A car to suit all needs! (Peugeot 206 S 1.1 3dr)

Member Name: sapphireeye

Product:	Peugeot 206 S 1.1 3dr
Date:	14/03/09 (173 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun to drive, cool looking, comfortable

Disadvantages: Some models come with velour seats or very basic interiors

I have just replaced my 04 Volkswagen Beetle with a 2.0 litre engine for one of these and I have to say, this is much more fun to drive! I sold my Beetle because I'd taken out finance on it and still had quite a lot outstanding, however work commitments meant that I was now getting the train to work and barely using my car, so it seemed that I was paying a fortune a month for something that I wasn't using!

When looking for a new car, my main search factors were for something smaller, cheaper and less costly on tax, insurance and petrol. I wasn't particularly fussy about models, though there were a few I knew I didn't want! After a long weekend of searching we found the perfect car for me, a Peugeot 206 (2003 registration) in a light metallic blue colour (moonstone I believe it's called!) and the exact specifications were that it was a 1.1 Verve model. So that is the car that I will be reviewing from my first impressions after two weeks of ownership!

The model
The Verve model comes with all the extra little bits that you want to have in your car. I like my mod cons and having just had a car that had all those, I didn't really want to go back to the era of cassettes and stuffiness. The Verve has air conditioning (an absolute must have as far as I'm concerned!), heated rear window and door mirrors, steering wheel radio controls and a cd player. I'm not entirely sure what comes as part of the standard model so there could be extra bits which come with the verve but I just want to list the things that I know aren't standard.

The look
Peugeot 206's aren't one of those happy smiley looking cars - their head lamps make them look a bit more growly and sporty, yet they are still cute and fun looking at the same time! The body is slim and the design has been kept for going on ten years now and new models are still popular, so it's look is obviously well loved and still trendy today.

The interior
I say I'm not fussy, but some cars have awful looking interiors with weird and ugly seat cloth and I wonder why manufacturers do that? The peugeot 206 seat cloths are usually plain, however some models have a seat cloth that I was not willing to contend with - velour. Now velour seats are probably fine if you're a man that always wears trousers, however for us women they can be a nightmare! If you sit on a velour seat with bare legs it feels really itchy and uncomfortable and I've always had to put a jumper or something down to sit on in other people's cars in the summer when I'm wearing a skirt or shorts. So ladies, consider that a warning! Luckily my model has grey cloth seats so I'll be itch free this summer! They are quite plain with no unsightly patterns or colours so easy on the eye too.

The dash is simple but efficient and there is an electronic display which tells you the time and what radio station you're on. It's in a good location so you don't have to take your eyes off the road to be able to check out whether you're running late or not. It also has the usual speedometer etc and a rev counter (very good for people that are learning to drive!). The radio controls are easy to use and in the Verve edition you also have radio controls on your steering wheel which is a complete novelty to me but very handy if you don't like listening to talking or adverts and just want to flick around to find stations actually playing music! The air conditioning and heated rear window/door mirror buttons are also on the dash. Everything is within easy reach and you're not going to veer off the road because you're desperately trying to reach the button to turn the air con on! The glove box is quite large compared to my Beetle and is lit which is quite handy and the boot is also quite large, with more space than other similar models if I remember rightly!

Comfort
I have found this car to be quite comfortable so far. When I read reviews of this car before buying it there were complaints of feeling that you're too upright but if you adjust the seat accordingly this needn't be the case. I generally sit in quite a relaxed position when I'm driving and I've not had any problems. I've also sat as a passenger in my mum's 206 (she's a driving instructor so has a newer but similar model) and have always found it to be comfortable.

Driving
I've found this car really fun to drive! For a 1.1 engine it gets up to speed quite quickly and it's not too noisy at high speeds and on the motorway. The gear change is easy and it slips into reverse easily as well - something which I've found that some cars have difficulty with! The steering is very light and this is what gives it the fun factor - at high speeds it feels like you're flying! That might just be my own interpretation though as my last car was quite heavy and sturdy. I've read complaints of the pedals being at a weird angle - I think that again you need to adjust your seat appropriately and sit a little further back than you do in other cars. It has a foot rest by the clutch pedal which I don't use but I occasionally catch my foot on if I have my feet quite high up on the pedals, however it's not the sort of thing that you'd get your foot caught on and doesn't affect your driving, you just feel it there sometimes.

The visibility is good, I haven't noticed a lot of blind spots and therefore I was comfortable maneuvering it straight away. My Beetle was really difficult to manoeuvre so this is a breath of fresh air in comparison!

Overall, the drive is nippy and fun and the car adapts comfortably between town and motorway driving.

Safety
My car has dual airbags and the seatbelts have pretensioners like most cars do these days so that they lock into place on impact, stopping forward movement. The car has a 4 star Euro NCAP rating for adult occupants and 2 stars for pedestrians.

Cost
The tax on my model is £120 a year and the insurance is also very cheap as it is a small car with a small engine. It seems to be quite fuel efficient but it's all to do with how you drive it - if you're going to floor it everywhere because it only has a small engine, then you're going to use a lot more petrol than you would driving it efficiently!

These cars have been around for around ten years now, so you can get an older model at a bargain price or a newer model with more mod cons for a more expensive price, so there really is a model to suit every budget!

Overall
This is my third car and I can thoroughly recommend it for first-time drivers and experienced drivers alike. My mum is a driving instructor and she loves her 206, her pupil's love driving it and find it easy to drive, they often go on to buy one as their first car because they've had such a good experience in them. It is comfortable and fun to drive, nippy around town, with a good level of mod cons and plenty of storage space.

Summary: This car is great for first-time drivers or experience drivers and has something to suit everyone!

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