Faults:

Since I have had this car I have had the elecrtics in the drivers door repaid twice and then replaced.

I have gone though 2 gear box's the first. was the teeth from 3rd gear going though the side off the gear box and the second was the diff went on th recon box that I put in it.

I have had to replace the the lighting units at th back due to the rubber sealers going on them an not being able to buy just the seals from the dealer I had to, but the complete units.

I have ha to have the brakes done times in the 2 years that I have had the car.

General Comments:

Bu saying all these bad points this car is still one off the best that I have owned.

For a 1.4 it is very quick and holds the road like a train on rails.

It does not use a lot off fuel except when I boot it up and down the m6 every day to work.

It has a great load space which in my case is great as I have the boot filled with stereo..

Faults:

Wheel bearing is on it's way out.

Few knocks and bangs from the lowered suspension.

General Comments:

Quicker than I thought it would be, and now it's lowered and has decent tyres, is seriously good fun to drive.

Lacks that certain punch of a 16 valve though.

Looks good and puts up one of the best fights of any hot-hatch that I've owned.

Little bit thirsty for what it is, but the noise from the full stainless mongoose exhaust makes up for it.

Faults:

High oil pressure meant that the oil pressure warning switch kept exploding. This was rectified by replacing the relief valve in the sump costing less than £10 but taking several hours to fit.

Steering rack, drive-shafts, track rods and suspension control rods needed replacing at 140000 miles due to excess play in the steering, costing just over £600.

The brake pedal has developed a lot of travel (about 2 inches) and adjustment to the handbrake is required every six months to compensate.

The remote control for the central locking has never worked since I've owned the car and costs around £200 to replace. It is much cheaper to install your own.

Most of the dashboard bulbs had blown when I bought the car and are not easy to replace.

Older models seem to have a problem with water entering the rear lamp clusters which lead to my brake lights failing. Make sure they are screwed up tight and nothing is obstructing the seal.

The tachometer (rev counter) is unreliable and often jumps or gives a false reading.

General Comments:

On approaching 1500000 miles the acceleration is still impressive even for a non-turbo diesel.

The rear tyres wear very well, but create a lot of road noise on higher mileage models.

The diesel has a very powerful engine and is capable of towing heavy trailers without serious reduction in performance.

Faults:

MAP Sensor failed.

Spark plugs failing.

Dimmer on dash board not functioning.

Reverse difficult to get into.

NSF Gator split.

NSF CV joint failing.

Alarm stopped functioning.

General Comments:

The MAP sensor failed 2 months after I bought the car. It went into the dealer garage and they looked at it 3 times relieving me of £35 a time. I bought a new MAP sensor and it reduced the pinking, but it still pinks. Found out recently that the wrong spark plugs are in it (check these first if you get performance issues)

The dimmer on the dash has stopped working. Don't know why, but it just has!

Reverse is sometimes hard to get into, but if you put the car in 5th gear and then down into reverse it makes life a lot easier.

NSF gator split and dealer quoted lots to replace it. Shop around as I got it done for half what I got quoted at the dealers.

NSF CV joint failing as it squeals when I go round corners. It has stopped right now, but have been quoted near £200 to get it fixed as you need a complete drive shaft.

Alarm stopped working for some reason. Put the car into a dealers to get it checked and they said they couldn't trace the problem. The central locking still works, but it will be more economical to put a new alarm in the car than get the current broken one fixed.

Overall, a very nice car to drive. I put an Air Induction Kit (performance filter) in the car and it picks up well over 3,000 revs. the 1,600cc engine is probably the more economical of all the XT variety, but try and look for the 100bhp models. I got the 90bhp and tuned it to 100bhp (the only difference is the ECU as I was told by the dealer). When buying a new 306, check power steering for noises and uneven wear on the tyres. Also check for rattling of the camshaft and for pinking. Leave the car ticking over for 5 minutes before taking it for a road test to warm it up. Then when out try putting your foot down a bit in a higher gear to see if it pinks.

I was lucky to get a 95 model with low mileage, but it was still rattly.

One last thing, make sure you know the components to buy. Ring around other garages before putting it into any garage to get fixed.

This car has been really good and is really worth trying out despite the problems. Starts every time and goes well at 105mph with 5 people in it.