Faults:

Head gasket blew at 96,000 miles, thermostat useless after 91,000 miles. Thermostat likes to work only after the gasket is gone, just to let you know the engine is running at 95 degrees and that there is no water in the cooling system, at this time the fans come on (with no effect).

I bought the car with 91,000 miles and everything worked fine. First to go was the overhead internal light on day 1. The exhaust grommet broke, leaving the end can in the middle of the road, have been unable to tighten the exhaust clamp enough to keep it intact, had to wrap the joint in tin.

General Comments:

I love the car, fast, stylish and cheap to run. Maybe I'm just unlucky, but it hasn't gave me anything but trouble yet. It's a 306 sedan and has the same body and wheelbase as the hatchback (except for the boot obviously). The electrics have also given me problems. The wiring in one of the fog lights needed some attention.

Faults:

Duff outside air temperature sender.

Two ignition coils (within a week of each other).

Battery had to be replaced.

That's about it.

General Comments:

I bought this car to replace my tired 1994 XSi 8 valve, a car which I absolutely loved for its stunning handling, great looks and lovely, torquey engine. At 140,000 miles though, it was getting quite unreliable, and the chance of this mint S16 was too good to pass up.

All the strengths of the XSi are there - a chassis and steering set up that are simply incredible in their feel and sharpness, still pretty looks, and a welcome subtlety in the days of police victimisation of performance cars.

I have to say though, that I don't think it offers that much over the XSi. It's a bit quicker, although not as much so as I was expecting, but is much more expensive to insure, and much heavier on fuel. In a drag race, the S16 would be quicker, but I don't think it feels like 155 bhp worth. I've had the car checked out and it is delivering everything it should be.

The power delivery is very "top end" which means you have to cane the wotsits off it to make it go. The XSi actually felt quicker under 5,000 RPM which, let's face it is where you spend most of your time.

It's still a stunning car, but next time I would save myself some money and buy another XSi. Or a GTI-6!! Just avoid the hopeless Peugeot dealer network and find a good specialist.

Faults:

Windscreen wiper motor failed.

Power steering pump self destructed.

Clutch stiff.

Electrical niggles.

Bad main dealer servicing (Marshalls of Peterborough).

General Comments:

The driving experience is spoilt due to a very heavy clutch.

The power steering pump fell to pieces whilst travelling along the M6 motorway.

The quality of build is worse than I expected, I always thought that the 306 was a well sorted car.

Although I purchased this car with a full service history, this car still had its original air filter in from new, it was completely blocked resulting in 40 MPG!