Faults:

Had a couple of bent valves + broken valve springs upon purchase. Suspected timing belt failure at some point.

Engine mount support broken at 148,000km.

Starter motor failed at 156,500km.

Left rear anti-roll bar link broken at 162,500km; led to some interesting handling characteristics briefly.

Idle air control stepper motor failed at 170,000km; found a replacement for $50.

Certain bushes in the front suspension, along with the front strut mounts, are on their way out, at 173,000km.

General Comments:

Not an ideal choice if you are after a cheap daily driver in Australia; parts can be rather costly (a new starter motor was $315, not great for it to suddenly fail), along with some tasks requiring quite a bit of patience/labour costs to complete.

Fantastic handling. With a competent set of tyres, this car is a huge amount of fun once you hit the twisty stuff.

Cabin built quality isn't 100%; peculiar noises from the interior are rather apparent, but don't really bother me.

If tyres aren't looked after, can be quite a handful in the wet, particularly on roundabouts, so it pays, as always, to check tyre wear/pressures regularly.

Visibility from the driver's seat is rather good, very easy car to park, apart from the somewhat stiff clutch.

Lastly, if you are a taller driver, I'd recommend steering away from 306's equipped with sunroofs. Being 6'2 myself, attempting to sit up perfectly straight, results with my head being shoved against the ceiling.

Faults:

Central locking jumps up and down by itself.

Exhaust is boomy, especially at high revs.

Choke switching off occasionally stalls the engine.

Erratic windscreen wipers on auto.

Cabin lights on front door switch don't work.

Indicator intermittently doesn't work.

General Comments:

This car was in great condition when I bought it second hand, and generally hasn't given me many problems at all.

Though it has its idiosyncrasies, which can be annoying sometimes, at others they're kind of hilarious.

When the central locking plays up, the locks (very noisily as on many Peugeots!) jump up and down constantly, sometimes ten times in a row, like there is some poltergeist present. Sometimes it is hard to get the door open; in this case you have to unlock, then quickly pull up the handle to get in.

There is a flat spot in the revs at about 2000 rpm, which makes acceleration from lights uneven; you have to gun it past the 2000 rpm mark to accelerate evenly, and other people tend to think you're trying to drag them off.

It's pretty comfortable to drive on the highway, though when climbing hills the boomy exhaust system makes it difficult to hear music on the radio, and after an hour of driving you feel a little deaf.

The clutch is incredibly stiff; why do they make them so stiff? It's like a truck to drive in city traffic.

Faults:

Cable that connects "pull-ring" for reverse to gearbox let go in the first week.

Thin paint worries me!

General Comments:

A thoroughly lovely car to drive. How many hatches have the performance, ride/handling and soul of a GTi6?

The styling continues to age quite well.

My car is black with extra dark window tinting. It's subtle, yet sexy.

It's a well packaged and practical car too. Good fuel consumption.