Pug 306 2.0 16v XSi tips and pointers, decent cars or tripe?

Stormster

Stormster

Stormster

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,671
Location
Stoke-on-Trent
I've seen a really quite genuine, low milage, low owner and generally very good sounding 306 XSi... but I know NOTHING about them! lol. It's moonstone blue and really quite nice looking condition wise both inside and out. FSH, apparently drives well gearbox still tight, no funny noises etc, 2 owners, all paperwork etc from day one.

I believe they're a 2.0 16v, about 135BHP? It's a 2000 reg car.

What do you think to the performance of them... do they go well, quicker than Pug figures suggest? As I've read and seen plenty that Pug figures are tested with passengers, full tanks etc... and on the road in the real world are a little bit more spritely than suggested. I'm assuming the engine is the same as in the 206 GTI.

Reliable cars or dog poo? lol :) I know nowt about them but want something reliable without a doubt.

What are the running costs like? Fuel wise and general consumables? I do a lot of town driving so 30mpg would be nice really.

Any help, advice, opinions, anything you can think of would be MUCH appreciated - cheers all :) Wasn't at the top of my list but it does look a much more genuine car than most stuff I've been looking at I'm afraid.
 
They're not tripe - the certainly go very well.
At this age they are usually suffering the usual 306 problems - knackered suspension, temperamental electrics, tired interior, tatty trim, in need of brakes refurbing. Nothing that's the end of the world or ridiculously expensive to fix. Consumables cheap enough from Euro or GSF car parts.
I'm not aware of any specific XSi issues though.
 
Electrics are bad! Mine keep on messing up in my 1999 306, that’s all my mechanical brain can add! :D
 
The owner claims the suspension is all good and the interior (half leather) is immaculate with no wear to the seats, steering wheel, gearknob etc. It does sound in very nice condition overall. Milage is 60,000. He also claims everything electrical works as it should.

He does make it sound very good indeed overall. Shame it aint no GTI6 but then again finding a minter for 1300ish quid wouldn't be easy lol.

I meant to ask, do they have deadlocks? And if so, do they work from the remote? As I'd probably upgrade the alarm and have it delocked.
 
Last edited:
Stormster said:
Reliable cars or dog poo? lol :) I know nowt about them but want something reliable without a doubt.

What are the running costs like? Fuel wise and general consumables? I do a lot of town driving so 30mpg would be nice really.

Any help, advice, opinions, anything you can think of would be MUCH appreciated - cheers all :) Wasn't at the top of my list but it does look a much more genuine car than most stuff I've been looking at I'm afraid.
Click to expand...

What else have you been looking at? If reliability is really important to you, then I feel that Japanese or German cars usually outperform French cars on this front.

Rgds
 
To be honest I've been looking at all sorts, hot hatches up to 2k... but really most are dogs. Been looking at a few Phase 1 172's and they're all bangers. Some other nice P1's but 3k price tags, nice cars but too expensive... so I'm struggling finding something I like. MG ZR 160's but bangers under 2k and I'd be worried about the head gasket issue.

Otherwise been looking at run of the mill Focus's, Astra's etc 1.8/2.0's. Didn't consider a 306 until I saw the advert for this one as it sounds so genuine.
 
Stormster said:
To be honest I've been looking at all sorts, hot hatches up to 2k... but really most are dogs. Been looking at a few Phase 1 172's and they're all bangers. Some other nice P1's but 3k price tags, nice cars but too expensive... so I'm struggling finding something I like. MG ZR 160's but bangers under 2k and I'd be worried about the head gasket issue.

Otherwise been looking at run of the mill Focus's, Astra's etc 1.8/2.0's. Didn't consider a 306 until I saw the advert for this one as it sounds so genuine.
Click to expand...

P1's ? Impreza

Clio 1.8 16v?
 
digitalwolf said:
P1's ? Impreza

Clio 1.8 16v?
Click to expand...

I would guess he means Phase 1's. As much as I love the Clio 1.8 16v I would sway towards a 19 instead but you will be hard pressed to find a decent example anymore. The 306 would probably be a nicer place to be compared to a Clio/19.
 
Aye I don't wanna go any older than the 306 that's a definite really. Want the best of all worlds; comfort, bit of poke, cheap to run, quite reliable etc... I didn't really properly consider the 306 at all but this one seems a good 'un which tends to fit the bill of what I'm after I guess.

Thanks for the replies guys :) If anyone has anything specific to the model I'm looking at, which I should check over, feel free to throw it in the bag :D
 
Do these suffer a dodgy cam belt like the gti6 does? Not sure.

Other than that, pretty basic.

If it has air con make sure it works, there's a pipe that runs at the bottom of the nose that is exposed and will knacker over time making the air con not work, expensive to fix too. When you press the button the revs should rise and it should blow very cold obviously. (The button will still light up even if it doesn't work.)

It will be faster than Peugeots figures say too, the GTi6 is quoted at 8.5sec to 60 but everyone agrees (including Evo who tested it themselves) that it can get to 60 in 7.2sec
 
The XSi is a decent car in general I would say. They look good (in 3 door) and go well cos they don't weigh much.

Unless various suspension bits have been replaced already, they'll need doing soon. My XSi (albeit an 8v) needed new shocks at around 70k.

People here have summarised the normal 306 issues. To be honest, in my experience (an 8v XSi and a Rallye) they've been pretty reliable and very easy to repair when required.

The main things to check would be electrics and minor oil leaks as they're most annoying/time consuminge/expensive to repair. Check that abolsutely everything works okay before buying.

Other than that, a good car for the money.
 
I always thought the XSI version was an 8v? The 16v version would basically be a GTi-6 then really... Or is this just the older phase one XSI's?
 
The XSi was 8v to start with, then they released the 16v.

The S16 was basically a tweaked XSi whilst the Rallye and GTi-6 had a different head. Same block though iirc.

XSi 8v 123bhp
XSi 16v 135bhp
S16 155bhp
GTi/Rallye 167bhp
 
A friend used to have an XSi 16v, the head gasket gave up at about 50k miles and the air con compressor died too....

Dont know how common these things are, but they would have cost a fortune to sort
 
Don't want owt but a Phase 3 if I consider a 306. Unfortunately the XSi I mentioned has sold, but I will keep a look out as I love the moonstone blue colour and the phase 3 front end :) I'd have a GTI6 if I could find a good one for under 2k.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom