Needed a new ball joint and the indicator bulbs had lost their yellowness a bit too much; they were showing a bit too white apparently.
Sorted now, another 12 months ticket. In nearly 40k miles all I've needed on the old workhorse is:
Timing belt Ball joint Bulbs Pads Filters oil
Not bad for a 9 year old car, I reckon. from when I was 17 up until I was about 27-28 all my cars were that old (at least) and they always needed loads doing to them
I 306s.
My dad's 306 XTDT - 110k miles and a radiator (expendables: balljoints, brakes and suspension arms) was pretty cheap to run.
My mum. 306 D estate - 180k 2 radiators 1 clutch (170k) + expendables. We still own this car. 306 HDi estate. 70k - Naff all bar expendables. Snow saw the end of it
I got to drive these cars a fair bit, I think they are great.
Cracking cheap reliable transport if you get a goodun, and they are good cars to drive. See late Ford Escort/Renault Megane/MK3 Golf etc for more details.
Oil changes every 6000 miles for the diesels, but its not a lot in the grand scheme of things, perhaps £20 a go.
People say the Focus eventually outclassed it on the handling front, but I'd personally have a similarly aged 306 over a Focus any day.
I prefer the Peugeot diesel engines of this era and despite the interior being a bit pedestrian, I still prefer it to the Focus's made-in-one-go cheapness.
Yay 306s.
I reckon the 306 has quite a 'big car ride' feel to it. Shame about the tiny glovebox though!
Yeah, oil and filters are about that from my local motor factors. I finally got round to getting some new glowies for it today, so I'll be fitting them tomorrow. Shame it's got the wrong fuel pump, otherwise I'd be mixing and matching the veg oil.
Speaking of which, I noticed Makro are selling out of the cheap stuff a
*lot* quicker than they used to...Nowt wrong with the interior IMHO, everything is easily to hand and it even has a STD ;) If I was being hyper-critical I'd prefer the seat backs to come up a little higher (I had the same opinion about my '55 plate Megane, maybe it's a French thing?) but it's never really bothered me. And it needs a nadgers more headroom (again, same with the Megane), my hair touches it when it's spiked up and not been cut for a while. Maybe I just need to cut it more often... And that glovebox is just rubbish!
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