Hi there,
Is anyone 'in the know' able to advise a private buyer (me) whether my work colleagues M 95 Peugeot 306 1.8 SR sedan is actually worth the £1500 he wants for it? It has SH up to 60k, he's done his own up to the now 97k. It's that nice tahiti blue, with alloys, but needs a b***** good valet, and sadly has 1 or 2 little dings on the wing and door from parking. Overall I'd say it would look very nice with a polish and hoover. Oh, and for some reason the little pip on the drivers door to work the lock has pinged off. Wierd. And the indicator lense clear outer on the front is missing.
Can anyone tell me roughly if this is a good deal?
Is this a good car for a young family (we have our first baby on the way and our Ford Ka will be too small.)
Apologies if this is a stupid request, it's my first post....
Tim P (Microbike)
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Peugeot 306's on a whole are excellent cars and easily top their class. I don't know much about the 1.8 engine, although I have owned a 2.0 HDI and currently have a 2.0 XSI. The main problem with Peugeot's and especially the 306 are it's crappy electrics. Apart from that, their engines are excellent especially the diesels, also 306's are renowned for their road holding. Although I would advise you to go for a diesel (they go on forever), seen as you require a family car which is economical.
£1500 doesn't sound bad at all, but what would concern me is when it comes to selling the car because the Sedan range and the 1.8 engines aren't really popular.
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OK Harry,
Thanks for this. These were my concerns as well - he can't sell it, and I don't want to buy a dud! The sedan seems very rare on the road, and I never see them for sale. This must be a bad thing. A hatch or estate would be more useful for us really, so maybe I will steer clear of this particular 306.
Basically, we have a budget of the price of our Ka (approx. up to £3500, but will consider spending less/more depending on how good the car is.)
I am trawling through the 306's in the Auto Trader, but many seem to be either very high priced trade cars (£5000) or high mile £3000 models. I think I would prefer a diesel, but not if there as sluggish as my old 405 used to be!
So any advice on choosing would be ideal. I have just tried an S reg Xsara 1.4i West coast for £4500 cash from a dealer, but found it a bit bland and underpowered. Also drove a Mitsubishi SpaceStar 1.3i which was revvy at 70mph and not nice inside on an S plate for £5400.
We need the car for carting baby bits around, usually a journey of 6 miles or so, and then 3-5 trips to London from Exeter every year, plus weekend trips out. We won't do more than 10k per annum.
Suggestions?
Also, how do people feel about HIGH MILEAGE diesel Peugeot 306's? Many I am looking at have 100k up now, and on top of that I am wondering whether an L/M reg with 100k offers better value than a P/R with only 60k but a large price tag. I'd be just as happy spending sub £2k than £5.
SO many questions!
Ta very much.
Tim P
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In my experience the PSA Peugeot/Citroen diesels are very happy at 100K upwards if they've been looked after. I think I've even detected improvements after about 90K. The 1.9 Turbo Ds go like stink. Just watch out for Turbo Ds from 1997-1998 - check the car-by-car for reasons why. Anyway, for £3500 you can do much, much better than this 1.8 petrol sedan.
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Offer him £1,300 and spend the other couple of hundred on Dentmaster or something. The 306 Sedan is an ugly b*****, but it's cheap, no worse than other cars of its kind. The 1.8 engine is less fairly thirsty and not great, but it's adequate for the car, insurance is low, and it's got a good colour and spec. If it's been well maintained, it should be good for another 30k over 2 or 3 years and you should still get £500 for it. It's banger motoring, but you're not sacrificing too much in the way of comfort or safety to save money.
On the other hand, if you acutally need the practicality of a hatch or estate, get one and don't bother with the sedan. Chris is right that a Turbo D hatch is fast, torquey, economical, desirable and practical, but that's also why they're £1500 to £2000 more than a petrol sedan, even at this age.
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Mine is a 1993 (L reg) 306 1.9 turbo diesel, owned from new.
The engine has been completely trouble-free over 109K miles apart from:
1. One faulty glow plug at 50K (I replaced the set).
2. Accelerator cable chafed and about to break (spotted in time) - apparently this was the subject of a recall in 1995, but somehow I missed it.
3. Oil drip from sump gasket.
On the other hand, I have had my fair share of other niggles, so I have been able to keep my car maintenance skills up-to-date. Adds interest to car ownership!
The only fault which I would specifically attribute to mileage is front suspension wear at around 100K (based on my experience). Budget £300/£500 for front suspension arms, drop arms and ball joints.
The 306 is a bit small for a growing family, but I've brought mine up with the help of a roof box (highly recommended) and a trailer (occasionally useful). The engine is perfectly happy when fully loaded inside, on the roof and in the trailer, though acceleration is a bit down.
It has also averaged 47MPG over its lifetime.
Ian
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Definitely go for a diesel rather than a petrol, and one with a turbo. If you are prepared to be patient, you should find one with no more than 10-12K/year and a full maintenance history. Don't get one between 1996P and the 1999T HDi, because the earlier turbo (pre-cat converter) had more poke. It will probably need one or two good shots of injector cleaner to restore the proper performance. If you fulfil all this you should end up with a great car.
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It's right that the 1.9TD is *the* engine of choice with these cars.
Do you value the 306 image highly? The Citroen ZX TD is almost the same car but with a character tilted a little towards family use...and year for year they are often less money, sometimes a lot less.
I'd buy on condition rather than age, high mileage is hardly an issue.
Do bear in mind sometimes newer ones at around 65K are heading for a monster service at 72K with timing belt/coolant/brake fluid changes and often a set of glowplus and possibly front discs/pads. At this mileage also the rear brake wheel cylinders are likely to be leaking but not so badly anyone's noticed.
Sometimes a 110K car is past this blip in expenditure and can be a better buy. Having said that a 110K car may need a radiator if not just replaced and it might be heading for a possible heater matrix replacement anytime.
MM
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The 1.4 Xsara feels better when run on Optimax. The car you drove may have been due a service. However, I prefer the HDI engine in dad's Picasso to my 1.4 Xsara, a HDI Xsara would be great (or a C5).
Ben
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The black book show it's worth £1225 trade average with 70k miles. So I'd haggle a bit from £1500.
PB.
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Thanks everyone, particularly with this pricing guide. I am very impressed with all of your responses.
Just so you know, I have ruled out the 306 sedan, and am now looking at THIS at lunchtime:
S reg 1999 306 LX Diesel Turbo (as you lot advised!)
White estate (for lugging kids stuff), 88,500 miles (you said this wasn't a problem) with SH (not sure how much yet), one owner, excellent con, £3995.
Can PB or anyone else let me know if this is over the odds for this car from a local dealer?
The other option is to go and see:
1999 V Ford Focus TD estate in mett green, fog lights, FSH, 2 owners, from a dealer, 87k, he'll take £4800.
What's the better car? 306 for £3995 or Focus for £3800?
Tim
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Sorry, made a mistake:
306 is £3995 - Focus is ACTUALLY £4800.
Whoops.
Tim P
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If your going for a diesel, I would definitely advised you to go for the Peugeot instead of the ford, simply because Peugeot are far more advanced than ford with diesel engines. I bought a 306 P-reg 2 months ago for £3180 although it wasn't a diesel, so for an S-reg £3995 doesn't sound bad. If you can haggle well you should be able to get it for around £3500.
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I believe Ford is now catching up by sharing a joint venture with PSA in 1.5-litre diesels, as fitted in recent 206.
My personal feeling in buying a 99V car with 87K on the clock is that the car may have been too busy for proper looking after. However if you are happy with the condition and the documents, go for it.
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