406 hdi reliability

[phonebox]

Hi all, sorry in advance as I'm sure you've been asked this newbie question countless times before but a quick trawl of the forums and faqs didn't find the answer.

Basically, I'm about to replace my Laguna II 1.9 dci and I'm considering a 406, so what do common problems do I need to look out for? For example, after terrible turbo problems with the Lag I'm now very wary of turbo diesels, how long would you expect the hdi turbo to last for?

Any advice and general feedback gratefully received!

[bettyswollocks]

I have a brother in law with a 406 with 380,000 on the clock no major issues , but you could get one that causes nothing but bother , the main thing would be service history and a well looked after car but apart from that theres only two kinds of car good and bad ,just flip a coin and hope you get a good one,
405,406 and 407 are favourites with taxi men , must be a reason?

[chopper1192]

Properly cared for HDi's are tough.

The 406 HDi came in 3 flavours, 90, 110 and 136.

The 136 is so rare that it'spossible to discount that entirely.

The 110 is tough, but later ones have a FAP system that will require additional, and often expensive, maintenance, and also has a dual mass flywheel, which can be troublesome as the car ages.

The 90 has no FAP, no DMF, and is pretty much nuke proof, but some can be a bit feeble. That said, a smart, well treated 90 feels little different from a 110 on the road.

Enlist the AA/RAC for an inspection if you're worried about buying a pup - the main factor determining longevity is how they've been driven and maintained, and £100 spent up front will save you £££s worth of heartache later on.

Good luck.

[Quinny1]

On the 110 HDi, which I have:

The dual mass flywheel needs changing circa 80k, and when I did mine, the local dealer charged me £165 for the part alone, and I could have got it at GSF for half that price, as I later found out.

Timing belt at 72k. (Have the water pump changed at the same time.)

It has been said that the high pressure fuel pump can be problematic, but so far I have had no problems at 131k.

They do suffer from turbo lag. Mine kicks in about 1700-1800 rpm, but then goes like a bat out of hell.

Front door locks can stop working if you use the key over a period of time. I never had a remote with mine and do use the key, but at this moment I have to open the passenger door first.

I have also just changed the in car cd player for an aftermarket one, as the original unit packed up.

My spare wheel well does have an ingress of water, which I think may be due to the boot seal leaking.

I make a point of changing the oil and filter every 6k, but that is just me. I bought mine 4 and a half years ago at auction with 72k on it, and it's never let me down, and has been to France twice, and used to tow my lightweight race car and spares with no problem whatsoever.

They stopped making them at 53 plate, and mine is a 99 on a V, but I would have another.

[chopper1192]

A dealer service includes a squirt of white grease into the door locks (as well as hinges and catches) so any locks failing through lack of use can be taken as a sign of servicing neglect. possible

[rabarab]

I have a 2002, 406 (90) 2L diesel as a taxi, some of the common problems, I have encountered to date are altenator pulley wheel, snapped off, easy job £114 for altenator, (£30 labour)...central locking has a mind of its own..pulled the fuse, (labour free)... brake servo failure, 2nd hand £30 (labour £60) currently having power steering probs, let you know about that soon, however, I must say the engines are bulletproof, providing you service them,they drive really nice and have a lot of nice extras, fuel consumption is decent too, oh forgot to mention dodgy electric window switches are common too. but remember mine is on the road 18 hour per day and being driven by different people all the time, so if it was private car, unless you were really unlucky, I would certainly give this car a big thumbs up ;-)