Peugeot 206: common faults & what to check

Which Peugeot 206 are you looking at?

3 generation variants documented. Pick the shape you recognise: the faults, the servicing and the timeline below all narrow to it. Free, no account needed.

Petrol

2 variants documented

2000–20072000–2007Generation1.4 petrolPetrolDocumented issues5 knownSee faults & what to checkPhoto: Vauxford via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

2000–20072000–2007Generation1.6 petrolPetrolDocumented issues7 knownSee faults & what to checkPhoto: Vauxford via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Fuel not stated

1 variant documented

2000–20072000–2007Generation2.0 (GTI)Fuel not statedDocumented issues5 knownSee faults & what to checkPhoto: Vauxford via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Now narrow it to the engine

A 1.8 and a 2.4 of the same car do not fail the same way, so the faults below narrow to the engine as well as the year. Free, no account needed.

Start your free check on this Peugeot 206

No plate needed. You get the risk score, the buyer's checklist and the guided inspection for the exact car you picked above — not the whole nameplate.

The checks worth doing on a Peugeot 206 before you hand over any money. Every documented fault is listed below, each with its own page.

• Serious issue

  Stand directly behind the car on level ground and look at how the rear wheels sit — they should be upright and match each other.

  See why

  Rear axle corrosion and trailing arm bearing failure

  The 206's rear axle is a torsion beam with needle roller bearings inside the trailing arms, and as the car ages water works its way into those bearings. The bearings then seize or collapse and the rear wheels lose their proper alignment, which shows as odd handling, a rear that feels unsettled, and tyres wearing out unevenly and fast. The axle itself corrodes around the same area. This is the 206's defining structural fault and it matters more than the symptoms suggest: misaligned rear wheels on a small car change how it behaves in a corner and in the wet, and a corroded rear axle is a warrant of fitness problem rather than an inconvenience. Replacing the axle is a substantial job on a car of this value, so on a cheap 206 it is often the fault that decides whether the car is worth buying at all.

  What you would notice

  • Rear tyres wearing unevenly, often heavily on the inner edge
  • Rear of the car feeling loose, vague or unsettled through corners
  • Rear wheels visibly leaning in or out when viewed from behind
  • Knocking or rumbling from the rear over bumps
  • Visible rust, flaking or scaling on the rear axle beam

  Typically $600–$2,200 to put right.

• Serious issue

  Check for oil leaks around valve covers, sump and gaskets.

  See why

  TU5JP4 Timing Belt Tensioner and Water Pump Failure

  The TU5JP4 1.6 petrol uses a timing belt rather than a chain. The belt tensioner and idler pulley bearings fail without obvious warning, and the water pump (driven by the timing belt) can seize, causing sudden belt failure. Belt failure on this interference engine results in immediate bent valves. The PSA recommended interval of 80,000 km or 5 years is conservative; NZ/AU workshop experience indicates failure at 70,000–90,000 km when the service has not been kept current.

  What you would notice

  • Timing chain or belt related noise at startup
  • Difficult cold start or unstable idle

  Typically $455–$910 to put right.

• Costly issue

  Press down on the front carpets and lift the mats feeling for damp or checking for a musty smell.

  See why

  Water ingress kills the COM2000 / BSI and corrodes the ECU

  Blocked scuttle/plenum drains and tired seals let water reach the electronics, most notably the COM2000 steering-column module and the body computer, and coolant can also creep up the wiring into the ECU plug. Symptoms are wild and intermittent: electric windows and central locking cutting out, indicators/wipers/horn acting on their own, and warning lights flashing. Chasing these faults is time-consuming and a water-damaged ECU is expensive.

  What you would notice

  • Electric windows or central locking work intermittently
  • Indicators, wipers or horn operate by themselves
  • Random warning lights
  • Damp carpets or a musty smell in the cabin

  Typically $400–$2,200 to put right.

• Costly issue

  Open the bonnet and look at the front-left corner of the engine and the top of the alternator for oil.

  See why

  TU petrol head-gasket / cam-cover oil leak onto the alternator

  The 1.4 and 1.6 TU petrol engines tend to weep oil from the front-left corner of the head/cam cover, and that oil drips straight onto the alternator below, eventually killing it. Head gaskets can also let go with age, mixing oil and coolant. On its own the leak is cheap, but ignore it and you buy an alternator as well, and a failed head gasket is a much bigger job.

  What you would notice

  • Oil weeping down the front-left of the engine
  • Oily film on top of the alternator
  • Charging/battery warning light (dying alternator)
  • Coolant loss or mayo on the oil cap (head gasket)

  Typically $300–$1,800 to put right.

• Costly issue

  Feel, do not look — this is the whole trick with this fault.

  See why

  Water getting into the ventilation intake and front footwells

  Water leaks into the heating and ventilation intake and down into the front footwells are a well-known 206 problem. The scuttle area at the base of the windscreen blocks with leaf debris, the drainage backs up, and water goes inside instead of out. It arrives in the footwell under the carpet rather than on top of it, which is why owners often do not know — the surface looks dry and the underlay is soaked. That matters because the electrics live down there, and a permanently damp footwell on a car of this age produces exactly the kind of intermittent electrical faults that are impossible to chase and expensive to guess at. It also makes the cabin smell and the windows fog up in a way that never quite clears.

  What you would notice

  • Damp or wet carpet in a front footwell, usually worse on the passenger side
  • Musty or mouldy smell in the cabin
  • Windows fogging up badly and being slow to clear
  • Water noise from behind the dashboard when cornering or braking
  • Intermittent electrical faults with no obvious cause

  Typically $200–$1,400 to put right.

• Costly issue

  Test the locking thoroughly rather than once, because these fail intermittently and one clean cycle proves nothing.

  See why

  Central locking actuators failing — doors that bounce back open

  Failed central locking actuators are one of the 206's signature faults. The classic symptom owners describe is bouncing: you lock the car and it immediately unlocks itself, or unlock it and it re-locks. Sometimes one door refuses to follow the others, sometimes the whole car cycles repeatedly. Each door has its own actuator so they fail one at a time, and each failure is a separate small repair. Beyond the irritation there is a real consequence — a car that will not reliably lock cannot be reliably alarmed or secured, and a door actuator that keeps reporting a door as open can keep systems awake and flatten the battery. It is entirely testable in the driveway and takes two minutes.

  What you would notice

  • Car locking and then immediately unlocking itself, or the reverse
  • One door not locking or unlocking with the others
  • Whirring or buzzing from inside a door with nothing happening
  • Central locking working intermittently, or only from inside
  • Battery going flat after the car has stood a few days

  Typically $250–$1,100 to put right.

What these repairs cost on other cars

Some of the Peugeot 206’s documented faults are repairs other models share. Each page lists the documented NZ cost for every model it affects.

• Cambelt Replacement Cost

Other Peugeot models