2002 Peugeot 106 Independence 1.1
Summary:
Fantastic, cheap runaround with no frills. Does its job well!
Faults:
Nothing mechanical as of yet!
General Comments:
I purchased this car in January 2020. I needed a cheap set of wheels for getting to work, and seeing family. I'm 37 now, so style, speed etc didn't matter. I just wanted a cheap set of reliable wheels!
I picked this car up on Facebook marketplace for £250. Previous little old lady owner had owned it for something like 15 years, doing 1,000 miles a year in it, presumably just to nip to the shops and back on a Saturday! I usually like to research my cars before buying, know everything there is to know, and go in with my eyes open, but I saw this come up one day, and purchased it there and then!
The drive back from collection, was interesting, down the M54 in the pouring rain, in a car I had never driven before, and at the £250 price point, could have broken down any second!
I'm pleased to say it didn't. You don't get much for £250 nowadays, and I wasn't expecting a lot. I was pleasantly surprised, but after a few days driving, I noticed the following:
Glovebox broke 30 seconds after buying it. It now hangs down as the clip on the glovebox lid is broken!
Interior light didn't work - This is because water was getting in via the aerial and leaking down into the interior light. In heavy rain, water will drip onto my lap from the interior light. I will fix this with some sealant eventually, but this is a common 106 problem!
Sunroof leaks - This was the first thing I noticed as the footwells filled up with water on a daily basis. My attempt to dry them with a hairdryer, whilst hoping this wasn't a broken heater matrix, was pointless. It turns out that the drain holes block easily on the 106, leaving the water nowhere to go but into the footwells and into the boot. I dried everything out, and put plenty of gaffa tape over the sunroof. Problem fixed apart from a small leak from the bottom of the dashboard in seriously heavy rain. Nothing a well placed container can't fix!
Slightly haywire idle - Only happens occasionally. Doesn't bother me.
Lazy rev counter - Sometimes the rev counter will under read, and sometimes when stopped, will read zero despite the engine running at normal tickover speed. Stopping and restarting the car cures this straight away, only happens occasionally, heaven knows why.
Tyres - I purchased this car without bothering to check the tyres. After all, it was dark, there were 4 of them, and it drove fine so I wasn't bothered. It was only in the light of day, I noticed that the fronts were starting to perish, and that the rear tyres, were original to the car at 18 years old and 66,000 miles - car is booked in to have the rears changed on the 29/06/20.
Slightly offset driving position due the pedals being offset.
Front driver's side wing has obviously been replaced at some point as you can see the red paint underneath the blue, but since the car is still wearing both of its original dealer plates, I doubt it's ever been in a shunt!
That might seem like a lot of negatives, but truth be told, some of these are 106 specific niggles, and again for the price I paid, I got a treat car, which has clearly been mechanically looked after, despite the lack of paperwork.
On the plus side:
It does what it says on the tin - it's a cheap runaround and at around £35-£40 to fill and around 400 miles to a tank, one can't complain about fuel consumption.
It pulls from 5th gear at 30mph - not bad for a 1.1 and means lazy driving is quite easy!
Cheap to run - in the 6 months i have had it, I have spent £8 on a new genuine dipstick, as the end on the old one had snapped off - the end is probably still in the sump somewhere! Another common 106 problem. I have spend £2 on a new exhaust hanger, as it disintegrated - fitted FOC by local garage friend and spent around £4 on 2 new front wipers (carparts4less). Tyres are cheap at £30-£35 a corner for 165/70/13s and a basic service consisting of spark plugs, oil filter, air filter, oil and fuel filter, should come in at under £50 and perfectly easy to service yourself with the help of YouTube videos!
There is no aircon, power steering, ABS, electric windows or central locking. This might be a problem to some, but I see it as less to go wrong. Ideal for motoring on a budget.
Insurance is cheap, but then I am an old git!
The car cruises really nicely. 60mph is 3,000rpm on the motorway. This is about my max limit for driving this car. I am never in a rush, and this car was never about going fast, so 60mph at 3,000rpm is all I give it. This is enough for me.
The car is surprisingly spacious in terms of boot space. It's a small car but you can fit a lot in it!
Bodywork surprisingly good - slight lacquer peel on the front bumper, but that's it!
Overall, I was expecting to have quite a few issues with this car considering the price paid, but so far in my just short of 2,000 miles experience with it, it's done its job with reliability and no fuss. It's cheap to run, cheap to fuel, cheap to maintain.
I purchased the car with 5 months MOT remaining, then got a 6 month extension thanks to COVID, so I haven't had that moment of reckoning yet, but I'll come back and update this as and when it has its MOT at the end of October!
If you are looking for something cheap to run, with no frills, then this is a great choice.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 27th June, 2020
26th Dec 2023, 18:59
Thank you!
Another year on and it's still trucking.
Had to have two new driveshafts and seals, another service with spark plugs, air filter, oil filter and oil. Hasn't cost me much at all.
Passed its MOT with no advisories. I'd love something more luxurious, but budget motoring like this is hard to fault.
It's going to need another alternator in the coming months, but I'm going to get the one that's on the car rebuilt. Shouldn't be too much.
Now on 91,500 miles!
19th Dec 2022, 17:01
Excellent review. Really like it when people take time on here to write more than a few words in the review.