Is it worth a few hundred quid?

[grelvin]

Hi All,

New to forum, just had a little girl, money is tight, fella at work is looking at selling his 406 for a few hundred quid. Done just over 200k, hes very meticulous with his cars, is looked after by another guy at work who is a mechanic. Been in his family from new I believe. I think he has had all parts etc replaced when required. Can't afford much and really don't want to go down the finance route. Do you think it has some more life in it yet? Looking at keeping it for around 3 years, avg mileage during that time.
Its a 'W' plate, 2.0 HDi.

Cheers for your help,

G

[DiscoPol]

is it tax and tested?
if so and its running cant be a bad deal i payed a lot more for my W plate HDi and it has 150k on the clock now and still going, 200k is nothing unusual in the pug diesels, somebody will along soon with advice on what to check for.

Welcome by the way

polski

[teamster1975]

Welcome in G & congrats on your baby daughter!
200K is nothing for these engines as long as it's been serviced regularly
It it the 90bhp or 110? The 110 has a dual mass flywheel which can cause problems when it wears, also check condition of all the pulleys & belts; you could be looking at a clutch sooner or later if it's never had one.

[Nuffield]

Hi,
I would stay well clear as it s an H D I. These letters stand for "High Dealer Involvement" as the car is infested with unreliable and expensive elctronic systems.
Regards,
Nuffield

[DiscoPol]

Hi,
I would stay well clear as it s an H D I. These letters stand for "High Dealer Involvement" as the car is infested with unreliable and expensive elctronic systems.
Regards,
Nuffield

Bullsh1t!!!

I can only speak from personal experience, but my HDI hasn't needed to see the dealer in the last 28,000 miles that i have owned it, all it has needed is new set of brake discs and pads at the front which i sadly had to get done by a local mechanic because at that time my tools were still back in the UK.

but dont be put off by the scaremongers out there, the HDI has its problems but so do all cars, if this guy at work has had it from new and its maintained by a another guy at work then there is no reason you cant continue the arrangement with him and continue with the services and any work required.

"High Dealer Involvement" syndrome is something any car car be infected with, you just get good cars and bad cars in any marque. I personally would happily have another one.

Polski

[Springnuts]

(computer glitch - duplicate post)

[Springnuts]

Hi,

Estate or saloon I wonder? Trim level?

We've had our W reg 110 HDI Executive Estate from 78k to 213k, and I have no plans to change it. Huge load carrying capacity with the seats down - not at all bad with them up for that matter. Comfortable enough, however the driver's seat is pretty worn now, and not that good for long journeys. That said, I drive to/from work (2 hours) once or twice a week and don't have a bad back, so it can't be too awful! Cruise at 70 on the speedo (=65 according to TomTom) and it is very economical - last 2000 miles (which have had a lot of M-way driving I admit) I have averaged 54mpg. Cruise control if present is great.

Clutch was most recent expensive repair. Electrical systems - wiring harnesses - can be a pain of course. For my money the expensive part is normally the random replacement of costly parts by garages as a fault finding process. It does actually make sense for them to do it that way as labour charges are so high, but if you can diagnose accurately yourself (using the advice here in the forum) you are onto a winner. Electric fuel pump (£100 or so plus fitting); £11 double relay next to ECU (a b*****d to diagnose) are other recent-ish stuff. I have given up on the air-con, since it was a money drain . Parking brake is dreadful - a poor design.

I see some issues with engine sensors - haven't had those issues fortunately - but as already said, read through the forums and you will get an idea of what goes wrong.

My guess is that it's a bargain.

Regards,

Springnuts

[Nuffield]

Hi Every one,
Bull..it eh Polski? How do you work that out, when 98% of problems on here are H D I related.This guy has a very limited budget and one bsi would wipe him out! I have run pugs since the 305,and would never touch an HDI.I am the owner of a 406 estate at the moment, which has a air con problem and this is, yes electronic based! the xud engine is much cheaper to maintain and far easier. I would advise him to buy an xud, it will last for ever with servicing, and does not need a computer at every toss and turn to trace its problems.
Regards,
Nuffield

[teamster1975]

Think how many people there are out there that own 406 HDi's. We generally only see people on here when they have a problem with their car which is a tiny percentage of owners! We've got a huge pool of knowledge here to assist with problems but you're not guaranteed to have problems if you buy one!
I'm in a very non-cynical mood today

