2000 Peugeot Partner Wagon 1.9 diesel
Summary:
Comfortable and ultra practical all-around car
Faults:
The crankcase chamber breathing pipe froze up causing over liter of oil gushing out from the dipstick pipe.
The ventilation fan control unit failed leaving the fan to continuous full speed.
The front bumper paint started to peel off after one year.
Valve clearances needed adjustment at 50000. Some valves had no clearance, which caused poor cold starts.
The camshaft needed to be dismounted during the valve assembly and it broke on two pieces when mounting it back.
Anti-roll bar link rod joints started making noise on bumps at 70000.
Sliding rear door closing is getting out of the adjustment which makes the closing a bit of a challenge. Dealer has tried to adjust it twice with no success this far.
General Comments:
The car is very comfortable to both drive and travel. Makes long drives a pleasure.
Steering has a good feeling, but the power steering does not manage to keep up with fast maneuvers.
The engine has nice torque at low speed, making the ride easy at urban traffic and on highway, but due to the wind resistance the power is on the limit at motorways.
Enormous space for passangers and very workable luggage compartment.
Few hooks for bags in boot and handles over the doors for rear and driver's seat would make the equipment perfect.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 29th October, 2003
17th Dec 2005, 02:04
Update: 180 000 km at the end of year 2005.
The problem with the sliding door was finally found and solved: the upper slider bolts were loose, which caused the door to be misaligned. After tightening the bolts with some glue, the sliding door has functioned perfectly for two years now.
The rear brake shoe lining came loose and jammed between the shoe and the drum causing the rear wheel to stuck at 145 000 km. According to dealer, that is nothing rare at all in PSA cars with rear drum brakes.
The electronic cockpit gauge module stopped functioning at 150 000 km. All the gauges and the LCD display went dead. The dealer replaced the module and agreed to share the costs even the guarantee was finished. Because of that cost share, the broken module went to Peugeot and the exact reason of the fault was not reported to me, but most likely it was some bad connection of some critical component on the circuit board.
The bearing at the upper end of McPherson was replaced together with the front coil springs at 165 000 km, which removed the clanking noise in bumpy roads and made the driving comfort as in a new car. According to the dealer, the shock absorbers last several hundreds of thousand kilometers, so they were not replaced yet.
The rear section of the original exhaust pipe needed replacement at 170 000 km. The front section of the pipe is still original.
This far the average quality as well as the reliability of the car has exceeded my prejudices, being very satisfactory.