Knowing I owned one many many years ago a colleague has asked me about what sort of things to look out for as he's thinking about buying one as a runabout or weekend toy depending on condition.

I know a few on here own them or have owned them hence I'm looking for a bit of feedback here on whether they make a sound purchase or not.

Although I'm a dyed in the wool VAG man, I did once own one for a while about 16 years ago and it was a fantastic drivers car, but mine was pretty unreliable despite being quite new and so went in favour of a mk2 Golf GTI I bought off a work colleague.

How do they stack up today? Are they rusty hulks that suffer the expected French electrical gremlins? Did they ever cure the stalling issues? Do they all rattle like a... errr.... rattle.

Can they take the miles, most I've seen advertised locally seem to be around the 120 - 150,000 mile mark now.

I doubt he'd consider an MI16 conversion or anything modified, and he's not bothered about whether it's a 1.6 or 1.9 either.

I also noticed whilst having a trawl round the interweb for him that for similar money you can now manage to get high mileage 306 GTIs too! I know they suffer cylinder head problems but what a car for just over a grand!!!

Hard work finding a good one I think these days. Cant say i've even seen a bad one recently. Most consigned to track weapons or the scrap yard. I think a 106 Rallye is a worthy consideration.

Yeah another good option. It's funny but when you think back you realise how many half decent warm/hot hatches Peugeot used to make, but look at what they offer now........apart from the butt ugly 207 GTI I can't think of anything. Shame.

309 GTI ?

Haven,t seen any around though.

309gti is cool,a lot less abused than the 205 but rarer aswel

405 mi16 is a cool car,especially when running webers

309 GTI ?

Haven,t seen any around though.

There are a few bargain basement 309 GTIs around, but I can remember from when I looked at them back in the late 80s and early 90s the build quality on them was poor. They were the unfortunate possessors of French electrics and British build quality. Need I say more? That's why there's not many left.

Less abused is not really the case, they tended to hold their value less well than a 205 and thus found themselves in chav territory very quickly. I think all GTI type cars get/got abused once they were past their first or second owner.

Anyhow back on topic, my colleague would like specific info on recent 205 GTI ownership.

Yes true.

The 205 is the more sought after car.

Knowing I owned one many many years ago a colleague has asked me about what sort of things to look out for as he's thinking about buying one as a runabout or weekend toy depending on condition.

I know a few on here own them or have owned them hence I'm looking for a bit of feedback here on whether they make a sound purchase or not.

Although I'm a dyed in the wool VAG man, I did once own one for a while about 16 years ago and it was a fantastic drivers car, but mine was pretty unreliable despite being quite new and so went in favour of a mk2 Golf GTI I bought off a work colleague.

How do they stack up today? Are they rusty hulks that suffer the expected French electrical gremlins? Did they ever cure the stalling issues? Do they all rattle like a... errr.... rattle.

Can they take the miles, most I've seen advertised locally seem to be around the 120 - 150,000 mile mark now.

I doubt he'd consider an MI16 conversion or anything modified, and he's not bothered about whether it's a 1.6 or 1.9 either.

I also noticed whilst having a trawl round the interweb for him that for similar money you can now manage to get high mileage 306 GTIs too! I know they suffer cylinder head problems but what a car for just over a grand!!!

Try here Peugeot 205s for Sale

Lots of good and really bad examples, my favourite is the Red 89' model up for sale in Northumberland..........Have to say i'm tempted, would be a good track day car.............

Thanks for the link, we've been through all of the classifieds between us over the last few weeks and have found one or two half promising examples locally but could do with a bit of a check list on what to look out for. At the end of the day it's just an old car so everything should be gone over, but it would be useful to find common faults and quirks that can be checked to see if there has been recent remedial work on.

205's are nippy little things, just finished doing one up for somebody that was sufferering really badly from cylinder head problems

the cylinder head was very very badly corroded, but now it's running better than it ever has done, the geezer i fixed it for was planning on selling it but now he's decided he loikes it so much he is going to keep it, it's a mint car too, all original, no mods, full history... i'll give him a tinkle to see if he is up for selling it

one thing i will say.... they are an absolute pig to work on, no space in the engine bay at all:O

205's are nippy little things, just finished doing one up for somebody that was sufferering really badly from cylinder head problems

the cylinder head was very very badly corroded, but now it's running better than it ever has done, the geezer i fixed it for was planning on selling it but now he's decided he loikes it so much he is going to keep it, it's a mint car too, all original, no mods, full history... i'll give him a tinkle to see if he is up for selling it

one thing i will say.... they are an absolute pig to work on, no space in the engine bay at all:O

Very interesting Mr Tom, very interesting...........tell me more about this car if you please... pm will be fine............

