main reason why you chose a 406???

[benjhill]

Hello fellas

Im just curious why people actually chose a 406 over its rivals the mondeo etc.

I ended up with mine because it was a cheap "beater" that i found on ebay but since driving it and doing all the day to day stuff that was difficult in my previous and still cant get rid of fiat punto evo (2011) driving life has become a breeze even the missus is coming around to the 406 now shes had a few goes in her.

So guys fire away id love to know, benj.

[annie]

pretty shape. love pininfarina
known quantitiy.they all come with the known faults so when you buy one you already know what will need doing

[steve_earwig]

When I first came here I needed a motor, an estate for all the stuff I was doing and nothing too old. A guy local to me was selling two - 406 2.1td estate and a 2.0 Scoobydoo Legacy estate. Both were 1998, so newer than the old clunkers I'd mainly been driving in the UK. Neither was cheap but nothing is here unless it's ancient or badly damaged. To me the 406 was a bit of an old duffer's car and I rather liked the Legacy. However it had no ABS and there was a big ding in the side, so I decided the 406 was probably the more sensible option. And the rest, as they say, is hysteria, sorry, history.

[Bailes1992]

Because I was 17 going in 79 and even after 5 years behind the wheel I can't bring myself to buy a hot hatch.

[benczuk]

Found myself with a 405 1.9 TD Estate 4 year old ex taxi when at uni as my Fiat teapot expired.

That was a QUALITY car and the 406 was the natural progression.

[Doggy]

I thought long & hard about the best diesel estate to fit my needs and found all the possible contenders had some potential snag to put you off, but the one with the least vices was a 406 2.2 HDi estate.
The only problem was the DPF, (FAP), but as everything else made perfect sense, (performance/economy/space/comfort/value/running costs), I decided to risk it in the hope I could find a solution.
Never regretted that choice. After 4 years with my first 406 and getting on for 3 years with this one I'm now starting to wonder whether I could track down a decent replacement for this car, in a year or so.......

[trufflehunt]

I owned a 405 1.9 petrol shortly after they were introduced. Really liked the
flat handling, and the feeling of interior spaciness.

Owned a 405 1.9 turbo-diesel about 10 years ago.
Succeeded by a 106 diesel.

Succeeded by current 406 110 HDI.
Reasons why ?

The previous cars above made it not too difficult a decision,
I like the 'Frenchness' .

Add in the fuel economy for the size of car. It was sufficiently quick for me,
and in particular the suppleness of the handling.

Reading the write-up at the Parkers site was the clincher.....

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/p ... rformance/

[jonsowman]

I was given my father's excellent 2.1TD saloon which I drove around in happily for several years.

When it came time to upgrade a bit, I liked and knew the 406 platform, and the Coupe is the perfect balance of economy, comfort, reliability, power and styling for me

