1995 Peugeot 306 XSi review from Hungary

8V problems

- Coil pack

- Oil leak under cylinder head

- Rear beam

- Blower stopped (relay problem)

- Door cables broke (window, central locking went away)

- Door hinge broke.

16V problems (8 months since I had it) :

- A coolant leak that got fixed by changing the radiator cap

- MAP sensor (ECU swap)

- Handbrake cable broke

- Rear wiper died

- Intermittent CEL (code 54)

- Oil pressure gauge haywire sometimes

To start off, it was a question of money buying this car - I wanted a Honda again. Anyway, bought this for being very cheap. And the 306 _does_ look good.

2.0 8V - 121 HP, by no means a race car. The car had some problems when bought, basically not being looked after by previous owners showed mechanically. Lots of things: oil dripping here and there, brakes, suspension etc problems. Took two weeks after buying it to fix.

Had the car for 8 months when I decided to swap the engine for a 16V unit, the RFY.

Took 3 weeks to sort things out (radiator got punctured, no speedo, no idle, clonking exhaust manifold, clutch not seated correctly, vacuum leak, fuel leak)

It's not faultless (by far, specially when compared to my Civic which I still have).

It offers an enjoyable ride, bad MPG, good looks, lots of "extras", lots of niggles - but still enjoyable. I must admit that you do need to be quite patient with it at times.

Also - the engine swap is _not_ worth it should you think about doing it. The 8V engine is much more well balanced and is ideal for everyday driving. The 16V quite simply isn't. The power-band is way up and when utilising the 30HP advantage you pay heavy on MPG. At revs up to 4000 RPMs I would say the 8V engine is totally on par with the 16V powerplant.

Another thing, while the 8V engine did not burn oil, the 16V does, about 0.5 litres per 3000 kms. Yes, it needs revs - but so does my Honda and that car is not burning oil...