Why do you own a 306?

[Mole man]

So what made people want to buy/own a 306 in the first place?

Me, I've always liked them my mum had a dturbo while I was growing up and loved it! So then that's why I bought a 1.4 as my first car an then never stopped buying them lol

[jamiek_uk2000]

I had a 205 GTi when I was younger, wanted a newer 205 with more power and some mod cons. GTi6 was the way forward! I've not looked back.

I also like cars with character, that don't always work as made at the factory

[THE_Liam]

I don't anymore, but when I did it was because if you wanted a small, economical hatchback then there was nothing better.

[Dum-Dum]

Well I wanted to own a 306 in the first place about a decade ago cos I hadn't been driving long and saw a feature in Max Power or Fast Car or something on the best 8 cars to get if insurance bumrapes you and the 306 DTurbo was the best they could come up with and well I was 18 and having a nearly 2 litre engine and turbo badges on the back made me want one instantly so I saved up my pennies, blew the matiz up again and then had money and an excuse to buy one.

Now I own the rallye because I love 306 handling, know them inside out and am trying to find a daily. The Rallye is an investment, it is being kept relatively standard as they are going up in value and once it is at a decent price I'm going to spend the money on a kit car.

[Piggy]

As Liam says really.

Theres nothing in the price range that beats it for comfort, handling, practicality and being cheap to run.

Plus I did my apprenticeship at a Pug/Cit specialist. So know them better than alternatives.

[Nathan1305]

I've always had a thing for them and then forgot about them. A cheap 1.4 came up for sale so I got it and now on my second in 8 months  love them 

[bashbarnard]

I was 18 at the time. Apprentice mechanic and a bloke I worked with bought one fiddled with the pump (looking back now badly) and I thought I could get me some of that. At this point they were about three grand for a good one. So being 18 I bought one off a farmer for £500 with a shit tonne of issues and loved it. Now whenever I get another car I always moan its not a 306. I've now owned six. Loved em all.

[Toms306]

I don't....I just seem to be compelled to buy the damn things!


Nah seriously, back in the day my neighbour had one, horrible old ph2 1.6 in diablo... For some reason I liked it though and wanted one. Then I found they were cheaper to insure than the 106s and Fiestas that some of my mates had bought so I went after one. Found a really nice china ph3 1.4 Meridian - missed out so ended up with a horrible old ph2 1.4 Miami in Diablo.

Soon got bored with the lack of spec and aesthetics and bought a ph3 1.4 Meridian in diablo, which was shit, so 2 weeks later and a lot of money down, bought the china 1.4 from a .net member - one of the best cars I ever owned, had it almost a year!! Started doing a lot more miles, wanted more power and comfort and was getting reasonable income so wanted a change. Especially after it broke down and I had an IBS incident, couldn't trust it again.

So bought a China 1.8 Meridian stop gap - most reliable car I ever bought, probably the most fun too, had been driven 4 miles a day for years, not looked after and had no service history, but you cant break a 1.8. After that I started on the diesels with a couple of Golfs, a few too many mods later and my blue Golf died.

Few panic bought stop gaps in between but Rowell let me borrow his HDi estate on the condition I fixed it first lol. Really didn't like it, not a patch on the 180bhp GT TDi Golf and it was full of bodges, had a dead MAF, dodgy tracking and the brakes were glazed...eurgh. Anyway, persevered with it, eventually got it to a reasonable standard with Sam covering part costs and I really liked the huge boot space. That car even took me further that any other! Up to Norwich to play with JJ's 306 lol. After a few months I gave the estate back to Sam and bought my own estate (in China of course) from a guy up the road, had driven past it every day lol. Had got used to 306s again by this point, despite still craving something decent like another Golf (lol). Done a few mods, looked alright for an estate but was falling apart. Then my Nan got ill and we had to rush-move her from a hoarded massive cottage to a small flat....completely abused the estate moving stuff, dump runs, storage runs and bits started dropping off, exhaust, door handle etc, rear arch rust had set in, the clutch was slipping and the MOT was due...time for it to go lol.

