USED Peugeot 306 Hatchback (97 - 03)

My car

I'm 17 and have been driving for 4-5 months. Had a Citroen Saxo 1.4i Furio before this car - that broke (lots) so I part exchanged it (with 103,000 miles on the clock) for a 1.6 306 with 46,000 miles on the clock, for £2k. Compared to the Saxo it's a bit of a tortoise. It's got not a lot of poke off the line at all (racing days are over) and isn't very exciting in that respect. It's so much more comfortable though with big chunky seats, and it has a lot more grip so going 60mph round a corner is not longer such an ordeal. It's so quiet inside; no rattles or squeaks, just a bit of engine/road noise, but not too much.

It's metallic silver and I think it looks great, but it's really not very good on fuel. The Saxo managed about 40-43mpg on average and this one only manages about 38, which is a bit rubbish considering it's nowhere near as quick. Inside, everything is quality. It's got airconditioning, velour, automatic wipers so a big step up from the Saxo. Really easy to keep clean, but the Meridian trim looks a bit more sporty I think. So far, had to change a light bulb, but I've only had it about 2 months so I can't comment on reliability. It's got an alarm and remote locking, so it's very secure.

It's big - lots of room for 3 in the back, and a big boot. All in all, I miss the Saxo's pace and smaller size (this ones already had two scrapes on the back bumper) but it's a much nicer place to be than the Saxo and it's very smart looking.

My car

I have just sold my peugeot 306 in favour of the more "girly" 206. I have no complaints about this car other than the colour which I hated! The car started 1st time every time, even in that horrendous snow and got me to my work in a rural location with no problems. I looked after the car, serviced it reguarly and done all work needed as per milage (timing belt ect). It fitted my 3 dogs in the boot no problem and seating space was fine. I was truly torn when deciding to sell this car as once it got off the mark it was capable of doing a good speed and overtaking ect no problem. The only other thing bar the green that I hated was that it sounded like an ice cream van coming into the street! Would defo reccomend this car to anyone considering it.

My car

I used to own a 306 Rallye, but the engine is the same in the 306GTi6.

It was a brilliant car to drive and had everything you could want for in a hot hatch except for one thing: reliability.

The achilles heal of this car is the cambelt. You MUST change it every 30,000 because its woefully under specified for the power of this engine. If you don't you run the risk of a snapped cam belt.

If the cam belt snaps two things happen. Firstly the top end of the engine needs to be rebuilt (costs between £1000 and £2000 depending on the number of bent valves). Secondly the pistons, when they hit the valves, send a shock wave down to the crank shaft which can put it very slightly out of tolerance; therefore even if you re-build the top half of the engine the crankshaft damage is not repaired and the cam belt will suffer another failure very quickly, if you are unlucky.

As you can tell I had some very bad luck with my car. If you own a 306GTi or Rallye change that cambelt very regularly. If you are considering buying one, don't do it unless you know that the cam belt has never snapped in the past. So in other words, don't buy it!

My car

I have owned this car for five years now and covered 80,000 miles on top of the 35,000 it had when I bought it at two-and-a-half years old. Even with 116,000 miles on the clock the engine is still solid as a rock.

It has a few niggles with age and mileage, though. My air-con is bust - there are two leaks in the radiator and a full days' labour to strip the front end off the car to sort it, including parts is circa £700 so not worth it.

The airbag lights like to flash - easily rectified by connectors under the seats. The dashboard/parcel shelf do rattle a bit but no more than you'd expect for an ageing French car. My speedo also cuts out intermittently - any offers on what this is?

The car looks great, just the GTi6 from the outside - sadly no leather seats inside. Froup 5 insurance and minimum 45mpg when pushed around town make it cheap to run - though brakes all round plus replacing standard pirelli tyres is expensive.

Even the 3-door is very practical - good size boot for moving stuff around with seats down - and room for 4 adults and a weekend's luggage. Rear passenger space is decent, but agree on long trips there are more comfortable ways to travel.

The car corners and handles brilliantly for what is it. The car is regularly serviced at the local dealership and touch wood - the services of the AA have yet to be called upon.