OUR Peugeot 406 Coupe is living up to that old wives' tale that trouble always comes in threes.

First of all, my colleague Steve Moody reported that the car juddered severely under heavy braking, indicating some new brakes might be in order.

And he was right. After 12,000 miles our Coupe is now wearing new pads and discs at the front, renewing its stopping ability. After giving the new pads and discs 100 miles to bed themselves in, the 406 is back to being as good as new.

Well, almost, because a couple more faults have reared their ugly heads during my brief tenure of the car.

One is a niggly little fault and the others are potentially more serious. The aforementioned niggle is that the lower volume button on the steering column-mounted remote control for the stereo is not working - annoying but hardly earth-shattering in its importance.

But two more faults are causing greater concern. The car's on-board diagnostic system has decided to keep informing me that the engine temperature is too high and I must stop immediately. But this only happens at start-up when the engine is completely cold. After three performances of this ritual (and knowing that the engine wasn't too hot) I decided to call out the AA through the Peugeot Assistance scheme. Within 20 minutes of my call the yellow van arrived at my house to attempt to solve the problem.

The AA man diagnosed what I suspected - a faulty sensor buried somewhere deep beneath the engine and the matter is now being investigated at our local Peugeot dealership.

But while rummaging under the bonnet, the AA man also noticed some fluid leaking from around the engine where the fuel injectors feed into the cylinders. Again, this matter is being investigated at our local dealership and my fingers are crossed it is nothing too serious as I am keen to spend many more miles behind the wheel of the Coupe.

With a potential range of nearly 500 miles, the 406 is a dream of a car to cover long distances in. Not only is it frugal but it is also very comfortable thanks to a nice deep pair of bucket seats in the front trimmed in soft leather.

Hopefully these problems will be resolved before too long and I can continue to enjoy the Coupe's mix of frugality, comfort and style.