205Gti Getting More And More Rare?

[welshpug 1,657]

you will regret it, credit card required to get it back on the road

[RP1983 4]

I don't often venture up that valley my usual commute is down to Jct 28 then across to Cardiff, you don't get many commuting in 205's these days so not surprised I don't see them!

 

Fair enough, not so surprising really then

[lapr 4 2 Cars]

I hurt a few in my younger days (early 2000!) but never scrapped them! All sold as projects!

Regret getting rid of all of them! I had some low milage peach's in that time, obviously didnt think at the time what I was doing or getting rid of!!

[SkyQuake 70 1 Cars]

I bought mine because they're getting so rare! I've only ever owned 205s, but I was getting worried that it was now or never. Especially when you look at how many perfectly good ones are being raped for parts on Gumtree and eBay!

 

Anyway, I was pretty sure that I had the only Cherry in Cambridge, but I saw another the other day, dammit!

[AlexRS2782 136 1 Cars]

I intend on keeping hold of mine as i doubt i'd ever be able to find another decent one for reaosnable money in a couple of years.

 

I still regret selling my old Series 2 RS Turbo a few years ago. I bought it for £1200 & it only needed a small amount of work, but was a 1 owner, low mileage, FSH example. 3 years on and if you wanted to get the same condition car now it would set you back at least £3500.

 

I also regret having never bought a Sierra Cosworth RS500 when i had the chance back in 2004 when prices were the way they were around £11k. A decent one now costs over £25k for a fairly good one, and the concours/mint ones have sold for £35-40k recently

[macaroni 17 1 Cars]

In the 18 months or so of ownership, apart from james_pug (who helped rebuild my beam), I have not seen another 205 Gti on the road. I even drove 1000 miles round trip to Germany in August and did not see one.

 

You should come to Tunbridge Wells, there are a few here; mine, Flyfishers (although I think he's sold his), a guy with an MT Motorsports sticker in his back window and a seemingly abandoned one in a retail park near me.

[dodsworth_gti 11]

koads seemed to have popped up in york .not sure where from and i think i know all the ones on here. i can think of 4 that i dont either know or know of the owners

[Anthony 1,003]

Whilst not as common sight as they once were, 205's are hardly rare when you consider their age, the youngest GTi's now being 18-19 year old and the oldest turning 30 next year.

 

Certainly a trip to Pugfest or anything large car show will see plenty of examples lined up, look on Pistonheads and you'll see plenty for sale, and I still periodically see them on my daily commute. Considering the number out there that are probably SORN'd relative to taxed and on the road, they're not likely to become extinct any time soon (which is more than can be said for its sister car, the 309)

 

Indeed, other than Mk2 Golf's, I can't think of another small-medium hatch from the 80's that is more common to be honest, both in terms of GTi's and shopping spec models.

 

The main difference, compared to even just 5 years ago, is likely to the percentage that are now 2nd or 3rd cars as opposed to daily drivers. 5 years ago I reckon that probably 40% were daily driven, whereas now, I'd be surprised if it's more than 10%, and with reduced mileage being covered, you're going to see an awful lot less of them, but that doesn't mean that they're not around.

[SurGie 54]

They may be loads left but on the roads there are less and less every year, rust is one reason so many are being broken i guess. The more people see mundane cars around of which are loads of, the 205 gets noticed more and more as time goes on.

 

Even 5 years ago i always got comments on the car, now they are classed as a modern classic more and more will be summer wknd cars.

 

Driving round the country i would see say 2 205's a week, parked up or road driving, 5 years ago i saw lots more around.

[Anthony 1,003]

Rust is probably the one thing that historically has killed surprisingly few 205's, at least relative to just about everything else from the 80's.

 

After all, whilst rust is becoming much more of an issue these days, it's still comparatively rare that it's bad enough to drastically fail an MOT.

[matt.f 16]

See quite a few round the Clitheroe area

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

Yawn, the old doom and gloom about "RUST" again.

 

205's were by far the best protected from corrosion of all the cars in the class in the 1980's.

