Instead Of A 406...

[waue1978]

This could end up being a very appropriate thread given that a fair few people are now looking into getting rid of their Pugs due to the various expensive issues associated with owning one. At the moment it's looking like the Gaydon trip in August could be the swansong for a lot of us (taking into account that the instigator of the meeting hasn't owned one for quite a while now).

So, I thought it may be interesting to see what most of us would want to replace the 406s with when the time comes (sooner or later) as it may even give those for whom insurance will cost more than the value of the car some good ideas for replacements.


As mine is a 7 seat model & I do have the occasional need for the extra seats, mine is a fairly easy one - Zafira DTi Elegance. It's not often that I can keep a car for too long, but my 1.6 Club Zafira lasted us just over a year with the main reason for sale being the small engine (the 1.6 is utter shite on a motorway trip) & the lack of electric rear windows. It didn't pick up parking dents too easily due to the chunky black mouldings & was still a bit of a blast to drive around town. Would prefer to stick with a diesel, but I have to admit, the price of the 2.2 petrols makes them a tempting proposition & it'd have to be Elegance to give me the electric rear windows.

Yes, a GSi would be much more fun, but I'm trying to be realistic about what I would actually want to spend in the first place & a nice car like that wouldn't last long around our way anyway.

If I didn't need the extra seats from time to time, I'd have a massive list of potential replacements - another E39 5 Series, Mondeo TDCi (yes, even though I know the injectors & clutches are shite) - but I have to be realistic & until I learn to grow a pair & tell extra passengers (those who know me know who I mean) to walk or pay for their own damn taxi, 7 seaters will be the order of the day for me.

[sirwiggum]

I wanted a reliable comfortable automatic, ended up with the Honda.

Hope the Zafira works out!

[steve_earwig]

I think DTI would make it the old diesels (read that as not very powerful and not very economical at all). My bro drives on with a CDTi badge (or is it tdci? Can't remember/be bothered/raise any interest) 150bhp, very economical. Unfortunately he's just now wandering into the knackered EGR (can't remove, costly to replace) and swirl valve issue (looks like flimsy meccano on the pictures, no wonder it's crap) territory. Hope the petrols are better.

[waue1978]

I wanted a reliable comfortable automatic, ended up with the Honda.

Hope the Zafira works out!

It's not a definite change, but I have to admit, it may be a likely one. At the moment I've spent far too much money on the car to justify getting rid, but I've got a lot of ignorant git dents on the doors & would like the bodywork to be in keeping with the mileage. Would probably cost another £1000 to get the bodywork in A1 condition & I'm potentially looking at anti-roll bar bushes (front) & subframe bushes (rear) for the next MOT in March. Somebody living somewhere with better roads & not as fussy about body work would probably have nothing to spend on it for 2-3 years.

At the moment I'm working on the premise that if I can get a Zafira DTi Elegance with less than 95k, clean bodywork & decent service history that shows nothing expensive will need doing for a while, at a cost of no more than my car + £1000 (be it px or private sale after purchase) then it would make sense to change. If however it would cost substantially more than that to change, I would rather sink a grand into the 406 & get it into A1 condition with a view to keeping it for a long while & selling on when all the other 406s have bit the dust - which at the current rate things are going would be next Summer!

I think DTI would make it the old diesels (read that as not very powerful and not very economical at all). My bro drives on with a CDTi badge (or is it tdci? Can't remember/be bothered/raise any interest) 150bhp, very economical. Unfortunately he's just now wandering into the knackered EGR (can't remove, costly to replace) and swirl valve issue (looks like flimsy meccano on the pictures, no wonder it's crap) territory. Hope the petrols are better.

Unfortunately CDTi ones are well over what I would spend & they also come with particle filters. DTis are still of a similar spec to my old HDi so fuel consumption shouldn't be too far away from what I get at the moment. Used to average 25-26mpg out of the 1.6 petrol around town.
The swirl valves seem to be a common issue on newer diesels. Was a big problem on 530ds where they were falling into the engines. Thankfully, people have started developing products to replace them with:

http://www.pmwltd.co.uk/swirl_flaps.pdf

[DiscoPol]

Ermmm, maybe i would have a Land Rover Discovery, then maybe an Opel(i is in a foreign land) Astra Estate as a stop gap and then maybe i would finally get a lovely C5 2.2 Bi-turbo Exclusive jobbie with all the toys in sexy black.

[FarmerPug]

If i had to replace my 406 it would be a c4 or c5. But my aunt has a zafira its not as good a car as a 406.

[Doggy]

Well, I'm still aiming to replace my 406 with a lower mileage 406, (maybe + 6-speed box next time).

