Faults:

Bad wear on back seats.

Very slow auto windows.

The soft top has to be taken down manually.

General Comments:

Very quick, cheap and pretty.

Seats wear easily and are nothing to write home about.

Handles really well and easy gear change.

Hasn't broken down yet and didn't come with a spare wheel.

Very cheap and very good condition for a second-hand car.

Doesn't show her age and looks every bit the lady she is.

Faults:

I guess we bought this car at the stage where it was starting to need general things replaced.

Front brake pads, and rotors replaced when we bought it.

Rear brake shoes, cylinders replaced at 143000km. Cylinders had weeped (read leaked) and it was all crappy in the drum, meaning the back brakes didn't work.

Heater matrix was leaking when we bought the car. This is a very tricky replacement because the dashboard must be removed. It's easy once you have done it once though. The hardest bit was the very tight fitting plumbing connections on the firewall.

General Comments:

This car is a little pocket rocket. The 1.9 turbo diesel really pulls strongly. I have turned up the boost a little on this car, and upped the on-boost fueling so it's got a lot of pull when the turbo is up to pressure. When off-boost I have left the fuel rather lean, which makes feathering easy for economical driving. 0-100 is in less than 10 seconds now!

More of a city car than a highway cruiser, due to the shorter wheelbase of the car and the more basic interior than the 405, but it is still great on the open road.

Economical for sure, over 635km (580 highway and 55km city) I got an economy of 6.3L/100km. It was driven spiritfully and had three people with luggage, so was a completely full car. I strongly believe that this car is capable of much better economy should one want to drive sensibly with a lighter load.

Handles like a go-kart. It's got a little bit of understeer, but I still feel confident that it will take me where I point it, and that it won't surprise me. Being a small Peugeot, it features the lift-off oversteer, great fun when you are expecting it. It's not something that you come across unless you are trying to oversteer, so shouldn't be an issue for most drivers. The car wanders a little with the slope of the road, but apparently a wider tyre could remedy that.

Road noise is pretty good. Engine noise is better than the 405 diesel for some reason. I think the engine in this one is quieter to begin with.

The interior is quite basic with no fancy stuff. Mine is a base model so that is to be expected. At least it doesn't feel cheap at all. The seats are very basic, but are still supportive and comfortable on a long trip.

When you fold down the back seats, you have enough boot space to fit a single mattress in there! It's surprising just how much space Peugeot seemed to find in the car.

Highly recommend this car to anyone who is in the market for a small hatchback, as it's versatile. Use it on the highway or in the city, 4 passengers is no problem. boot space is good but it doesn't have much vertical room.

A HDi Dturbo would be on my shopping list if they were available here in NZ!

Faults:

Alternator and starter motor both required rebuilding (quite normal for 11 year old car). New items can cost lots, and only few mechanics know how to rebuild those properly.

Air conditioning compressor seized in 2004, and was replaced with a cheap one from a wrecker. It's working great so far. A new item from Peugeot is quite expensive.

Lower control bushes (suspension components on the front) needed replacement, and because I've had them fitted at a "corner store" mechanic, they weren't done properly and needed replacing 10 months later. Make sure you find a good independent specialist or a reliable good value for money Peugeot dealer. The bushes were over $500 to replace (twice).

Tyres wear quickly on the front (especially on the outside), but it's mainly due to negotiating corners at twice the recommended speed. It's something I seem to have a problem with, because the car's built for cornering fast. Rotate tyres often, and resist the temptation to turn into roundabouts at over 60km/h.

The most important thing with this sort of car is the replacement of the cam belt. It's a 4 year/80000km service interval (whichever comes first). I've had this done only because the 4 years have passed and it's good to be cautious. If the belt fails, the engine suffers badly and needs reconditioning. It's a $800 job, including water pump replacement.

Oxygen sensor (ECU) replaced a few years ago. It's another common thing with 100K cars, but it's quite cheap to get it replaced.

General Comments:

The car was a very pleasant surprise. I was only looking around for a normal "plain vanilla" 306 with a manual transmission. I didn't know about S16s at the time of purchase. I later found out there's only been around 80 delivered and sold to Australian customers in 1994-95. The later hot hatch version (GTI6 in Australia) was a lot more well known. Not many people seem to know about the S16s, and that's a good thing. It results in some absolute bargains...

The prices on the second hand market in Australia are fantastic. They were $36000, and now you can get them for less than a third of that if in fantastic condition.

Outstanding interior for this sort of car. It mixes luxury with a great handling vehicle very well.

A great way to learn more about those cars is to visit www.aussiefrogs.com (Internet forum for Australian French car enthusiasts). I've gained quite a lot from the other owners of this car from all over Australia. Lots of good tips and servicing recommendations as well.

Excellent handling, good acceleration, and fantastic braking (I have upgraded to Brembo rotors recently and EBC pads).

Fuel consumption is OK in the city - 10-12L/100km and superb on the open highway. 7.5L/100km when cruising at 110km/hour. It'd be nice if it was a little bit better in the city.

No doubt they're great cars. I'd struggle immensely to be able to buy something similar or better for the same amount of money.