1999 Peugeot 406 LX review from UK and Ireland

Drivers seat frame broke off dangerously while driving (approx 30,000miles). Peugeot refused to replace the frame (I had a 5 year extended warranty) as the last service (the 6,000mile oil change) had not been carried out by an authorized Peugeot dealer. I got into a long legal dispute with Peugeot over how the seat frame could have been damaged by an oil change and in the end gave up and got a local welder to do a fantastic repair job for only £20. Peugeot wanted £130+fitting.

Air conditioning failed at 54,000 miles. Repaired at great cost.

Air conditioning failed again at 62,000 miles. Not bothering repairing again due to cost and unreliability.

Rear suspension arms failed on the second MOT (Approx 78,000 miles) due to excessive play in the joints.

The drivers side rear suspension arm failed again 100 miles after it was replaced resulting in the car violently juddering to halt.

The Engine blew its oil cap and chucked all the oil out at 82,000miles. Mechanics could not find what caused it.

Handbrake sensor failure causes the dash to bleep and display 'Brake Fluid low' every few minutes.

Bad wiring contacts in drivers seat causes the Airbag fault light to always flash.

Clutch needed replacing at 60,000 miles (my last 406 had the same clutch at 128,000miles)

Front brake disc's have been replaced twice already and are due for another replacement due to warping already.

Handbrake cable snapped at approx 78,000miles. The cause was a hollow (yes that's right a hollow) bolt on the self adjusting mechanism. Bolt could not be replaced on its own and cable replacement was very expensive.

The car handling is great for a large car.

The HDI diesel is quick quiet and economical, shame about the build quality.

The spec was very good for the price.

Unfortunately I feel very let down by the poor dealer service. They take days to fix simple faults and charge the earth. From my experience the dealers have been very unfriendly, unhelpful and don't do anything for free (charged me £10 for a headlamp bulb only a few days after I bought the car at 6months old)

Build quality is shocking. EVERYTHING in the car rattles now at 85,000 miles and the car just feels so worn out and loose. This car has only been driven in straight lines up and down the M55 every day and yet it feels like a car that's 3 times its age and had 3 times the use.

I used to own a 1996 406 of the same spec and that one managed to provide me with approx 120,000 miles of use before it went badly wrong. This car started going wrong at half that millage.

I would not consider a Peugeot ever again mainly due to the dealers attitude towards their customers.