1991 Peugeot 405 Mi16 1.9 from North America

Summary:

A beautiful piece of junk!

Faults:

My timing belt broke at only 37,000 miles, which caused all 16 valves to bend!

Climate control computer broke down at about 38,000 miles. I had A/C, but I didn't have heat! $2800.

Anti-freeze leaked on my pedals all the time.

Plenty of electrical trouble.

Three water pump troubles.

Twice had to replace the starter.

Leaking sunroof.

Many other problems, too many to write about.

General Comments:

The Mi16 is a beautiful car.

The Mi16 is fun to drive, whenever you are able to get it out of the repair shop.

I bought the car for $24,000. I put on the ground effects. I chromed the rims. I tinted the windows. It made people turn their heads. But, I was only able to get $5600 for the car.

My advice to all Mi16 owners: Get rid of the car if you still have it!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 16th January, 2002

1991 Peugeot 405 GL 1.6 carburettor from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Comfortable, economical, an overall great car!

Faults:

Wax stat replaced.

Back brake binding.

Ignition system overhaul.

A few leaks fixed.

General Comments:

The Solex carburettors on these are appalling. I cannot believe Peugeot had the audacity to fit a piece of such poor and primitive engineering in their otherwise great engines. If you have a 405 and starting/running is poor, change the wax stat. It will sort it all out.

The ignition system only needed to be overhauled because of neglect from the previous owner, not too expensive and very easy to do. Bought new spark plugs, HT leads, distributor cap, rotor arm, and coil.

Car is underpowered. The 1.6 carb will get you going, but just doesn't have the guts I'd like, I've had to floor the thing to overtake stuff.

Despite this, the engine is very economical.

Comfortwise, it's great, as a previous reviewer has said, it's like driving a sofa. Engine is very quiet at low revs, nice for cruising.

--LOW-- insurance, for a 20 year old driver like me that's a bonus.

Fun to drive, take a corner at 50 and it'll stick to the road like glue.

OK, so a few automatic choke problems, but I still love the car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 31st July, 2001

1st Aug 2001, 12:07

I had exactly the same model as yours!

And the same problems!

I was quite pleased with the performance - I got 116mph out of it!!

I've sold it now and bought an Mi16, which was probably not wise as I'm only 22!

13th Oct 2002, 21:10

As the writer of the original review, just thought it might be of interest to some people that I have completed a 2.0 Turbo engine conversion on this car (engine from a Citroen XM).

Underpowered? I think not. With a TD gearbox I've had it off the speedo at 5,200 rpm :D.

11th Oct 2003, 10:11

Yeah... Peugeot, a fine piece of French engineering... Well, 405 works fine and is nice to drive. As long as it works. After that, you spend hours and hours fixing it. French cars are hardest cars to fix (hey, as a car mechanic, I know) you don't have space to do anything.

But, does anyone know anything about the 1.6l engines carburettors? It is 1988 model, with solex.

Problem isn't the choke, I have fixed Toyota's, which have similar wax thermostat as 405, for years.

I think that Toyota has better carburettors (Aisan) than Peugeot.

Hey, the 1.6l 405 goes as fast as 170kmh, when not tuned, so it doesn't really have kick. 0-100 kmh, about 12sec, slower than Toyota corolla 1.3.

1991 Peugeot 405 SRi 1.9i 8v from UK and Ireland

Summary:

A fantastic, cheap to run car

Faults:

CV joint on the driver's side broke, only cost me £30 to fix with one from a scrap yard.

Heater fan has got a collapsed bearing, just need to get hold of a new one.

Sun roof has never worked, just waiting for better weather to fix this one.

General Comments:

I absolutely love the way that this car drives and now that I have added 15" alloys to the car, it handles like a dream.

The seats are comfortable and supportive and nicely adjustable.

As you can see I don't really have any problems when the car breaks down as I am a engineer and do all my own servicing which makes it a cheap car to run.

Compared to other cars of this type, the 405 is cheap to insure as the SRi is only group 9 insurance, compare this to a Cavalier SRi which is a group 12, yet the 405 is faster.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 28th April, 2001

31st Aug 2001, 12:22

The 405 is a great car, though mines off the road due to a seized engine - but that's a different story.

It seems sunroofs on the 405 are pretty poor, the last owner paid 250 to get it fixed (cables seized). Even now it doesn't automatically stop in the right place.

The car's been fairly reliable, its done 106,000 miles. The body keeps well, but there are quite a few parts that have needed replacing. The only real niggle I have with mine is that the STOP and oil light kept flickering on and off, which lead to me not noticing the oil running out.

Performance is brisk - but mine wasn't a Cavalier beater. 0-60 in 9.8 seconds was my best. It was very good (if loud) on the motorway with 115mph at 4500 rpm, but I didn't dare go any higher!!! I'm getting a newer engine with less than half the original mileage, so hopefully this will be even quicker!