Been told my Peugeot 206 HDI I am selling is gutless?

[flanajb]

I am trying to sell my 206 HDI that I have owned for 7 years and the 1st person to test drive it, said that compared to his 2.0 Audi which is also a 90PS it was gutless and the acceleration was very poor. Now given the vehicle is on ebay for £700 I am reluctant to start shelling out cash to diagnose why it is slow. I am unable to tell whether it is slow as I have not driven any other vehicle for 7 years, and I have always thought it was ok. I must admit that I have noticed that the power does seem to vary sometimes. One day it seems to perform better than others.

Any ideas on how best to proceed with this one?

Thanks

 

[Cheshirechappie]

I wouldn't panic on the basis of one amateur opinion. There are plenty of characters around who think anything except a Tornado fighter and their own choice of chariot is 'gutless'.

 

[JakeS]

There are plenty of characters around who think anything except a Tornado fighter and their own choice of chariot is 'gutless'.

Not to mention that there are [unfortunately] characters around who think nothing of making up flaws with the thing you're selling in an attempt to get you to lower your asking price...

 

[Grahamshed]

Jake's comment was my first reaction as well.

 

[Jonzjob]

I would have a tendancy to ask him if he likes sex and travel?? :twisted:

 

[bugbear]

I am trying to sell my 206 HDI that I have owned for 7 years and the 1st person to test drive it, said that compared to his 2.0 Audi which is also a 90PS it was gutless and the acceleration was very poor. Now given the vehicle is on ebay for £700 I am reluctant to start shelling out cash to diagnose why it is slow. I am unable to tell whether it is slow as I have not driven any other vehicle for 7 years, and I have always thought it was ok. I must admit that I have noticed that the power does seem to vary sometimes. One day it seems to perform better than others.

Any ideas on how best to proceed with this one?

Thanks

Warm it up, and do a DIY 0-60 test?

BugBear

 

[Jensmith]

I doubt a Peugeot 206 is going to compare to an Audi 2.0 so I wouldn't worry! Yours looks to be a diesel 1.4 or 1.6 litre engine according to Wikipedia. His Audi has a much bigger engine. He sounds like an idiot tbh.
90PS isn't commonly used in the UK but apparently it's our equivalent of brake horse power so his car isn't that powerful either.
His will definitely be a Turbo diesel though which means it'll have much more power from 1st gear. I don't know if yours is or not but the engine size will affect power and acceleration.

Non Turbo Diesel engines have no acceleration at the low end and come into their own in the mid range - 4th-5th gear where they have good acceleration on the motorway. My 1.4L diesel is great on the motorway doing 60-70mph and you can feel the engine take off at 65mph. There's no pull in 1st gear so it's slow off roundabouts and the like.

I'm sure your car is fine. It's just a small diesel engine

 

[Elapid]

As already said I wouldn't worry about it. To be fair it's a 206 so if someone expects sportscar power from it they aren't going to get it unless they spend more than the car is worth modifying it.

As long as it's accurately described on ebay then don't worry.

 

[flanajb]

Thanks chaps. I have been honest with the advert on ebay and was upfront with the guy by telling him that it could do with a service and the cam belt will need changing soon. I also think some people expect a £700 car to come with Peugeot dealership service history and a 3 year warranty thrown in as well.

 

[Matt@]

HDI? thats common rail isnt it, in which case it should fly.....

 

[flanajb]

HDI? thats common rail isnt it

Apologies, but you will have to enlighten me?

 

[Matt@]

sorry, common rail diesel, the new generation of diesel engines that came out early 2000's eg Ford TDCI. Very efficient engine but oh so expensive when they go wrong. I have a Transit with this engine, its not running right. When it does, its super fast. I'm willing to be corrected but the HDI I'm sure is common rail that works off a very high pressure fuel system and by definition to close tolerances whereby if it goes wrong it costs telephone numbers...

 

[flanajb]

sorry, common rail diesel, the new generation of diesel engines that came out early 2000's eg Ford TDCI. Very efficient engine but oh so expensive when they go wrong. I have a Transit with this engine, its not running right. When it does, its super fast. I'm willing to be corrected but the HDI I'm sure is common rail that works off a very high pressure fuel system and by definition to close tolerances whereby if it goes wrong it costs telephone numbers...

Thanks for clarifying that. It is a year 2000 so it may well be that style of engine

 

[Tom K]

Find a friend with a similar vehicle or a sensible mechanic to test drive it. Common rail diesel have a high pressure pump and electronic injectors like a petrol car. This doesn't make it a Ferrari if it isn't a turbo it's built for economy.

 

[Lons]

Jensmith has got it spot on, with one exception - power output is now almost always expressed as ps and not hp and has for some time.

As she says, a pug can't be compared to an Audi :roll: and if someone is spending £700 on a 7 year old motor, then just what do they expect to get :?

PS is only a part of the equation as it very much depends on the torque figures, power to weight ratio, gearing, turbo lag (or lack of), mileage and general build quality as it's perception of the driver not just raw speed / accelleration that matters. Decent quality current diesels have little or no turbo lag and are generally quicker by far through the mid range speeds than equivalent petrol engines.

I'm not personally a fan of French cars though I've owned 2 in the past. German cars just seem to drive better but an example of "perception" is for example: My previous BMW 320d Msport was pretty quick at 0-62 at 7.8 sec whilst my Audi A6 with similar power output is about 0.5 sec slower. It actually feels quicker however because it puts the power down a little more smoothly and it's quieter.

The guy sounds like an idiot though and I wouldn't worry about it. As long as the car starts and runs ok, you'll get a buyer who appreciates it for what it is - a decent cheap runaround.

Bob

 

[Hitch]

I had someone tell me the same about a 1.9 berlingo multispace, compared to a 1.9 diesel golf.
Sent them on their way, but they were desperate to buy it, and kept ringing me up with better offers all afternoon.


Give it an air and fuel filter change, when you do the fuel filter do it on a warm engine, and work a bottle of injector cleaner into the filter housing, an give it a good hard drive for a couple of miles.
Normally works for me, pre MOT smoke reduction, and normally feels better to drive after..less sluggish and smoother...easy diy job, and only cost £20.


If its an HDi, it will be a common rail, if an early one, probably a 2.0 (dw10)

What year is it?

 

[Jensmith]

Jensmith has got it spot on, with one exception - power output is now almost always expressed as ps and not hp and has for some time.

Bob

Thanks Bob, I stand corrected. I hadn't seen that terminology used but I'm not an expert in cars

 

[Lons]

Jensmith has got it spot on, with one exception - power output is now almost always expressed as ps and not hp and has for some time.

Bob

Thanks Bob, I stand corrected. I hadn't seen that terminology used but I'm not an expert in cars

I wasn't trying to be pedantic Jen and the terminology doesn't really matter as long as like for like is compared and most of us just consider PS to be HP anyway.

Bob

 

[Dibs-h]

Give it an air and fuel filter change....

Normally works for me, pre MOT smoke reduction, and normally feels better to drive after..less sluggish and smoother...easy diy job, and only cost £20.

I second that - having had diesels for the last 10yrs or so - a change of air filter is noticeable in the driving. They don't cost much and shouldn't take more than 10-15 mins to change.

As some of the others have posted - the punter sounds like he was taking the p1ss to try and get your car for peanuts.

HIH

Dibs