Speedo and rev counter needles jumping around like crazy before quitting altogether.
Mileage being added to the odometer when the car was stationary.
Gearbox oil seal failed, contaminating clutch plates.
The 406 was an attractive car which was faultlessly comfortable, nicely made and rode and handled superbly.
Biggest gripe was the almost dangerous lack of performance from the 1.9 TD in this heavy shell. Okay, a diesel saloon is never going to be a sports car, but this is one of the slowest cars I've driven for a long time. The engine is a typical Pug diesel in that it is very quiet and smooth, but it's obviously just overwhelmed by the 406's bulk. In cut and thrust city traffic, or fast B-roads, I often found my right foot welded to the floor and my body rocking back and forth in the vain attempt to coax more acceleration from the car!
The fact that the car is both heavy, and quite seriously underpowered hits fuel consumption quite hard. A low of 32 mpg is fairly atrocious for a diesel car of this performance, and a long-run high of 45, whilst not exactly thirsty, isn't stunning either. My thought was that the consumption did not compensate for the lack of grunt.
The chassis was superb, offering a wonderfully smooth ride. Steering feel was good, and the brakes were powerful and reassuring. Despite its size, the 406 was a joy to punt around twisty roads, with superb body control and sharp turn-in.
Unusually for a Peugeot, the interior was well made, and used decent materials. Driving position was good, and standard equipment also generous. Reliability was okay, but considering I had the car only a short time, there were a lot of niggling problems. The dealers were quite offhand and kept the car for a while.
A good, satisfying car as it was, if it had had the 2.0 petrol or even the 2.1 TD engine under the bonnet it would have been near perfect.
My experience is that the performance is fine if not
quite as good as the 405TD. However, like all diesels
it has a limited rev range in which it will perform well,
and when booting, it you need to change up before it starts
to slow. It could be that it needed a proper service when you bought it, my 406 was also used and shows signs of not
having been correctly run-in, but it still goes fine.
Just driven a well used, 315,000 ks from Christchurch to Tauranga in NZ a distance of 1200 ks and averaged 47 mpg over some very challenging and hilly roads.
Lots of power and great economy. I own a 3.5L V6 220 hp Olds Intrigue so am used to more power but the diesel is a very good car with plenty of power (torque) for an experienced driver to use.
Experience has nothing to do with it.
Do the maths - 90PS + 1400kg = pedestrian performance.
Yes, it has the usual turbodiesel strong midrange, but there's just not enough of it.
The VAG PD engines show how diesel punch should be done, albeit without the refinement of the Peugeot units.
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