So broke that for parts and decided to go for another Golf...found I could get a Vectra for not much more and did that, bad choice, let me down the first day of ownership and never did trust it, not to mention all its faults....it was only 6 years old ffs. Managed to keep it a year though, but only did 6k in that time and then sold it on for the same amount as I paid, result!

Then had a brilliant idea about releasing some of the money from the horrible Vectra and moving out - needed a cheap to buy car but wasn't so fussed about running costs. Bought a 1.8 Meridian. Hmm, plan didn't work out so now I'm stuck with a thirsty car. So then to buy a HDi...hatchback this time for another forum member. But it'd done moon mileage, had lots of niggles that annoyed me and worst of all didn't have enough doors. So I bought another HDi hatch, this one was in a crap colour but had the right amount of doors and was cheap due to a snapped cambelt. Chucked another engine in, did a few mods, lasted a reasonably long while with me but wasn't really what I needed and was always looking for something cheaper to run.

So bought a 107, yeah, I know, that was a mistake lol, fortunately the dealer had messed up so I could send it back. Kept the Moonstone HDi a bit longer until I found the only car I've owned that's beaten the Golf so far - the Focus!

However that does everything I want tbh, its big enough, 5 door, comfy, well specced, economical.... But for some reason I want another 306, wtf is wrong with me!? So ended up buying a GTi6 for a reasonable price on ebay to sell on....but decided I want to keep it as a second car for a while first.

I just can't seem to keep away from these bloody 306s.

[Kezzieboy]

Because HDi insurance was basically the same price as insurance on some shitty <1 litre petrol, and it was better specced than anything else for the money.

Haven't managed to think of a good reason to get rid, and here I am 5 years later, finally thinking about moving up in the world.

[Orta]

Had my dturbo in 2006. Always wanted a gti6. In 2010 and after I killed my modified fabia vrs and I hated the c2 vts I was driving at the time I bought a phase 3 black gti and absolutely loved it. Best car I've ever had. 116k and 10 years old and never let me down, not once. Went and bought a few different things and hated them all. Took the diablo 6 in as a trade in and fell in love again. So bought the black Rallye. I've made one of those decisions in life now that I never wanna be without a 306 again...

[Pete]

GTi6's got me into them. Was saving for a Civic Jordan when a mate bought a phase 1 XSI, it impressed me so I went out and bought a 6, then afew more 306's followed. The vans pretty much a 306 underneath so my foots still in the door.

[NOSE]

Because I'm on my 5/6 midlife crisis   I've always liked the look of the 306, and after owning my 1st last year (GTI6) I  thought what a cracking bit of kit for not much money to be honest. Now I have my Rallye which I totally love - goes very well and handles very well also, and that's just in 'standard' set up. My previous car was an Audi Coupe 2.0 16v (1993) which was mint, lovely car to look at, but had to nail it to get it to go properly - but so boring to drive. Always brings a smile when I'm in the Rallye!

[Mole man]

Some interesting stories! As has been said I went from my 1.4 to a dturbo as was the same price insurance wise for me when I was 18 and always wanted a gti6 from that moment on! Then I bought one nearly 2 years ago and haven't looked back since I love it!

[thebluepearl]

Was offered my 1st d turbo as an exchange on My diesel mondeo that had given up on me after trying to steal it from losing the only key I had (snapped an injector trying to remove armour from immobiliser) the d turbo in question was a green estate in a state i loved it, I took a fancy to the moonstone 306's but would only settle for a 3 door, all that came up were either 5 doors or too far away and out of my price range, then mine came up on ebay in my area I had no money so put in a cheeky offer to my surprise he said yes so here I was with the chance to own the car I wanted ensue chaos trying to raise £800 in the next 2 hours managed to offload my estate for 500 and blag 300 from my brother for a few weekends free labour, so now I have the money a quick message on ebay to the seller resulted in no reply more messages were sent over the next 2 days and nothing a quick glance and some detective work found the car was parked behind the peugeot garage in town, so off I popped brother in tow an exchange of 800 happened and I drove off with a big grin on my face

[Niall]

I needed a cheaper car to run, a mate bought one and i liked it so bought my self a cheap 1.8 XS. Loved it but it was rotten so bought the GTi and the rest is history.

