Used Peugeot 306 Cabriolet 1997 - 2003 review

With styling by Pininfarina, an Italian design company more famous for designing Ferraris, the Peugeot 306 Cabriolet was a choice drop-top when it was introduced in 1994, being both classy and practical. It can seat four and its chiselled good looks have a lasting style.

The 306 hatchbacks have a great reputation for precise handling and good cornering, but the loss of the 306's metal roof has a big effect - imperfect road surfaces cause the whole car to shudder.

Build quality is poor by today's standards and the cabin has a distinctly '90's feel. But, at least the insulated hood does a reasonable job of keeping out road and wind noise, and the heated glass rear window is better than the plastic ones on the 306's contemporaries.

Service intervals are every 9000 miles, so if you intend to use the car a lot you should budget accordingly, especially as engines can require a cambelt change every three years or 36,000 miles. However, to offset that you should be able to halve your labour bills by using an independent garage rather than a franchised dealer.

Despite the different engine sizes, fuel economy is fairly consistent. You should expect mid-30s on the smallest engine, falling to about 30mpg on the 2.0-litre.

According to Warranty Direct, the 306 family does have a number of weaknesses, including axles and suspension, brakes, engine and electrical system. So, you can expect to have to fork out for repairs.

There was originally only a 2.0-litre engine option available. With just 123bhp, the car wheezed its way from 0-60mph in a sedate 10.8sec. In '96 a roadster edition was launched which included a removable hardtop and a host of extra goodies as standard.

The whole 306 range was revamped in '97 and the car was both longer and better equipped than before; 1.6-litre and 1.8-litre versions followed, the roadster edition continued and multipoint fuel injection finally came along in 2000.

It's better to go for the post-97 vehicles, but the 1.6 and 1.8 are both fairly feeble, so it's best to stick to the 2.0-litre. There is an automatic option on the 1.6 and 2.0 cars, but this isn't recommended.

Go for the higher-specced SE or one of the limited edition models; private sellers are the best place to pick one up.

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