2003 Peugeot 307 XR 2.0 HDI from Peru - Comments

Driver's side Rug keeps coming out of the holding gasket.

LED indicator for the door lock button is almost invisible during the day (should have a brighter LED).

Map holder behind passenger seat came out from the seat back. Needs to be repaired.

Recently I had to purge the diesel engine. This was acceptable under the extreme condition I was, parked beside Lake Titicaca at 4000 meters above see level, 7am in the morning and temperature below 7 Degrees Celsius. I don't have much experience with Diesel engines. The manual says the purging pump is for when you are left without diesel, but that was not the case, but I thought this could happen under those cold circumstances. The problem was when I tried to take out the small motor cover so I could activate the manual pump. The manual doesn't say how to open those tricky latches on the cover. After a while I found out how they worked, but one of them had flew into somewhere inside the motor. Only one pressing of the pump was needed, but it took me half an hour to find the latch. Couldn't they imagine some more obvious ways of opening the cover, so that they don't fall?

When starting from stopped position I do get the feeling someone else mentioned that the throttle takes an instant to work. That happens here at sea level and doesn't bother much after you get used to it. If I had done this recent trip to lake Titicaca with my previous car without changing the timing, it would have been a lot worse. The diesel engine is a blessing for traveling from sea level to highlands.

There was a strange sound from the front passenger seat. I found out it was the seat belt clamp banging into the middle division.

Recently a squeack sound has started from the plastic covering of the driving wheel. Still don't find out from where it comes.

Great driving experience. This trip from Lima to the lake (over 3000km round trip in 6 days) was a very pleasant driving experience. Although, while taking a turn it is noticeable that the car is taller than others and the gravity center is higher too. You need to slow down or you will get a feeling of an imminent rollover (which I guess was not that imminent since my previous car did not have the goodies this one has for aiding in curves).

I must admit that, even though the speed limit here is 100km/h, this car performs great at 150km/h. But it consumes a lot at that speed too, it consumed almost the same that in the city. It still is not bad, better than my previous car and also cheaper fuel. Anyway, next time I'll try to respect the 100km/h limit and consume less.

I do feel that the overall quality of the interior is not as good as I expected. Both my previous cars (both Nissan Sentra, one EX Saloon, the other Super Saloon) were maybe not that good looking in the interior, but did not have this small annoyances, like the rug coming off, the sounds, etc.

Sea level does not affect starting capabilities or indeed any other engine function of a diesel engine!

Actually sea level has an effect on *every* internal combustion engine due to the reduced oxygen at altitudes well above sea level.

Reducing the oxygen available for an engine to burn will affect all combustion processes from startup to shutdown.

Turbocharged petrol's and diesels are even more affected by altitude as the turbo has to work harder to compress the same amount of air, putting greater strain on the turbo and also the engine due to the increased pressure required to intake the required amount of air.