406 2.2 Hdi - Good Car?

[allye 530 3 Cars]

Having just sold the XS as out the country for the winter I'm already thinking about my car next spring! I'll prob be doing a fair few miles next Summer so though I'd be sensible and get a dirty derv. Just after opinions and views about a 406 2.2 HDI, will prob be in estate format too. Basically need decent size (large boards and possible over night sleeps in it!) and decent MPG.

 

I've been doing a fair bit of reading online and it appears they respond massively well to a remap and removing the dpf, 180hp and nearly 300ft/lb can be achieved quite happily with 45+ mpg easily achievable. My dad had a 90 HDI 406 for a while and said it was one of the nicest to drive cars he's ever had!

 

Also been thinking passats, octavias etc etc, but for not much money you can pick up a executive trim level 406 and, wells it is a Peugeot!

 

Thoughts? Cheers, Ali

[BERTMAN 40 1 Cars]

My mate owns a HDi 90, and apart from it being the slowest car in the world its been a very good work horse for him and he treats it like absolute crap!

[cRaig 273 1 Cars]

I had the 2.2 HDi estate for about a year and a half. Really nice reliable car. The DPF additive tank was empty, so for the first 6 months or so it kept going into limp mode which was a nightmare!! (especially when towing in the north of Scotland, and going over the alps into Italy!)

Put the empty DPF canister as fitted to the coupe version (dont know why it doesnt have the filter!) or the alternative is chisel the interior of the filter out.

Used PP2000 to reset the error codes, and Galletto to remove the DPF and put a remap as done by RobTurbo off here. Made a surprising difference and was pokey enough for what it was.

 

Nice car, I do miss it..

[carbers205 1]

My Dad had one and it was total s*ite, Id never have one again, ever!

Bought it with 70k on and ran it up to about 160k when it was, essentially, scrap.

Main issue as you'd expect was the DPF, never managed to get it into limp mode but after about 120k the light was on most of the time. Did forced regen, jetwashed it out etc etc but it had had it.

Suspension wore out, was sloppy to drive....there were numerous other faults but cant recall them all at the mo! And this wasnt something he just hacked around in, it was well cared for, just it got to the point where you fix one thing and two more break!

He has since switched to a Passat tdi130 and man, what a difference! Just shows how POOR the 406 was....

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

Never had any HDI's,. But the running gear on the 406's I have had, One saw over 300k was spot on, Only thing that I had to change where the rear wheel bearings (Towing allot) and the rear drop links + Front P Bush's once which at that mileage you cannot complain at all

[GLPoomobile 958]

My Dad had one and it was total s*ite, Id never have one again, ever!

Bought it with 70k on and ran it up to about 160k when it was, essentially, scrap.

Main issue as you'd expect was the DPF, never managed to get it into limp mode but after about 120k the light was on most of the time. Did forced regen, jetwashed it out etc etc but it had had it.

Suspension wore out, was sloppy to drive....there were numerous other faults but cant recall them all at the mo! And this wasnt something he just hacked around in, it was well cared for, just it got to the point where you fix one thing and two more break!

He has since switched to a Passat tdi130 and man, what a difference! Just shows how POOR the 406 was....

 

I appreciate that there's probably a whole lot more to the story than you've shared here, but on the basis of what you've written, that seems like a very unfair criticism.

 

For a start, who would run a car for 90k miles if it was really that bad?

 

Was it actually extremely unreliable? (I doubt it if it covered 90k miles in his ownership). Did it cost a fortune to keep it maintained over that period? Was it actually any more trouble/expensive than any other modern car of similar mileage?

 

The way I read you post was - bought an a car with an average mileage, ran it for over double that mileage to the point it would be classed as a high mileage car, stuff went wrong, therefore it was s*it - and to me that just seems ridiculous!

 

Not trying to start an argument. As I said, there must be more to it than you've let on if you feel that strongly. But you've not exactly made the best case for the prosecution

[allye 530 3 Cars]

I was a little suprised reading that, I've only read good things about it. I's be removing the DPF any way!

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

Service cost's I found where almost nothing at all, Again one of the best car's I've ever had on that front

[carbers205 1]

Well, wasnt quite expecting that, I have a habit of making vitriolic comments only for them to generally go unchecked!

So GLP, I shall try and rise to your challenge!

My point of reference here really has to be the 405, I have had many myself as has Dad, the majority of mine have been 130k miles plus, with one of the best and most reliable ones bought at 165 and sold on at 180! It worked every day, felt perfectly tight and I loved every minute of it.

In contrast the 406 just felt second rate. I think the build quality was actually worse and it seems as though they bit off more than they could chew at the start of the decade re electronics and especially the DPF.

It wasnt 'breaking down' all the time but had niggly problems most of the time I can remember. Yes he owned it for best part of five years but in reality he would have liked to have sold it after about three, only it was never quite in a state that was worthy of selling on privately by then!

Anyway if something pisses me off or lets me down badly in life I try not to use it again and feel obliged to share my experience where necessary. If Allye decides this opinion is an outlier and disregards it then Im fine with that, I just felt that this was another opinion to add to the mix!

Hope the prosecution is looking a little better now.........

[GLPoomobile 958]

That's better. It helps to have a bit of context around things if you are going to give a bit of an extreme view.

[Turbo7379 3]

My daily driver is a 406 HDI 90 estate & I am very happy with it. I've had it 4 years and it's been very reliable, cheap to run, comfortable & fun to drive. Recently I had it remapped to 115 bhp with a 20% torque increase and it has totally transformed the car. It's a lot easier to drive as you can leave it in 5th gear & let the torque do the work. Best of all I've gained 10% fuel economy (now 45mpg, mainly short runs)!

 

Service wise apart from the usual stuff like oils & filters you can rely on replacing both front arb drop links every year & the rear track control links every 2 years. Use the febi/bilstein ones as they last longer. Quality timing belt kits are sometimes cheaper from Peugeot.

 

I was originally looking for a HDI 110 but I couldn't find one at the time. I have since found out that the HDI 90 engine is a lot simpler with less electronics and more reliable. It also has a solid flywheel as opposed to the troublesome dual mass fitted to the HdI 110 & the 2.2.

 

The 2.2 HDI is quite a complicated engine with a lot more to go wrong. There is the common FAP problem, which you can cure by remapping & gutting the filter. If you remap to 180 bhp I find it very hard to believe that you will get 45 bhp. It is generally accepted that 120 bhp is the limit on a HDI 90 before fuel consumption suffers.

 

Try here for some more info http://www.406oc.co.uk/index.php