Ca I get an opinion on this GTi-6?

[Chris71]

What do people think of this?

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3209035.htm

Sounds like a pretty good car for the money. No mention of when the cambelt was last done, but you could probably do that job and still be quids in for £1,000.

[grenpayne]

Looks pretty clean and tidy. FSH should show the cambelt but best to check as you say.

From my experience with 306s I'd say aside from the usual generic car stuff, pay particular attention to the rear beam and the air con. The rear beam will creak if its knackered and it'll require a rebuild which isn't cheap. With the aircon, check its cold (obviously) and if it's not don't just accept that it just needs a regas. It might do, but the aircon pipes run in front of the radiator and corrode over time. It happened on our 306 HDi and cost about £400 to sort as the pipes are very expensive and can only be got from a couple of suppliers.

Let us know how you get on!

[Chris71]

Hmm. Just went to have a look and for a second I thought I might have to buy it on the spot, because it has:

• Recent cambelt change
• What appeared to be a new exhaust
• A stack of recent invoices from a Peugeot main dealer
• No rust on the bodywork/underside and outawrdly decent interior and exterior (few blemishes, but nothing untoward)

But then I noticed:

• It doesn't actually have anything like a full service history. All the receipts come from the last owner. For the first ten years or so of its life it was owned by a lease company with no history from then...
• AC doesn't work (checked again after test drive)
• Clutch felt stiff and a bit vague (common fault on these IIRC?)
• Long list of MOT advisories included: front brake hoses deteriorated both sides, corrosion on brake pipes near PAS bump, PAS hoses damp and corroded, osf wishbnone worn, rear subframe mount worn, osf coil spring rubbing on liner, heavily worn rear tyres...
• Various areas under the bonnet - most notably the injector rail - showing rust
• Took it for a brief (low speed) test drive and it just felt a bit vague - no clonks or rattles, but it felt a bit loose and the brakes weren't particularly inspiring.

It also didn't feel quite as brisk as I expected. It's a long time since I've driven one - nearly traded my 205 for one about seven years ago - but I'm sure the other one felt torquier. That might just be me being spoilt, though.

[OlberJ]

Get a GTi6 205, best of both worlds.

Or rather a Xsara VTS 205.

[StoatInACoat]

Shouldn't feel "loose" at all. Although none of those faults are that worrying in isolation there's a lot of them and it'll be expensive/time consuming to get 100%. Heavily worn rear tyres is odd - inner edge and funny camber?

All the clutches are heavy because the clutch cable dries out. Stupid design to covert them to right hand drive. Should still be nice and positive though and if that one hasn't had one it'll probably need one.

I'd avoid one with little problems like that. If you don't keep on top of the maintenance with these they rapidly degrade and end up with loads of really niggling irritating faults. The steering and suspension should be very smooth and very precise - much better than a Renaultsport Clio for example... Fog lights are missing too.

Buying guide - www.306gti6.com Well worth persevering to find a nice one.