306 - What to expect

306 - What to expect

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hoddo

Original Poster:

3,798 posts

215 months

Thursday 19th October 2006
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I drive a 2000 306 HDI Dturbo (90bhp)

The car has covered 90k and I am wondering what (if anything) I should expect in terms of break downs, critical failures or things to keep an eye on?

The car has been fully serviced, had lots of love and is in tip top order. Never failed to fire up in the morning either!

Thanks for any help

busta

4,504 posts

233 months

Sunday 22nd October 2006
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Expect it to rattle a bit, because its french.

Other than that i think they are one of the best second hand buys on the market.

Rob_the_Sparky

1,000 posts

238 months

Monday 23rd October 2006
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Never run a new diesel but the older ones are stunningly reliable.

busta

4,504 posts

233 months

Monday 23rd October 2006
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Do the HDi's suffer from the same vast drop in economy (for a diesel) when you drive them hard like the earlier DTurbo's did? I always found that a bit off putting after driving non turbo pug diesels, where no matter how hard you dirve them they still seem to use hardly any fuel. They don't go much faster either but still...

I would agree on the reliability thing though, although my boss's 406 Hdi recently had an injector play up, putting soo much fuel into the cylinder that it did not combust and could not be compressed so the block cracked. It needed a new engine and the mechanic said it was something he had seen before, although not common.

WildCards

4,061 posts

217 months

Wednesday 1st November 2006
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I bought a 2000X 306 HDi Estate a week ago, i've done a little over 500 miles to 55 litres (41mpg) which isn't as high as i'd expected, but 500 miles to a tank is certainly better than 160 miles which i'm used to getting. Considering i've driven the car how I want to on country lanes for the most part it's still pretty good economy, i'm sure I could increase this through more sedate driving.

Mines done 132,000 miles and runs like new, it feels so tight and together i'm really impressed.

Mr Whippy

29,049 posts

241 months

Wednesday 1st November 2006
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Bought mine 6 months ago for about £3500 on a W plate, one owner from new, full peugeot service history.

Alloys bubbling, so stripped them down for a re-con. Some fail others don't, but it's a ball ache.

Alloys a bugger to balance. Again, some are great (had four sets now) but others never seem to want to balance without about 90g of weights.


Cambelt is set for 96k with tensioners, but I did mine at 72k when I got it. Tensioners were left but they are noisy and probably need doing soon, but on the lower rpm diesels they really can get bad (ie, falling in bits) before they pose real trouble.

Lower pulleys can fail, so could cause extensive damage. Peugeot updated the pulley and it cost me £120 ish when I did my cambelt (check profile for info so far)...

Standard brakes are prone to fade/warping. Fitting Gti6 spec bits helps alot... maybe just the way I drive?

Clutch slipping at 75k, so Peugeot took £300 off me for a new clutch and cable... kinda wish I'd done it DIY but I'd just done the cambelt a week or so before and couldn't be arsed

Cat's snap readily. My workmate bought a Y reg on 90k and it went the other month, my older brother has a W reg with 50k and his went a week after mine, so they do go. I bodged together an early Tdi downpipe and new centre section so it's decatted.

EGR playing up (solenoid getting loud and laggy I thought), so disconnected. Much better throttle response!

Fuel lines can whine, some models had dampers in the lines, but mine whines sometimes, more when cold (diesel thicker??). Bloody annoying.

Gearbox whines, again annoying. Older Tdi had stronger bigger clutch and gearbox and didn't whine. Hdi box is cheap in comparison (in my view)...


My brother and I have just bought new dampers (pre-emtive for MOT) as they are showing signs of leaking on both. So 6-7 years and 75k and they'll be broken. Bought gas Bilsteins so hopefully they'll last better and perform better.


Just one of them cars. I kinda like them because you get to fix things and learn about them. They are also very cheap for what they are, and the diesels hold their value very well. So a DIY/enthusiast car if you want to have the best from it, and they are not always so cheap to keep in good nick, but they are very fun to drive, and very easy to work with!

Economy isn't so good, nowhere near 54mpg for me, more like 43mpg average. You really need to be on the motorway LOTS and drive steadily to get 50mpg+

Standard seats are a bit naff in the D Turbo. Non-adjustable headrests, no rear headrests, and the top of the seats seem to fall away from your back. I've fitted the Gti6 airbagged seats and the comfort, safety (headrest adjust and location) and hold on your upper body when cornering are MUCH better.


Didn't want to spend £££ on this car, thats why I sold the Gti6, to save some pennies for a decent sports car. But so far I've fitted Gti6 brakes and leather which have made tons of difference, as has a decat and egr removal. Next step is ECU tweakery... Doh! Still, the £120+ saving a month in fuel, insurance and depreciation has easily covered these extra costs now!

Dave

Edited by Mr Whippy on Wednesday 1st November 12:34