[ash23]

i got my first one because my aunt had a white ph1 dt from new and loved it

now own the estate as its cheap fun and saves be hurting my 207

[cully]

bought my first Hdi cause it was the last of the newer stuff that wasn't all computer controlled and you could play with and repair it yourself

i bought the GTI6 to spend the kids inheritance on

[Iceman299]

I wanted a cheap economical hatch and had never owned a diesel. Always liked the 306 and wanted one back in the day.

Bought one in may to use for 50mile daily commute, ended up loving it. Sold it 2 weeks ago thinking i wouldn't miss it but here i am having just bought another today.

[pioneer DJ paddy]

I just love the look of 306s even standard the look nice plus xud has little to no electronics easy to work on and or interesteing too because of all the mods u can do to the engine :-) also I think they are still so popular think for a car of its year its they are doing great when u think of other cars that were made around the same year are all but gone pretty much any way that's my in put :-)

[kentiiboii]

Always liked them.
Won one by accident on eBay, was in a rush to bid on a astra and clicked the wrong car.
5 minutes later I won a 1.4 with a snapped engine mount.



Don't know why I keep buying them!

[JME1998pug]

Cheap for insurance small sporty fun looking cars

[Alan_M]

Cheap to run, half decent looking and good to drive (Not as good as a 205GTi though).

[ConorTRG]

I liked the look of them and before I bought my first one i took a liking to the dash for some reason lol.

[ozonehostile]

Always liked the look of them, still getting better looking everyday on roads increasingly filling up with dull german crap. Main thing for me though is the way they drive with some decent suspension and tyres, a well maintained standard gti6 is easily capable of embarrassing far more exotic machinery on a nice stretch of road and that just ticks all my boxes. Beautifully easy to take apart/put together, cheap performance parts, epic soundtrack etc etc

[Poodle]

Because i spent months calculating which was the best balanced small car to own as a first car - reliability, economy, power, build quality, specification, load space, ease of maintenance and modification, cost of parts and insurance, etc - and the 306 came out on top. Then i drove one and any of those considerations went out of the window; i was having one regardless and having it sideways.

[Norledge]

Because I didn't pay for it.

[Razorback_Rob]

I remember a friend who was a year older than me and before I past my test we'd go for drives in his 1.4 p2 Diablo meridian. I loved the car really. Despite lack of cup holders . I passed my test and got a 207 for a bit and that was pretty neat till some ass wrote it off. Never taking out finance again although the other guys insurance covered the remainder, I'd spent 1700 on something I no longer possessed :/. Then I got myself a 1.4 phase 3 meridian in platinum silver and my friend got a 1.9 phase 2 green dturbo, by which time the 1.4 was becoming a mayo machine so I swapped for a 1.6 then quickly to a China hdi and from there between having a rover 25, Astra and a golf I've then had another hdi meridian before My current hdi dturbo. I just loved the drive of them. The handling. The pure ease of how the car seems to do anything to put a smile on your face. Oh and when I had an unfortunate accident avoiding a drunk cyclist on a single lane bridge in the middle of the night with no bright clothing and I'd ploughed into a telegraph pole to avoid killing him, I'd say they're pretty damn safe. (Even though it was luck that stopped me from rolling onto the train track below the bridge.

[toseland]

I don't....I just seem to be compelled to buy the damn things!


