As the title really, seen a cheap 205 for sale at work, would save swmbo getting the bus, me being a taxi driver and give her some practice driving whilst being easy to fix and cheap to keep on the road.

But its an 15yrs old. What typical and obvious problems do 205s of this vintage have? Otherwise is it just the normal used car checks?

Will a pug 1.1 from just before Jan 1993 have a CAT? If not, it will run on unleaded won't it?

Won't have a cat at that age, not sure about fuel.

They're pretty basic - as long as you give it a good once over & change the plugs, oil, leads, points & filter & it should be all good.

Might need SUL equivalent fuel, worth checking as that does cost more.

Also check the headlight switch behaves - I've had two that didnt.

Had to replace a few simple door switches but nothing major when I had one

No cat, will run off unleaded.

Check the rad control relay that is sat along the front bumper works eg that the fan comes on when the engine gets hot as they fail. Easy to change mind eg 1 min job

thanks:thumbup:

It belongs to someone's daughter, only had it 10 months to use locally but now needs something better. He doesn't know much about the history before that so it looks like what you see is what you get.

I believe it runs on unleaded anyway, will deffo check the electrics but I was surprised to read somewhere that structual rust was not a problem on 205s :???: I thought I'd read before now about rotten suspension mounts but could be wrong

Won't be able to view it till next week but for only 250 notes it might be worth it. Just looking for something ultra cheap for swmbo to get a bit of practice driving as her mileage will be tiny.

dont worry about rust to much on 205s i have 2 gtis and there galvanised, check the front inner arches under the bonnet and the rear sills in front of the rear wheels, also check the rear suspension beam by looking at the car from the back and cheking theres no negative camber on the wheels , if the bearing have gone itll cost 300 notes to rebuild, 205s are great cars if there maintained properly and they handle like gokarts youll have to get a proper one once youve had it for a while

Used to drive one when I just passed my test. It was a good little car, (1.1 from about 100-120k). However I remember it had real problems starting it from cold and keeping it running before it warmed up (would stall when braking approaching junctions for example, not good!). Not sure what this was though...

Otherwise it was good, and easy to drive. Wouldn't get one now though.. their time has passed and most will be knackered (but cheap)!

I had a 106 1.1 (same engine as the 205 1.1) In general they are good cars, never rust, main things to look out for are bent wishbones and warped discs as the brakes are very very bad!

As long as it hasnt been molested it should be uber

Brakes seemed ok to me, nice and easy to change too on the dis only models. Sorry i don't do drums.

Anyway seems like for £250 notes and 9 months MOT it's a bit of a bargin. Don't forget tax won't be cheap though.

Don't forget tax won't be cheap though.

On a 1.1 engine?

Yes it will :confused:

No it won't it's pre- emissions based and I can't remember what the boundarys are, but it's tax will be more that a car of the equivalent size these days.

No it won't it's pre- emissions based and I can't remember what the boundarys are, but it's tax will be more that a car of the equivalent size these days.

Its cc based, so it

Went to see the car today. Its look in nice condition and went ok.

My only quibble would be that it didn't fire up on the first turn of the key. I'll admit to not knowing how a car with a manual choke would behave. Its got a new battery and the starter sounded like it was working.

Even after going for a run in it and stopping it wouldn't fire up straight away. It needed some choke and a fair bit of pedal to get it going. Is this normal for a choke 'car'? to be fair it didn't stall under normal driving, just starting seemed to be a problem. :confused:

manual chockes are like that until warm in my experience.