1999 Peugeot 306 Meridian from UK and Ireland - Comments

Got the car home and didn't start it for about 2 days. Came to start it and the battery was flat. Jump started it and the problem persisted. Brought a new battery. Next day, went to go to work and it was flat again. Had the car looked at and couldn't find anything wrong with it.

Then a specialist car electrician found it was linked to the radio. This was sent away and I was told it would be £400 for a standard head unit. I also then had to pay £15.00 for the code to unlock the radio when it was returned.

The exhaust mid section had a large hole in it around 42,000 miles, but this was the original so I can't really complain.

Rear Heater de-mister button fell apart one day in my hand. Cost £3.00 for a new one so not a major problem.

I am having something fixed this week regarding the gear box or drive chain as whenever the wheels are driving it makes a grinding ticking noise.

I think that's about all that has gone wrong. Seems a lot more now that I think about it.

Compared to my Golf (God rest its soul) this car seemed like Brand New. For a 1.4 its fast and handles really well. So far I've had 118mph out of it.

For a Meridian the car has side skirts, a front spoiler and fog lights so once I added some alloy wheels to it and it really looks good.

It has a lot of equipment as well for the money. It cost me just over £5,000 and has 2 airbags, A/C, Electric windows, mirrors etc.

The interior is a little cheap, but it is all color coded and matches well, but the poor build quality gives way to a lot of rattles and niggles.

Overall a nice car, but the poor build quality sometimes lets it down. Despite the few problems it is reliable and looks and runs like new.

I had the work done on the car regarding the gearbox. It ended up having a new clutch and the whole gearbox rebuilt from scratch that in total cost me just under £800.00. I am 18 years old and cannot keep affording to pay out large sums of money like this. The garage said they couldn't understand what had gone wrong and why this had decided to happen at this time in its life. BRING BACK MY GOLF ANY DAY!!

Well now I have yet another problem. When the engine has been running up to warm, if I stop and leave it for about 15-40 minutes it will either not start at all, if it does start then it will chug and either stall soon after or rev up to about 3000-4000rpm on its own. It looses power and this will last from anywhere to 2-5 minutes (usually longer if I am in Sainsbury's and it really wants to embarrass me!!!) The quick fix option will cost £80.00 but the problem will be back in 2 months. Otherwise £200.00 for a piece of plastic that might not fix the problem at all!! What do I do? Damn cheap Peugeot!

I had the £200 option and although I don't drive this car anymore got myself a solid BMW... anyway I had the car back for a week and it did this strange revving, spluttering thing again..

Whats the point...

Hi mate, just reading your comments about your bad episode with the peugeot 306 meridian!! I take it that it is the 1999 version?

I intend to get it as my 1st car, having learned to drive in a VW Polo (96) and Vauxhall Astra (04) - my main draw to this car is the equipment/style/accessories you get for the money, and that's it.

Any idea how often the clutch/geaarbox might need replacing? THat tends to be one of the most expensive repairs needed, and I also see that you were faced with other repairs?

PS my dad had various cars in his lifetime, and for low-mid budget versions, he has always favoured japanese cars - his current corolla has NEVER needed a major service (nor minor services for that matter, only one oil change in 2 years at MOT appointments!!) for the past EIGHT years that he has owned it! Let alone these small services you mentioned. But the main reason I can't get a corolla is because the insurance is ROCKET high for me (being a new-young driver).