Typical Noob

[Stain]

Hello boys and girls,
Guess i best intoduce my self... Hi im Rich, 27 from Coventry, im a spanner monkey for a certain red, green and white haulage company. i got the name Stain at some point in my apprenticeship and yes ive heard most if not all 'stain' related jokes and one liners!!

I'm beginning to convince myself that i need a 'new' car. im currently driving a little Fiat Cinquecento Sporting with severe body rot, to the point where i cant be arsed to try to push it thru MOT this year! so im seriously considering a 406 Diesel (no preference of saloon or estate although the mrs hates the idea of an estate) i need something larger that will be 'cheap' on insurance, big enough for a family of 3 plus an old english sheepdog, and return around 50MPGish. Budget is around a grand! looking to buy around august time after i've done the OT to get the funds.

now i know this is the OC and a genral mist surrounding OC's is that there's a bias opinion but please be honest, i've got a couple of questions, if you lot would be kind enough to answer.

whats the difference betwen all the trim levels?

whats the better engine (bosch/lucas, 1.9/2.0, 90/110bhp)?

what should i look our for when buying?

ive heard something about the 406's having pugs early CANBus system is this true/false, if true is there any issues?

thats it im done im off to set up a sig and do the profile thing.

Rich (Stain)

[Doggy]

Hi Rich & Welcome

If you're planning on running it on veg oil or similar, go for a 1.9 TD. If you're going to fill it at the pumps, a 2.0 110 HDi is the most fuel efficient, (it has an intercooler, the 90 doesn't). Most are Bosch systems, 2.1TD's have the Lucas Epic pump, which is not popoular, some later HDi 90's have Siemens fuel systems.
IIRC Government figures suggest the following fuel consumptions for estates:
1.9TD - 40 mpg, 2.1TD - 39 mpg, 2.0 HDi 90 - 48 mpg, 2.0 HDi 110 51mpg, 2.2 HDi 136 - 44mpg

As a general rule, go for a high spec model, as it won't cost anything extra to buy and most people start missing the toys after a bit.

Later models (D9 = new shape with honeycomb grille), have varying degrees of VAn & CAN bus systems - they get some bad press, but generally most folks on here don't have too many issues and solutions for most problems can be found hereabouts.

HTH

[FarmerPug]

yup if you get a later hdi, its not as bad as they say, there have been problems and on here them problems have all been solved, plus you can even get a pp2000 (computer diagnotic machine) if you want to add stuff. As an ex fiat owner i can say that the 110 hdi engine will not rev as highly as the fiat 1.1 fire engine but still has more power and torque and even with a heavy foot like mine does over 40mpg.

[Stain]

@dogslife :- nice to know about the electric issues are easily fixable!! 51mpg on the 2.0 110 is an awesome return, i hate to say i will be filling at the pumps but dont get me started on fuel prices etc etc

my mate had a 1.9td L which is one of the reasons im looking at 406's although that thing was sooo damn tempremental with its fueling (i ended up being his recovery 90% of the time regardless how late in the day it was) but he traced it back to a wire under the dash and i dont think he ever did fix it before he sold it

@FarmerPug:- i dont expect ANY diesel to rev as high as the lil FIRE engine, fiat had an absolute shout with something that reliable and that revvy! what did you used to have? my driving style has changed dramatically in the last couple of years anyway due to my first daughter and the rising prices hydrocarbons so having something that isnt gonna entice me into doing silly things is always a bonus!

whats this about a 'pp2000' adding stuff... is it a stand alone box or something i can install on a laptop what sort of level of diag can it handle?

[FarmerPug]

i had a yellow new shape panda with black bumpers, no rev counter but im sure it was doing many revs. The pp2000 will let you add sat nav, and i dont know what else but its a reason i got mine, its plugged into a windows laptop and apparently does all the dealer does though i havent had the time to play much with mine.

[Stain]

had a look on ebay £150 is WAY too expensive for me to justify to the bank manager (aka, wife)
is there anything special about the interface box for PP2000 or can i use a generic OBD2 box like this?
http://www.carparts-sale.com/bluetooth- ... dn7qmmu2t7
'assuming' i can find the software on t'interweb

[FarmerPug]

just a fault code reader on ebay will do the job, look i dont actually need mine, i could live without it but just decided to go ahead and buy one if i ever want to add the sat nav, or avoid going to the dealer, as im led to believe it does all they can do without the £70 per hour they charge. But also for my friends car which needs a looking at, and because the next car will either be a pug or a citroen it will work on them.
All i can say is that if your going to buy a multiplexed car check every single electrical thing, the indicator stalks be wary of they can loose the ability to self cancel and flop down into the left position the replacement valeo ones seem to do the trick but if its got the original one just check its working, other than that the drivers 1 touch electric window i have heard sometimes looses its one touch ability, make sure no strange electrical phenominons are occuring like dials going mad, displays staying on after the keys been taken out and the car locked, basically just the checks you would do when buying any high specced car.