Toms306's China HDi Estate 2012

[Toms306]

Hello,

Well as you probably all know by now I've been borrowing SRowell's estate for a few weeks. Although it doesn't have the refinement, torque, ride comfort or MPG of the Golf....its bloody good to chuck around a B road, and not so slow on a stage 1 map!! The added bonus was the load space which i found extremely useful, and I've gotta say I did like th familiarity of being back in a 306.

So I've purchased my own now. W reg HDi Meridian Estate on 119k with 6 months T&T, all previous MOTs, some service history, 3 keys (2 RCL both working!), handbook and service book - and seems to be in good overall condition. A few niggles which I'll come to shortly.

So first, heres the pics -









Mmmm nice swallows with weights on the outside and rusty bolts!



Interior - pretty dirty







Bolster not 'quite' ripped yet lol -



Got an idea the previous owner was australian or something lol - no idea why stuff was upide down





No walnut dash.



Missing this little bit!



Wiper cap missing and bit of flaking paint on bootlid...meh.



And the rear end knock -





Tbh I'm not too fussed about the issues at the rear end (have enough of those myself haha) but seriously I dont like the look of the estate rear end anyway so i'll be more concentrating on the front.

Problems currently -

Seat hieght adjustment broken - not sure how/if to sort
Handbrake feels a bit loose - will tighten it
Aux belt looks old and starting to crack - will be changed with service
Accelerator is really light compared to Sams, not sure if the pedal needs tightening to the bulkhead or if Sams is just unusually heavy lol
Oil just reaches the dipstick - err I'll top it up obv
Bonnet release handle doesnt 'spring' back so the bonnet bounces - just remember to push the handle closed again
Drivers door speaker inop - hopefully broken speaker, at worst broken loom.

So thats the probs out the way, next up mods - now I've really gotta NOT get carried away with this...but I know I will lol. So everything has to be free or cheap as poss!

Swallows - Change for my 'clones with chrome bolts and lockers - Free
Brakes - They'll have to go blue obviously, unless I change to GTi fronts but unlikely - Still have the hammerite - Free
Wipers - Aerotwins - will have to check i charged Sam for the ones on the diablo, if I didn't I'll swap 'em over - Free
Washers - Xsara mist jets - in my shed - Free
ABM angels - Just to please CAR - Free
Front GTi splitter - in the post
Audio - Will swap my headunit and front speakers from the diablo to the china, possibly find out if any of my JBLs etc will fit the rear - Free
Ph2 skinny headrest - Gonna be cheeky and ask Sam if I can swap with the fat ph3 headrests from one of his cars lol - Free (I hope!)
Stage 1 remap - Hoped to use the map I put on the diablo but typically is the wrong damn code!! Might have to buy another for mine then lol - Cheap hopefully
Decat - Try and find one used somewhere - cheap hopefully!
Service - Due in about 3k, oil and filters, also aux belt - cheap as poss
Battery - Bought one for the diablo for peace of mind, didnt charge it Sam so I'll swap that onto the china - Free
Debadge the letters - Free
Rear wiper - Gonna see if the Golf wiper arm and aeroblade will fit, it still uses the same washer system - Free
Lowering - Need the rear std height so it doesnt scrape with a load, gonna hopefully go 40mm front on JJs Apex springs with some GTi shocks - Not so cheap lol
Rear bumper/fog - May eventually replace these for undamaged ones but not for now.

I think thats about it lol.....thanks for reading.

Cheers
Tom

[Niall]

looking good tom. looks tidy for the mileage.

[Toms306]

Yeah I was suprised how dirty but tidy it actually is lol, the diablo has a lot more wear to the leather wheel and seat bolster with 10k less lol.

[rocker8742]

Looks good mate need to get cleaning and fitting new bits

Never been keen on the rear end on estate, think its the lights that put me off tbh

[Jonny81191]

Looking good.. makes me miss my china estate!

[Toms306]

Yeah Rocker, and the shape itself tbh. On the hatch its a nice flowing, sloping kinda shape....the estate literally looks like they thought 'oh we need to make an estate...just draw a box on the back of a hatch, it'll be fine....'

[procta]

thank f*ck for that you got your self an estate! so what happens to the avensis?

[spike2002]

Looks good mate i could have thrown that centre console bit in with your parcel for free if i knew you needed one

[Toms306]

thank f*ck for that you got your self an estate! so what happens to the avensis?

Haha yep.

The Avensis, well, still trying to sell it atm.

