RE: Peugeot 308 GTI | PH Used Buying Guide
Discussion
Like these a lot, saw one in the flesh a while back (it stood out, being fairly unusual) and thought it looked good in an understated sort of way. It didn’t have the stupid paint option, I should add.
Must admit though, the cost of those brake discs is a real surprise - just not the sort of thing I’d expect on a 4 cylinder hot hatch.
Even so, if I was in the market for such a thing (instead of currently saving for something far less sensible and with a lot more cylinders) I’d be very tempted by one of these. So much less obvious than a Golf, and much better looking than the Focus ST.
Must admit though, the cost of those brake discs is a real surprise - just not the sort of thing I’d expect on a 4 cylinder hot hatch.
Even so, if I was in the market for such a thing (instead of currently saving for something far less sensible and with a lot more cylinders) I’d be very tempted by one of these. So much less obvious than a Golf, and much better looking than the Focus ST.
The sat nav does accept postcodes - you enter it in the “city” box.
I preferred the way the 308 270 drove to the RCZ-R but the 208 GTi was a better steer in generally. I didn’t mind the little steering wheel and high dial position when I had the 208 GTI but having gone back to a traditional size wheel I feel it is a quirk too far.
If they’d done a 308SW GTi I’d be interested in a used one.
I preferred the way the 308 270 drove to the RCZ-R but the 208 GTi was a better steer in generally. I didn’t mind the little steering wheel and high dial position when I had the 208 GTI but having gone back to a traditional size wheel I feel it is a quirk too far.
If they’d done a 308SW GTi I’d be interested in a used one.
I had one of these and fortunately I got the breaks replaced under warranty after the pistons seized. The total bill was over £3k, mental really on a Peugeot
I then had one of the high pressure fuel injectors fail while on the M62. Fortunate again to have most of the cost of that repair covered on an extended warranty I took out. I ditched it after that as it felt like the next big problem wasn't far away
I then had one of the high pressure fuel injectors fail while on the M62. Fortunate again to have most of the cost of that repair covered on an extended warranty I took out. I ditched it after that as it felt like the next big problem wasn't far away
Edited by Juanco20 on Sunday 7th March 15:25
Edited by Juanco20 on Sunday 7th March 15:25
New plugs every year is just madness - with modern Iridium or Platinum plugs they should be able to be spec'd for 3~5 years (up to 40~60k miles). It tends to suggest the coils are marginal for the boost of the engine and why they are prone to misfire as they don't need much deterioration to fail to be "man" enough
Coils on turbo engines are pretty tricky as high boost pressure, especially when combined with a fairly high compression ratio, means you need a higher voltage output from the coil to initiate the spark, Probably better to reduce the plug gap a smidge (smaller gap = less voltage needed to fire the spark) but that might make the idle a bit rougher
Coils on turbo engines are pretty tricky as high boost pressure, especially when combined with a fairly high compression ratio, means you need a higher voltage output from the coil to initiate the spark, Probably better to reduce the plug gap a smidge (smaller gap = less voltage needed to fire the spark) but that might make the idle a bit rougher
Have run one as a daily for almost 3 years. The best allrounder I have had - great performance, suspension and road holding are pure wizardry - I call it ‘grip and go’, and engine has been faultless with long term 40mpg. Love the interior too, don’t get all the criticism of that. Brakes are a big issue. Peugeot didn’t spec them with external dust seals, unheard of for a road car. So the caliper pistons rust and seize with the first taste of salt. Not impressed with response from Peugeot. The answer is a company that does stainless pistons, they will also rebuild your calipers. If you need new discs then go for Tarox. Expensive but overall still quids in due to the massive discounts on new or pre-reg cars. Tyres - uniroyal rainsports are good and somewhat cheaper than the Michelins.
ajap1979 said:
Couldn’t live with the dash, truly awful.
