306 XRD - Should I buy it?

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PJLarge
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306 XRD - Should I buy it?

Post by PJLarge »

Following the death of my ZX, I've found a couple of potential replacements this weekend. One is a Rover 420 SDI, and the other the 306 XRD which I have a couple of questions about.
1) It's normally aspirated diesel. How many MPG should I expect (90% of use is m-way).
2) Any HGF issues with the 306 engine in normally aspirated form? (This is what killed the ZX at 120k)
3) Given the choice, would you buy a 306 or a Rover 420 SDI?
4) Is 120k a big mileage for the NA diesel?
The car is up for a grand. It's called the 'Select' limited edition, which is a dark metallic red 4 door, has the D-Turbo alloys, colour coded bumpers and a velour interior. Exterior condition is very good, interior good too. The car has done 120k and has a load of history. There's a similar one on ebay buy-it-now at £950, and a couple in the trader at £1500 and £1999 with similar mileages. How does the car sound?
Thanks for your help,
Phil.
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Post by Richard Gallagher »

I'm not sure about price but I would much sooner have the Pug over the Rover just for the ride/handling.
I would imagine that MPG wise you could expect 50+ if you don't exceed 70 MPH.
I understand that head gaskets are not much of an issue on non turbos, and at 120K miles, provided it has been serviced correctly, it has just been run in. I would expect at least 250K miles out of that engine.
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Post by rotodiesel »

No comparison - the 306, as long as you can live with all the French wrinkles. The basic engineering on the 306 is fine - some of it (eg. the timing drive) is excellent. Leave Rover to the Chinese.
rotodiesel.
PJLarge
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Post by PJLarge »

OK, I'm leaning towards the 306, although I've just been looking in the Peugeot area on this forum and it seems the 306 is essentially a good car, although there are a few naughty ones about that like to cost the owners lots of cash. Mind you, I should be well used to that after the ZX [:D]
Phil.
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Post by arry_b »

Basically it's the same car as the NA ZX with the same problems and the same good points. Having driven both, the ZX is a bit faster (I think it's a bit lighter). MPG never drops below 43 when mercilessly thrashed, best ever was 63mpg at 60-70.
Heater matrix, head gaskets and front calipers can give problems, but get a good one, keep changing the oil and filters, do the coolant changes and you'll have an excellent car.
You *will* hate it though, after having the TD, but they do respond well to an Italian tunp-up.
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rabenson
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Post by rabenson »

I agree with the above - definitely the 306! In terms of performance, although the N/A diesel hasn't got the power of the blown variety, what power there is comes in very smoothly with less peakyness and can make for a more relaxing motorway machine. I'll be very surprised if you get less than 50 mpg however you drive it.
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Post by rotodiesel »

Make a very careful check on the engine code - some XUD engines were prone to breaking con rods at highish mileages, but only some build codes were affected. There is plenty of information (some written with feeling) on Honest John's website.
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Post by batwad »

I belive the naughty XUDs which threw rods through the side of the block were fitted to cars around an R or S plate.
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Post by Kowalski »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by rotodiesel</i>

Make a very careful check on the engine code - some XUD engines were prone to breaking con rods at highish mileages, but only some build codes were affected.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
The XUDs which suffered from breaking con rods were turbo diesels which were fitted with non-turbo con rods, the non-turbo con rods aren't as strong / heavy as the turbo ones.
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Post by PJLarge »

Well I didn't buy it. Saw it late Saturday and decided to sleep on it (and ask questions here) and go back and have a proper look in deecent daylight Sunday morning. I got there and gave it a proper once over. The oil was at minimum on the stick and the header tank was totally empty. I decided that was enough to show that it had been neglected so I'd move on and look for something else. I did take it for a quick spin though. It was woefully slow [xx(] I think it's got to be a turbo.
Phil.
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np
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Post by np »

Turbo anyday!I had a brand new Rover 200 in 1999,with the 2.0 td engine.105 bhp(some had 86bhp,but not the 400 i think).I liked the car very much.Plenty of power,done 50mpg+,no problems at all in 2 yrs of ownership.The engine was more noisey than my current Xantia,but performance was great.
Depends on your own prefference`s.
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Post by cosb6 »

Personally, I'd go for the Rover...
The Rover 400 is basically a Honda Civic, and the L-Series Diesel engine is bullit proof..... It's better than the older 1.9D engines, but if you can stretch to the HDi... then the Pug gets my vote....
If you want any info at all on Rovers / Mg's let me know, and I can answer anything you need......
Regards
Stuart
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