 

Think about some of the comtempories,

 

Austin Metro, Rover Metro

Ford Fiesta Mk 2, Mk 3, hell, any Mk you like from the 80's or 90's

Renault 5

Vauxhall Nova

Vauxhall Astra Mk 2

Fiat Uno

 

All of these were mainstream cars, very popular in "shopping" guise as well as various GSI/GTE/XR2/GT Turbo guises. How many do you see these days? Early Metros have disappeared (GOOD). Mk 2 Fiestas a rare sight, these used to be EVERYWHERE. Renault 5's, again a common car, not a common sight. Novas, used to be millions of these, the Mk2 Astra, a mate had a few so fond memories, but when did you last see a Mk2 GTE or even a 1300 "Merit" on the roads? Fiat Unos started to dry up years ago, not seen one now for quite a while. All of the above mentioned notorious for ROT, I do not mean a bit of surface rust, I mean ROT, holes you can put your fist through, fred-flintstone style floorpans.

 

In comparison; my 1990 Red 205 has never been welded. OK there are the odd scabby bit here and there under the boot floor, but the sills are solid, the floors are solid, the chassis rails are solid, the inner wings are solid.

[allanallen 528 2 Cars]

There's bugger all 205s around me anymore in fact I got quite excited the other day as a shiny red base model was heading in the opposite direction to me, only to realise as it got closer it was my ex in my red inca

 

205 owners know nothing about rot! I went with a mate to look at/buy/ fetch this last week.

 

We were amazed at the condition, it's genuinely the best original one we've seen in a long time. Low mileage, non sunroof, south African import. It needs both outer sills replacing and there's a hole in the bulkhead/strut tower that I could climb through

 

 

[dodsworth_gti 11]

yeah im restoring my 205 to save it from the scrap yard as my personal mission to save them, any my mate is doing the same with a xr2i

 

although ive had rusty headlight pannels to deal with and inner arches, thats it

 

 

his xr is a good one.looks mint and doesnt have much rust compared to others but it is still 100% worse than my 205 lol

[Alan_M 66 1 Cars]

Rust is probably the one thing that historically has killed surprisingly few 205's, at least relative to just about everything else from the 80's.

 

After all, whilst rust is becoming much more of an issue these days, it's still comparatively rare that it's bad enough to drastically fail an MOT.

 

Maybe it's more to do with the owner not having experience in welding? Remember the Miami we broke with rotten inner arch?

 

Until decent shells are that scarce, we, as owners, won't be forced down the route of welding repairs.

[welshpug 1,657]

owners don't need to have any experience or any welding tools, just get a decent bodywork man to sort it.

[feb 47]

I'd love to keep mine but lack of expertise in this country, no knowledge, patience or inclination from my side to fix problems means it has to go unfortunately

 

I also have an itch to scratch for a hairdresser's RWD car

 

The biggest mistake I have ever made was to to sell my sorrento the first time around after "abandoning" it for 6 months.

 

Maybe if/when I return to the UK I will get another one if I find an affordable good one.

Edited September 20, 2012 by feb

[GLPoomobile 958]

Indeed, other than Mk2 Golf's, I can't think of another small-medium hatch from the 80's that is more common to be honest,

 

I was actually quite surpised at how few Mk2 Golf's are for sale when I checked the other day. And I never see those out on the road, whereas 205s are rare becuase of their age, but I do still see them about from time to time.

 

So yes, 205s getting rare, comparatively speaking. But we're still pretty spoiled I think.

[GLPoomobile 958]

Maybe if/when I return to the UK I will get another one if I find an affordable good one.

 

What would be the point Feb? Buy another one and be in the same situation as you are now, with no inclination to work on it and no local expertise? You're never going to find one that is so good it needs nothing done to it (IMO). It's the nature of the beast for us enthusiasts - no matter how good the car is, you will always find things that "need" to be done on it.

[Matt205 14]

In the UK there are currently 2169 205 GTIs licensed with the DVLA and a further 3687 SORN. Most interestingly is the decline from 18000 licensed cars in 2003, so a reduction of 88.3% in the last 10 yrs.

 

http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/peugeot_205_gti#!tax

[Anthony 1,003]

I was actually quite surpised at how few Mk2 Golf's are for sale when I checked the other day. And I never see those out on the road, whereas 205s are rare becuase of their age, but I do still see them about from time to time.

