The drive of your life (Peugeot 307 CC)

Member Name: LivvyLou2

Product:	Peugeot 307 CC
Date:	03/08/08 (184 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Electric hard top roof, comfortable seats

Disadvantages: Not very family orientated

When I last changed my job I was delighted to find I was eligible for a company contract car, so every Sunday, for what seemed like forever, hubby and I would trapse around the local dealers trying to find the "perfect" car. We knew we needed one that had low carbon emmissions (environmental and tax implications to be considered as you receive a higher rate of tax on a high emmission company car), one that was suitable for when we had a baby (the lease lasts for 4 years and we knew that within that time we would be starting a family), but one that was still "fun". My previous car was a MGTF and I wasn't ready to settle into a "normal" car at that point in preceedings!

After a great deal of shopping around we found the Peugeot 307CC, the make we have is the 2L diesel HDI, with the basic interior, but additional Sat Nav (which came with 5 CD changer stereo, MP3 and in car telephone) in slate grey.

This car has a hard top, electric roof (the electric roof aspect of a convertible is an absolute must for me, as having had a manual I found it had to be VERY hot in order for me to spend 10 minutes taking the roof down and putting it up again). The roof is easy to open, it is simply a case of ensuring the pull out roof net is out in the boot, putting the key in the ignition and pressing a button on the centre panel within the car. The windows open and the roof unfolds. It is the same with putting the roof up and in total takes around a minute. This is a godsend when you are out and about with the roof down and either stop at the shops and need to close the roof while you pop in or if it suddenly starts to rain (not something which is too unusual with the British climate). The front window screen of this car is nicely slanted and just the right height so that when the roof is down you don't get sunlight glaring into your eyes, so even forgetting your sunnies is not an excuse to not put the roof down.

The boot space on this car is fairly large, and now we have a baby we can fit into it a travel system buggy, the changing bag and a few bags of shopping - although we won't be taking my car on holiday as it would be impossible to take a travel cot, luggage, buggy etc - it simply wouldn't fit. When we have the above in the boot it is not possible to have the roof down either as the items go over the roof net, which acts as a restrictive measure. Although since having out daughter we have not had the roof down as the wind blowing through a baby's hair is not recommended.

This is a 4 seat car and you can fit a couple of adults in the back, but they would need to be small adults or the driver and passenger would need to be small! At 5' 10" I have to have the driver seat at the furthest position back, which means that anything bigger than a child's leg really doesn't fit in the foot well behind me. Now my daughter is in a group 1 (20lbs+ forward facing) car seat she can fit in the back (you are limited on the seats that will fit this car, the Maxi Cosi Prior XP does if you need to know), but we found that with both hubby and I being fairly tall it was not possible for a rear facing seat to fit in the back and hubby to fit in the front - the only way we could manage it was by hubby being relegated to the back, but it can be done.

The make we have is fairly nippy and can hold its own on the motorway - however, for some reason it does seem to attract boy racers and I often find myself being offered a "race", which I of course decline. To be honest in this car I probably wouldn't win if I did accept. It opens up nicely on the open road and is great for city roads as it pulls away easily and can nip in and out of small gaps. Having said that it takes a bit of getting used to on the parking front as the bonnet is very short and you have to "guess" where it ends as you can not see where it ends because of the slope on it - there are, however, rear parking sensors which have been great.

I'm afraid if you want all the gumpf about miles to the gallon and 0-60 etc that I'm a stereotypical girl and don't know it, but I enjoy driving this car and it has been possible to use it as a family car - although we will be waiting for my lease to expire before trying for baby no 2 as there is no way we could fit 2 baby seats in it. The model I have cost approx £23,000.

Summary: Great for hot summer days, not so great for tall uns!

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