Peugeot 106 Rallye - I am going to look at...

[Nobbles]

1998 with 162,000 kms (approx 95,000 miles). White, timing belt and water pump done. Bilstein B6TF, 2 Eibach sprins - 30, 4 x 14" semi slick dunlops, 4 X 13" snow tyres with studs. New front and rear pads EBC bluestuff + new rear discs. Engine mounts/triangle and stab bar (?) powerflex/vibratechnics. Radiator CS new and Oreca exhaust system.

This is a translation (I live in France) and will be the first 106 rallye I look at. I just want an interesting low cost car to go to work and back, the other option was an Audi A2 or panda sport but this looks interesting.

What do I look for? Are the specs fine?

[exgtt]

Check for rust on boot floor & front inner wings behind front wheels. Check rear wheels don't have excessive camber & no knocking from back end as that's axle rebuild time. I had a 172 with uprated engine mounts and it was awful - the engine rattled the dash like mad, check for this on the test drive, a vibey dash @ 6am when your driving to work soon gets boring. Go thought the full rev range when in gear and see if there is any resonance from the dash at certain rpm

Its got track goodies so check no worn syncros/whines from the gearbox, clicks from cv's/driveshafts, worn clutch, and crash damage.

Car looks nice go for it!

[Nobbles]

Thanks for the advice, I am hoping to see it tomorrow night.

[RCBRG]

gearbox crunches often only become clear when giving it the beans in those cars. make sure you shift right at the top of the rev range, and listen/feel carefully both up and down the gearbox. mine only crunched going down from 3rd to 2nd at higher revs, not something you would notice on a test drive!

as said, these rust inside the front and rear wheel arches, and the rear axle collapses giving rear camber. any other problems are cheap as chips to fix!

[Nobbles]

So I spoke to the owner. He has had it one year, spirited driving not competition. He has lots of bills and history, not complete but a lot. He uses the car at weekend for pleasure. He owns a garage so he can take it there for us to see on the ramps etc. He seemed honest, when asked about accidents he said it has had a rear shunt and he has all the bills for the repair, he noticed this when he bought the vehicle as the boot floor paint was shiny and the previous owner gave the bills etc, but he says the repair was good so it didn't put him off. The front suspension has been refurbished recently, the rear axle has been refurbished once but not recent, he says there is a little bit of play. Gearbox he has noticed no issues and he says it burns a little oil but is normal for the age and miles (he is running Motul 15w-50, is this correct, it can be hot in the hills of central France? or could this be the cause of the burning oil? or hiding something?). He says there is light rust in the front wheel arch which we will see on the ramps. It also has the air filter/induction of the 1.3 seemingly it gives more torque...

Hopefully tonight to see it, thoughts please????

[RCBRG]

Nobbles said:

So I spoke to the owner. He has had it one year, spirited driving not competition. He has lots of bills and history, not complete but a lot. He uses the car at weekend for pleasure. He owns a garage so he can take it there for us to see on the ramps etc. He seemed honest, when asked about accidents he said it has had a rear shunt and he has all the bills for the repair, he noticed this when he bought the vehicle as the boot floor paint was shiny and the previous owner gave the bills etc, but he says the repair was good so it didn't put him off. The front suspension has been refurbished recently, the rear axle has been refurbished once but not recent, he says there is a little bit of play. Gearbox he has noticed no issues and he says it burns a little oil but is normal for the age and miles (he is running Motul 15w-50, is this correct, it can be hot in the hills of central France? or could this be the cause of the burning oil? or hiding something?). He says there is light rust in the front wheel arch which we will see on the ramps. It also has the air filter/induction of the 1.3 seemingly it gives more torque...

Hopefully tonight to see it, thoughts please????

a little play in the axle means there is a £300 bill looming (more if you cannot fit it yourself!)
burning oil may be normal at those miles, but that doesn't mean its okay. it may be absolutely fine, depends what his definition of 'a little' is
the 1.3 inlet manifold is a common modification, and worth a few quid too!

[Nobbles]

For the axle what should I look for - bear in mind it will be on a ramp also. It has a group N exhaust fitted so maybe this hides the knocks etc?

[exgtt]

Check rear wheels for play when up on a ramp, hands at 10 & 6 and wiggle, do the same at quater to 3. Alot of these cars have a past, i wouldnt let repaired accident damage and an axle refurb put me off, but it must be priced accordingly! I wouldnt want to pay much more than £1k if it was in the uk despite the quality mods but i am tight.

