Ownership Costs
2 years & 30,000 miles
I decided to write this report after 2 years of ownership to outline the expected running costs of owning a 306 GTi-6. I bought my car on 52,000 mile with full independent service history with recent bills for cambelt, clutch, driveshafts amongst other minor things. Since owning my “6” I’ve put 30k on it including 3 trips to the Nurburgring (around 15 laps), 1 trackday and around 30/40 mile a day average commuting to and from work.
I service my 6 myself and repair anything myself wherever possible. Every 4000-5000 miles I’ve changed the oil, oil filter and cleaned the panel air filter. I’ve generally used cheap oil available from any motor factors (Total Quartz, Quantum etc) and used motor factor oil filters. The car is never cained until oil temp reaches 90 also.
|
Failed Part |
Problem |
Time to fix (Approx) |
Difficulty |
Cost (Approx) |
| Balljoints | Around every 6 months these wear out and cause a knocking from the front suspension | 1 hour | Easy – Just need something to pry the balljoints out | £20 new a side |
| Exhaust | Flange where CAT joins downpipe had rusted away, causing blowing. Centre section & backbox baffles both rattling |
1 hour at any good exhaust place | Easier left to an exhaust fitter, difficult without a ramp | £120 – Catalytic convertor £80 – Centre section £50 – Backbox All fitted with 2 year warrenty |
| Droplinks | Another knocking noise from the front suspension, more prominent on uneven surfaces | 1-2 hour (Maybe longer if the bolts turn in the head) | Easy – Medium depending if the bolts turn in the head, if they do you’ll need to angle grind them off | £30 new from GSF supply only |
| Heater matrix | Heats the interior cabin, takes coolant from the engine to do so. After time they corrode causing coolant to seep out, usually filling the cabin with steam and leaving puddles of water in the footwells. | 2 days (1 day if you rush) | Difficult – Requires the whole dash to be removed as well as windscreen wipers/motors. | £70 new from Peugeot supply only |
| Bitron unit | This controls the engine fans, mine had cracked and got water in so the engine fans would only work randomly, even when leaving the car stood for hours they’d randomly come on. | 1-2 hours | Easy – Located in the passenger wheel arch, requires arch linings to be removed, awkard to access but easy enough. | £30 2nd hand (£100+ new from Peugeot) supply only |
| Coolant temp sensor | This tells the engine fans when to come on to cool the engine, when it fails the fans will no longer come on at all, however you can temp override this by unplugging the brown temp switch on the engine block. | 10 minutes | Very easy – Simply unscrews, make sure the radiator cap is removed and your quick so as not to loose to much coolant | £18 new from Peugeot supply only |
|
Consumable |
How often |
Time to Replace (Approx) |
Difficulty |
Cost (Approx) |
|
Brake pads |
Rears are very thin so wear out fast |
30 mins |
Easy |
£14 front |
|
Brake discs |
Providing there bedded in properly, should last a good 4/5 sets of pads. |
30 mins |
Easy |
£12 each front |
|
Oil & Oil filter |
Every 4000-5000 mile |
30 mins |
Easy |
£12 oil |
|
Cambelt |
Every 30k WITHOUT FAIL |
2-3 hours |
Difficult |
£250 from mechanical repairs all in |
|
Petrol |
300-350 mile out a tank |
How fasts the pump? |
Easy peasey |
62 litre tank @ £1 litre = £62 (Duh) |
|
Tyres |
How longs a piece of string? I get around 10k out fronts, 30k out rears. |
Half hour at a good tyre fitters |
Best left to a tyre fitter |
Mytyres.net |
