Whats this thing with 206's been expensive to service all about? It costs no more than anything else, and it needs doing less often! I thought my dealer labour was £70 an hour, then today i found it was £50 an hour, which seems to be the going dealer rate round here.
No, i was comparing my near top model, with his TOP model?
No, but, same class, one near the top of the range, one top.
So lets extrapolate beyond the first two services then.
Most ranges have two branches, a sporty branch and a luxury branch. The Ghia is along the luxury branch. We'll have to wait until we can compare your 206 with a sporty Fiesta.
Tsk. If you've not driven both, how can you compare how they drive? :-/
Indeed. One's ugly, one looks like a squashed bug with a lion symbol on the front.
Having not driven either the new Fester or the 206 I can't comment on the drive, but the new Fiesta is one fugly bit of kit - I'd definitely say that the 206 is the prettier one of the two.
Though I wouldn't be seen dead in either.
Peter
-- "The truth is working in television is not very glamorous at all. I just go home on my own at night and sit alone and eat crisps."
They're "sloppy" as in there's quite a bit of body roll, which does untoward things if you do something foolish like lift off on a roundabout. They feel as though they're tripping up over their own ass. Trouble is that, whilst this can be entertaining in some cars, in the Peugeot it's more unpredictable than is usual (power off oversteer is pretty much always unpredictable at the best of times).
The sportier models have much less roll and better body control, but this is detrimental to the ride.
The 205 also had the wayward behaviour, but was much more eager. The 206 feels inert in comparison. The Ka's chassis is much closer to the sporty
205s than the ordinary 206 GTI that I drove last year. Move to a Sportka, Puma or older generation Fiesta Zetec-S and they show how it's done. Who'd have thought, eh, a Ford chassis showing Peugeot how it's done?
Jesus, how badly built is a 206? Fiestas have really poor build and finish, a few people at work have them, one rattles more then my 8 year old astra and it's only 6 months old. One of the others has had to go in for a couple of resprays as paint's flaked off various panels.
Mine seems fine, no rattles, ditto my mates 51 plate GTi, and my other mates Y reg 1.9 NA Diesel. Non of them rattle, nothing has fallen off. Except for a couple of test drives, when was the last time you sat in a 206 dervy :) ? I have little experience of new Fiesta's, my mates mum and dad have a red one, TDCi, its slow, and very dull inside, but i've never driven it. And from what you're saying, i'm not missing out built quality wise!
I dunno, who would think it.....someone weirdo no doubt ;)
I know someone with a Zetec-S, and whilst its not shit, its nothing special, it just feels 'safe' and understeery. The GTi definately grips better tho, and corners quicker. I've never really driven either of them in anger, but i far prefer the feel of the 206.
Steve, go and cane the f*ck out of a sportka (only 1 of the ford stable mentioned that I have tried). Its actually quite good fun, forget that IMHO it needs or at least could definately handle a 16v engine and a few more bhp and concentrate on the composure and grip it offers when you are pissing about at less than the speed limit on back roads. I'd actually get SWMBO one of them over just about any 206, and I am generally a peugeot fan.
...but if you spend twice as long servicing it....
A fairer comparison would be with the Fiesta ST. Is that out yet? When I ordered mine, the ST wasn't out (and I wanted a diesel). I've heard rumours of an ST diesel though. Upgrade time? I think so!
Yes, but Ford don't do a sporty model. Its just trim levels (ST aside). They aim their cars at people who don't want a sporty car. Lets face it, if you wanted a sporty car, you wouldn't buy a Fiesta or a 206!
Fortunately, I didn't pay £13500 for it, and I don't pay whatever the servicing costs either. I'm interested in fuel economy, as I do a lot of personal mileage. Mind you, I do pay tax on the purchase price. That's tax on 18% of the list price.
You'll feel like such a fool if you ever drive one. The tax savings, fuel savings, sat nav, and (most importantly) the handling sold it to me. It's better than a Focus, but has a touch of understeer which is annoying. Easily overcome by lifting the throttle on turn-in though, and oversteer is easy to provoke (and easy to control).
Fuck me, the TDCI Fiesta's in the 18% bracket for company car tax - I thought it'd be by far in the lowest band (most modern commonrail diesels seems to be), which I think is 15%. I know the BMW 320d is in the 15% bracket, as is the Honda Accord CDTi (or whatever other rearrangement of T D C and I Honda use).
Peter
-- "The truth is working in television is not very glamorous at all. I just go home on my own at night and sit alone and eat crisps."
Well that's pretty good. The DCi engine is a commonrail design like the TDCI Fiesta, so it's not like it's an older technology engine. And frequent use of a heavy foot would be a disadvantage, economy-wise, in the smaller and lower powered engine (Fiesta).
Peter
-- "The truth is working in television is not very glamorous at all. I just go home on my own at night and sit alone and eat crisps."
Compared to the £18500 I was looking at for the Mondeo I narrowed down to, it was cheap! Take one for a test drive, and you'll see what fun they can be. I'm going to have to try the ST when I see one at the Ford garage.
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