1998 Peugeot 106 GTI

Post #1

This is my other half's Peugeot 106 GTI that has been in our family for many years and has served us very well.

Unfortunately, circumstances have changed and we can no longer afford to keep two cars and as our children are getting bigger and as I have a slightly larger and newer car (Peugeot 306 GTI-6) we have decided that the most sensible option would be to try and find a new home for her little Pug.

I will give as much detail as possible so please try to bear with me - also, please try not to pay too much attention to the asking price, the box required I enter an amount but it is not something we are inflexible on and will be explained below.

Right, here we go...

Mechanical

The engine and gearbox are very good indeed. The engine pulls very well in every gear, has a good positive throttle response, idles very nicely and feels both as powerful and responsive as you would expect from a GTI engine. Gear changes are tight and positive. The clutch was replaced by the previous owner and is a performance fast road one. It has a shorter dead zone and a very firm bite point. Takes a little getting used to for people not expecting it but feels great when you are because it doesn't slip at all. I am unsure when the timing belt was last replaced along with the water pump. Certainly not since we have owned the car, but it has always been a second car for most of its life and was only used as my daily drive when my cars have been off the road.

There is a piggyback ECU fitted to the car which was done professionally. It makes a noticeable difference to the car's overall driveability and seems to have improved both the power and torque, plus throttle response, flat spots and fuel efficiency. It has also had a replacement exhaust system not too long ago.

The battery has had it. It will not hold a sufficient charge to pop the central locking, let alone run the starter motor. Will definitely need to be replaced.

There is an oil leak at the front of the engine head. It was very very mild a while back but got a little bit worse to the point where I was having to top up the oil every few weeks by a small amount. I tested the car last week and it was actually noticeably escaping the engine along with blowing plumes of white smoke from the exhaust. I am fairly sure the head gasket or the rocker cover gasket has disintegrated and will need replacing. This is something that has not been done since we have had the car so I would not be able to say when it was last done unfortunately.

The brake discs and pads need to be replaced on all four corners. I do have a set of rear pads that I purchased a while ago to have ready for when I needed to do it but never got around to it. They are not particularly expensive to purchase from any good motor factor, probably more so if going for OEM from Peugeot, but at present they work and the car will stop, but they are about as low as within tolerable limits and it certainly does feel vague when stepping on the middle pedal.

The ABS warning light on the dash has been on and off quite a bit. Seems to stay off for a while when the ECU error codes are reset but then comes back on of its own accord sometimes. I was told it was most likely that one of the ABS sensors was either dirty or faulty and needed replacement. Unfortunately they were unable to tell me specifically which one and as you have to break them to remove them it was going to be expense I didn't have the money to cover for the sake of a pair.

That's about it when it comes to the mechanical things on the car.

Exterior

The paintwork overall is in pretty good shape considering the car is coming up to 16 years old in March of this year. There are the usual stone chips on the bonnet and front bumper along with some battle scars from waging war in supermarket car parks across the country. One of the wheel arch trims needs a couple of screws/rivets to anchor it onto the wing it is connected to. It is not immediately obvious other than when you're hand washing, polishing and waxing it and it comes away ever so slightly but is by no means hanging off and flapping around all over the place.

There are some bubbles coming through under the lacquer on the lower third of one of the front doors and a little bit of visible rust where some stone chips have obviously been thrown up from the front wheels. It is not obvious from a distance, but closer inspection (especially when you're looking for it) will make it easy to spot.

The car has a full set of five 14" Raptor alloys in the standard silver colour. They vary in condition but all could do with a refurb. They come up reasonably well when cleaned and polished, but there is also bubbling under the lacquer on them too and in some places the paint is actually beginning to flake. The four fitted to the car are wearing 185/55/14 Dunlop SP Sport Fast Response tyres which are still in very good condition. The spare has a different tyre but is almost new and has loads of tread.