Nice work on that cylinder head. Mmmmm shiny.

I can remember when I had my old 1.9 205, it used to remind me of a truck engine as it filled the bay right up and looked a bit agricultural. Went well though......

309 Goodwood is a lovely model, just try and find one though.

Nice work on that cylinder head. Mmmmm shiny.

a few minutes with a wire brush mounted on a drill bought it up like this:thumbup: it needed loads of welding to fill up the corroded parts, then skimming back to flat again, the valve seats were horribly pitted too so i reground them etc... to be honest it's fairly common for these heads to get corroded and i've seen ones thrown away which are in far better condition that this

Ross, I would think a mint Goodwood would be worth a mint now. Don't expect there's many left on the roads. Darn fine cars.

Tom, why do the heads get so bad on them?

Tom, why do the heads get so bad on them?

probably a mixture of things... the xu engines have a alloy block and cast iron wet liners, they expand at different rates which over the years caused flexing of the block which allows a tiny amount of seepage, also because of the fact it has wet liners, a portion of the cylinder head/gasket is exposed to the engine coolant all the time which makes changing the anti-freeze quite important which people often dont bother to do on older cars... also the head gasket itself is another potential faliure point, they are those 'dodgey' fibre/kevlar type rather than the newer laminated steel/copper type, the fibre type start to break down because of expansion and contraction, and because of exposure to coolant,

the quality of the actual alloy used plays a huge part in corrosion resistance too, in the good old days(when the xu engine was new) i think peugeot just stuck any old thing they wanted into the furnace to make thier castings "zeese peolple wont mind if we put le horse into le furnace :O" resulting in dodgey or pourous castings, some of the later castings would have a small amount of silicon added for strengh and corrosion resistance.

205's are nippy little things, just finished doing one up for somebody that was sufferering really badly from cylinder head problems

the cylinder head was very very badly corroded, but now it's running better than it ever has done, the geezer i fixed it for was planning on selling it but now he's decided he loikes it so much he is going to keep it, it's a mint car too, all original, no mods, full history... i'll give him a tinkle to see if he is up for selling it

one thing i will say.... they are an absolute pig to work on, no space in the engine bay at all:O

Tom,

I got your pm but can't reply to you for some reason? Anyway, 'what are you like with valve stem oil seal changes'? There is a good reason for asking..... pm me as before if you like and it would be good if i could reply same, saves adding to the thread..

probably a mixture of things... the xu engines have a alloy block and cast iron wet liners, they expand at different rates which over the years caused flexing of the block which allows a tiny amount of seepage, also because of the fact it has wet liners, a portion of the cylinder head/gasket is exposed to the engine coolant all the time which makes changing the anti-freeze quite important which people often dont bother to do on older cars... also the head gasket itself is another potential faliure point, they are those 'dodgey' fibre/kevlar type rather than the newer laminated steel/copper type, the fibre type start to break down because of expansion and contraction, and because of exposure to coolant,

the quality of the actual alloy used plays a huge part in corrosion resistance too, in the good old days(when the xu engine was new) i think peugeot just stuck any old thing they wanted into the furnace to make thier castings "zeese peolple wont mind if we put le horse into le furnace :O" resulting in dodgey or pourous castings, some of the later castings would have a small amount of silicon added for strengh and corrosion resistance.

So in short, because they're French!!!

Thanks for the detailed reply though

So in short, because they're French!!!

Thanks for the detailed reply though

Hey Rover built the K Series and they are pretty much guilty of the same thing.

I think the word Rover says enough there too. Nothing surprises me on that front either.

1991 PEUGEOT 205 GTI GREEN on eBay, also, Peugeot, Cars, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 13-Jul-08 19:15:00 BST)

seems like one of the best you'll find.

Just a shame it's finishing in an hour or so

That looks a beauty. Not seen my mate for a while but I don't think he'd travel that far for one.

Well the reserve wasn't met , so it looks like it could still be for sale if anyone seriously wants one.

1991 PEUGEOT 205 GTI GREEN on eBay, also, Peugeot, Cars, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 13-Jul-08 19:15:00 BST)

seems like one of the best you'll find.

Just a shame it's finishing in an hour or so

That's certainly a very nice example but i was never a fan of the green...Nearly bought a Graphite Grey version 1.9 in my early twenties, trouble was the insurance in 1991 equalled the value of the car..:eek: I jest not!

Try an NE post code and they pull your pants down big style, suffice to say I walked away at that point!..........