As a non-company car driver I was looking for a cheap to run, yet fun and stylish small car. I owned a Rover 100 for three years, and despite its old looks dubious safety features and odd driving position, found it an economical car that would be hard to replace. Peugeot fit the bill and then some with their excellent 206 GLX 1.4

The 206 was launched in 1998 to replace the much loved, but ageing, 205. It was given reasonable reviews, as most thought it had taken the 205?s heritage a little lightly. It was viewed as being a bit too sensible by some, but most agreed that it was an all round good car. I have to say I never liked the 205 much. Sure the GTI was a great pocket rocket, but it lacked a distinctive shape and got left way behind by the likes of the Nova, Fiesta and small Volkswagens in the small hatch market. The 206 is a big improvement in my opinion.

As a used car, the 206 GLX is a great choice. My S reg came in at £6995 (3 years old when I brought it) with fewer than 30K on the clock. This was an average main dealer price for the model, mileage and year. It came with a 12 month Peugeot Platinum warranty, MOT and 12 months tax.

Spec level

The GLX trim level is, it seems quite popular (Don't you hate it when you buy a car then drive out of the garage and notice that everyone else is driving exactly the same model, colour and all?) You get a great set of features "out of the box", including Air Con, Power Steering, 6 disk changer with a 6 speaker stereo, Electric windows, electric heated mirrors, fog lights, rear head rests and best of all - Auto sensing wipers. Options on this model include ABS, front passenger airbag and sat-nav.


Drivability

The car is a great all round drive. It accelerates well in low gears, but tops out a bit around 60 (hold 4th for longer and its is fine). Noise levels are OK - not the quietest, but better than my old Rover!. Fuel economy on the 1.4 engine is exc
ellent. I regularly do more than 390 miles on a single tank (it will do over 420 before I get the orange warning and start to panic).

Drive comfort is the best I have found in any of my cars. The driver seat is height adjustable, as is the steering wheel. The pedals are nicely spaced and a clutch footrest makes all the difference to lanky blokes like me. All the instrumentation is easy to see, and there is a great digital display for radio, temperature and time. You get a rev counter, temperature gauge and all the other usual warning lights in the dashboard. My only gripe is the odometer and trip counter is on the same digital display. You toggle between the two using a small push stud. When you first switch the ignition you are given a service reminder (the 206 has a whopping 20000 mile service interval) which mysteriously goes down 50 mile each time I get in the car. The stereo is controlled from a handy stalk just behind the steering wheel - takes some getting used to, but is a welcome inclusion. All lights are operated from a stalk, as are the automatic wipers.

The passenger cabin is huge for such a small car, with good leg room in both the front and rear. The boot is a bit short, but quite high. It comes with a handy storage net, useful mounting points for this and a couple of Velcro storage straps for bottles etc. Folding the seats is a bit tricky, but give a massive load space if needed. The rear seats are, of course, 60/40 split.

Ownership costs

As I mentioned, service intervals are huge on this car. This does mean that of course that the service costs a bit more, but its not too bad when you consider you will only be doing it every two years if you are an average mileage driver. I recently had my 40k service carried out by a main dealer at a cost of £275 including new front brake pads.

The tank is 45 litre and costs around £38 to fill (at 74.9p per litre from the low fuel mark) You will, as I mentioned get a
t least 400 mile out of this with mixed motorway/town driving. The car comes with Energy tires, but I am not sure of the impact these have.

Speaking of tires - expect to pay around £50 - £60 per corner for branded rubber. A bargain tire will set you back around £30.

Best news though - due to its economical performance and small engine you will only pay £100 to tax this little hatch back!

Overall roundup

I love this car. I wouldn't part with it for any other model or make (Well, maybe the GTI or CC could tempt me). Later models have even better spec - including digital climate control, auto lights on and better seating. I expect to be visiting another Peugeot dealer in three years time when I reluctantly change this Diablo red beauty.