[mickeydread1122]

if the car is well mantained and serviced at the same time i dont think it will give tooo many problems.HDI engines i personally think are 1 of the best 1s around and ever been made by Peugeot/Citroen.the weakest link on these engines is the BSI unit which if gets contaminated by water getting through poor drainage system on these cars can cause grief electrically.any car thats poorly serviced be it a top of the range Merc or Beemer can cause all sorts of problems we need to be honest with each other guys.i had an HDI for 3 yrs without any issues and i was servicing the car regulary until the BSI unit went toast.it never ever gave me any issues mechanically during that time and now i own another HDI estate 110 on an X plate,this was poorly serviced to be honest and at the moment im doing touch and go whilst im servicing it myself.done the front discs and pads including the rear 1s as well. changed the ux belt and pulleys and next its gonna be timing belt and water pump.the lift pump in the tank is faily new and i changed the wiper motor as well.
the only thing im worried at the moment is changing the clutch as it has dual mass fly wheel which is damn expensive to change.

[gumby6371]

Personally I'd be looking at the fact the guy only wants a few hundred for the car, if it's tidy, been serviced regularly and has an mot I'd buy it. If it breaks down and looks expensive, strip it for parts and scrap the car. He'll probably get more back than he paid for it.
Just my opinion

[DiscoPol]

At a few hundred quid for a running car with T&T even if it only ran on puppy tears and fairy wings i would buy the thing,
as so many others have said the ownership of an HDI doesn't always require constant trips to the stealers.

Nuffield if you are going to quote statistics and be the font of all knowledge please get your facts right

98% of problems on here are H D I related...

if on the other hand you are giving your opinion to a new member who has never come across your particular posting style before, then at least qualify your comments as such and don't try to portray your opinion as fact.

I am the owner of a 406 estate at the moment, which has a air con problem and this is, yes electronic based

But this is not an HDI

That said i think take a look at it and if it runs well and looks tidy enough, speak to the chap who services it and get his opinion and make an informed decision from there. In my opinion the HDI is a fine engine and the 406 is a great family car, its French and it has electrical niggles, but try and find a 10 year old mass produced car without any niggles in at least few of the range.



Polski

[Doggy]

My last HDi 90, (Citreon Xsara), did 185,000 miles without and engine management glitches, 100,000 of them while I had it. The 406 so far has added 40,000 to the total. It's had some problems, but all diesel particle filter related, (which HDi 90/110's don't have).

This evening, I have the pleasure of trying to diagnose the cause of the engine management light coming on on my bro's XUD. I also towed his previous XUD-powered 306 home on several occasions.

The older engine is certainly simpler, but even IF there is some substance to the claim that the XUD is more reliable, the 20-25% fuel saving will easily cover the cost of any repairs over the life of the average car.

The biggest potential cost here is funding poor diagnostic work. As the others have said, the way to avoid this is to know you way around and use resources like this forum to the full.

(*---takes cover---*)

[Welly]

I think one important thing to remember is that although the HDi can sometimes see you down at the garage with Engine management lights on (been there, done that) there's very little chance of the car actually packing up altogether (apart from the lift pump failure of course - been there too) they normally plough on like wounded soldiers and get you where you're going.

Generally speaking they ain't too bad and if this guy's car being offered has always been a fair runner then the chances are it will continue doing so.

One thing from my experience is that modern diesels don't seem to like repeated short journeys and this can give rise to emissions faults. If you only do 6/7K a year it can be possible to run a petrol for less/the same.

[mjb]

Bull..it eh Polski? How do you work that out, when 98% of problems on here are H D I related

Really? Christ there must be a whole HDI section I'm missing somewhere with 96% of the whole forum's posts in it! I know I'm a forum admin and am supposed to know these things, but can someone show me where to find these other 470,000 posts?

.This guy has a very limited budget and one bsi would wipe him out!

I get through a BSI a week in my D9... oh wait, no, I don't

I am the owner of a 406 estate at the moment, which has a air con problem and this is, yes electronic based!

Wow. HDIs affecting your non-HDI aircon... I had aircon problems too. Rusted pipe on my 406 and holey condensor on my VW. Do you think those ebil HDIs broke those too? What about my kitchen oven which turns itself off after 20 minutes rendering me incapable of cooking a Fray Bentos pie? Could it be the HDIs did that too? Damn those HDIs!

the xud engine is much cheaper to maintain and far easier.

Unless you buy a lemon XUD