New diseasel shite

[wuvvum]

Bought this today.

 

 

This was one of those increasingly rare incidences of a poorly-executed eBay listing leading to a bargain being had. At the top of the listing, in big red letters, it said "THIS CAR IS A NON-RUNNER". It then went on to explain how the immobiliser was playing up, and the sellers had given up on the car and bought a replacement so it had just been sat in their garden. Then in small black type at the bottom of the listing they'd added an update: "I rewired the immobiliser keypad and the car now starts first time". Unfortunately (for them) most people who clicked on the listing would have immediately seen the bit about the car being a non-runner and this, coupled to a lack of pics, will have led to most people not bothering to read any further. Which meant that I got the car for a bargainacious £185, with T&T until the end of August and 136K on the clock.

 

I've done about 150 miles in it today and it drives spot on - not the fastest car on the road, being a 1.9, but it keeps up with traffic OK, and so far it seems to be bloody good on diesel. Being a GLX it has electric windows all round and an electric sunroof, but no aircon. Plans are to use it to run to work in, hopefully reducing my fuel bills (although the Camry's been managing 37mpg on my commute, which isn't bad at all considering), and eventually fit a towbar - I'm currently completely without a towcar as the CX disgraced itself with an EPIC FAIL on its MoT test.

 

Not very much of interest on the roads today - saw this nice early Integrale on the A14:

 

 

but other than that spots were limited to a hattrick of unusual estates (Chevette, Mk2 Cav, Avenger) and a Ferrari 512TR.

[Milford Cubicle]

Wow that is a bargain. They are a bit of a relaxed drive aren't they? You may want to tinker with the boost compensator on top of the fuel pump and the fuel cog underneath. I don't think you can adjust the fuel screw easily on those ECU-controlled engines.

 

http://autospeed.com/cms/A_109345/article.html

[Richard]

You can lose the keypad by simply unplugging it with the engine running. I did that on day two with my Xantia.

[Milford Cubicle]

I wish I'd known that when I had my previous 405, it was such a pain in the arse to use, mounted between the seat backs.

[2Thumbs]

Reet bargain that.How did you find the interior? I had a GLX TD on a 'T' for a few days and I was quite surprised by the interior build and comfort of the seats, very supportive IMO.

[wuvvum]

Yup, it's pretty comfortable alright, although I found the seat cushion a little short for my legs. It's certainly better screwed together in there than a 405, although the doors shut with a bit of a clang (seems to be a 406 trait that). In other news, I've just driven it in the rain and found that it has those bloody awful automatic wipers which work on a sensor, and that Peugeot's version doesn't seem to work any better than Alfa's. If I decide to keep the car long term (which is looking fairly likely at the moment) I'm going to have to see if there's a way of disconnecting the system and replacing it with a good old-fashioned intermittent wiper relay - otherwise I'll just have to use the flick wipe unless it's raining hard enough to need the wipers on constant.

[r.welfare]

Cheap, that. Mine cost £140 with 3 months' ticket but no tax, and was a base-spec dog with 230k on it. I found the 1.9TD a lot slower in the '06 than the 405, a 2.1TD would be more my sorta thing. Agreed they are comfy and the interior quality is damned good, peeling passenger airbag covers aside.

[dollywobbler]

Result. Never judge a book by its cover (or a car by the start of its Ebay ad...)Head gaskets can pop - so I'd consider a coolant change and a good flush out. Otherwise, it's a cracking engine. Especially considering how piss poor Ford diesels of this era were.

[Guest]

Wuvvum Private Hire! The evil nemesis of Hirst Cabs.Looks pretty nice, my dad used to have a 406 diesel - LX facelift diesel, smaller of the two HDI engines. Felt a bit flimsy in terms of trim, but rock solid in terms of mechanicals and had a nice ride. The prefacelift ones still look really smart to this day.

[wuvvum]

the interior quality is damned good, peeling passenger airbag covers aside.

 

[r.welfare]

"They all do that, sir".A GLX without air points to a fleet (or tightarse) private owner when new, I'm pretty sure you could have a/c in lieu of the 'leccy roof for no extra cost. My L had a sunroof as well, and an amazing amount of rot in the roof panel around it...If you're keeping it long term I'd agree with DW and give the rad a good flush and an antifreeze change, it's a bit easier to bleed the system (essential on an XUD) on a 406 'cos it has the expansion tank at the highest point. I'd also bung in a new thermostat (£15 or so and you'll need a new rubber seal), as every single XUD-engined car I've bought has had a dead one when purchased. Mind you, my 406 never went much over 70 on the temp gauge anyhow.A towbar should be a relatively easy DIY fit if you can seek out an official Pug towbar electrics kit on the 'Bay - makes it much easier to plug-and-play the socket through the nearside rear light cluster, rather than faffing about with lengths of wire and Scotchblocks. I got one of these for one of my previous 405 estates, and it was £20 well spent (plus another £20 for the Witter 'bar itself).If you can get over 45mpg in day-to-day motoring that's pretty good going. Mind you, 37mpg from the Camry is pretty impressive too!

[wuvvum]

The 'stat actually seems to be fine - the car warms up quickly but then sits dead on 90 whatever the conditions, and the heater is brilliant. I will be giving it a coolant change though, before the "summer" gets here. I have to say I was a little surprised to see that it doesn't have aircon when the rest of the spec is so high, but hey. I tend to find that on old diesels the aircon is fairly hopeless at low engine speeds anyway, and the main advantage with aircon is its ability to keep you cool in traffic - once you're moving, opening the windows and 'roof work just as well.I've not really had it long enough to be able to make a precise calculation as to the economy, but it's managed about 57 miles on the last fiver I put in, which equates to around 53mpg I think. That's mostly on my run in to work though, and I do drive a lot more gently on the commute than at other times.