After that - I'm not sure. Can't really convince myself on 407's, E39 5-series is getting too old & still too dear, newer ones are hideous. Later C5? maybe - if you can get a 2.2 manual in the UK.

[highlander]

I've only had the Coupe for 8 months and I'm still loving it, so this isn't really the kind of question I feel comfortable answering at the moment.

Also, this isn't a good question for me as a general rule. We're talking about switching to other cars because of the insurance on the 406 being high - thing is, all the cars I want and could actually afford would be in higher insurance groups! (Jaguar XKR, Aston Martin DB7, BMW 850Ci, to name but three)

[DaiRees]

Hmmm, it's a good one. My next car is probably going to be a company car (gotta give myself some perks eh? ) and as such I'm going to be very interested in such things as tax bands, emissions etc. I'd love a 4X4, Disco or something, but it's not on really, I'm just too tight . Would like 7 seats too but it's not essential. Been looking at crossovers, people carriers and big estates, I like my luxuries so would demand levver, climate and cruise as a minimum. My frontrunner at the moment is the Volvo V70, they do a 1.6td (I believe it's the PSA HDi unit ) which is 119g/km and 63mpg, but I'm gonna arrange to have a test drive in one 'cos even though I don't drive quick these days, that seems like a very small engine for such a big car!! The 2.0td D3 is double the BIC tax though . Also mildly interested in the Nissan Cashcow +2, but I'd want the 4WD one which ruins the economy and emissions, although they are quite reasonable to lease....

[steve_earwig]

(I believe it's the PSA HDi unit )

Would that be the same PSA 1.6 HDi that seems to be blowing up rather a lot on the 407?

[DaiRees]

(I believe it's the PSA HDi unit )

Would that be the same PSA 1.6 HDi that seems to be blowing up rather a lot on the 407?

Yeah, but if it's leased who gives a fu....

[plod]

I've driven a Volvo V50 today and must say it's not a bad car
Nice driving position, plenty of toys and packs a punch from the diesel engine, yet will do 50mpg easily enough

[kevtherev]

fews years stil left in the 406 yet but when the time comes think i'm going to be looking at an octavia vrs, probably petrol ,wouldn't mind the diesel and re map it to around the 200 horses mark, but they are double the price of petrols, will just have to make do with 180 brake 35 mpg petrol

[rwb]

I sympathise Waue, but I also think you've spent a lot on stuff (impressive though it is) that didn't need doing.

The total cost of my 406 since September 2005 -- buying it, taxing and insuring it, fixing it, and putting diesel in it -- is now about £12k. That comes out at 13p per mile. Other than oil changes every 6k to 10k, nothing gets fixed unless its broken. Even then, if it can limp on to the next pay day then there's evidence that it can limp on for another month...

If my 406 went bang tomorrow then I'd be banger shopping with £500 to £1000. Well, there's finance I suppose, but I'm not putting my head in that noose again.
In no particular order:

• BMW 328, E46 if I'm lucky but probably an E36. Kill the BMW-thing and going-fast-thing birds with one stone.
• 406 Coupe V6
• XJ8
• 406 Exec XUD (veg)

To be honest I think I'd get most satisfaction out of running the XUD on veg.

My 406 cost £5k. What does that buy now? Nothing I want as far as I can see. Not interested in 407s and anything with a 1.6 HDi is out of the question.

I see that 520d are getting down to £6k. Its funny how they look so good on paper but are just so horrid. I cannot imagine what a soul-less suit-wearing bean-counter you'd have to be for a 520d to make sense. (Actually I can. Ugh.)

The only C5 worth having is the 2.0 HDi 160 (sorry disco), and if I could buy any new car I want then that's what I'd have.
Although you could get a very nice W211 E-class for that money (E220 CDI because I won't have an automatic).

The new shape C-class and E-class are very good looking... until you get inside ... but not as bad as a 5-series. Its funny how the C-class looks really really bad in red though.

Otherwise, there's always the E12 518 I inherited...

[lozz]

Well what can isay, not much Realy a spose, but heres my 2pence worth ,
Mines gone, Guess what Im Missing it Already, !You never miss things till there gone

Big red was my 1st 406 and all ican say it was a joy owning it for the short 9mths, not many problems with it what so ever,
got me through the winter with no hastle even ploughed through the snow like a tractor,
had some good fun in it even went through a river in it once or twice it never missed a beat,

insurance was the final nail in the coffin (Bastards !!!)

Wouid ihave another one ? Hell yeah there Excellent,

wouidnt touch a petrol one tho,

Ive now got a vdub polo 01 reg its a pile of shite compared to the 406,
im not even bothering locking it Fecking hate it