THE DRIVE OF MY LIFE! (Peugeot 106 XT)

Member Name: mdstone

Product:	Peugeot 106 XT
Date:	13/10/03 (2660 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good Security, 35-40 Miles to the gallon, Sporty Look

Disadvantages: No air conditioning, 50-70mph produces little power

When I decided to get a new car, I knew it had to be a Peugeot. I finally bought one and part exchanged my old Volkswagen Polo (my first ever banger) and I was so pleased with the result. It was an 'L' registration, 1.4L XT and cost me only £2600 part exchange. There are so many positive things about my 106 (which over-shadow the negative) and it is a very nice car to drive.

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Handling/Steering:

The steering is unbelievibly easy, the ride is smooth, and the engine is so quiet that it makes you think whether the car is actually still running (compared to the Polo anyway!).

Unlike my old car it is very nippy when you put your foot down and it moves through the gears like a knife through butter. Although it is pretty nippy when you put your foot down, going from 50-70mph is a very tough job, which takes about 10 seconds in it'self. Therefore, it's anyone's guess how long it takes to do 0-60!

The car does struggle to get up some inclines on motorways, so you find yourself going from 70 down to anything from 45 upwards. Hills are not a problem in second gear, although it struggles in third and fourth on 40-50mph roads.

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Fuel Consumption:

The car does about 35-40 miles to the gallon (give or take a few miles). It runs on Unleaded, which is cheaper than four star and diesel in most petrol stations. There is also a slightly better performance when Super Unleaded is used, in which the 50-70mph mark is an easier task.

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Spaciousness/comfort:


The car is quite spacious for a hatchback and the 5 doors makes it look suprisingly bigger. The boot space is average, so you don't want to do too much shopping down Tesco in it!, however, the back seats fold down to make the boot and passenger space become one for extra room.

There is also plenty of leg room in the car and the s
eats

can be ajusted to go back, for extra comfort. I have suffered from minor back problems in the past and the comfort of the seats do little to harm it. They are very comfortable so make sure you don't drive when your tired!

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Look:

The look of the car is excellent, it doesn't look ugly and the front view is amazing. Although some cars look bad from certain angles, there is no angle that you can look at this car with that will not make you want to buy it. My car is red, so it makes it look even better and doesn't look too dirty when it is stinking ;-)

I think that the car does have a sporty look to it, but without the spoiler. The arial on the car is positioned above the windscreen on the middle of the roof for extra style (this can be screwed off if you were to take it for a car wash or something). The original wheel trimes also look sporty enough to forget the need for alloys.

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Features/Security:

The car has central locking and comes fitted with a manufacturer's imoboliser and alarm (although this has never worked since I bought mine second-hand). It also comes with a built in radio/cassette player and the speakers in the car offer an excellent sound with decent bass.

I also believe that the car has an airbag, although I have not been unfortunate to have tested this yet (touch wood). The side view mirrors are both electric, which can be altered using controls on the door of the driver's side. The two front windows are also electric, which has both individual controls and a driver's side control for both windows. The back windows incidently are manual.

The car also has a sunroof, but this is also manual. There is also a heating/cooling system, but the car doesn't have airconditioning, which is a right git in the summer!

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Reliability:

The car on
the whole
has b
een quite reliable, it has yet to break down on me (touch wood again). However, with any car there will always be problems and this car is no exception, so here is a breakdown of some of the problems my car has experienced (some of which are common in Peugeot models).

1) The brakes on the car went down to next to nothing and my stopping distance was near enough half a mile (well not exactly, but they were dangerous).

Outcome: This problem was fixed with new break discs, pads and bleeding the breaks.

2) The car started jerking one day and over-reving when stationary. The speed-o-meter was up and down like a yo-yo. It sounded like I was a boy-racer waiting to beat someone off the lights, but in fact I didn't even have my foot on the accelerator!

Outcome: This problem is yet to be fixed, mainly due to the fact that whenever I take it down to a garage, the problem stops. I've had lots of advice on what the problem may be including, dirt in the carb and fuel system (although cleaning them out did nothing), a problem with the timing belt (although would a car still be able to run properly with this problem?) and a loose pipe or engine part that needed fixing/replacing respectively.

3) I have to result in filling up my radiator with a litre of water every other week. Somewhere along the lines there is water being lost in the engine, which also has a knock-on effect on my heating and cooling system. The temperature gauge of the engine also goes up to the red when there is hardly any water left.

Outcome: This is another unsolved mystery, although the only reason I haven't had it looked at is time and cost. If I can at least fill up my car with water then i'm ok.

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These are or were the most significant problems that I've had with my Peugeot, although apart from these I've had many wonderful driving experiences.

I would recc
ommend this car
to anyone
looking to buy one, and i'm sure the latest model 106's will have a far better performance. The prices aren't bad and you won't be left on the hard shoulder during long journeys.

I believe a brand new model will set you back around £6000-£9000 depending on the features and type, although don't quote me on that!

The car has certainly been the drive of my life, but for my next car I want something with a bit more uummpphh!, I want something that is the same engine size with a better performance and comes with airconditioning. I've got my eye on a 206!

Summary: