Peugeot 307 Hatchback 2001 - 2007

Peugeot have taken time to put together a car that they want to rival some of the best regarded motors in their market.  The 307 sets out with the VW Golf in it’s sights, but being similarly priced to the German stalwart it comes up a little short in terms of value.    The cabin is nicely laid out, but the materials don’t have the same feel of quality that the VW, boasts.  The 307also gets left in the shade by the Ford Focus.  2005 revisions have seen a sharpening of the styling as well as an upgrade to the electrical system, that sees new functionality and looks to improve on reliability. 

European car of the year 2002 the 307 offers a well proportioned cabin, with good leg and headroom for all of the passengers.  The seats are reasonable, but nothing to shout too loudly about.  They lack padding and can prove a little Spartan for long journeys.  The materials used in the cabin are also just off being really great.  The way that the car’s put together on the other hand is excellent, with doors feeling solid and everything fitting together with an assured, uncomplicated manner.

On the road the 307 cannot boast the same level of quality that it’s predecessor did.  The ride is not as natural or assured, but this may be down to the extra weight that the safety equipment, which in turn has given the car a nice solid feel.  Steering is light at slow speeds and the 307 is easy to park.  The steering offers a great amount of feedback and gives a real feel for the road as you drive.  There are a good selection of engines on offer.  The best of the bunch is probably the 2.0 HDi unit which can get to 60 mph in 9.5 seconds and tops out at 126 mph, all this while returning an impressive 52 mpg.  There are a lot of frugal engines on offer, with the best offering 62 mpg (the 1.4HDi), but it’s not much of a performer with top speed around 100mph and 0 – 60 of sixteen seconds.  The top performing petrol engine is the 2.0L 16v, which can do the 0 – 60 sprint in 8.9 seconds en route to a top speed of 127 mph, but with returns of 35 mpg, it’s one of the most thirsty of the bunch.

The 307 is a well built and decent car.  There are some issues with reliability so you should always look for full service history when looking to buy one.  Most of the criticism of the car comes from not quite making the grade that it was looking to, so are not necessarily based entirely on the car itself.

Leave a comment

Type into the box below