Faults:

Glove box won't shut properly - that's all.

General Comments:

After driving my much loved, but much abused Peugeot 405 for many years, I decided to try out the unassuming 309.

This car is superb! Cheap, incredibly reliable, and believe it or not quite speedy when you need it.

The interior is a little dated in it's appearance, but to me, that adds to this little car's great charm.

The 309 will sit happily at 80 mph with a full boot load of scuba kit in it - and that's heavy!! The inside is roomy, and the boot will swallow all of my kit with no complaints at all.

I get an average of 44 m.p.g from this car, and she starts first time every time - with a little help from the manual choke.

No oil leaks or engine problems reported so far, and a mechanic friend of mine says that these cars are pretty much infallable.

A real recommended CHEAP run around!

Faults:

Both drive-shafts had to be replased. The driver seat fastening to the floor broke off!

The engine use a lot of oil and water.

Electronic problems, the brake light works... sometimes.

The gear shift handle "broke off". One screw fell off, and the handle got twisted, and a spring fell out. It still works, but not as well as it should. I should have replaced the screw..

The glove compartment broke, and some plastic on the side of the seat.

And the door lock on the drivers side.

And the ignition broke, so I had to permanently short wire the thing with a switch and a start button, because the original part was too expensive.

General Comments:

The car is good to drive.

The engine gives enough power.

I love the automatic transmission. The first car I've owned with an automatic transmission.

It is no rust on the car. Very good.

Now to the bad parts..

It is very difficult to get parts from other suppliers than Peugeot. Some of the Peugeot parts are 6-7 times more expensive then other supplyers in Norway.

Having only two doors is NOT practical, and makes in more difficult to get a child seat inn and out. The seat on the driver side broke off the floor! I have never seen anything like this ever!

It is very little room around the engine, so it's not a car that it is easy to service on your own.

I am used to drive a Volvo 360GL, that was very easy to change parts on, and it was very easy to get cheap spear parts from other suppliers. I scrapped the Volvo after 860 000km, because of rust. The overall quality feeling seemed to be better then the Peugeot. The Peugeot seems like a cheaper car. I don't know if it is, because the high taxes in Norway depends on weight and engine size. This can make a cheap car expensive if it is heavy and has a big engine. The instruments seems cheap, and the seats and generally all the interior. Get a very massive plastic feeling about it.

The glove compartment broke, and also some plastic on the side of the seat. The car has no side protection in the doors. Found that out, because someone backed up in my car. I have to change some parts that usually cost about 180$ (not original), and Peugeot wants 1200$ for them...

Next time I'm going to buy a car, I'll check how easy it is to find cheap parts. I used to live in Mallorca, were cars are dirt cheap - compared to Norway. For what we pay for a new car in Norway, I could buy two cars in Mallorca (and in some cases three).

As a student it's important for me with cheap parts, and a car that I can maintain myself (or even better a car that works like a Toyota).