406, great reliable cars!

[azazel]

Ive owned three 406 hdi over the last 12 years. They have generally been excellent vehicles, reliable and affordable. My 406hdi estate is 15 years old, has covered nearly 200,000 miles and still has plenty of life left in it.

The worst problem I ever had was the head gasket failed which may have been related to a rusting lower radiator hose causing loss of coolant. Worth inspecting or replacing on your vehicle. There have been numerous glitches but nothing serious. Airbag warning light, abs warning light intermittent, lower pulley, fuel lift pump, aircons waste of time on all three, but thats it really. I try and fix any problems myself but my best mate owns a garage and has been helpful over the years. Ive gained some knowledge and I hope i can share some here.

I recently did some work for a breaker-dismantalers, and they commented that the 406hdi was the best car built, they know what people want for spares so have a good idea what goes wrong on all cars. I have been considering changing my car to something else but the reliability, economy, low road tax and insurance, cheap parts, comfort and ride are all hard to beat for a car of this cost. Even the stereo sounds great, particularly on the saloon, with good tonal balance. The radios reception is not great however. You can buy a nice used 406hdi for alot less than £2000 and spares are abundant.

[Welly]

Surprised you hadn't found the forum before!

I had a 110HDi exec and suffered loads of problems unfortunately:

A/C condenser (twice)
Bottom Pulley
Engine Mount
Eggsauce Flexi (due to mount)
I/C hose (due to mount)
EGR valve (leaking)
Lift Pump
Radiator Fan
Numerous TPS faults
Smelly Fuel leak (never found)
Slipping Clutch and worn DMF (never fixed)

I wouldn't say it was a bad car though all the same, in fact I still believe that (as I found out after purchase) the car had been used for international championship Caravan-Towing I think this set the scene for all my ensuing problems......

[Captain Jack]

They are certainly reliable. Other than service items and a couple of other glitches, nothing expensive really died on it. Clutch/DMF was the most expensive of the lot but it was at 140k so not too bad!

[azazel]

Come to think of it, the upper left engine mount snapped on mine too which bent the EGR which I blanked off with no noticable effect. One bolt sheered and then the mount fractured. Is that what happened on yours? Is this a common fault? Got a spare on ebay for £20 so not the end of the world! My mate has a scrap 406hdi at the moment if anyone wants a bit off it, including that engine mount. I had the rear trims which were newish.

[Welly]

No my EGR was just leaking, it was sooty and let fumes into the cabin so it was replaced.

[azazel]

Sadly, its time to say goodbye to peugout 406 after many relatively trouble free years of motoring. I have bought a BMW 525d. My 406 is for sale now along with a set of alloys with snow tyres fitted. I doubt you will see much of me here once the 406 has sold. Goodbye!!

[lozz]

goodbye..

why?

stay around..

dont forget to post some pics up of the beemer

[GingerMagic]

Yes, stay.

A fair few members here now have less reliable motors ( especially Lozz... ) and have stuck around to chip in every now and then.

Mondeos, Vulvas, Sinclair C5s, 407s etc - I'm sure there is a space for a slab of German blandness...

[lozz]

[scotty73]

Sinclair C5s

Or has pointed out to me on facebook by Sam yesterday a lemon....Yup Citroen means lemon I've bought a bastard lemon.

[PeterN]

My 406 has been very reliable too, I have done 40,000 miles in it and nothing serious has gone wrong, its now on 230,000. I can't get the handbrake to work well for long but other than that the only bits I have replaced have been suspension links. Its never broken down except when the drivers side foot well filled up with water!

I also run a C5 with the same 2.0. Hdi set up but that hasn't been as good with several problems cause by the HP pump pressure regulator. Previous to that for over 15 years I ran XM 2.1 diesels complicated and unreliable I thought when I first had them but once you get to know them and sort the problems out they will run for thousands of miles without trouble. I still have one.

My first ever Peugeot was a 404 diesel, very noisy and not very fast but supremely comfortable with the best column change I have ever driven.

Peter