Daihatsu Sirion - new daily (maybe)

[JayB]

So in my quest to find a cheap car that was cheap to insure and tax, this is what I ended up with, a 2007 Daihatsu Sirion.

Good - it's very clean, has a lovely 3 cylinder soundtrack, ice cold air con. Cost under £200 to insure and £30 to tax.

Bad - it's very slow (haven't had a small petrol car for a while), and the gearbox is the worst I've ever used, hoping a gearbox oil change may help that.

Anyone had one of these before? I'm missing the torque of a diesel and a nice 206 HDi has caught my eye.

[72_square]

We have a 58 reg one in our house for the wife's car.  We've had it from one year old and it's still only done about 30,000 miles to date.  The wife hardly drives and I can't say its my favourite car to use.  I normally drive my V70 or my daughters picanto instead.  However, I do like the noise the three cylinder makes.  Gearbox is fine on ours, so something must be up with yours.  They shift ok when thrashed and I often get a good four wheel squeal on when I flog it around roundabouts and corners!.  Seems to eat drop links for breakfast though.  I've been trying to get the Mrs to give it up and I'll replace it with a Mk3 MX5 (I want something sporty to thrash around in), but she won't.  Its current job is as a parking ornament outside our house to stop people blocking the driveway exit!  Been totally reliable since we've had it, only done the drop links and consumables.  Not even done a light bulb replacement.  Needs the drop links again though......

[spartacus]

Great! Never driven one but it looks quirky and has a three cylinder engine so likely to get some love on here. Is it auto? (I'm guessing it is, but just checking).

[barefoot]

I've been looking at these & their predecessor the M100. I've unable to make my mind up about them. The early version looks fun, folk in Australia thrash them mercilessly around race tracks, but over here they just seem to rot. They've all got essentially the same engine as the Aygo/C1/107 which as you say is painfully slow, unless you rev the plums off it and I don't think I drive like that any more. I think your gear selection woes will be down to adjustment unless it's fucked. 

[72_square]

Yes they are slow, but unless you are a go-faster-than-you-should driver, they are ok.  An ideal town car.  Nippy enough off the lights and up to 40mph.  They will happily do 70-80mph on the motorways and do not feel too fragile.  The lack of power is most evident when you have 4 up and doing your best to get up to 60/70 on a motorway slip road, then, yes they are damn slow.  The only car I've driven that when you put the air con on, you can feel it sap the power from the car.  Summary: If you drive a car mostly by yourself around town and rarely venture onto motorways, then they are fine.

[wuvvum]

I had a Perodua Myvi - basically the same car but with a 1300 VVT 4-pot.  That little thing went like f*ck.  Good fun to drive too in its own way - not a great deal of grip but it was quite well balanced.  I had to do the front drop links on that too.

[Eyersey1234]

My stepdad used to have one, it wasn't a bad little car. He traded it in last year against a 2 year old Vauxhall Viva after it was broken into and the glass replacement company couldn't get a quarterlight to replace the broken one, they ended up having to source a secondhand one off E of bay. 

[JayB]

Bit of an update - took it to the garage and it turns out the rear pivot of the gearbox linkage was seized. Didn't cost much to sort and it's so much better now. Also turning the air con off improves the performance no end. 

Definitely hanging on to this for a bit, quite enjoying buzzing around in it. 

[Cord Fourteener]

I think they look cool and have the 'not something you see everywhere' cool factor.

I've never been in one though so can't comment there, but I'd have one out of curiosity. I'm glad you are keeping it.

[camryv6]

Don't be afraid to rev it !! 

[camryv6]

Actually  i think a 1.4 hdi peugeot 206 is £30 a year road tax ?

[motorpunk]

I rather like the look of these. FWIW I think a Peugeot 206 is as appealing as bum aids.

[loserone]

4 minutes ago, motorpunk said:

Peugeot 206 is as appealing as bum aids.

Come and have a go in mine next time you're up north.  As £400 cars go it's a good laugh.

[JayB]

Before I found this I was on the look out for a 206 2.0 HDi. I'm sure with a 125bhp remap from HDi Tuning it would be pretty pokey. 

But for now it's 68 bhp of buzzy 3 cylinder fun. I'm not sure what the fuel consumption is like on these but I'll update when I next fill up. I'm not expecting silly mpg, especially as I've been enjoying giving it a rag now that the gearbox is sorted. 

[BeEP]

10 hours ago, camryv6 said:

Actually  i think a 1.4 hdi peugeot 206 is £30 a year road tax ?

Yes, it is.  And I suspect those who deride the 206 have never actually driven one, or at least haven't driven one which wasn't on its last legs.  They're far better than the looks and reputation would have you believe,

[loserone]

6 hours ago, JayB said:

206 2.0 HDi. I'm sure with a 125bhp remap from HDi Tuning it would be pretty pokey. 

Yeah, I quite fancy one of them

 

[loserone]

3 minutes ago, BeEP said:

Yes, it is.  And I suspect those who deride the 206 have never actually driven one, or at least haven't driven one which wasn't on its last legs.  They're far better than the looks and reputation would have you believe,

Coming from a 205, and compared to a hot Clio, they're disappointing because they don't have the same level of feel, and aren't as light.  And the reputation was tarnished by being MUXd during the production - they made more 206s than any other Peugeot ever. But buy a good early one and I reckon you won't be disappointed.  Plus, you can get a panoramic roof.

[BeEP]

4 minutes ago, loserone said:

Coming from a 205, and compared to a hot Clio, they're disappointing because they don't have the same level of feel, and aren't as light.  And the reputation was tarnished by being MUXd during the production - they made more 206s than any other Peugeot ever. But buy a good early one and I reckon you won't be disappointed.  Plus, you can get a panoramic roof.

Agree in part, although I think the ride/handling combination still beats pretty much any of its competitors.  Mine is MUXd, and I've got it down to one electrical foible, which I am happy to live with,  Someone posted on here recently that the 206 is the fourth most produced car of all time, so they must have got something right!

[motorpunk]

10 hours ago, loserone said:

Come and have a go in mine next time you're up north.  As £400 cars go it's a good laugh.

Thanks. 

[wuvvum]

I'm probably being thick here, but - MUXd???

[loserone]

Multiplex electrics.  Early 206s were straightforward wiring, later ones had two different versions of multiplexing.

 

They were one of PSAs first attempts at it, and it didn't always work well

[wuvvum]

French attempts at doing something new with electrics rarely do...

[Steve79]

On 6/29/2020 at 9:53 PM, camryv6 said:

Don't be afraid to rev it !! 

This!

I had a 53 plate 1.0 charade with the same ej-ve engine for 2 years and MotherSteve79 has had her 53 plate one since 6mths old.

These are vvti engines and they really like to be revved as that is the best way to get the most out of them plus the 3cyl sounds great a high rpm. Mum never drives hers above 50mph because she's old so on the odd occasion when i borrow it, it gets a damn good thrashing to clear the cobwebs out. 

The only bother you'll get with this engine is that they do like a drink of oil once they get to around 100k. This is mostly due to knackered stem seals. The only money she's every had to spend on this car in 14 years and 100k is routine maintenance. The original clutch lasted 95 thousand miles.

[JayB]

On 6/30/2020 at 11:39 AM, camryv6 said:

Actually  i think a 1.4 hdi peugeot 206 is £30 a year road tax ?

The 1.4 HDis are definitely £30 tax, although I was on the look out for the very rare 206 HDi Eco, which has the 2.0 HDi but still comes under the £30 tax bracket. I don't know what's different about this model but I'm assuming it's different gearing, much like the Astra ECO4.