Pukka Peugeot (Peugeot 206 GLX 1.4 5dr)

Member Name: gothiron

Product:	Peugeot 206 GLX 1.4 5dr
Date:	01/11/01 (2311 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great value for money, Stuffed full of extras as standardy, Looks fantastic in Red

Disadvantages: Seats can be a bit lumpy, Delivery charge is high (it's free on Nissan's), Bit of a blind spot when driving

Eligibility for a company car meant that I was “forced” to start looking for a new car, my own car is an economical, whippy Nissan Micra 1.0L so initially I was leaning towards an Almeria or Primeria, but then I stumbled on the Peugeot web page and was totally hooked on the sleek look of the 206.

Being a company car I needed to take into consideration the usual things such as what extras I could pile on to basic model, what colours it came in and of course emissions and MPG. Well, Peugeot comes up trumps again.

The 206 GLX comes with a host of “extras” as standard: stonking Blaupunkt audio system comprising 6 CD auto changer, tape and radio, climate control air con driver seat height adjustment (a key requirement for me, having a long body but short legs) automatic mirrors for driver & passenger side, heated front and back windscreens, central locking & immobilser, auto-sensing wipers, power steering, electric windows, the list is endless. The options available (apart from the boring things like metallic paint) are nicely balanced between fun and practical. The luxury pack is probably not that luxurious comprising leather trim, sports seats and back electric windows but the leather and suede trim is of a good quality and looks stunning (and is easier to keep clean than velour). The other options that I took up are the ABS, which surprisingly enough isn’t standard anymore, side passenger airbags and best of all GPS satellite navigation.

The sat nav is the one thing that I was dubious about initially, but having now experienced it I would definitely put it on the “must have” list for future cars. It’s not the type that tells you there is a whacking great traffic jam ahead (that’s what the radio traffic news if for!) but it shows you the distance to go, the lane to be in, the name of the road you’re on, which exit to take at the roundabouts – all in a very polit
e female voice. If you want a laugh, select the non-metric option and the voice ends up with a bit of a West Country burr to it. If you don’t follow a direction correctly, it doesn’t shout “can’t you read a flaming map woman” but nicely comes up with “recalculating route” A definite improvement. It’s all programmed with a snappy remote control and includes info for Europe as well as UK via the cd. As it’s all integral to the dashboard, there are no components to nick or have your car broken in for, another really good feature in my book!

The car itself is really spacious for both driver and passenger and the back has a good amount of legroom. The sleek styling of the interior complements the exterior well, and having everything moulded into the design means it looks uncluttered and not at all overbearing. The audio controls are replicated on a steering stalk to prevent dangerous fiddling around whilst driving and once you remember that hitting the wiper stalk doesn’t change from The Best of Tom Jones to Radio 5 Live, it’s very straightforward. There is plenty of storage space with numerous hidden pockets and pouches, if you don’t have the luxury pack, there is additional box storage within the passenger seat and the glove compartment is roomy as well.

The 206 may look like a girly-bird car, but the pedals are quite widely spaced to cater for the bigger footed amongst us (size 7/8 on the pedals of a Corsa is very trying!) and the power steering apparently has very good force return (according to my husband the one time he was allowed to drive it) which I think means that there is no battle to straighten up after turning – my Micra feels like a tank in comparison now. There certainly is plenty of oomph to it and it is very easy to drive + it looks really neat and has beautiful lines (I’m getting a bit of a sad case about the car really!) and comes in a go
od range of colours, my preference being Diablo Red!

So is it all Peugeot and cream? Well no, there are a few things that bug me. The climate control always defaults to having the aircon on when you start up, great in the winter for demisting the screen, not so great for fuel consumption if you leave it on! The temperature controls themselves could do with either being on a stalk like the radio or else higher up as they are lowish and on the left. The sat nav cd takes up a lot of room in the glove box but then it’s better than having it centrally mounted. I agree with other writers that the seats don’t seem to offer a great deal of lumber support and I do find the Micra’s better to sit in but it’s probably just a case of getting used to it. Biggest gripe is that there is quite a bad blind spot near side but the mirrors assist with this but it does catch you out now and then.

All in all I absolutely love this car, it drives so smoothly, has good fuel consumption for a 1.4, handles corners brilliantly (or is that the driver!) parks easily (definitely not the driver) and has good pull away and steady motoring. It makes driving a pleasure and I feel totally safe in it due to the enhanced safety features.

The only thing that could be better than this is the 206cc Coupe, but that wasn’t on the car list!

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