ben1413

iTrader: (5)

Hi there.

Looking at a newer car for my wife and she's found one of these that she quite likes. 2000/W, 3dr, usual extras, 93k, £2450.

I reckon the price is about right, are there any things that I should look out for in particular? I know the cambelt needs changing regularly including tensioners and the aircon pipes rot sometimes. Has anyone owned one and can give me a bit more information about them please?

Many thanks!!

Ben

GrahamG

i've been looking to, i have decided to go for the diesel, it's got very good power and seems to be very good on fuel. The XSI won't be too good but depends how many miles you do..

G.

ben1413

iTrader: (5)

My wife doesn't do many miles. Comparing a 3dr diesel of similar age and mileage, I'm getting a fair bit more with the petrol car as the diesels tend to hold their value a lot better.

She only potters around but likes the looks of the XSI.

Ben

ScoobyDoo555

we had an xsi. not a bad car really. only sold it coz of growing family (3dr), but we did replace it with a Scoob

Never had any real problems with it tbh. sorry I can't help more.

Dan

JoeyDeacon

In my experience, once a french car gets over 70,000 miles it feels like a baggy sack of ****. My friend had a P reg 306XSi and when it got to 80,000 it needed something fixing every month or so.

Just bear in mind that they don't handle the miles as well as a German car.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

'Just bear in mind that they don't handle the miles as well as a German car.'

Sorry but thats just wrong, some of the highest mileage cars I have driven have been French, old Pugs and Citroens, the just keep going, German cars start of harder so they will always feel like that, Frech cars generally start of 'supple' hence why they feel like bags of sh1te in comparison.

2000TLondon

I found a really good buyers guide a few years back that stopped me buying a couple of iffy ones. Think it was the Quentin Wilson guide on the old 4 car website, can't find it now.

Check boot for damp, I remember is a problem but that's all that springs to mind (although there were a lot of things to check on the guide, and the two cars I saw failed a lot.........) A mate has one, apart from the interior think they're alright.

mw2655

my brother has had an R reg xsi for over 4 yrs, no real probs except the aircon has stopped working.

they go fairly well, about 135bhp, and handling is pretty good.

he hammers from carlise to the alps and back every summer over 3 figures(km/hr honest, officer) with a boot load of climbing gear.

cheers matt

16vmarc

My mates dad had one, the heater matrix among other things has just packed in! Hes given it to one of my mates for nothing, hes going to try and fix it and sell on!!!

zxr750Nick

Nothing fell off and went very well. Did 90k in it, bit tappety towards the end, but 30mpg and ragged to death by yours truly. Great handling and I support the view of J4cko. Just let foot off the throttle halfway around a bend to get the thing to oversteer.....classic lift off oversteer.

Nick

davegtt

We're looking at these, seen somegood motors, one near me sold on ebay 2 days ago, V reg 60k miles gleaming black. £2300 couldnt believe it, sold the day before ours did BUGGER.

Ohh well, been out this evening and to my horror bought a Perodua Nippa...LMFAO £300 with 40k miles on the clock. used to be my sisters, she drove from Grantham to Blackpool and back on a fiver. must have been near on 400 miles.... cant believe what the **** Ive just bought. Only to tide us over though whilst I get my renault 5 on the road and sell it on. Might be able to keep the RX7 now with something so economical...lol

hades

My 306 D turbo commuter-mobile is now coming up to 100k. 10 years old too, nothing baggy or floppy on it, haven't had to fix anything since I've owned it (new tyres, servicing and getting the tracking done is it so far in 10k miles). Only sign of age - which they all seem to have - is dodgy digits in the centre console clock display.

Handling on them is genuinely quite entertaining, even if the corner speeds are lower than in a scoob, and you can have fun without them biting you back (got the tail out accidently on a greasy patch at 7am this morning, no real effort to catch it all). Really quite decent little cars if you can pick up a good 'un.

ben1413

iTrader: (5)

Cheers for the replies chaps!

I had a D turbo a few years back which I did over 100k in and that was a great car. The handling was superb! My wife does hardly any miles so it'll be more my car than hers. Needs to be fun really!!

Ben

JCScooby

Is it the 2.0L 8v or the 16v? my mates got the 16v XSi and its a nippy little motor, its not tuned to the same power as the Gti6 right enough, but still good. He has had his for 5 years, does a fair bit of mileage and has'nt had any serious problems.

ben1413

iTrader: (5)

It's the 16 valve. Approx 135bhp I think.

Ben

Spankathon

Sorry, but that price is stupid for that many miles, there are a few on Autotrader with less than 60k for £2.5K and under......

ben1413

iTrader: (5)

Saw it yesterday and it looked alright, hpi'd it (a friend in the trade gets them cheap). Turned out to be a cat d write off in 2003! The owner was not happy!! Walked away.

Ben

ben1413

iTrader: (5)

Can you show me some examples that are on a 2000/W plate?

Ben

SVVG

iTrader: (1)

I've got an 8v XSI M reg with 74K on the clock and it's still sweet as a nut (Huge tempt of fate.....). Handling is really fluid and much better than a Golf GTI (defintiely the Mark III... and faster), standard brakes are utterly useless however, so most people opt for the GTI-6 calipers with better discs and pads (tarox IMHO - or Mintex), and then with a bit of induction noise, they're good cheap fun...

Bits wear out with mileage like on any car, but nothing that a few hundred quid can't put right - rather than thousands - and as lots of pug engines will fit, you can get a second hand engine and box for about £350 - 400 quid if worst comes to the worst. However, they are a little bit underpowered in XSI guise (although if a 16 valver, the GTI 6 maniflold will fit and this is supopsed to make a big difference).

Also have an S16 which has much better power delivery - although it's got an induction kit, straight through exahust and is lowered.... a lot - and that is bloody good Max Power motoring. Revs to 7,000rpm and is quite frankly, chavtastically brilliant. You can pick these up (perhaps in dubious condition) on ebay for around £600 - and if you're lucky you might find a sub 80K one (mine has 72K!). Handling, especially when lowered a bit (think mine is a bit too low) is awesome, and parts are REALLY cheap.

Once you hit 80K you're going to have probs with suspension wearing out and rear axle bearings - but if you only pick the car up for around £1500 (you shouldn't really pay more than £1000 - 1500 IMO) then you're still quids in once the knackered bits have been fixed. I know you've mentioned a W reg car - but you may as well go for a slightly older one as would imagine the same bits would need replacing and the car will be cheaper overall.

Good pug sites are worth checking - especially inteh "problems" sections - Peugeot Sport Official Owners Club and Peugeot GTI Autosport Club to name just two.

Major sourcce of annoyance is the rear calipers which are one of the most stupid designs I've ever encountered - bleed nipples will pretty much ALWAYS shear off if you bleed the brakes (i.e. if you stick bigger calipers on) - but otherwise, can't really fault the car for the money (always nicer to have more power though...).

Good luck!

Spankathon

There's a 2000 V in Merseyside area for £2495ono.... with 56K miles IRC its on the Autotrader website....

ben1413

iTrader: (5)

That's one, you said a few.............

Ben

dpb

Been looking for a 306 td for general use for a while now ..around the 2000 mark ....considered the xsi but cant see it being an intelligent improvement over the xsara vtr i have which is cheaper for essentially the same thing.