I had a GT as a hire car a few years ago. It looked good in blue and the interior looked a step up from Peugeots of the past. The small steering wheel took a little getting used to but was fine. It was the over complicated touch screen controls which would rule it out for me (which is also why I wouldn't go for the new Golf). Simple things like adjusting the temp/fan speed had meant taking your eyes of the road and fiddle with tapping the screen. Not for me.DCerebrate said:
Have run one as a daily for almost 3 years. The best allrounder I have had - great performance, suspension and road holding are pure wizardry - I call it ‘grip and go’, and engine has been faultless with long term 40mpg. Love the interior too, don’t get all the criticism of that. Brakes are a big issue. Peugeot didn’t spec them with external dust seals, unheard of for a road car. So the caliper pistons rust and seize with the first taste of salt. Not impressed with response from Peugeot. The answer is a company that does stainless pistons, they will also rebuild your calipers. If you need new discs then go for Tarox. Expensive but overall still quids in due to the massive discounts on new or pre-reg cars. Tyres - uniroyal rainsports are good and somewhat cheaper than the Michelins.
The calipers have internal dust seals and the pistons have a tightly controlled surface finish developed from and validated by an extensive testing regime to ensure they don’t have any issues. We literally submerge them in a bath full of salty, muddy crap and cycle them hundreds of thousands of times over the space of months.The setup also isn’t unheard of and has been used for many, many years on road cars, even Defenders have a similar setup. The only thing that’s advisable is to clean the sliding area of the pistons before they’re pushed back into the calipers on a pad change, easily done as they’re a closed bridge caliper that needs to be removed during a pad change anyway.
I’m sorry if you’ve had an issue with it and obviously it’s impossible to eliminate every problem that might occur in service but it’s the first I’ve heard of it being a common problem and Peugeot are actually a pretty fastidious customer. I’ve actually travelled to France visiting dealerships to attend to owners cars for issues far less serious than what you’re describing.
Had my 270 for 2 years, 30,000 miles.
Brilliant car. Great fun on track days, but could still do the tip run.
The clonking from the front is the dampers, just need a little lubricant.
The backward rev counter makes sense due to the design of the dash.
The brakes were too good for the car, and a little unnecessary.
The engine was fantastic. 270 from a 1.6, that drove brilliantly. For me totally reliable.
Without doubt the best all rounder I have had and probably the most fun hot hatch from its peers. So why did I sell? The car reintroduced me to actually enjoying driving, so I sold it to buy a Westfield and a shed for a daily.
Brilliant car. Great fun on track days, but could still do the tip run.
The clonking from the front is the dampers, just need a little lubricant.
The backward rev counter makes sense due to the design of the dash.
The brakes were too good for the car, and a little unnecessary.
The engine was fantastic. 270 from a 1.6, that drove brilliantly. For me totally reliable.
Without doubt the best all rounder I have had and probably the most fun hot hatch from its peers. So why did I sell? The car reintroduced me to actually enjoying driving, so I sold it to buy a Westfield and a shed for a daily.
The Wookie said:
The calipers have internal dust seals and the pistons have a tightly controlled surface finish developed from and validated by an extensive testing regime to ensure they don’t have any issues. We literally submerge them in a bath full of salty, muddy crap and cycle them hundreds of thousands of times over the space of months.
The setup also isn’t unheard of and has been used for many, many years on road cars, even Defenders have a similar setup. The only thing that’s advisable is to clean the sliding area of the pistons before they’re pushed back into the calipers on a pad change, easily done as they’re a closed bridge caliper that needs to be removed during a pad change anyway.
I’m sorry if you’ve had an issue with it and obviously it’s impossible to eliminate every problem that might occur in service but it’s the first I’ve heard of it being a common problem and Peugeot are actually a pretty fastidious customer. I’ve actually travelled to France visiting dealerships to attend to owners cars for issues far less serious than what you’re describing.
The brake issue is very common. I was a member on a 308 GTI facebook page and loads suffered from it. Some managed to get them changed under warranty while others seemed to have more difficulty The setup also isn’t unheard of and has been used for many, many years on road cars, even Defenders have a similar setup. The only thing that’s advisable is to clean the sliding area of the pistons before they’re pushed back into the calipers on a pad change, easily done as they’re a closed bridge caliper that needs to be removed during a pad change anyway.
I’m sorry if you’ve had an issue with it and obviously it’s impossible to eliminate every problem that might occur in service but it’s the first I’ve heard of it being a common problem and Peugeot are actually a pretty fastidious customer. I’ve actually travelled to France visiting dealerships to attend to owners cars for issues far less serious than what you’re describing.
