we bought one (for about half the price), which we did and all was and is now well.

Peugeot as a manufacturer still deny to this day that there is an inherent problem with their ecu's and this has lead to an online petition for 206 owners to lsit their cases - the results of which can be seen here - Peugeot 206 Online Petition

If you know of anyone with this problem or you've suffered yourself, take the time, as I did, to add your case to the growing list. Looking at some people's cases, it's only a matter of time before someone's killed.
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So erm yeah, not a great choice by all means.
 
Look out for terrible build quality, ropey electrics, soggy handling and an awful driving position. You should be easily able to spot all of these in any example you care to look at.
 
The classic answer is not to buy the first one you see regardless of condition as you need to see others to really guage it's condition. This doesn't work so well for rare cars, not that the 206 is rare.
 
I had a 206 2.0HDI 3dr for 2 years, i averaged 45mpg of mixed driving doing 15,000 miles both years, I had no problems with the engine, i did however have the passenger seat folding mechanism stop working, and the indicator stalk unit broke just before i sold it. It did me well and other than Tyers/Brakes/Servicing etc, It cost me very little indeed. Although it is a BAD car, it was good cheap fun for me aged 18 and meant i could travell all around the country with my job. Well thats my 2p anyway :)
 
With a name like 'roweyboi' would I be right in assuming this vehicle will receive a selection of tastefully chosen modifications?
 
[TW]Fox;14725328 said:
With a name like 'roweyboi' would I be right in assuming this vehicle will receive a selection of tastefully chosen modifications?
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:D


@OP: Get a Saxo VTR instead! Quicker than a 206 and easier to chav up ;)


Despite me being 18 & male my VTR is perfectly standard... for now.
 
Simply do not buy one of these they are awful.

The only reason I would drive one again is so that I can get back into my car and it feel like absolutely amazing.

Just don't, why not buy a fiesta or something?
 
Westyfield2 said:
:D


@OP: Get a Saxo VTR instead! Quicker than a 206 and easier to chav up ;)


Despite me being 18 & male my VTR is perfectly standard... for now.
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Nooo im not into any of this modification jibba jabba...the flashiest thing i got in my current fiesta is a kenwood cd player which cos £60 from halfords and i got an air freshner too, just looking for a reasonably priced car. but based on the comment you guys had for the 206 i didnt go see it...My search goes on
 
Roweyboi said:
do pugs have any common faults?
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Yes, EVERY Pug suffers from horrific body roll, a terrible gear change, no steering feel & a strange smell of onions, bar the 106/205/306 in GTI/Rallye flavours & the 406 Coupe.

As posted coil-packs tend to be a weakness with the 206, so check that it has been replaced as I believe they may be a few quids. Other than that I would imagine its just the usual checks for wear & tear from a ten year old car.
 
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