406oc.co.uk

Hi All

As of tomorrow i will hopefully be the proud owner of a 2003 Pug 406 2.0HDi 110 (AC).

I had a quick look at it today and will be test driving it tomorrow before i make a decision. This is my first diesel purchase so i was wondering if any of you had any advise on what to look out for with these cars.

I noticed that the oil was fairly low, would that indicate anything? other than it hasnt been topped up for a while?

It has done 114000, service history is up until 70000. After that things are a bit sketchy.

Any advise would be great.

Thanks for your time, Ads

Mmm, oil being low is quite unusual as the HDi does not use any as a rule (unless it's leaking).

Having sketchy history past 70K miles means it may have missed the Cambelt change at 96K miles

Make sure it pulls strongly from 1800 revs to 2800 revs it should feel quite impressive. If it's a bit flat then it's not right. Don't 'floor' the throttle either, you need to 'work' the throttle to match what the engines doing (you can't rush a diesel).

Listen out for clattery/pinking diesel clatter through the revs, some noise is normal on Common Rail engines but it shouldn't sound like a loud of bolts in tin can.

You might wanna see if you can check its on-line MOT history to verify the mileage (might be why some history is 'missing').

Check the A/c as is has a nasty habbit of crapping-out at 7 years old on the dot

Thanks for the advise

The MOT's stack up, its just the servicing and parts receipts that are a bit of a non-show. Checking in detail tomorrow.

I will keep a keen eye out for any oil patches at the end of the drive (engine was very clean when i looked today so will defo be lifting the bonnet after the drive)

I am used to being careful when choosing a car, had a long history or rovers so being EXTRA careful comes naturally now.lol.

Hi Ads & Welcome to the forum

I'd agree with welly on what to look out for, additionally it's worth making sure all the 'toys' work - you didin't mention the spec of your machine, but by 2003 all are fairly well loaded...

Worth paying particular attention to the column stalks, these cars have a one-piece assembly for all functions which is expensive to replace, (£150 ish to buy). Look out for floppy indicator stalk, or it 'deciding' to indicate when you didn't mean it to.

Well said Doggy, be worth also having a squeeze of the radiator pipes when it's hot - if they're rock-hard and fit to burst then there's a problem - it's not common but it has been known on here (particularly if the coolant changes have been neglected ).

well, i had a good drive today. Good news is the engine seems solid, was very quiet and pulled through the revs very nicely. i was very impressed. All 'toys' seem to be working nicely. Yes it is 'fully loaded' as you say, being the 2003 model. Although annoyingly for some reason no alloys?!? Seem cheap enough online though to get a decent set.

Only downer was the indicator stalk. Got the symptoms of being a bit too sensitive and not holding the indicator on a few times when driving in a straight line. Bit annoying, seems like a bit of bad design on Peugeots behalf there. They seem very heavily laden.

Also, a question for you all. How are your brakes? I had a 106 and remember the brakes were never that great. On this car theres virtually no movement in the pedal, which at first is quite alarming, although the car does stop with no problem. Is this unusual?

The garage is now checking to see if they can confirm wether the car had the timing belt replaced or not. However my feeling is that it didnt.

The car is up for £1999, feeling about offering around the 1700 mark. What do you think?

Ask your local Peugeot dealer how much it will cost to replace the COM2000 unit, (indicator & wiper stalks assembly), it may surprise you. Use this estimate, (pointing out it won't pass an MOT as it is), as a haggling point.

OR agree a price on condition they change it for you first.

Strange that there's no alloys - but you can pick up a set of Peugeot 406 alloys from eBay for not an awful lot of money.

The car would have had alloys leaving the factory for sure?

If you can get it for sub £2k you've done ok I think. In 2006 I paid £3,300.00 for a 7-year old exec with 96K miles

Oh and the brakes shouldn't really be rock-solid like that if it felt like you were getting no servo assistance then the vac-pump might be at fault or a vac leak in the tubes. A new vac pump is not too expensive, lives on the right-hand end of the camshaft. Other than that it might be crying out for a brake service and some lubrication/cleaning to the caliper parts.

dont forget the indicator fault is about 150 pounds to fix plus allow cost of belt if it hasnt been done thats about 300 as well.

I just had the cambelt/tensioners/water pump replace on my 2.2 Coupe; that was £366 inc. VAT - not sure if it is less or more time-consuming on the HDi (as it is the garage labour costs that are always the most expensive part of that service).

Definitely worth doing, as the engine "feels" rejuvenated, and adds another 8 years / 80,000 miles to the life of the engine (assuming nothing else goes wrong). It's also a very useful thing to have in your cars' service history when you come to sell it on.

highlander wrote:I just had the cambelt/tensioners/water pump replace on my 2.2 Coupe; that was £366 inc. VAT - not sure if it is less or more time-consuming on the HDi (as it is the garage labour costs that are always the most expensive part of that service).

Definitely worth doing, as the engine "feels" rejuvenated, and adds another 8 years / 80,000 miles to the life of the engine (assuming nothing else goes wrong). It's also a very useful thing to have in your cars' service history when you come to sell it on.

My HDi cost £450 for cambelt, tensioners, aux belt, water pump & bottom pulley.