1997 Peugeot 306 Spinnaker from UK and Ireland - Comments

The radiator had begun to leak, due to the bottom of the air inlet hose rubbing on it. It proved relatively easy to take out except for the bottom hose which was secured by a clip that was very difficult to get anywhere near. The new radiator proved a nightmare to put back in.

I have also had problems with the suspension; the front dampers had 'gone' and began to creak. 1000 miles after replacement the creaking has returned and a knocking sound has developed when turning left. The back suspension does not seem to like having two people in the back of the car as the tyres rub on the wheel-arch.

One of the bonnet hinges has broken (a common fault I am told).

The air bag light stays on.

I love the feel of the car, it grips the road well. It is excellent on the motorway and at high speeds it always feels like it still wants to go faster.

Can't fault the engine.

This car is excellent to drive. I'm just getting demoralised with the problems I've had, especially the suspension ones, they let it down.

Airbag light staying on is usually because a rear seat passenger has dislodged with their feet a connector that lives under the driver's seat. Taking the two halves of the connector apart, and then firmly putting them back together again usually solves this problem.

I am a current Peugeot 306 Spinnaker owner. I too have had the bonnet hinge break, this was actually broken as I bought the car and I had them fix it before I purchased it, but still this shows that the bonnet had been a problem with this particular model. That said, I absolutely love this car to pieces. No wonder people rant and rave about this car's handling - it's just great to drive. Anyone else that drives the car has noted that the power steering seems somewhat heavy. This isn't a bad thing it's very responsive and the car just grips the road even on the most demanding of bends. The 306 was given a face-lift in 1997 and some people may think the phase 1 306 now looks out of date, but if anyone wants to make their phase 1 car look even better than the phase 2 there's plenty of mods out their on the market to do this.

I have been the owner of the 306 spinnaker TD, for roughly 2 years, the airbag warning light has always been a problem despite repeated attempts to rectify the situation by replacing the connector, now it's just easier to ignore it.

Also had problems with starting for a while especially in cold conditions, when Peugeot dealer looked at it they decided it was the key code immobiliser and simply cut it out of the loop, now it starts first time every time.

I agree with all the comments above, the engine is superb, always willing to give that bit extra, which makes motorway and long hill climbing a breeze.

I would recommend this model to anybody, as even with its slight faults, it handles excellently and is still a superb incarnation of the 306.

I have a 306 spinnaker for about 8 months now and have also had a few problems with it. After just 2 months my fifth gear went then a month later my electrics on the doors went so I could not lock it. Also since I've had the car the air bag light flashes on and off for about 5 minutes then stays on. But I do agree it is a lovely car to drive.

I bought one of these fantastic cars with 71,000 miles on it. The car is great, but there are a few problems I have noticed. The boot hinge hasn't been a problem for me, but the boot lock went not long ago. It was cheap and easy to replace, but annoying all the same. Despite having the driver's side window motor changed, it got stuck down the other day in the rain. It has now been replaced by a black plastic bag and sellotape until I can find the time to find the problem. The engine seems to whine when it starts. It goes away after a couple of minutes, but I haven't heard a car do this before. The pedals in the car are tiny and are hard to get a grip on. The clutch is the size of my big toe. It tends to hurt my feet, so I bought some big metal pedals to go over them. The handbrake was loose when I bought it, it didn't even hold on a hill. This is easy to rectify, but it's worth checking them before driving! My exhaust has just blown as well, so I am in need of a new one. The radio is a strange shape, so if you want a CD player, you need to buy a fascia cover. £15 from halfords. The power steering feels heavy, but to be honest, you don't really need it any lighter. It's fine as it is. Lastly the courtesy light keeps playing up. This is a pain, and turns out it just has a problem with earthing the switch. Overall this is a great car, with a few minor errors. But lets face it, every car has a few errors. Thoroughly recommended as is an awesome car! Also for all 306s, they are very easy to mod! Also, the speakers in the back are good quality!

Hey - I wrote the original article (dated 7th Oct 2002) ; I was surprised to come across it again while searching for something else relating to the 306.

Guess what? I still have the same car: 1997 "P" plate 306 Spinnaker. I've had it for eight years now and it's done 120000 happy miles. Throughout those eight years this is a full list of the work I have done on it:

- Replacement of nearside (passenger side) front suspension parts - pretty much everything: shock, spring, bearing plus other parts at the top of the strut, lower wishbone (has two integral bushes, one at the front and one at the rear of the wishbone, and one of them had gone), antiroll bar bush (more than once!).

- Replacement of the offside front wishbone (bush went), and antiroll bar bush (of course).

- Wheel bearings: Front (both sides). Rear offside. I have found that one way to get a wheel-bearing done is to go to the scrapyard and take a hub off a 306. Buy a new wheel bearing, and take the hub plus bearing to a garage - they quite often will press the old one out and press the new one in for you for £10 - £20.

- Rebuilt back brakes - everything new except the drums themselves. I will add here that the above work on the suspension was necessary, but rebuilding the back brakes was not altogether necessary - the hydraulic cylinder (that pushes the shoes apart) leaked on one side, and I figured that I would do the lot on both sides so that it would be good for years from now.

- Replaced discs and pads on front brakes (easy job - done twice!)

- Replaced exhaust. The original one was still on the car until March 2009; it was 12 years old!

- Replaced rear bumper (yes, someone hit it in the snows of Feb '09).

- Soldered together those pesky wires for the airbag that run underneath the driver and front passenger seats. I persisted with the original orange connectors for a while but they kept failing.

- Two or three battery replacements.

- Replaced radiator (yes, again). It began leaking at the water inlet pipe (front left hand side of radiator as you're looking into the engine bay while standing in front of the vehicle), which appears to be quite small and fragile, and had cracked. This time though, I did the whole job in one evening! It was actually quite easy - I don't know why I struggled so much the last time (I'm a better mechanic eight years on perhaps!).

- The worst one: repaired gearbox - fifth gear went. This I could not do myself and had to take it to a specialist gearbox place. It was about £500 to get the gearbox repaired with parts from another one and at the same time a new clutch. Some people questioned my sanity because, of course, the car is of "scrappage" age and they couldn't understand why I would rather get it repaired.

But the truth is...it's a great car, and if you don't mind working on cars, you stand a very good chance of keeping one in fair fettle for a very fair price.

The engine, I have learned, is legendary. It is the pinnacle of mechanical injection pump technology and aspects of it are much simpler in design than the new common-rail models. I have always changed the oil and air filter every six months, and changed the coolant every two years. I put Millers diesel fuel additive in the tank when I fuel up, and the car rewards me by never failing to start, and regularly giving me 600 miles on a tank.

Handling is superb really, considering the weight of the diesel engine in the small size of car that it is.

Also, I have had none of the commonly cited problems with the electrics. In my case everything electric has been continuously reliable.

I envisage keeping this car for a good while yet - maybe even until it becomes a "modern classic" - now that would be great. :-D.