Faults:

The engine starts to make little rumbling noise when you put your foot on the accelerator in fifth gear, though you are traveling above 90Kmph. The garage people couldn't find where the problem is.

It's only giving me 10Km/liter mileage (I am a good driver). Is it the the norm for these models?

General Comments:

Love the shape of the car, 17" alloys and lowered.

Handles beautifully around corners, even at high speeds.

Faults:

Bitron unit, which converts analogue to digital signal failed. This caused havoc with the speedo needle, rendered the ABS inoperative and made the steering think the car was standing still when it was going very FAST... tight bends on Australian B roads are not the best place to lose all steering feel with a ridiculously over-assisted tiller... I considered this fault potentially lethal. Due to superhuman effort of the local EFI specialist, the offending unit was eventually tracked down, bludgeoned to death, and replaced by a new "Made in Italy" Bitron. It changed the nature of the car completely. It instantly became smoother, more responsive and livelier.

(The unit is located on the passenger side firewall behind the glovebox)

Nothing else has gone wrong.

Do all Peugeot Diesels sound this agricultural on startup?

General Comments:

Generally, the car is a joy to drive, and its economy is stupefying. On a recent holiday, we covered 1,205 kilometres on a round trip without having to darken the doorway of a filling station. We were gobsmacked.

The car is a consummate cruiser. It is reasonably quiet, though it's hard to compare diesels with petrol engined cars because they, well, they're just different in the way they go about making their respective noises. I find the steady compressive hum of a well-tuned diesel soothing. To others it's just truck-like.

Faults:

CD player jammed within 24 hours. Noone (including the dealer or Peugeot Australia) appears to be able to work out the correct part to replace it, despite it being to the dealer 3 times, including the player being taken out and all relevant numbers recorded. Still waiting after 3 months.

Anti-pollution fault light came on within 24 hours. Occurs every time it is started. Has been checked at least 3 times by the dealer, but no fault found.

Vibration in car when in Drive and held with brake (eg at traffic lights). Has been checked at least 3 times and declared 'within specifications'. If this is the case, it is a bad advertisement for Peugeot, as I drive plenty of other automatic cars (including a 20-year old Volvo) which DON'T have this problem.

General Comments:

Apart from the small faults mentioned above, this car is a pleasure to drive, especially on secondary roads. It gives a quiet, smooth ride, and handles any bumps with ease.

Performance is adequate, without being outstanding, and fast speeds can be maintained due to the good handling and excellent brakes.

Fuel consumption is very good, especially if the in-dash instantaneous readout is used to modify driving. It clearly shows that fuel consumption is closely related to how heavy the right foot is. Fuel consumption is around 10.5 l/100km in the city, and 6.5-7 on the open road.