I've just bought a 1998 'S' plate diesel (non turbo) 306.
Currently I'm doing about 450 miles per week... approx 360 of those are a weekly commute from Sussex to Lincolnshire.
My old 405 1.9 diesel (non turbo) estate with 120K miles on it easily returned 50 mpg on the same trip/conditions... the 306 is doing a max of 44...
Car is going back to the non-franchised dealer next week.. I've not that much experience with diesels - anything that I should be aware of? I've changed the air filter... as far as i can see theres no 'mixture' adjustment or similar. Other than the MPG problem there seems to be a bit of smoke/haze on acceleration - you only really notice it at night when caught by other cars headlights, so may not really be a prob.
For info the 306 is showing 20,000 miles on the clock... was an ex-lease/hire car so don't have fully stamped book..
Thanks
|
|
There has just been a thread from the new owner of a 98R 306 with >100K which was only giving about 34mpg while drinking oil, but so far his problem has not been diagnosed (to my inexpert mind it looks like seriously disturbed timing). However I have owned three 306 diesels, all turbo with low mileages, and all have managed about 55mpg with no loss of oil. I don't thrash the cars, but even if I did I am certain that 10mpl (45mpg) would be achievable. However your 98S lease car with 20K has either been clocked, had the clock replaced, or sat somewhere quietly seizing up. If the latter, give it a good dose of diesel conditioner, and take it for a 20-mile 'tune-up' at 70mph in 4th gear, to see if things loosen up a bit.
|
|
Sorry - I've checked - Rob's 306 was a 95N XLD with 105K (thread is at bottom of page 3 at present).
|
My Dturbo returns about 45 mpg, but my return trip from Aberdeen to Sussex on Sunday saw this drop to 34 mpg. This was at a steady 85mph cruise.
The 306 is a heavyish car, the curb weight on mine is 1120Kg, (Well compared to my 820Kg 205!!) this may be more than the 405 was so maybe this could explain the difference....
If it does have a genuine 20K miles then its still loosening up but I would expect a lot more than mid thirties.
Ross
|
Sorry, Mid forties.....
Repeat 10 times "I will read previous posts"
:-)
|
Forget about the mpg; you could have bigger problems than losing 5mpg on a run. Unless it was priced like a 120k car with no history, I'd have run away from a 20k, 4 year old, ex-lease diesel. Even then I'd have been very, very suspicious.
Is the steering wheel shiny? What do the pedal rubbers look like? How worn are the tyres and are they the originals? Does the seat belt return to its position instantly? A 20k 306 should still be on its original tyres, but they would be well worn. If the pedal rubbers aren't virtually new, but not actually brand new; or the steering wheel shines, or the seat belts take a while to wind back, the car has definitely been clocked. In that case, if the dealer won't take the car back, you can either sue him or, at the very least, report him to Trading Standards and contact the previous owner to find out the true history of the car so you can maintain it accordingly.
Another possibilty is that the car is a genuine, low mileage ringer that has taken the identity of an ex-lease car that may have been written off. I take it you ran an HPI check to find any hidden history?
Sorry if I am alarming you but the model of 306 you have was designed to be a high mileage fleet hack. Private buyers prefer them with a 1.4 petrol or a turbo diesel and most of these cars will have had either one junior driver or several drivers who won't have cared for it very well. It is just about possible that the car was used for short city centre runs by a firm as a pool car or by an engineer whose patch was in town, but it's more likely that there is something amiss with its history.
How much did you pay for the car by the way? With an undesirable engine and spec combination, and an incomplete history (most ex-lease cars either have full dealer service history or a full history print out of all maintenance carried out) I'd value the car at £3,000 on a good day, even from a dealer.
|
The HPI check came back Ok... theres where I found out about the ex-lease/hire car as one of the mileage gigures was provided by the BVRLA (apparently the british vehicle rental and leasing association??)
I think one of the probs is that its been sitting round for most of this year as the dealer was trying to sell it for £5000!! I ended up paying £4000 which is probably too much on reflection, but unfortunately needed a car quickly..
