2001 Peugeot 307 XSi review from UK and Ireland

My tale with the 307 is a long and torrid affair. I took delivery of my first one in Sept 2001 on a 51 plate.

All seemed fine until January this year.

The clutch hydraulic system failed. It took the main dealer who supplied the car 6 weeks to fix it. He claimed parts availability was a problem.

The engine on three occasions refused to idle and had to be run at a high idle at junctions etc.

The radio system needed continual re-coding as it seemed to think the battery had been disconnected every couple of weeks.

The passenger front electric window had a mind of its own. Refusing to close properly some days.

At the first service the dealer using the diagnostic tester reported no fault found.

The faults continued to annoy and we asked the dealer to take the car back. He offered us a derisory amount for our 6 month old car. Citing recent auction prices he'd seen.

Then in April this year the ultimate failure. My partner was driving home when all power was lost and smoke was pouring from under the bonnet. It turned out that the starter motor had been energised during her journey causing excessive heating of the cables from the ignition to the starter motor.

We received the recall notice for the faulty ignition switch the ollowing day!!!

This we felt was the final straw, the car smelt as if it had been on fire. The dealer repaired the car and expected us to take it home. We refused and after 4 weeks of phoning and exasperated arguing they agreed to replace the car.

Now this should be a warning to every potential 307 owner.

I collected my replacement car 13 days ago. Now on an 02 plate.

After a little use I noticed that the drivers seat does not slide when tilted to allow rear seat passengers in.

Yesterday, 27th May 2002, the central display announced "catalyser fault" at the same time a decrease in power was experienced. My new car which has covered only 800 miles is in the garage with no hint of it's demise from the dealer.

The worst thing that upsets me is that the dealer can't even imagine how disappointing it is for me as a customer to spend so much on a car that has proved to be so unreliable.

The usual comment "don't know what your moaning about, at least we've given you a courtesy car". (Usually a £100 a month base model compared to my £200 a month top of the range car!!!)

To be fair when the car works it is a dream to experience. The seats are out of this world. The car has predictable understeer that is a joy to exploit.

Not too sure about the ESP in the new one. It makes the car feel very unstable in high winds and fast corners. I think it probably shouldn't be in a "drivers car" as it seems to lose it's way very easily. The dash light flashes to indicate you've gone outside of the envelope!!!