Nah seriously, back in the day my neighbour had one, horrible old ph2 1.6 in diablo...  For some reason I liked it though and wanted one.  Then I found they were cheaper to insure than the 106s and Fiestas that some of my mates had bought so I went after one.  Found a really nice china ph3 1.4 Meridian - missed out so ended up with a horrible old ph2 1.4 Miami in Diablo.  

Soon got bored with the lack of spec and aesthetics and bought a ph3 1.4 Meridian in diablo, which was shit, so 2 weeks later and a lot of money down, bought the china 1.4 from a .net member - one of the best cars I ever owned, had it almost a year!!  Started doing a lot more miles, wanted more power and comfort and was getting reasonable income so wanted a change.  Especially after it broke down and I had an IBS incident, couldn't trust it again.

So bought a China 1.8 Meridian stop gap - most reliable car I ever bought, probably the most fun too, had been driven 4 miles a day for years, not looked after and had no service history, but you cant break a 1.8.  After that I started on the diesels with a couple of Golfs, a few too many mods later and my blue Golf died.  

Few panic bought stop gaps in between but Rowell let me borrow his HDi estate on the condition I fixed it first lol.  Really didn't like it, not a patch on the 180bhp GT TDi Golf and it was full of bodges, had a dead MAF, dodgy tracking and the brakes were glazed...eurgh.  Anyway, persevered with it, eventually got it to a reasonable standard with Sam covering part costs and I really liked the huge boot space.  That car even took me further that any other!  Up to Norwich to play with JJ's 306 lol.  After a few months I gave the estate back to Sam and bought my own estate (in China of course) from a guy up the road, had driven past it every day lol.  Had got used to 306s again by this point, despite still craving something decent like another Golf (lol).  Done a few mods, looked alright for an estate but was falling apart.  Then my Nan got ill and we had to rush-move her from a hoarded massive cottage to a small flat....completely abused the estate moving stuff, dump runs, storage runs and bits started dropping off, exhaust, door handle etc, rear arch rust had set in, the clutch was slipping and the MOT was due...time for it to go lol.

So broke that for parts and decided to go for another Golf...found I could get a Vectra for not much more and did that, bad choice, let me down the first day of ownership and never did trust it, not to mention all its faults....it was only 6 years old ffs.  Managed to keep it a year though, but only did 6k in that time and then sold it on for the same amount as I paid, result!

Then had a brilliant idea about releasing some of the money from the horrible Vectra and moving out - needed a cheap to buy car but wasn't so fussed about running costs.  Bought a 1.8 Meridian.  Hmm, plan didn't work out so now I'm stuck with a thirsty car.  So then to buy a HDi...hatchback this time for another forum member.  But it'd done moon mileage, had lots of niggles that annoyed me and worst of all didn't have enough doors.  So I bought another HDi hatch, this one was in a crap colour but had the right amount of doors and was cheap due to a snapped cambelt.  Chucked another engine in, did a few mods, lasted a reasonably long while with me but wasn't really what I needed and was always looking for something cheaper to run.  

So bought a 107, yeah, I know, that was a mistake lol, fortunately the dealer had messed up so I could send it back.  Kept the Moonstone HDi a bit longer until I found the only car I've owned that's beaten the Golf so far - the Focus!

However that does everything I want tbh, its big enough, 5 door, comfy, well specced, economical....  But for some reason I want another 306, wtf is wrong with me!?  So ended up buying a GTi6 for a reasonable price on ebay to sell on....but decided I want to keep it as a second car for a while first.  

I just can't seem to keep away from these bloody 306s.

Welcome to toms life story lol.. Everyone else writes a paragraph, you write a 15 page account lol..



I bought one cause it was cheap and because the vitara pulled 35mpg at the best of times

[John1.4]

wanted something PSA, bigger than an ax, and cheap, pretty much it

[Matt-Rallye]

I have an unhealthy addiction to french performance hatchbacks and having owned one of everything else i figured it was time for a 306 rallye. for some reason i havent got bored of it yet and continue to love it more and more.