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rachelsarah

Hi, what are your thoughts on the reliabilty and service costs for a 2004 Peugeot 407 3.0V6 tiptronic it is very tidy but has approx 150,000kms. It seems a nice car with plenty of acccessories for the asking price of $7,000. I have heard mixed reviews on these and have only owned Japanese cars in the past so don't want to buy a lemon. It has been serviced by the Peugeot dealers since new.
Any advice would be appreciated.

ABayliss

The Peugeot 407 V6 was a nice car to drive, was comfortable and had plenty of power. However, there are a few things against this car today.
Firstly, 3.0 litre V6's are not popular today due to their fuel economy, so people are generally opting for smaller capacity engines, or diesels.
Secondly, the car is now approaching 9 years of age and the mileage is getting up.
The third thing, is that ageing European cars can be expensive to maintain and perhaps don't enjoy the ease and relative low cost of maintenance of some of their Japanese counterparts.
This car seems quite cheap and on face value it seems like you are getting a lot for your money, however, there is reason for that - largely because to the lack of popularity due to all the afore-mentioned reasons.

rachelsarah

Thanks for the response I have decided against the Peugeot. Would a 2004 Volvo V50 2.4 tiptronic with 75,000kms at $10,000 be a worthwhile choice? Any suggestions on a good choice for about $10k that is a bit different than the standard car from Asia?

ABayliss

Some of the fish hooks I mentioned with the Peugeot still apply to this car, although the mileage (if genuine) is much more acceptable. If this car is a NZ New car with full service history, it may be OK. If it is an import with no service history (particularly from Singapore, where a lot of Volvos seem to have been imported from) I wouldn't recommend it.
I can understand your desire for something a bit different from the mainstream, as they are more interesting and generally enjoyable cars to drive. However, there's no getting away from the fact that they are also generally more expensive to maintain.