Faults:

1st and 2nd syncromesh replaced.

3rd and 4th syncromesh replaced.

Water pipe leak to the thermostat housing.

Heater matrix leak.

Front tyres needed replacing every 9000 miles.

General Comments:

Excellent sports hatch for day to day use. Has great flexibilty throughout the rev range, however, the gearbox needs to be used frequently due to the short ratios. Great handling - probably the best around for this sort of money.

This car can take quite a bit of stick without too much complaint. I know because mine was driven very hard.

Very rewarding to drive but not as fast as it could / should have been.

Faults:

The driver door seal was leaking water into the driver's foot-well quite badly. Every time it rained, there was a puddle of water 1 inch thick. **

The clip holding the cable to engage reverse came off within a day of driving the car. An annoying little problem which is easily resolved, but when you can't reverse in a multi-storey car park, try explaining to the person waiting behind you.

Air bag failure warning light came on (which meant replacement of the driver's side air bag).*

The C.D. stacker not working.*

*Fixed by dealer

** Required two trips to the dealer.

General Comments:

The car is fantastic, it handles like a dream on rails, and is very quick when necessary. The 6 Speed 'box is quick, with short throws and a joy to use, especially coupled lots of low end torque available from the engine.

So I've had problems with the build quality, it's a Peugeot, what do you expect? The Dealer sorted it out, after a bit of hassling, but I wouldn't say that badgering a dealer was unique to Peugeot.

In terms of value for money, why pay the premium for a Golf or S3? When you can have the prettiest and best car in its class (as voted by Autocar and several other magazines).

Faults:

Nothing... yet.

General Comments:

Not a bad little car. I'm not a great fan of diesels but the 2.0L injection in a car of this size is very responsive.

The engine is taken directly from the 406 police cars.

Gear changes can be a chore in 1st or 2nd gear.

The engine growls badly at low revs in 3rd.

Brakes stick badly and are VERY sensitive.

Being front-wheel drive the steering is a lot heavier and even with power steering it still feels heavy.

Performance wise, this is a very good car, acceleration is good although heavy-footed people may find the ride uncomfortable.

Overall this is a very nice car to drive, it shows no signs of straining on hills and is very comfortable.

Faults:

Battery went flat over the Xmas period.

Paint chips too easily.

Plastic boot trim has faded in colour.

Interior feels loose and rattles a lot.

Remote central locking went wrong.

General Comments:

I came back from holiday and the car was in the local dealers. After a mental test-drive, I was hooked and laid down the deposit there and then!

Can be docile when driven about town but the heavy gear-change can be tiring.

Overtaking has never been so much fun.

Still looks an attractive car, but loses its flagship appeal because of identikit styling through the range.

If I was to sell this car, I would have to spend out of my range to find a replacement which could match or exceed the Peugeot.