Peugeot 206 GTi - a cautionary tale
Discussion
When I stopped being a driving instructor last December, and looking around for a daily driver, I decided it had to be something with a bit of go after spending the best part of a decade driving round in cars which most people wouldn't be seen dead in!
Friend of mine advised me to go for a Golf GTi but I've always thought they looked a bit boring, and I've never liked the way they seem to have put on weight over the years. Anyway having owned about half a dozen of the things, I decided he was biased and went my own way. As I’d used a 1.2 206 a few years back for driving instruction purposes and quite liked it, I started looking for a 206 GTi and ended up with this one.
It was a 2002 (02 reg) in China Blue and had only done 76,000 miles. Obviously it had all the toys – CD with autochanger, auto wipers, auto lights, etc, but what really attracted me was the leather interior – a £1,000 option when the car was new. And it was reasonably tidy; few little blemishes, but nothing to worry about.
Actually, there was a lot to worry about. Every little thing that went wrong with it, turned out not to be a little thing! Considering the dealer’s claim to have ‘gone over it with a fine tooth comb’ before I took delivery, it seemed to need a hell of a lot done at the first service! Then it needed £600 spent at MOT time, and strange noises up front led to the engine and gearbox mountings, drop links and bottom something-or-others being replaced. Then I took it in to have the tracking done, and was given something called an ‘alignment report.’ That didn’t look good either – everything was out, and of course on those, nothing is adjustable!
I was also beginning top notice a lamentable lack of front-end grip. Swapping the tyres front to rear, then putting a new pair on the front, didn’t help.
‘Mr Golf’ and I had a good look round it one day and discovered some strange discrepancies between the panel gaps, particularly at the rear. One side of the tailgate was slightly below the level of the rest of the body, the other side above. I reckon the car’s been in an accident at one time (but no insurance claim involved so it didn’t show up on the HPI report) and the tailgate was replaced. That explains why the car only had the standard 206 rear spoiler as opposed to a GTi one – they couldn’t find a GTi tailgate in the right colour.
As you can imagine, I got rid of it pretty quickly after that! The GTi spoiler I bought is sat in the back of the garage, shortly to go on eBay.
So the moral of the story is, don't be taken in by a snazzy interior, check carefully and do all the homework.
(Stay tuned to the Readers Cars section for its replacement.)
Friend of mine advised me to go for a Golf GTi but I've always thought they looked a bit boring, and I've never liked the way they seem to have put on weight over the years. Anyway having owned about half a dozen of the things, I decided he was biased and went my own way. As I’d used a 1.2 206 a few years back for driving instruction purposes and quite liked it, I started looking for a 206 GTi and ended up with this one.
It was a 2002 (02 reg) in China Blue and had only done 76,000 miles. Obviously it had all the toys – CD with autochanger, auto wipers, auto lights, etc, but what really attracted me was the leather interior – a £1,000 option when the car was new. And it was reasonably tidy; few little blemishes, but nothing to worry about.
Actually, there was a lot to worry about. Every little thing that went wrong with it, turned out not to be a little thing! Considering the dealer’s claim to have ‘gone over it with a fine tooth comb’ before I took delivery, it seemed to need a hell of a lot done at the first service! Then it needed £600 spent at MOT time, and strange noises up front led to the engine and gearbox mountings, drop links and bottom something-or-others being replaced. Then I took it in to have the tracking done, and was given something called an ‘alignment report.’ That didn’t look good either – everything was out, and of course on those, nothing is adjustable!
I was also beginning top notice a lamentable lack of front-end grip. Swapping the tyres front to rear, then putting a new pair on the front, didn’t help.
‘Mr Golf’ and I had a good look round it one day and discovered some strange discrepancies between the panel gaps, particularly at the rear. One side of the tailgate was slightly below the level of the rest of the body, the other side above. I reckon the car’s been in an accident at one time (but no insurance claim involved so it didn’t show up on the HPI report) and the tailgate was replaced. That explains why the car only had the standard 206 rear spoiler as opposed to a GTi one – they couldn’t find a GTi tailgate in the right colour.
As you can imagine, I got rid of it pretty quickly after that! The GTi spoiler I bought is sat in the back of the garage, shortly to go on eBay.
So the moral of the story is, don't be taken in by a snazzy interior, check carefully and do all the homework.
(Stay tuned to the Readers Cars section for its replacement.)
in my more inexperienced days i bought a ford ka (i know...) that looked clean enough, took it for its first mot 6 months later and it failed due to being completly rusted out underneath, i was quoted about a grand to fix it, so went back to the original garage to argue my money back...serves me right for not checking the car over properly!
Hope the replacement is better to you!
Hope the replacement is better to you!
cullen, I sold it to a dealer, and came clean about all the work that had been done.
Did consider going back to the dealer that sold it to me, but in my experience they just tell you the warranty doesn't cover whatever it is you complain about and you're no better off.
Buyer beware is what it amounts to!
Did consider going back to the dealer that sold it to me, but in my experience they just tell you the warranty doesn't cover whatever it is you complain about and you're no better off.
Buyer beware is what it amounts to!
Hmm. Sounds like you may have been ripped off for some of the work as well. Drop links - £30 for both and half hour labour, bottom ball joints - MAX £100 a side with labour. The alignment can be adjusted on the front but the rear is a torsion bar arrangement. Might have suffered "saggy beam" syndrome where the trailing arm bearings fail causing worrying camber and peculiar handling. New beam or lots of £'s to fix.
Shame as I've always liked the look of these and that interior looks lovely. You're not the first person who's told me to run to the hills rather than buy one though
Shame as I've always liked the look of these and that interior looks lovely. You're not the first person who's told me to run to the hills rather than buy one though
Edited by StoatInACoat on Sunday 31st July 13:37
StoatInACoat said:
You're not the first person who's told me to run to the hills rather than buy one though
And won't be the last, Honestly when these things start to go wrong they never get well again. Avoid at all costs.Pity because on their day they can be fairly entertaining little things, numb steering aside.
StoatInACoat, it was the rear that cost £600 - the front was only £200 - and the person who did that advised me to ditch it ASAP.
After all that work, and the tracking, and new tyres, it still handled like a row of books falling off a shelf. It's always a shame when something you've looked forward to turns out to be such a disappointment - like pulling Katy Perry only to find she farts in bed.
After all that work, and the tracking, and new tyres, it still handled like a row of books falling off a shelf. It's always a shame when something you've looked forward to turns out to be such a disappointment - like pulling Katy Perry only to find she farts in bed.
NickHKent said:
I had one of these when I was 21 (9 years ago!), it was a year old when I got it but I couldn't hack the relentless issues it had so got shot of it in the end.
It drank petrol too- these things could really do with a 6th gear!
I get 33mpg from mine on my urban commute, but I'm sure you wouldn't get much more down the motorway.It drank petrol too- these things could really do with a 6th gear!
I find mine amusing enough, just a shame the driving position is long on arm and the pedals too close together.
Evangelion said:
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