Edited by exgtt on Thursday 22 August 12:25

[Nobbles]

Thanks for the info and help exgtt. If only cars were the same price in France as per the UK. The price range for 106 rallye's goes from 1000 euro's (dogs) to 5500 then onto the competition cars. This one is advertised for 3700 which I think is maybe a little steep, I would put it nearer the 3000 or 3200 mark (based only on the other adverts taking what they say at face value).

[exgtt]

No worries hope it pans out for you. Our cheap cars are offset by the whole living in England thing haha!

[Nobbles]

So had a good look. I have to say the owner was very obliging, I had a very good test drive, he put it on the ramps and let us get on with it. But no, certainly not worth the money in my view. The driver's seat was worn through in the bolster, the seat itself not so secure, the rear axle did have a little play in it and also in the old documentation it was stated for the MOT that the same wheel was not centred and was rubbing the bodywork, which behind the small plastic wheel arch liner the metal was twisted. The parts that he listed were there but several years old, the exhaust had a quick coat of silver spray on top of the rust. Both the front and rear bumpers appear as though they were yellow ones sprayed white - where the white had come of the edges it was yellow. The chassis number on the windscreen scuttle seemed to not be perfectly aligned (should it be). The clutch seemed 'baggy' at the top of it's travel and third gear wined like an old mini gearbox, the refurbished front axle turned out to be just new bushes and the exterior was well used. BUT it was the first one I have driven and it was great fun, like a go kart. So definately not a waste of time and a good reference for the next viewing. Thanks again for the hints/tips and advise. Watch this space.

[exgtt]

Bullet dodged!

Sorry can I ask, what do clean R5 GT Turbos start at in France price wise?

[Nobbles]

For info one of the largest sources of buying a used car or other used items is www.leboncoin.fr it is like craigslist in the US. Click on a region then toute catorgories select voitures, then on the box to the right select toute france - replacing the region that you selected and have a play.

Typically it seems between 5000 and 7000 euros for a 5 GT turbo. Now, how weird is this - a 5 GT Turbo came up in the same town as the 106 rallye and the ad smells the same as the 106 rallye, He even uses a trick for the user name to name it after the car and not the person....

Thanks for that, your little question has further reassured me for not buying that one. I am becoming impatient, they are not coming up often in my local area.

[exgtt]

Brill thanks! I'm on the hunt for a 5 that isnt a rotten MOT failure for between £2-3k. Decent cars in that price range have all but dried up, think I need to save another grand.

[Nobbles]

OK, the next one has come up. This time a phase 1, 1.3.
Around 100k, just serviced, 4 new tyres, new rear axle from a 16v with new bearings. New rear calipers and handbrake cables. 4 peugeot sport shock absorbers and -45 eibach short springs. New 'triangles' cambelt and water pump new, plus head gasket 20k ago. Repainted last week.

Will have a look tomorrow night.

4500 euros - it better be good

[Richair]

It looks nice! With all that work done and providing it's been done well, it should be worth it!

I suspect the price of 205 Rallye's in France pushes up the price of the 106, whereas the same could probably be said in reverse of here as our 205 Rallye's were naff! (they were simply sickered up basic 1.4 models; the XS was superior...)

Good luck!

[Nobbles]

Must be third time lucky..... Basically the car was pretty honest, much better than the first one but the respray was done by Stevie Wonder. It wasn't a complete respray just the front, roof and rear wing and it looked like the paint had been poured on, which made a lovely contrast to the door which was original. They didn't take the seals off etc....

So I told the guy 'look with that respray it is not worth wasting your time going for a drive for the price your asking' and he didn't budge or say it was negotiable. I think I would pay 3500 for it -I may email the guy saying if he has no luck after a while to contact me (providing I haven't found another). The sceptical side of me thinks he bought it (which was only in February) with the wheeler dealer mentality to turn it around and make a quick buck. Oh well the search continues....

[Richair]

Unless you can get it for a decent price and/or its exceptional in other areas, its probably not meant to be!

I buy a lot of cars and there's a lot to be said for first impressions and it doesn't sound like it's left a good impression on you... I have only ever gone back to a car I'm not sure of when it's cheap and 3500 is a lot of money!