The car is fitted with a fully electric sunroof which is not factory-fitted or OEM. The previous owner did not fit it and says it was already on the car when they bought it, so it was probably done by the first owner. It worked (sort of) when I bought the car but has since been disconnected and I have never got round to reconnecting it again. Basically it needs to be earthed properly and the power re-soldering. Nothing particularly difficult. One problem that has been with the car since we got it is that there is a small leak somewhere. It is not clear whether it is the sunroof seal or where the roof aerial is connected, but when it is raining really heavily it allows a small incursion of determined water which will then pool up above the driver's sun visor and jump right down onto their head when cornering or breaking. The previous owner replaced the sunroof seal but said that didn't remedy the water incursion. Short of letting off a smoke bomb in the car to see where it escapes from I can only suspect this is the inherent problem with 106 GTIs and is related to the aerial mount and the fact it probably needs some silicon sealant piping in there.

There is a stone chip in the windscreen which I had repaired years ago with the injection thing that they do which they set with the UV lamps. Never had a problem with it since it was done and has never had an issue with MOTs because even though it is at the edge of the driver's eye line it is not considered large enough to be of concern to them. Obviously replacing the windscreen on insurance would be an option for anyone buying the car but it wouldn't need to be a priority unless the stone chip was really getting on your nerves.

The wiper blades could all do with being replaced. The rear one especially, the rubber is coming away and it is no longer able to effectively clear the rear windscreen of pretty much anything. It is one of those newer style ones that use the whole plastic two piece arm rather than the rubbish-looking metal one, so comes straight from Peugeot and isn't the best value for money when you've not got money to burn. The front ones are the aero-style ones and still work properly but if you're doing them it makes sense to do them all at the same time.

Interior

The usual sports seats and rear bench. This particular model slightly pre-dates the later on facelift they gave to the late 1998 onwards models so missed out on the half leather / half alcantara seat covers. Instead they are the same style but all cloth. Predominantly black but with a little subtle colour thrown in. The front passenger seat has a little bit of a stain on it. Never got around to hiring a wet vac to have a proper go over the seats but it looks like the sort of thing that would come off without too much difficulty. Also there are no rear headrests. These didn't appear till the facelift either, so only the front has them in this car.

Someone has fitted Lockwood 'white' dials. This was something that I believe was done by the first owner, so was already present when the previous owner bought the car and followed on to us. I say 'white', to put it a little more accurately, think of old white plastic toys from back in the day that have been aged by the UV of the sun and are now a more yellowish colour. Could definitely do with a replacement set from Lockwood, they still make some very nice ones and a nice white set or maybe even blue would probably set it off very well.

A couple of the tiny little bulbs behind the dashboard have stopped working and need replacing. There's one on the far left side of the main binnacle which illuminates the first 30 miles per hour on the speedo along with the water temperature. Only really noticeable at night when the lights are on but there's sufficient ambient light from the other bulbs to still be able to make out where the needles are, but if the binnacle was out for the dials to be changed it would make sense to renew the bulbs too.

The blade connector that connects the heated rear windscreen to the wiring loom has parted company with its usual soldered mount point. Not sure how it happened but I'm not confident enough to try and solder it back on myself so have left it. Not a major issue but someone better at this sort of thing would probably be able to rectify this without much of a headache.

Other stuff

We bought the car from a friend of mine who used it as her daily drive. Her partner works for Peugeot as a Master Tech and did all the maintenance on the car for many years while she owned it. It came to us with a clean bill of health and I have tried to make sure the car was kept looked after as best I could where possible. Unfortunately with the costs of running my 306 and the fact there is further work necessary on it to take care of other niggling issues we need to try and save wherever we can, hence the sale.

We don't actually have a particular price in mind. We are open to sensible offers and I have covered as much as I possibly can with everything that is required both big and small to get this car back to a state that someone would be proud of.

I am happy to answer any questions people may have and have been as honest and up front as possible with this advert so people know exactly what they are looking at. The car is far too good to be allowed to be scrapped or broken for parts as I genuinely believe that someone can make this great again. Once the head gasket and brakes are done it should be perfectly driveable with a new battery, everything else can be done ad-hoc somewhere down the line. We just don't have the money to fix two cars sadly, especially as this one just wouldn't get driven much at all.

If you've made it this far into my description then thanks very much for bearing with me. If you feel you can offer our much loved car a new home and maybe a new lease of life then please get in touch, the car is waiting to put a smile on someone's face again...

I have pictures of the car but am struggling to attach them to this post so please feel free to get in touch and I'll be happy to send them. I can also take specific high resolution pictures of any of the areas of the car you might be concerned with so you can have a closer look.

Many thanks
Nathan

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Internet buffoon and general forum nuisance

£500