Faults:

Key broke due to iced up fuel cap.

Very hard seats.

Bad seat position.

General Comments:

The car is good, but I am now finding that its seats are so hard, and it's very difficult to get them in the right position, so that anyone who drives it for over 30 minutes, does find they get numb legs etc. And as I now drive it an 1 hour 30 minutes to and from work each day, it is proving to be very uncomfortable.

During the icy period in the UK, I have had terrible trouble with refueling my car, as every single time the fuel cap ices up. I usually have to ask for warm water from the fueling station to de-ice it every time. I have used wd40 on it, but it's not working.

Recently it was so icy that I managed to break my key in the fuel cap; being so far away from home, I had to get the car recovered. I contacted several Peugeot dealers for a new blade for the key, who then tried to charge me £50-27. I did eventually get it for £27, but the key would take 5 days to get to the dealership, unfortunately I had to wait as I had no spare key... moral of the story; always make sure you have a spare key, and always check for ice!

Faults:

Needed new indicator stalk (a common fault on these I'm told)

New exhaust required.

General Comments:

I was a bit nervous when I bought the car given some of the negative comments on this site. However, I found the 206 to be a great little car which never let me down in nearly 3 years. The engine has plenty of torque and the handling was pretty good too. Although things have moved on a bit now in the hot hatch sector, the 138bhp seems adequate for UK roads and it would do around 37mpg on a motorway run. Road and engine noise are not too bad for the age of the design and the ride was good on most roads too on the 15" wheels.

My only gripe with the car is that when my exhaust started blowing near the back box, I naturally assumed that I needed a new central pipe and perhaps a new back-box, but I was told by several garages (including Peugeot) that the whole exhaust from the manifold back has to be replaced - cost - £400-£600. In the end I had a stainless steel one fitted which was £250 and included a lifetime guarantee. It did make the car louder though despite my asking for a 'standard' fitting. It seems really bad engineering to require a whole new exhaust (including the Cat I think) rather than a simple replacement section.

The replacement indicator stalk came in at £70 at Peugeot, it's a common fault so check the operation when looking to buy.

Overall though, I'm pleased with the car think it offers a good blend of frugality and performance with a bit of practicality thrown in too.