Looks good mate i could have thrown that centre console bit in with your parcel for free if i knew you needed one

Ah well thanks anyway its the thought that counts mate. . Tbh I didn't notice it was missing till today. It might even be under the console tbh, I've found them there before!

[spike2002]

Yh mate if it isnt under the console give me a shout and i will drop one in the post for you sure i have a few spare knocking about

[WiNgNuTz]

Bonnet release handle doesnt 'spring' back so the bonnet bounces - just remember to push the handle closed again

Mine does this as well, and i have the same remedy! Let me know if you ever manage to fix it, so i can do the same? Cant say it has ever bothered me, but its one of those little niggles!

---

Suppose some may even call it "character"!

[Strikeforce]

Looks ok
Nice mods you got there and to see that most of them are free/cheap is always a plus

I think my next 306 could well be an estate love the amount of shite you can put in there and i dont think they look too bad at all

[cully]

cool tom now you got to start again

oh the fog on the rear N/S is a blank there is no lamp in it so it wont work only the O/S works

[C2K]

Looks a good base car.

[C.A.R.]

I'd sort out the flaking paint beneath the rear wiper as soon as you can, you don't want that rust spreading!

And that poor car, being subjected to those headlights lol

[Toms306]

Bonnet release handle doesnt 'spring' back so the bonnet bounces - just remember to push the handle closed again

Mine does this as well, and i have the same remedy! Let me know if you ever manage to fix it, so i can do the same? Cant say it has ever bothered me, but its one of those little niggles!

---

Suppose some may even call it "character"!

Haha, yeah will do, I'd imagine theres gotta be a spring one end of the cable so will look into it.

cool tom now you got to start again

oh the fog on the rear N/S is a blank there is no lamp in it so it wont work only the O/S works

Yep, cant wait to get stuck into another 306.

And oh, typical peugeot saving money lol, I didnt even check if it worked, just noticed its smashed.

I'd sort out the flaking paint beneath the rear wiper as soon as you can, you don't want that rust spreading!

And that poor car, being subjected to those headlights lol

I wouldn't be surprised if the rust is spreading from inside out anyway, due to where the washer is on the estate. I can't really do much about it except paint some laquer on there so the paint doesnt come off any further.

And lol, just so you know, I think smooth bonnets are chavvy too.

[procta]

break that Avensis tom,

[Toms306]

break that Avensis tom,

Haha, nah that cars worth more whole, its only the lower spec one in a shit colour with crap bodywork. Ebay again tonight...3 day auction!

[Eeyore]

my estate is going to be sacrificed for toms and tom i definitely paid you for the wipers! that was included in my first installment! D:

[Toms306]

my estate is going to be sacrificed for toms and tom i definitely paid you for the wipers! that was included in my first installment! D:

Sacraficed? You're gonna put your own stuff in it!!

And fair enough, I'll buy another set of aerotwins then.

[Toms306]

Oh, forgot a major mod that will need doing.............306oc sticker!

[Toms306]

First mod.....

   

Fits fine, blade is a tiny bit long and catching just above the glass BUT the golf arm uses a hook so much easier to buy flatblades for.

[Oil-burner]

Looks upside down, just dewiper it IMO

[Toms306]

Can't do that, hate not being able to see out the back lol, always use the wiper.

Also it isn't upside down lol, sat the same on the golf

[Oil-burner]

Ahh you only need to see where your going, not where you've been! Lol

[DaveW]

This is the kind of car you should of bought in the first place, rather than pissing around with those golfs..

[Toms306]

Yeah, one that's much slower, worse on fuel and not as comfortable....no idea why I ever had a golf.

But seriously, they both have pros and Cons in different areas, its annoying that the perfect car just doesn't exist!

[kentiiboii]

Yeah, one that's much slower, worse on fuel and not as comfortable....no idea why I ever had a golf.

But seriously, they both have pros and Cons in different areas, its annoying that the perfect car just doesn't exist!

Your perfect car does exist you just can't afford it!
Electric car that does 5284620464293 mpg. But at the same time has a 2 litre petrol engine so plenty of bawpppp. Shame it just idles when the batteries need charge. :p

[Eeyore]

Yeah, one that's much slower, worse on fuel and not as comfortable....no idea why I ever had a golf.

But seriously, they both have pros and Cons in different areas, its annoying that the perfect car just doesn't exist!

Your perfect car does exist you just can't afford it!
Electric car that does 5284620464293 mpg. But at the same time has a 2 litre petrol engine so plenty of bawpppp. Shame it just idles when the batteries need charge. :p

measuring electricity in gallons now are we?

[Toms306]

But the point there Kent is if I could afford that I wouldn't care about mpg anyway!