2000 Peugeot 406 Executive Estate from UK and Ireland - Comments

New instrument cluster needed from new.

Automatic gearbox failure at 4,000 miles.

Cruise control stopped working at 8,000 miles.

Engine overheating at 9,500 miles.

Trim on rear window had to be replaced (coming adrift) and rubber seal at bottom of drivers door replaced because of ripping.

Poor build quality generally.

My car was imported from Holland and has been a nightmare. It's been off the road for 17 days so far in the first 3 and a half months since new. Local service agents don't seem to be concerned and Peugeot UK don't want to know about problems because the car was imported. Peugeot UK and local dealer content to satisfy warranty work but nothing else as regards problems. Good handling but poor build quality.

Comfort poor and no lumbar support in an executive model is surprising.

Really surprised by these comments. I've had a 406 manual estate since '97. Just about to replace it with a new one.

Great car, reliable, including two trips to Spain. Loads of room, long journey comfort. Now covered 84k miles, still drives like new.

Absolute convert from the VW Passat which was my last car. That was rattly and hopelessly unreliable. Stranded in central France at 02:00am on one holiday! Will buy a 406 again this spring (never bought same car previously).

R. Graty (Mr.)

I am also surprised at the comments. I have a 406 Executive 2.0 Automatic Saloon and it is one of the most reliable and most comfortable cars I've ever owned. It is a 1999 V-reg and had 1000 miles on it when I acquired it. It has now covered 20,000 miles and I've never had a problem with it.

Previously I had a Peugeot 405 GTX, 1995 N-reg. I sold it with 120,000 miles on it and it was still running like new.

-Jim

My Peugeot 406 (1.8 liter) is on road for only 22 months.

The suspension system is excellent. Driving the car is nice and easy. However -

1. The gear does not change smoothly from 1st to 2nd. The gear seems to break down from the shock/knock.

2. When speeding up, in 2nd gear, the RPM go up, then a little bit down, and them up again.

3. Occasionally, in the middle of driving, the engine stops completely. An indication of "engine imobilizer fault" appears on the scren. The car have been to the garage for more than 10 times, but unfortunately the people there don't know how to fix the problem. They keep telling me that they've replaced every possible element in the car computer, but the problem still exist.

I found this site looking for what would be the life expectancy of the 2.1 diesel engine fitted to the 406 Estate. Mine has covered 248000 miles - never been dismantled - same clutch - 1999 vehicle. Can I expect any more?. email Richard Motorfix@yahoo.com Ps never been a taxi!

I've had mine for just over a year and am pleased with it generally, it's comfortable, economical, a motorway mile-eater. But it does have one niggling fault - about 5 minutes after starting off from cold, suddenly the engine will lose power, and the speedometer and the mileage computer will fail. This lasts for about a minute to several minutes, then the speedometer dial and the mileage computer come back on again, and there's a noticeable surge in power.

Is this connected to the turbo? Any ideas?