Juanco20 said:
The brake issue is very common. I was a member on a 308 GTI facebook page and loads suffered from it. Some managed to get them changed under warranty while others seemed to have more difficulty
I’m stunned, any warranty stuff related to our parts gets referred back to us. I’m going to have to ask our team.Wook, all respect for the job you do, but it seems that Peugeot UK call handlers just stonewall their customers. I was quoted several hundred pounds labour just to pull apart the calipers without any assurance that I would get refunded. I later put the rusted caliper pistons (happened on original pads) and ruined brake discs with 20000 miles into the dealer for inspection. Nowt came of that. The issue is all over the Peugeot forums and a company specialises in making stainless caliper pistons - which tells us all we need to know about the design. Still grateful that there is an engineering solution as was otherwise totally impressed by the car.
DCerebrate said:
Wook, all respect for the job you do, but it seems that Peugeot UK call handlers just stonewall their customers. I was quoted several hundred pounds labour just to pull apart the calipers without any assurance that I would get refunded. I later put the rusted caliper pistons (happened on original pads) and ruined brake discs with 20000 miles into the dealer for inspection. Nowt came of that. The issue is all over the Peugeot forums and a company specialises in making stainless caliper pistons - which tells us all we need to know about the design. Still grateful that there is an engineering solution as was otherwise totally impressed by the car.
I don’t suppose you took some photos? If so would you mind sending me a PM.To be frank I don’t take a huge amount of heed of someone making pistons for our calipers. I know there’s a fairly prolific bloke knocking about on the forums and Facebook that has made a hobby horse of attacking our products so he can sell his wares since long before the 308 GTI was even conceived.
However I do take the story of you pulling rusty pistons out of your own calipers very seriously.
The Wookie said:
I’m stunned, any warranty stuff related to our parts gets referred back to us. I’m going to have to ask our team.
Had the same issue with my RCZR, no problem having the calipers and pads replaced though, I think its more down to the dealer than customer services, my dealer was very helpful, took pictures of the pads and caliper pistons, sent them off to Peugeot for an engineer to come and assess, he came back and said replace them under warranty, no issues, no fuss, just done.Have not had to go to customer services for anything, my dealer is just amazing tbh when it comes to helping their customers
Having worked as a service adviser in a Peugeot Main Dealer I do know that the processes for warranty claims were convoluted and difficult. This was as a result of directives from Peugeot themselves. If any of the stages were incorrect, or missed out, the claim was rejected. This was also the reason that cars with injector failures would only have the faulty ones replaced, rather than all of them at once, even logic would tell you it would be more cost effective to do them all at once.
Having said that, they were pretty reasonable about goodwill, if you managed to tick all of their boxes.
I'd happily have another 208 GTi, or a 308 GTi.
Having said that, they were pretty reasonable about goodwill, if you managed to tick all of their boxes.
I'd happily have another 208 GTi, or a 308 GTi.
Juanco20 said:
The Wookie said:
The calipers have internal dust seals and the pistons have a tightly controlled surface finish developed from and validated by an extensive testing regime to ensure they don’t have any issues. We literally submerge them in a bath full of salty, muddy crap and cycle them hundreds of thousands of times over the space of months.
The setup also isn’t unheard of and has been used for many, many years on road cars, even Defenders have a similar setup. The only thing that’s advisable is to clean the sliding area of the pistons before they’re pushed back into the calipers on a pad change, easily done as they’re a closed bridge caliper that needs to be removed during a pad change anyway.
I’m sorry if you’ve had an issue with it and obviously it’s impossible to eliminate every problem that might occur in service but it’s the first I’ve heard of it being a common problem and Peugeot are actually a pretty fastidious customer. I’ve actually travelled to France visiting dealerships to attend to owners cars for issues far less serious than what you’re describing.
The brake issue is very common. I was a member on a 308 GTI facebook page and loads suffered from it. Some managed to get them changed under warranty while others seemed to have more difficulty The setup also isn’t unheard of and has been used for many, many years on road cars, even Defenders have a similar setup. The only thing that’s advisable is to clean the sliding area of the pistons before they’re pushed back into the calipers on a pad change, easily done as they’re a closed bridge caliper that needs to be removed during a pad change anyway.
I’m sorry if you’ve had an issue with it and obviously it’s impossible to eliminate every problem that might occur in service but it’s the first I’ve heard of it being a common problem and Peugeot are actually a pretty fastidious customer. I’ve actually travelled to France visiting dealerships to attend to owners cars for issues far less serious than what you’re describing.
This is a very well known and documented problem.
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