USED Peugeot 407 SW (04 - 11)

My car

I purchased my 407 SW as a one year old with 10.5K miles, one owner. Having previously owned a Renault Laguna Prestige (Estate) and a Volvo V70 2.0T, I am very impressed with the 407 SW.

The available "Grunt" power at low rev's is excellent for overtaking and as some Irish Roads are inconsistent, the chassis & suspension is tested fully. I agree with the Whatcar review on handling, but the car makes up for it in "liveability" as it's well kitted out for it's class and also looks a classy car.

The long wheelbase gives it the "legs" required to deal with undulating roads and bumps which are not as well handled in the mazda 6, for example. Having had a custom made liner in the Volvo boot, followed by the Laguna, it's footprint is exactly the same in the 407.

At 6'2" I am finding the seating a bit short and cannot strech my legs as I could in the Laguna & Volvo. Perhaps it's a matter of fiddling more with the seat & Steering combinations.

Overall though, great value for money in comparison to the competition.

My car

The car drives very well. I have 42,000 miles on the clock in just less than 18 months. On long journeys it is really comfortable. I like the glass roof, and the forward vision, although the rear is restricted, especially with a dog guard.

I average around 47mpg - sometimes 50mpg on the daily motorway commute of 60 miles. It really depends on how hard you drive. There is loads of space up front for the driver and passenger although not so much in the rear (and head room is restricted).

For towing, the car is excellent. It has a lot of pull and I am very pleased with its capabilities.

My main problems have been with Peugeot Service. They seem to have spare parts problems with this model. I developed a brake sensor problem after the first 2000 miles and it took them almost three weeks just to get the parts. There have been other small problems which they have not dealt with quickly.

I was supplied with a car while mine was off the road, but this is not the point. They need to do much better and improve the dealer attitude to after sales service if they are to retain brand loyalty.

This is my first Peugeot and the car is fine - the dealers need to do much more to compete with other brands.

That said, I will probably order another one – although next time probably the new 2.2 HDI, which I understand is very good, and I will use a different dealer.

My car

This car drives quite nicely but the engine lacks power after previously having a Passat estate which had far better acceleration but apparently less power!

The main problem is that Peugeot seem to have a problem with supplying spare parts-they never have any.The turbo blew 4 weeks after i had the car brand new,it took them 6 weeks to supply a new turbo.At the time of writing (8th June) the car is off the road due to accident damage all of which has been repaired except for the rear wiper mechanism,this was ordered 6 weeks ago and there is now a delivery date of 28th June,but the repair specialist does not believe it will arrive then.

DO NOT BY A PEUGEOT IF YOUR ACTUALLY WANT TO DRIVE ON THE ROAD!!ALSO THE CUSTOMER SERVICE IS NON EXISTENT.

My car

It looks stylish for an estate and there's loads of glass, the panoramic sunroof being a favourite of mine, although the windscreen pillars do impede visibility. It's also difficult to judge where the front of the car is because you can't see the edge of the bonnet.

The best mpg figure I could achive was 36.8, which was disappointing for a 2.0 HDi, and the ride was not impressive either. The suspension never settles and doesn't cope well with bumps and bodyroll is easy to achieve, the ESP light coming on at times.

I also had brake squeal from the front nearside from an 05 reg that had done 10,500 miles. In a nutshell, good packaging but little substance.