[Welly]

~~~~~~goes back to 2006~~~~~~

I was in the market for something Diesely to replace my sh*t MX6 what did 19mpg so started looking at VW Pisshats and VW Borings....I had about £3,500.00 going spare* so all I could get were high-mile VW's (which never go wrong btw. Or flood themselves) of around the 8 year old mark with mahoosive mileages.

Thinking back to my old days when I had a 405 which was ace it seemed natural to start looking at 406's....sure enough this knocked about 3 years off the second hand choices for the same money and I settled on 'T' plate D9 HDi exec at a dealer and was taken aback at the level of standard kit included and the way the thing got down the road without me having to fight it. I always remember my then nervous passenger missus wouldn't even notice the speed in the 406 as is just sounded and wafted along the same at 60 or 80mph.

So that was it really, the 406 was cheaper newer and bettererer. Lasting testament to the marque these days is the number of early models out there that haven't crumbled away like the Fords and Vauxhalls or electrocuted themselves like the Renner's.

[Ares]

I always wanted 406...strong engine,rims and few extra things on it and one day,i got it.
It was all i wanted...2.0 tubby petrol rocket with 225-45-R17 rims and Gooodyear tyres,fog lights,custom speakers,LPG system in it and K&N filter.

[benjhill]

Im really beginning to love mine more and more i went to visit my ma yesterday and i bumped into a few of my friends from the big city (bradford west yorkshire) and at the age of 22 and around which we all are they are knocking about in corsas , clios all between 1.0-1.6 petrols so we went on abit of a run along the back roads near where i currently live out in the sticks loads of flowing roads basically the young'ens race tracks we planned to meet up at a pub right at the summit of these roads i got there way ahead of everyone else in my big 2L diesel bus whilst hammering these roads i fell in love with my pug haha now alot of my mates are looking into the 406 and 407 even the corsa 1.4 turbo couldnt touch my 406 madness

[fattail95]

My 406 was bought brand new by a good friend's Mum, she looked after it well for the first 5 years of it's life, taking it to the main dealer for every service and all maintenance (crazy woman!! £££). She decided that after 5 years of having the car, it was wise to sell it on before things start to go wrong... Little did she know then just how reliable these cars are and still regrets selling it. Anyway, that person she sold it to was my dad, who kept it for 8 more faultless years and absolutely adored it, it never let us down and cost him pennys to keep on the road aside from fuel, services and tyres. He since handed it down to me to use for commuting to sixth-form and now Uni. It drives beautifully, just the right compromise between sportyness and comfort (especially with a strut brace fitted), plenty of power and torque with a remap and lots of gadgets to play with that can easily be retrofitted if not there as standard. The car does also have a lot of sentimental value to me, it's been in my life since I was very young and has seen me through my entire school life, so I'm doing my best to replace any old bits on it now and give it a new lease of life. They really are great cars and have such a lot to give

[KozmoNaut]

I've always liked the look of the D9 406, and a friend of mine had a V6 wagon that I took for a spin and fell in love.

Then a 2.2 petrol sedan practically fell into my lap and I just had to buy it. I've done 60.000km in it now, and loved every single one of them.

[GingerMagic]

Well, years ago in 2006 I used to have an Escort van in RAC orange which I really liked and really abused at the same time. Then a couple of years later my first ankle biter was born which was fine as we had a 306 dt ( great car ) which the missus had. There were more and more frequent times when I would need to have more than one passenger in the van which is a problem with only 2 seats, so I had to sell the van and find a sensible car instead.

I bought a 1.8 petrol Mondeo estate for £140 from eBay which was a bit of a mess but had the required number of seats and was good enough for what I needed, but after a year it started to fall apart so I had to replace it. The Mondeo was doing 32 mpg no matter how I drove it, but I figured I would look at a diesel estate instead.

So in 2010 I found a red 406 Hdi90 for sale locally for £800, which had a new cambelt, tyres, exhaust as the guy bought it for European driving but his mates* let him down. It had 175K on the clock and stank of dog which is a smell I thought I would get used too. Well after 2 years and many valets the power steering rack failed so I sold it on as I was sick of the smell and was hankering for a 2.2Hdi.

So in 2012 my 2nd 406 was bought and it was indeed a 2.2Hdi executive estate, 2004, ex-taxi from Birmingham. This cost £700 and was a right piece of pooh - I drove from Birmingham to Bournemouth in limp mode....
I got it home and set about sorting it out, which started with the customary de-fap and de-egr followed by a service which made quite a difference. I then stumbled across an identical model being broken for parts down the road, so I bought the whole car and changed the doors, wings, bonnet and lots of little tit bits to improve the ex-taxi. I was overall quite happy with this car and was getting used to the 406 'characteristics' but then the crank seal went and the cost of repair including a new clutch and DMF was more than the car was worth as it was on 195K and every time I went to fix it something else broke off.

So then my 3rd and current 406 was found locally in 2014, another 2.2Hdi 2002 with FSH and 125K for £400 but a GLX model. Initially I was going to use the GLX to fix the executive but after driving the GLX everything was so much nicer than the exec so I decided to strip the exec and transfer the posh bits to the GLX instead. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=22036 and is now probably improved using at least 5 other 406s parts

I've had it for about 18 months now, and I love the car, even the colour! - in fact I like it so much I forked out for a new clutch/DMF on it rather than ditch it for another one. I hope it will last at least another 5 years so I'll be loitering on the 406 forums for a while yet.

[rwb]

In 2004 I lived in Birmingham and got my first job in London. I decided to stay in Birmingham but stay in London Monday to Thursday, and given that I had free parking in London diesel worked out cheaper than public transport (and I was biassed anyway). So I was looking for diesel and a comfy seat.

I went round the car supermarkets to sit in stuff to see what I liked. Hated the vectra, Xantia felt old and cheap, there was some VW, and I can't even remember the Mondeo. However, the minute I got into the 406 and closed the door I knew that nothing else would do. It just fit. So then the search started in earnest at local dealers. I looked at an E34 518 which the dealer said to avoid, and as the 'banger' option a 1.7 (Isuzu) Cavalier which in hindsight could well have been a good choice. In the end it came down to an R-plate 1.9 (which I bought) and a D8 (or D8.5) T-plate HDi that I turned down because of the new-fangled common rail thing, it was leaking water through the aerial, and the door seal was hanging off.

The 1.9 turned out to be a lemon. Among other things the glow plugs wouldn't run for long enough so starting it was difficult and usually involved huge (really, huge) clouds of white smoke. On the motorway the D9s were still being used in anger by reps, so I started really fancying one. Well, second time lucky. After 11 months in 2005 I got my 02 plate HDi 90 (I didn't at that time know there was a 90 and a 110, let alone the 2.2). One fleet owner, 84k on it, new cambelt, four matching Michelins, clean, and good toys. It was a massive risk as it cost £5k and I took finance which turned out to be rather painful. Had it for 8 years and ran it to 205k; it always started and never left me stranded. Probably the best car I'll ever own.