2001 Peugeot 406 GLX Estate review from UK and Ireland

This car has satellite navigation and it wasn't working on delivery. It took five days to fix the fault (a pinched wire in the satnav loom) but the dealer was very good at providing another 406 estate as a courtesy car.

Another electrical gremlin has involved the CD autochanger with remote controls. Occasionally, when turning on the radio it has self-set the volume to 18, blasting out so loud that it upsets the neighbours, nearly blows the speakers and, on one occasion, nearly caused an accident.

The front seats are electrically operated and within a few thousand miles the driver's seat springs made a hole in the cover and then damaged three pairs of trousers by plucking them. The dealer, via Peugeot UK, arrange financial compensation.

The economy of the engine for this size of car is fantastic, expecially with so much torque under your right foot.

I have been able to achieve 69.9mpg driving at 50mph on the motorway, but more realistically achieve 55.5mpg at a steady 65mph. Pushing along it is still possible to achieve 47 mpg at illegal cruising speeds.

The handling and ride are superb, soaking up bumps without much trouble.

The estate has lots of usable space and is a better option than the saloon when taking a family on holiday.

Front tyres on diesels often wear quickly, but the standard fit Goodyear tyres saw out 24,000 miles before replacements were needed.