THE team at Fleet News has been driving the Peugeot 206 CC since June and it seems to have become pretty much regarded as a woman's car. I get this impression because men don't seem to be particularly interested in driving it.

Well, us girls love it. I've been particularly lucky in that the weather has been fabulous and I've only put the hood up to park the car overnight – and once you know the car's little idiosyncrasies the hood is extremely easy to operate.

The system is inclined to bleep at you without telling you why, which is a bit disconcerting at first. Apparently, it is essential to leave the retractable boot cover in place before operating the hood opening mechanism.

As a real test, we put two teenagers in the back and a week's shopping in the boot. The shopping was fine but for rear seat passengers, spending more than a few miles in the back is quite uncomfortable.

And, for those of you who may be interested in canine matters, this is not a car for my dog Jim and his travelling cage – there's not enough room.

Along with the reduced leg room, the cabin is also extremely blustery at speed with the roof down and conversation is impossible.

Driving the 206 is great fun. Acceleration is lively, helped by the 136bhp 2.0-litre engine found in the GTi model. The gearstick is well positioned near to the driver and offers a reasonably slick action.

Now on to what I hope is not a serious problem.

Since I took care and control of the car, a rather nasty metal clanking noise has started emanating from the rear.

As a result, the 206 is now parked up for fear of aggravating the problem and, now the bank holiday has passed, it will be booked into our local Peugeot dealer as soon as possible. We'll report back on the outcome in the next test report.

Company car tax bill 2003/04 (22% taxpayer): £65 per month