The most reliable and unreliable Peugeots?

[ashy90]

What do you think is the most reliable, and unreliable Peugeot model?

IMO contenders for the most reliable would be 106, 406 and 405 etc.


The most unreliable....307?

[spider]

That list is about right


Although for reliable, diesels (excluding DW8) are very very good if looked after (which most are not unfortunately) , so 'good' should count 205 / 306 too.


Multiplexing adds potential issues = potential unreliability

[CitroJim]

205 and 405 in my ownership were excellent...

These were almost victims of their own success. They could soldier on and on and on but when they did finally keel over there was usually lot and lots wrong.

The Xantia carries on that tradition.

I still believe that a 205 Diesel was the best small car ever made in all respects. Looks, reliability, comfort, space, versatility, driver appeal, economy and ease of repair. It has all of these qualities in spades...

[addo]

I'm biased towards slightly larger cars with longer wheelbases, as I do long trips quite often.

Late 405s are very good. Like a 205 with more space and slightly more stability. Comfortable seats. I think their weakness compared to the 406, is an older regime of fasteners/clips that were less re-usable (like upper aperture mouldings where the end-lugs would break off upon removal). The underlay on earlier cars has generally gone sticky and glued the carpet down by now. Early 405s were good, but are definitely now an "enthusiast's car".

A late 405 with ES9J4 transplant would give the old V6 Vectra a run for its money - or possibly a hiding. Having said that, for a novice like Ash to drive a nearly stock Mi16 would be an educational experience! Raw power, raw fun.

[CitroJim]

The Mi16 in a 405 must be pretty awesome Adam I hopen they beefed up the suspension a bit. My major complaint with the 405 (and the 406) is that they have very soggy suspension. Comfy but soggy.

[addo]

Definitely not soggy! Doesn't shake out your fillings, but is quite firm.

Have Koni Yellow on front/rear; the fronts are on the softest setting with standard Mi16 springs while rear settings I'm not sure about.

They're like a well-sorted R12; not especially fast but nimble in traffic and feel fast. Have to say, roadholding isn't a patch on the Xantias but a rear wheel handbrake helps in some situations.

[pug_owner2002]

I'll say the 306 is good.
I had a 1997 306 Dturbo and did 80K miles in it in 3 1/2 - 4 years (only did about 5K in the last year of ownership. Fantastic car.
Also had a 2001 306 1.4 petrol. This was owned by my mum (it was 10 months old when she had it) and she covered about 85K in it in just under 4 years with just normal servicing. I then had it and did approx another 15K in it in 3 years. Again a fantastic car.

I also rate the 405. I bought one of a chap at work for my dad. It was a 92 J reg and it was the 1.9 GRi estate. Had electric everything on it. Got it for a bargain rice of £300 (this was in 2000) it'd had a recon engine and loads of other work on it. Never let my dad down and again just required the usual servicing, he used it as a proper work horse towing trailers etc. We sold it in 2006 for £250 and that was with it showing signs that the head gasket was failing.
For an estate car the handling was awsome and it was soooo comfortable.

[CitroJim]

I'll say the 306 is good.

I'll say The 306 in my experience was nothing more than a slightly grown-up 205. Somehow it retained all the qualities of the 205 and was a hoot to drive.

I nearly got one before falling under the spell of the double chevron. The only thing stopping me was it's inability to tow or caravan.

Until the Citroens came into my life I was a dedicated Peugeot person.

R12. Now that brings back some memories Adam. They are as rare as the old proverbial in the UK now but I rated them very highly. They still look good even today.

I have to say the 206 is not a patch. 205, 405 and 306 were that last truly great cars Peugeot made. The 406 is not at all bad and in V6 Coupe form, one of the very best Peugeots ever on looks.

I'm no fan of the 406, for me it's a bit of a lardy old sofa and no 405 but having said that, my lad has a 2.1TD 406 and it has been excellent for him. Let's say it's not the most well maintained or cosseted of cars but it just keeps on going despite lots of abuse. A few weeks back I looked inside it and saw a Nissan 200SX engine sitting on the back seat. After he'd removed it you'd barely know it had been there. The interiors are made of stern stuff.

Peugeot had some of the best advertising in the late 80s and 90s. Who cannot be moved by the sheer power and atmosphere of the classic 405 advert with Berlin supplying the music In those days the lion really was going from strength to strength.

And the advert where an Indian lad modifies his Hindustan Ambassador to look like a 206 is an all-time classic.

[DickieG]

Peugeot had some of the best advertising in the late 80s and 90s. Who cannot be moved by the sheer power and atmosphere of the classic 405 advert with Berlin supplying the music In those days the lion really was going from strength to strength.

