Peugeot 307

Hi there, we areconsidering buying one as a family car - we need a 7 seater and other makes just look crap - probably a 2002 or 03, are these generally good cars!Do they typically experience any problems! Thanks :)

DONT buy one,I worked on them about 2 years ago.They seam to have heaps of faults and will cost alot of money to keep on the road.
Buy something Jap and spend less time and money having it fixed all the time.

Jazz will be by any minute now.

Sorry not much help on Peugeots, not enough experience with them.

You might not like the looks but the VW Touran makes a great 7 seater and given its effectivly a stretched Golf with a high roof you get all the great FSI engine economy and the great DSG 6 speed transmission.

The VW will give you dependability and reliability without the pitfalls of the Asian wagons.

But, they are not something I would buy on looks.

With the Peugeot I would suggest you contact a good parts supplier or specialist garage. Talk to those that work on them every day and find out exactly what goes wrong with them and why.

Getting an idea of the cost to rectify any common problems is always good too.

Remember as well, Euro people movers often use a heap less fuel than their Asian cousins. (sometimes half as much for the same or more power!)

Taking the fuel saving into consideration often well outweighs any premium on parts etc.

Thanks for that.I had a squizz at some VWs on here and while they are ok to look at, are out of our price range.I really don't want anything as big as an Odyssey, which is why I like the Peugeot.But some good suggestions re talking to garages etc. Cheers.

Mate has one, has had it for quite some time, goes great, drives great, absolutely poison to service /repair. (According to him)
He has done quite a lot of kms in it, its not unreliable just really expensive for parts whether they be consumables or replacement parts due to wear and tear, also to pay someone to work on it just got unrealistic so does all the work himself now.
NB: Not my opinion, passing on his comments to me only.

It is possible to get a goodVW for about 12K if you look around enough, I am happy to point you in the direction of some if that makes them in your price range. Remember, be wary of fuel economy. If you are doing enough running it may not take very long to cover the extra couple of thousand for the VW. (assuming its that or an Asian people mover, I would have thought the Peugeot fairly economical)

The VW is based on the VW Golf so aside from it having a higher roof (which perhaps makes it look more imposing) I would have though the dimensions would have actually been quite similar. Given the Golf and 307 are similar sized vehicles and compete against each other.

Back to the Peugeot though, I would suggest doing some research and finding out who if anyone brings in parts for a good price. With other euro brands like Fiat/Alfa/VW/Audi/Mercedes there are third party parts importers that sell genuine parts for a fraction of what you get them from BNT/Repco or the main dealers for.

Thats a trap a lot fall into then they think the parts are expensive. That said Volvo for example dosn't have much in the way of a third party importer so their parts can be a bit pricy. But even then someone has now put me on to a possibly cheaper importer again. so just a matter of research.

It's French - run away - fast.
I can only echo the comments in favour of VW.

The steering racks also have a charming habit of exploding their hydraulic fluid all over the place at random due to corrosion getting under the pinion seal ring surfaces.I'd be taking out mechanical breakdown insurance no matter what the cost if you still fancy one of these.