I suspect its had a speedo change at some point as the steering wheel/pedal rubbers/carpets etc don't look like a high mileage car. I'm going to assume that the mileage is wrong and start off with a 36000 mile service and cam belt change and see how we go! It seems to be getting better the more i use it, so will chuck some diesel conditioner in the tank tomorrow as will doing my run back to Sussex.. if i'm not happy with it iover the next week or so then i'll re-enter negotiations with the dealer..
thanks!
|
|
As DavidHM says, a car with a genuine 20K should still have some of its original tyres. Somewhere on the sidewall there will be a 3- or 4-digit number in a small oval. Any original tyres on your car should say 'xx98' where xx shows the week of manufacture.
|
|
|
|
|
For the record, I have consulted two sets of comparative tests for the 306 and 405 simple diesels - 405 claimed 46-47 mpg, 306 1 or 2 mpg less (i.e. worse). Must be a heavier car.
|
My 307 HDI 90 is returning 44MPG. What is happeneing to diesels? I would expect 50MPG. My old 95K mile Astra 1.7LTD returned 50-55MPG consistently on exactly the same journey. what are the manufacturers squandering development money on? Noisy wipers, wipers that leave an unswept strip 4" wide on the driver's side. Accelerator pedal position is ridiculous.
Anyone want to by a 2002 307? !!!
Diesels should be returning 60-70 mpg by now. 50 mpg was acheivable 30 years ago. Petrol engine economy has improved considerably in the same period. Diesel has worsened as far as I can tell.
Anyone agree?
For the record, I have consulted two sets of comparative tests for the 306 and 405 simple diesels - 405 claimed 46-47 mpg, 306 1 or 2 mpg less (i.e. worse). Must be a heavier car.
|
|
I find 55+ mpg very achievable on my Leon TDi 110, and the Clio dci easily gets 60 and can stretch as high as 66, although journeys are boring boring boring to reach this so I never bother. Could it be because your 307 is a bigger, heavier car than its predecessor? I don't know much about the Astra engine. Have to say that I didn't like the 307 I tested at all. It was the clutch pedal position that bothered me. Plus the seats weren't that comfortable, or at least not as good as on the Leon.
|
|
|
|
My experience with modern TDs is limited, but it's not all bad news. I rented a Golf TDi, drove 400 miles (virtually all out of town) in it in a day, and got 67 mpg. 300 or so of those miles were motorway cruising at 80-85, on the way back fully loaded with my the contents of a mate's bedroom.
|
|
|
|
Er indoors's 1.2 PETROL hlx Punto is averaging close to 50 mpg!
|
|
Economy has not improved that much, I used to have a 948cc moggy minor that did 50 mpg also!!!
|
"Economy has not improved that much"
Certainly some car makers have improved more than others.
Ford car diesels for example - definitely NOT top of the economy league table.
(maybe next year's version?)
BUT VW PD engines are pretty good -
SWMBO gets 55mpg day in - day out from her Fabia Tdi
(with 65mpg on a long run - mind you with 3000 in 5th being 93mph, I should think so)
|
|
|
|
|
My 306 HDI (one of the first, 99T) has averaged 12.5 m/litre or 56-57 mpg over the last 6000 miles, nearly all long cruises at ~60 mph. However that is only marginally better than I got from the earlier XUD engine, though the manuf.figures suggest a 10% improvement.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I might be wrong but i think the 405 was not fitted with either an oxidation catalyst or exhaust gas recirculation... choking the exhaust with a catalyst and re-burning spent gases wont help economy. This might explain the economy difference.
Incidentally my 306 diesel turbo seemed quite thirsty until it had about 40k miles on the clock when it seemed to loosen up. I have also plugged the EGR pipe and replaced the catalyst with a straight through pipe from an early 306. - this seems to have improved economy (not checked this properly) and the engine definitely runs more smoothly..not sure how legal this is but car did pass emmision and mot test
hope this helps
steve
|
|
|
|
Not sure if you've got rid of it yet, but I also have a 98R 306LD with 45k on the clock. I drive relatively carefully and average 48mpg (I've only managed 50mpg on one occassion). I was initially disappointed with this as my previous 205GRD would return up to 60 mpg. I also see haze in car headlights on acceleration, and I regularly put injector cleaner in the fuel.
|
I have a '98 306 DTurbo. I get very similar mpg (calculated after refill) however I drive it.
When I drive fast and accelerate really hard I get about 39/40mpg.
When I take it easy I get about 42mpg. I have had 44mpg maximum when driving like a teetotal, born again, tree-hugging, buddhist, trapist grandad.
Oh, and I see a haze in car headlights at night when accelerating up to 3rd gear. It then seems to disappear.
|
|
|
|
