406 Coupé - Pre-purchase advice

406 Coupé - Pre-purchase advice

Author
Discussion

steviebee

Original Poster:

13,366 posts

261 months

Wednesday 5th May 2004
quotequote all
Looking to buy my Bother-in-Law's 406 Coupé. 3.0l SE, '99, 42k miles - £6.5k.

Full service and in cracking condition.

Just wondering if there is anything I should know/look for/be aware of/etc..

Cheers!

matthewbinns

18,506 posts

253 months

Wednesday 5th May 2004
quotequote all
depreciation?

crucch

5 posts

245 months

Wednesday 5th May 2004
quotequote all
depn is a problem with these, but that sounds about right, I have seen more miles go for that money on ebay... Colour can play a big part as well, there are some far more popular colours than others, and if you are planning on garaging it - measure - they are bigger than you think - its about 2 inches clearance on my garage!

service history is important as normal, cambelt is due at 72k and I think this has a 9k interval. Servicing can be cheap and expensive, my 72k was over £700 but my 99k was £120, it still goes to a (good) main dealer - and almost every time I can tell that they have done something rather than most cars where you can't tell where the money has gone!!

brakes are expensive (but good) and exhausts. Can have issues with recirculation valves (just need to get a bigger screw put through the flap between internal and external air) and mine had a problem with inlet manifold that they struggled to solve for a bit but got there when I told them it was a fuel/air mixture problem - but that was a 2l

biggest issue with this car would, I expect, be fuel as it drinks which is why at this sorta age there seems to be little price diff between 2 and 3litres as less 2l go through company ownership. I average less than 11p per mile at the moment (or over 400miles to the tank) but the 3l will loose about 10-20% on this.

But these things are all relevant to what you are used to, as is insurance group 18 - my group 15 is over £400 with full maxed out protected no-claims.

All said, I've had mine for 4 years, its six years old and it still turns heads! Its fab cross country or on the motorway and although I look at RX8's and alfa GTs nothing has tempted me yet!

steviebee

Original Poster:

13,366 posts

261 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
quotequote all
Thanks chaps! Much appreciated.