1994 Peugeot 306 XTDT from UK and Ireland - Comments

Everything! Initially repairs were handled by main dealers who were slow, unhelpful, sloppy and overcharged monstrously!

Main crank bent!

Piston rods bent!

Head gasket blown at 62000 miles.

Clutch assembly replaced twice (failing again before loss of car).

3 new radiators! This is caused in a large part by the stupid flimsy retaining catches which sit in little pools of water throughout their short life, so rust through and allow the unsecured radiator to flap around, the consequent flexing causing fatigue cracks. Replacement clips obtainable cheaply from dealers, but fiddly to fit.

Alarm never worked, eventually disconnected when it began to sound randomly while driving.

Always burned oil, smoked like a frightened squid on hard acceleration.

Always used water (where did it go? Never any visible leak).

Electric mirrors never worked.

Electric windows unreliable, worked intermittently.

Suspension components (bushes/shocks &c.) constantly replaced throughout life of car.

Brakes always performed poorly.

Brake discs replaced twice.

Brake discs warped and re-machined twice.

Rear drums useless.

Untraceable vibration from brakes throughout cars life.

Irregular wear in tyres (especially front) meant they required replacing sooner than general wear levels indicated.

External spare wheel a stupid idea: easily stolen and the lowering assembly rusted solid in mine which I only discovered in the pouring rain at the roadside!

Rust in bodywork (a rarity with most later Peugeots), chiefly in roof!

Warning lights and instrument panel lights unreliable - worked intermittantly.

Internal light switches on doors all packed-up.

Electronic headlight adjustment never worked.

Radio reception absolutely dire.

Needed several sets of glow plugs, probably due to oil being burned in engine - accessibility a nightmare as with most other DIY jobs in this car.

Paint peeled in sheets from bonnet.

Plastic trim faded badly.

Ludcrously flimsy plastic bonnet-prop retaining catch broken by every ham-fisted mechanic (including AA!) who ever looked at car.

Wipers ineffective, wore very quickly.

Headlights lousy.

Feel and usability of gearbox in fast-changes rather poor.

Low seating position made glare from lights of oncoming vehicles at night a hazard.

Headroom poor, corresponding lowness of windscreen made car feel claustrophobic.

Seats bum-numbing after 3 hours!

Road and engine noise high.

I bought this car for weekly journeys of around 600 miles, it proved fast, economical and a reliable starter. The engine had good performance characteristics and could embarrass many a superficially more powerful petrol car.

It also proved to be a money pit, but in part because it had been owned by a "wannabe" boy-racer who'd thrashed it and failed to have it serviced regularly. Also, to be fair to the 306 I browsed reviews of other Peugeot models (inc. 307) plus equivalent Citroen's and it seems unreliable electrics, especially central locking and alarm are a PSA trademark, while complaints about build quality and unhelpful dealers are as common among reviews of Hondas, Volkswagens and BMWs as PSA cars. The whole car industry needs a massive kick up the ****!!!

Ride and handling of 306 have been greatly overrated by professional reviewers, mine was recently replaced with a 405 1.8 GLXi petrol which in every department except Peugeot's trademark unreliable electronics is a superior car, even though an older design.

Very much in the 306's favour is the fact it survived very well when hit from the side by a vehicle (Nissan Micra) travelling in excess of 30mph which never even braked. The car was written-off, but the 4 people inside the Peugeot walked from the scene with only a few bruises and a cracked finger-bone: the Nissan driver had to be cut-out by the fire brigade!

Amazing quantities of luggage could be carried with seats folded down and parcel shelf removed.

I agree with your comments on your old 306. I own a 306 XTdt and have had similar problems with mine! Central locking is crap, and only works when it wants to. My rev counter and digital clock also are very unreliable. Mine too also has rust on the roof, which I have touched up with filler and re-sprayed it twice, but it keeps coming back, and it's starting to do my head in!!

I have a 1997 Peugeot 306 turbo diesel, which at the moment have had no major problems with. Although the air conditioning has never worked, and never will because of the price of replacement parts, £400 for a condenser!. Still a very good car, can't really fault it.

I have an XTdt and it kicks arse... just had a prang with it and it was fixable.

It drives well (very like a turbo petrol) and has all the mod cons, including a temperature gauge and electric everything which is actually in fine working order.

The trick is to just simply look after it.

Treat it like a lady.

Ben Jennings.

I purchased my 306 XTDT 8 months ago with over 110,000 miles on the clock.

Generally I am very pleased with handling and performance for what it is.

Apart from the front tyres warring on the outer sides of treads and the suspension and steering bushes going, the main problem has been with the passenger side electric window. This seems to work when it wants to, but in particular if it has been a hot day! I have found that if left in the shade it soon sorts it's self out...

...apart from yesterday when it decided to give up completely! So I tried everything from fuses (messing up the alarm in my lack of knowledge) to taking of the door panel to see if I could get to it. When it eventually became too dark to work I decided to tape up the open window with a plastic bag and gaffer tape, and give up to the mercy of my local mechanic. At this point a voice inside my head said "one last try", so I pushed the button and up the B***** went!!! – Well at least I leard how to disconnect the Alarm!

Guy Rayment.

It is very common for the wires in the door loom (body to door) to brake in the 306. This can result in intermittent faults with windows, electric mirrors and central locking. One thing to note just because a window is not working does not mean the fault is in that door, a broken wire in the drivers door can cause the passengers window to fail, since the power supply go through the drivers window switch's before it gets to the passengers window.