Just spent some money on the 406

[grasmere59]

With the 406 estate just reaching 155k miles i was tempted at buying something newer,Passat,Audi,Mondeo etc but the thought of some of the expensive bills that can go with them put me off a bit so i gave the old girl a bit of an overhaul.New front springs,spring carriers,top mounts and bearings,new front drop links,new discs and pads all round,new rear wheelbearings,oil and filter and a pair of wipers!.So in the last year it's had all that plus cambelt,auxbelt,tensioners,water pump and radiator.Just fitted 4 x Dunlop Wintersprot 5's so i think she's good to go! As a late exec model it has most of the extras that most newer stuff has and all i've done to it now i think i'll be keeping it for a good few years yet

[Doggy]

Good for you sir, wise choice.
Just wish I had your enthusiasm.

[grasmere59]

I've been picking most of the bits up (mostly oem) from ebay over the last 18 months or so at silly cheap prices and i paid a mate who runs a garage to do it,my enthusiasm for rolling around on my drive ran out a long while back

[steve_earwig]

..and a pair of wipers!

Blimey, boat well and truly pushed out there!

Sounds like a good plan to me, I hope it gives you many more years of faithful service

[grasmere59]

I had a handful of change left over so treated it to the wipers

[grasmere59]

I did over 120 miles in it with all that snow from Derbyshire to Oxfordshire on sunday,couldn't think of a better car to do it in to be honest,armrest down and heated seats on and away we went.

[Welly]

Nowt wrong with spending on preventative maintenance on a known good car.

My Missus has said a few times recently that I should buy a newer more economical car...to which I respond with "why?"

To explain, I probably average 80 miles a week now, I keep a keen eye on my car so it needs nothing doing really.

[PeterN]

You did the right thing if you want a reliable car, I think my opinion of 406 Hdi's is probably well known, it will probably last you longer than anything else you are likely to buy.

My first estate lasted 246k miles and was only written of by water ingress causing electronic failure, it still had the original clutch, DMF and head gasket but I bought the replacement for less than it would have cost me to fix, that's now done 20k+.

I would have liked an Executive estate but one didn't come along at the right price until last week when there was one on ebay for not much over £400, but as we already have two I don't think the wife would have been very happy.

Peter

[Doggy]

I've been picking most of the bits up (mostly oem) from ebay over the last 18 months or so at silly cheap prices and i paid a mate who runs a garage to do it,my enthusiasm for rolling around on my drive ran out a long while back

You've got me thinking now Brett, mine's on 202k, but still feels as fit as a butcher's dog.
It's not as pretty as yours, the aircon's dead and the radio's rubbish plus it's going to need a drop link or two soon but otherwise seems fine.
Could be worth a bit of investment after all.

[grasmere59]

I didn't realise the rear wheelbearings were as noisy as they were as you kind of just grow with the noise,with the new front spings etc and the wheel bearings it's like driving a different car.

[Bailes1992]

I still reckon that late 90's/early 00's cars are the most reliable. If I had the time to work on cars I would gladly drive around in an old diesel Mondeo/406 or always fancied an E34 525TDS.

The Landy has it's MOT next month and is desperate for a new A-Frame ball joint, PAS pump, injector seals, leak off pipes & clutch master cylinder but I don't know if I'm going to have time to get it all done.

[PeterN]

There's a 3 litre V6 estate on ebay today.

Peter