Today I hit the 300,00km mark on my 206, something I never thought possible, 7 years ago, without the AL4 gearbox breaking down.
I celebrated today by having a nice drive from Bukit Belacan to Bt. 18 Cheras, and continued to Semenyih. The car still handles well, and the auto adaptive gearbox, awesome as ever.
I can still remember, 7 yrs ago before getting this car, did my 'research' on the AL4 gearbox. Wasn't worried about the TU3 engine as my previous TU1 engine on my Tiara/AX clocked about 550,000kms before the piston rings gave way. So i was sure this engine would not give me any major headache.
My fear was with the 'notorious' AL4 gearbox. Heard and read many horror stories about this gearbox. Water getting into the gearbox, hard jerks when changing gears, expensive gear oil change, gearbox failure as early as 100,000kms. One mechanic even told me that it would be a miracle if the AL4 survived 150,000kms without needing an overhaul.
But since I love the 206 very much, ever since it appeared in 1998, i told myself i might be able to save enough in my piggy bank for a gearbox overhaul by the time I clock 150K kms. So I went ahead and got myself this 206.
So, my first headache I had with this gearbox was the solenoid valve which gave way in 2010 at about 70,000kms. Lucky It was replace under warranty. And from them until today, the gearbox has performed wonderfully well.
Other than the normal wear and tear items, this car has given me trouble free motoring.
