My new ride

[Captain Jack]

Hello,

Welp, picked my lovely new-old 406 exec and it's great. Had a drive from Coventry down to London and here are my initial thoughts on it.

1) It's SLOW compared to my crappy Accord CDTi and the old 2.1TD, but nothing a chip won't fix
2) Feels more solidly built than my D8 (and even a Honda!)- less rattles and even the boot closes without the need for a swing. Simply push it down and it locks - superb!
3) Already opened the bonnet (of course) to fix a slipped windscreen water pipe and I just love not having to hunt around for the stupid bonnet support. I guess Peugeot knew the bonnet would be opened more than usual
4) Clarion/JBL sound system is "OK" and certainly good enough for 90% of folks. I am, however, used to sound quality prduced by Alpine HU's, PG/RF amps and Focal components, so that will be ripped out. The handbook even has a wiring diagram for audio harness - amazing.

Of course, no car is complete without faults and this one does have some minor ones.

1) Wheels are not tracking properly. It doesn't steer sideways but going straight requires the steering wheel to be slightly to the right.
2) Wheels juddering going at speed (>70mph). Either down to balancing or the crap tyres - P6000's. Yeah, I know they are not technically crap but I these same tyres on the old '6 and had exactly the same problem. Firestones seem to suit this car better. There's plenty of thread left though, so I won't bother replacing these just yet.
3) I am convinced there's something wrong with the gear linkage as, no less than 4 times, I have accidentally selected 4th gear rather than 2nd. Even going from 1st to 2nd sometimes selects 4th. Going from 5th to 2nd is also vague and you have to consciously push it in. In gear the gear stick seems to be a little wobbly too, but there's no problem actually getting the gear in. Any ideas?
4) The silver bit on the end of the air vent adjuster thingybob is missing! So that'll be a trip to the breakers, unless someone has one lying about?

Pictures:

[bigdaves406]

that looks a great motor how much was it
thats low mileage for the year
big dave

[highlander]

Nice set of wheels, Captain!

Are those 5-stud alloys? I thought the 406 would only take 4-stud wheels.

Also - why not make yourself a members page on the new Wiki? Instructions are at http://www.pug406.com/wiki/index.php/Ca ... mbers_Cars

[Captain Jack]

It cost.. a lot.. £3750. But it's in a very good condition (bar the above!) and hopefully will last me for a long time.

It is 5 studded. I didn't actually notice until you told me Didn't realise 406s came with 5 studs either.

Will create the Wiki one day, have to go shopping and then cooking for dinner - starving.

[teamster1975]

Nice one CJ!
Welcome back to the fold

[DaiRees]

Welcome back CJ, nice mowtah! Look forward to meeting it in person at the next get-together.

It is 5 studded. I didn't actually notice until you told me Didn't realise 406s came with 5 studs either.

Nah they're just lying centre caps fella, the wheels themselves are 4 stud.

[Captain Jack]

Hey supa,

No, I got it from Albany Motors in Coventry. Had to get a train up there to pick it up. Come to the meet and we'll compare our black beauties

I'll see if the gearstick moves when accelerating - is it a hard job to fix it? Are these mounting of the actual gear stick or something else?

Another little problem I noticed was that the horn didn't work very well. I had to press the steering wheel in quite a specific place to get it working. I guess that's just bad contact somewhere in the wheel. Anyone come across that?

[Doggy]

Looks smuckin fart Cap'n
My gearchange is OK, but I did get 4th instead of 2nd quite a few times when I first got it - put it down to unfamiliarity & armrest interference, almost never do it now. (It's a cable operated gear change, so maybe could be adjusted).
The horn on mine needs a fairly determined shove & I seem to remember Dai complaining of a delay on his.
Hope it serves you well & you enjoy it.

[DaiRees]

Yup, the horn needs to pressed like you mean it, no point trying to go for a quick "barp", you either get a brief delay then a blast or nowt at all.....

[mjb]

Nah they're just lying centre caps fella, the wheels themselves are 4 stud.

WHYYYYY? If they wanted 5 stud wheels why didn't they just put them on the car instead of using 4 stud then faking it?!? Bloody French...

[eoin27]

I think the 5 stud thing is a 'macho' thing with cars. Theres no need for more than 4 on 15" or 16" wheels.

Top motor jack - Although you payed a goodbit for it, its good to see that all 406's arent going for really low money, it gives them good value still. Is there a warranty with the car? You paid enough, let them fix it I have no delay with the horn but its hard to push. What a horn though. As my uncle said, "Peugeots have a commanding horn"

[Captain Jack]

I use the horn quite a lot due to a million idiots on our lovely British roads, so it was disappointing to see I had to shove it to make a sound. I remember my partner's mum's Citroen C3 also required a hard push. Oh well...

I have a 3 month platinum RAC warranty with it, but not sure if any of the above can be classified as "faults" - no harm in trying though, eh?

[steve_earwig]

Nice motah dude! (shame about the boot...) Obsidian met by any chance?

1. Get tracking done.
2. Get wheels balanced.
Maybe that should be in reverse order in case there's something wrong with a tyre...
3. I don't think you can adjust anything, I suppose you could try greasing up the ball pins on the mech on top of the box and see if that does anything. Actually, I have a suspicion I did that a few times when I first got my D9. I can't remember a wobbly gear stick, I guess it would be good to check it out but it rather involves removing the exhaust. The only problem I have now is I'm used to leaving the D8 in gear and starting it with the clutch down - note that reverse is now right next to first. The procedure is get in car, key in, foot on clutch, reach down to check car is in first, start car, pull away backwards...
4. Wear a jacket with deep pockets...

Hold on, no chrome surrounds to the instruments? Mine has those so I thought an exec would definitely have them

My horn's the same, one side works easier than the other too. I also have contact issues with the indicators

[neildavies]

Welcome back. Knew you'd come back one day! Looks like you've found a good 'un.

Is it a 110 or 2.2?

[Captain Jack]

Nice motah dude! (shame about the boot...) Obsidian met by any chance?

Uh? Don't follow...

Hold on, no chrome surrounds to the instruments? Mine has those so I thought an exec would definitely have them

No, no, it's just on one airvent, the silver bit on the end (that you grab to adjust the direction) is missing. Like it was broken off or something

Welcome back. Knew you'd come back one day! Looks like you've found a good 'un.

Is it a 110 or 2.2?

Thanks! It's a 110bhp version