So my trusty runabout Micra failed it's recent MOT on corrosion, and isn't cost effective for me to fix.

As I've just got my company car, I was going to give it to my Fiancee to use to commute in, so she's not using her not-so-frugal MX-5 everyday for a 60-mile roundtrip. I'm now looking to replace the Micra with another cheap runabout, and so far am looking towards a 306 diesel as it's pretty much all motorway she'd be doing. I think I'm wanting to go with a 2.0 HDI rather than the older (and noisier) D Turbo, despite the latter being able to be run on veg oil!

Has anyone owned one and can give any buying/running advice?

Cheers!

I owned one for a short while and put this way my coupe was more reliable!

The one I had had relatively low miles (80k). Most of the electronic fuel sensors went wrong. Fuel pressure sensor, low pressure fuel pump and fuel pressure regulator. It wasn't too bad to drive though, and mpg was about average for the size of car it is.

It may have just been a bad example I had, but if i was given a choice I'd go with the older less complicated D turbo model.

I have a 307 HDI (although the 1.6HDI). Been thoroughly reliable despite the horrors stories of the DMF clutch cost, DPF filter.

If you do lots of short journeys then avoid them. The HDI has much better MPG than the D turbo from what I have read. I average 55-60 mpg (Doing about 2000 miles per month - 65-70mph on motorways).

I had the 206 hdi great little car can pick them up for around 1-1.5k constantly did 50+ mpg never had anything go wrong in the 2 years I had it

I had a 306 1.9D for a while. It was a great economical car, paid £600 for it. I did 2000 miles to France and back i it. My best mpg was 53. It was a 1993 car and had no rust at all. The HDIs are less reliable as there is more to go wrong.

On the turbo 1.9s the head gaskets and turbos can cause problems.

Okay guys, thanks.

20vste - did you have the 1.4/1.6 engine in your 206?

I'm also considering an Astra 1.7 DTI, with the Isuzu engine. Just want something cheap and reliable.

Insurance has shot right up though, even with Admiral multi-car Rip off.

I use to own a 306 hdi before the coupe very nippy when remapped and still gave good mpg aswell the engines are very strong only problem that can happen is the bottom pulley tends to go on them but is easily changed cost you about 80 quid for the part plus fitting.

[quote=DanielTheManual]Okay guys, thanks.

20vste - did you have the 1.4/1.6 engine in your 206?

I'm also considering an Astra 1.7 DTI, with the Isuzu engine. Just want something cheap and reliable.

Insurance has shot right up though, even with Admiral multi-car Rip off. [/quote

I had the 2.0l hdi

I had a 306 Hdi sport and as a work horse now have a 307 2.0 Hdi 90 for the girlfriend to run, same engine.

The 306 was faultless, trouble areas are immobiliser issues when the key un-synch's to the car, and a particularly stupid procedure to be carried out if you disconnect the battery before turning electrical systems on.
Pick up pump in the fuel tank which transfers diesel upto the main high pressure pump can fail causing non start. Worst case scenario is that it can wear and send metal filings which then foul up the more expensive High pressure pump under the bonnet.
For this reason when you change the diesel filter which sits between the pick up pump and High pressure pump , rather than undoing the housing and replacing the filter element, its much better to dis connect the entire housing and bin it and refit an entire new one as this is where the metal debris collect and replacing just the filter element can allow them to bypass.
Other areas that fail is the pressure regulator on the High Pressure pump.
Working on the 2.0 hdi is pretty straight forward much better lay out design than the 1.9Td engine and much much quieter and smoother, although a much more complicated set up, high pressure pump is pretty easy to change as not timed by the belt and can be replaced without removing the belt even though it is driven by it. Only trouble is getting past the stupid cam cover which although only plastic was made by Satan himself.

seem to remember that lower crank pulleys can be premature to wear..

Also this engine is 90bhp as is not inter cooled. the Xsara had same engine but also the 110 engine also fitted amongst other Peugeot and Citroen's, the 110 was inter cooled and had a slightly different map therefore if tuning it is an idea to fit an inter cooler which involves different pipework have heard that with a remap 150bhp is possible, although a small amount of spool up will be suffered.

As a side note the 90Hdi is much better in the 306 as opposed to the 307, its extra weight is very noticeable, although still not too sluggish in the 307

I had one before the Coupe.

Having driven both I went for the older D Turbo. Yes it's a little more noisy and a little less fuel efficient but it was much more fun to drive than the HDi. The version with the D Turbo badge has the uprated XSi suspension and in the real world is as quick as the XSi in everyday driving.

If you can find a good one then the MK1 D Turbo was supposed to be the best rated. Looked the best too, especially the one I had in the dark metallic blue. Interior fabric is better on these older cars too.

The HDi feels very linear and not that powerful (even though on paper they are similar). The older D Turbo though gives you a really torquey shove once the turbo kicks in at about 2.5k revs. Quite addictive. Handling is very good too. Peugeots of this era really are fun to drive.

Owned mine for 3 years and around 60k miles. No major problems in that time. Main thing to check is the condition of the radiator and the cooling system. If this springs a leak when driving then it's normally time for a reskimmed head at the very minimum. Also check that the central locking works. Some cars had a keypad immobiliser just in front of the gearstick and this can occasionally be troublesome. Make sure that you idle the engine for a while and that the cooling fan comes on when the car gets too hot. Make sure you get the cambelt done too as these are nown to be a weak point with these cars. Only a cheap job to do and not worth the risk if it goes.

Other than that nothing particular - just check the usual stuff. Great cars by the way. Loved mine and was sorry to see it go.

The HDi engines are great for normal driving, pretty refined, really economical and plenty quick enough.

The Vauxhall 1.7 TDi lump on the other hand...awful!

I think the main problem with any 'boring' car like this is no-one really cares for them so they're only as reliable as the effort put into the maintenance.

I changed the oil on my 307 HDI this weekend. Probably the simplist, quickest and easiest oil and filter change I have ever done. Remove oil using Pela 6000 pump, unscrew the oil filter cover, remove old filter, new filter in, screw cover back on, Refill with 3 litres of oil. Job done.

It's nice to be able to work on an engine without requiring

The dexterity of a russian gymnast
The same size hands as a small child
The strength of the incredible hulk

Seen both good and bad reports of the 1.7 Vauxhall. Some reports of really bad MPG, some good, totally depends on the car in question.