That was a great advert but my lasting memory of it was when I was watching a "Points of view" type program on Channel 4 and viewers were complaining that the "News" program giving details of the Hillsborough disaster broke for adverts and 405 advert was the first one to be shown with Berlins' track of "Takes your breath away" to accompany it, ouch

[Citroenmad]

Its interesting that, when a reliable car is mentioned its usually a car from the 1990s - possibly the most reliable of years!

As for Peugeots, reliability wise id agree 205, 405, 106, 406 and possibly 206 in certain models. Though these cars are an old design now with very little to go wrong with them, so they will go and go. Spotting a 205 or 405 on the road is difficult, but 406s are very reliable cars and are still a stylish and well designed car.

Cars are so much more complex now, for many reasons, which does usually mean they are less reliable, as there are far more things which can potentially go wrong with them.

Apart from the 307, i dont think i can recall a Peugeot which gets a lot of bad reputation for poor reliability records. On the whole they are pretty reliable and suffer minor niggles - as does everything. I do like Peugeots and in certain size or type of car id choose the Peugeot model over the Citroen one.

However, a contender for one of the most reliable Peugeots which is very modern. Id say the Peugeot 107 should be on the most reliable list. So its a joint development with Toyota, but there is enough French-ness about it to keep it a worthy PSA car. Im yet to actually hear about a common major fault, it possibly does have some niggling things, but on the whole they are excellent little cars, as is the C1 and other cousin beginning with an A! Obviously though, being what i would consider of one of the more reliable current cars, its because they are very simple. Simple but effective, just like the 106, 205, 405 etc are in their own ways.

Peugeot have and still do make very nice cars, i like a lot of Peugeot models and their reliability is usually pretty good, with exception of 307s which seem to be plagued with electrical gremlins. Plus they spoilt the excellent 2.0HDi 8v by fitting a FAP to the 110 in 307s.

[spider]

I would agree the general build on the 205 and 405 was relatively high, exceptions being the very last 205s (the MardiGras ones) and early ('88 to '89) 405's. You can 'feel' the difference in the last ones (or you could when they were still newish) compared to the slightly older ones. I think production changed to another country for the last ones which might explain it. Portugal seems to spring to mind but I could be wrong.

In my opinion, the best years for a 205 are late '90 (new shape) to '93 and for a 405 a '95 or later model.

I also agree in terms of reliability (generally across all makes) the 80's was quite good. We had mostly carburettor engines and just electronic ignition, nice and simple nothing else.

Talking of the reliablity of the 107 / C1 / etc, as far as I am aware these are NOT multiplexed , food for thought.

[dieselnutjob]

my 806 HDI has now got 205,000 miles on it

it goes 12000 miles between services without needing an oil toppup and drives really well.

on the other hand it's had:-
an intercooler and various intercooler hoses
a power steering rack (to be honest I think it only needed a track rod)
a power steering pump
a dual mass flywheel and then two years later a solid flywheel conversion
a set of injectors
rear brake cylinders (probably the rubbers got damaged changing shoes)

and obviously service items like a battery, oil changes exhaust etc

but I don't think that's bad for a used and abused people carrier that I drive hard and tow a caravan with

I don't see any reason why it shouldn't do another 100,000

I also have a 35 year old 604 and that seems fairly solidly built

I suspect that the most reliable Peugeots were probably the 404 and 504

[BX]

Yes I agree with dieselnutjob.
I had both a 404 and a 504, both were indestructable compared to anything else at the time. The 404 could get almost anywhere that you would attempt to go with a 4X4 now. The 404 was sold in Ireland up to 1979. Most vets drove one. The 504 was tough and beat everything else before or since for comfort. I have driven the 604 2.3 turbo diesel but never owned one.
The early 305 (pre 83) with the 1.6 diesel engine was good except for the syncro on 1st gear but the later 305 with the xud engine was unbeatable. Head gaskets were known to fail on the pre 1985 models but they were easy to change. The 305v was replaced by the 405.

[Peter.N.]

I think the 405 TD estates are the best value for money cars on the road today, I have owned one and have got several for friends and they have all been reliable. The seats were not very comfortably in the later ones but the STDTs were excellent. The bodywork is holding up very well, in fact you very rarely see a tatty one, they are new enough to be comfortable and nice to drive but old enough that you can repair them yourself.

I have just bought a 406 Hdi - that's nice too.

A few years ago I had a 404 diesel, rather agricultural but the most comfortable seats I have ever sat in and a surperb column gearchange, as light as a direct change RWD box - pity it fell to bits.

Peter

[Citroenmad]

Talking of the reliablity of the 107 / C1 / etc, as far as I am aware these are NOT multiplexed , food for thought.

Your right, they are not multiplexed.

Everything on them is as simple as possible.