My First car...a 306..help please

[ja3h]

Hey guys well i'll explain my situation first...

My dad drives a Rover 420GSi 2.0 which drinks petrol way too much! He's retired and my parents income is pretty low, but a car is needed. I get to go to uni for free because of the low income, i'm gettin a loan and im livin with my parents so costs will only be learning materials/drink/travelcards otherwise pretty low.

The rover is slowly falling apart and i doubt my dad will get £200 for it! :O

I'm thinking of buying a 306 something like a 1.6,1.8 but i would like the turbo diesel but can't seem to find one in my budget. My budget is £1k btw. It is in insurance group 5 and my dad is going down as the main driver as he'll be using it most and me as second, fully comp it costs around £600. He'll pay for tax,parking and petrol will be between us.

Any 306 owners here? A major worry i have are the electrics, if you've had a problem how did u fix it or how much did it cost to fix?

Also which model would you recommend, i'm not like a speed freak (my dad kinda is even tho he's 65 :O)
I heard that the 1.6 and 1.8 perform about the same and the 1.6 would be the one to get because of better fuel economy.
The turbo diesel is what i'm after because the engines are apparently really good and lasts for ages.

Locally i've seen a Pug 306 1.8XT with 86k on the clock and a cambelt change at 750 which is think is quite reasonable what do you guys think?

thnx

[5lab]

to pre-empt the others

you'd get better value from a bigger car. have a look at.. umm.. maybe a 98 plate xantia - you should pick one up for around £750, and its a bigger/nicer car than the 306, and the derv engines are pretty good..

[menthel]

My 306 was lovely, then my wife made me sell it!

[ja3h]

The electrics are a problem on all 306s a majority of owners i've chatted to have had to fix it themselves. One common prob is the central locking.

@5lab insurance groups for that car are 8+ which adds about 300 on the insurance and i'm not entirely likin the exterior, also i wanted a smaller car.
People have told me to gget the xsara instead of the 306 as its built on the same thingymajig!

[Dark Horse]

The electrics are a problem on all 306s a majority of owners i've chatted to have had to fix it themselves. One common prob is the central locking.

@5lab insurance groups for that car are 8+ which adds about 300 on the insurance and i'm not entirely likin the exterior, also i wanted a smaller car.
People have told me to gget the xsara instead of the 306 as its built on the same thingymajig!

I'm 20 and have just got a 1.4 98 xsara. Nice and big and insurance as only £584 tpff with quinn direct. Drives pretty nicely, not exactly what you'd call stunning but its big and comfy. 0-60 is about 11 secs and have been getting 47mpg over the last 1000 miles or so. It was £1600 but is in top nick with only 45000 miles on it in 8 years.

Check the used car road tests here :
http://www.channel4.com/4car/used-cars/index.html

and here
http://www.whatcar.co.uk/

were really useful for me

[5lab]

ja3h - the groups aren't everything - my car is a group 7 (volvo 340), and the insurance is the same for me as a group 2 micra.. whereas a group 4 saxo would be loads more - it just depends a bit on the car

the aa has a LARGE archive of roadtests too, which go into a decent amount more detail

http://www.theaa.com/allaboutcars/ca....jsp?page=home

[Koolpc]

I have a 306 and i have had no electric problems at all. I have had the car for about 7 years now. It is a great little car.

[Konan555]

Found the HDi an awfull engine. The WORST brakes I've ever been in short of a metro on 240 solids (yes, out stopped by all the works transits), possibly the most wobbly and least posotive ride in the universe and NONE of the gismos worked right.

Other than that..... well there is no other than that. They're the worst cars I've ever been in, to put it bluntly (sorry 306 people, I'm not gonna be polite about cars I think are trying to kill me).

And what is the point in the mental oil flashing thing if it only works 1st thing in the morning?

[ja3h]

Cheers guys thanks for your replies!!

So i should disregard insurance group? I would love a newer car but i do have a budget i wanna try and stick to. I dont mind if the car will devalue to £0 over the next years because i will giving it to my dad until he breaks it!

What cars would you recommend?
Needs to have
Under 1k (cheaper the better)
Good mpg
5 doors
Nice to drive
Cheap to insure
I dont mind if its diesel or petrol
Not gonna fall apart after you hit 100k!

Thanks guys!

[5lab]

konan perhaps you had a bad car?

ja3h i would look straight to diesels if you want good mpg.. i'd have a look at a mondie tdi, xantia tdi, laguna tdi, vectra tdi etc.

[Konan555]

konan perhaps you had a bad car?

3 bad ones.

T plate HDi estate at one job - worst of the lot
Had a drive of an older XSi
And a newer HDi hatch (one of the last ones before they stopped em)

All shocking.

Torque steer being very prominent on both the diesels with the nasty shock of a power delivery they had.

[loki]

Ive got a 306, its not a bad car and my electrics are sound, but i have heard the same rumours of electrics problems.

Car price can depend quite dramatically where you stay. London cars cost about 40 percent less than they do here

[eUphoria]

Ive just bought a 306 dturbo as a fuel ecconomy stop gap for a few months (bye bye MR2 - sob!) and even though its certainly no sports car, im getting 500miles out of a tank of fuel and im not trying to be overly exconomical - so its done exactly what i wanted it to. i.e. its rubbish to drive but very cheap. No electrical problems - seems like a sound choice to me, btw the 406 is very big and very comfy - good for long journeys, as well as very very cheap!

[oshta]

My dad bought a 2nd hand 1.6 meridian 306, and its been no trouble at all since.
- He also wanted a diesal, as he does a lot of miles, but they cost a lot more 2nd hand. He did the sums and worked out it would take about 3.5years of driving to regain the extra outlay on fuel savings. So he got the petrol.

The car is group4


Daniel

[Zak33]

Konan..man....you got 3 bad ones!!!!

The 306 ranks as one of the finest driving machines ever made. Torque steer? Tried to kill you? What on earth were you doing to it ?

Seriously....electrics can be a problem on Mk 1 and Mk2. Electrics to the entire doors wear out..the wires simply fray and cut out on central locking, speakers, electric windows etc. Its a shame but it happens. They also tend to leak a tad around the aerial on the roof, which in turn fills the remote reciever for the central locking.

But lets face it , lots of cars have problems as they get older.

The brakes are normally average to above average. Not Golf standard, but good.

The 2.0 HDI has a million tons of low low down torque but runs out of puff very early. The 1.9TD has the same 90 bhp of the HDi, but no low down at all, loads of turbo lag and a big whoosh. It;s more fun, less efficient.

Both are superb cars...BUT they are more than a grand for a goodone normally.

The Xantia idea is good. SO is looking for a very late Citroen ZX.

I love 306's. In short, they are in my opnion one of the finest chassis' ever made. The ride comfort is superb for passengers, and entertaining for the driver. They just take...practice

[Konan555]

The 306 ranks as one of the finest driving machines ever made. Torque steer? Tried to kill you? What on earth were you doing to it

Trying to pull out of a junction very sedately. HDi engine picks up on the boost, and bang it's dragging me hedgewards.

Also felt very disconnected from the road (VERY nervous on Norfolk backroads) and had naff all in the way of brakes.

I just don't expect to have to reign in a car in carefree day to day driving. I refused to use it from there on it, stuck with a K plate skoda favourit (till I removed its sump crossing a field....oops).

It's just every time I've been in one it's not just come out as a bad car, it's come out as a terrible one. I mean, I've driven beatles and metros which don't stand up by modern standards, but they've got an excuse.

Still, never as bad as that ruddy GSi 150 I drove back from the pub (designated driver). Half hour of wishing it was a GTE.