Maybe it's just in this region and amongst friends of friends, but I seem to see lots of Mk2 Golf's around still, but very few Ford, Vauxhall, Rover etc from the same era. That said, I have bizarrely seen two Mk3 Escort Estates on my travels this week and even a Yugo which I figured would be nigh-on extinct by now!

 

What would be the point Feb? Buy another one and be in the same situation as you are now, with no inclination to work on it and no local expertise? You're never going to find one that is so good it needs nothing done to it (IMO). It's the nature of the beast for us enthusiasts - no matter how good the car is, you will always find things that "need" to be done on it.

To be fair to Feb, I know quite a lot about the situation he's in and it does seem to be utterly ridiculous how problematic he's finding running the car in Germany and how even simple things are a big headache, both in terms of sourcing parts and getting work done. It's not that he's expecting the car to be bombproof and fully accepts that it needs regular upkeep and that things will break and need replacing, but is having no end of issues getting local garages who'll diagnose and work on the car, and even in getting parts ordered. Certainly I've had to send what are fairly common off the shelf parts over because he's had such issues finding them - a standard master cylinder being one example.

 

German (obviously) and Japanese cars don't seem to have the same problem - just seems to be old French stuff.

 

In the UK, France and Greece (and Sweden too I think?) Feb's run 205's for years and not had issues with parts or finding people to maintain the car, just the move to Germany that's scuppered things somewhat. Here in the UK for example, he used to get a lot of work done by a capable local garage near to where he lived, I was only 30 minutes down the road, and you've specialists like Miles an hour away, and as such you can easily run a 205 even if you don't have much mechanical ability yourself.

 

Suddenly take away that and compound it with finding it difficult to even get hold of parts, and it's meant that he's selling the 205 I know that he loves driving and is pretty much exactly what he wanted spec wise. To give you an idea of how much he doesn't want to sell and how utterly ridiculous the local situation is, he's seriously considered getting me to come over from the UK a couple of times a year to help keep the car in good order.

[feb 47]

As Anthony described, it's the lack of local expertise, outrageous prices garages charge over here (I was quoted 500€ to have the MC and servo changed; fortunately a collegue helped and we did the job ourselves; very rewarding and I learned a thing or two I must say but I admit that it is not a job I would have tackled by myself alone) together with the fact that you can't get parts easily, my lack of skills and time right now that have lead to this decision.

 

Indeed, I have run 205's for years in UK and France and was lucky enough not to be too far from experts that could help keep the Pug going.

 

Here, I feel handicapped.

 

Generally the situation with garages here is throw away and replace and noone is bothered with jobs that are a little more complicated; if I spoke the language or knew the right people the situation could have been a little different.

 

I am not impressed at all with their attitude and workmanship in general.

 

To give you an example, a friend was charged 950€(!!!) for having the following work done on his Subaru:

 

- changing of engine oil, gearbox/differential oil, spark plugs, changing of brake pads (he provided his own pads).

 

He wanted to have the brake fluid changed but the garage (official Subaru dealer) told him that this is too risky and they cannot undertake this job!

 

WTF, this made me outrageous when I heard it! The garage should be closed down immediately, not only for overcharging but for having the cheekiness to say they cannot change the brake fluid!

 

The above would have cost half that (if not less) in UK.

 

Fortunately, I am lucky enough to have a friendly english speaking Subaru specialist not too far who not only is down to earth when it comes to prices but also lets me use their facilities when it comes to working on my cars myself.

 

Even though, when the big service was due and the cambelt needed changing I decided to take a road trip to Greece and have the job done there not only because I trust garages more but also for political reasons!

 

You may think it is crazy? It's not as the trip itself and service cost me the same as having the work done locally, I had a holiday and interesting road trip and the money went to the right place who needs it most right now.

Edited September 20, 2012 by feb

[SurGie 54]

When non enthusiasts own them then rust can be expensive to sort out. With the current wet summers, there will be more scrapped due to the cost of repairs. Ive seen around 4 this year where an enthusiast let them go due to sill rust etc. As said this is a turning point for the gti version with the age they are at, iv seen quite a few golf mk 1's around, 205 gti's very rarely.

 

We are all going to be bit biased, but they are still going down in numbers every year.

 

One persons view of rare is different to another persons rare, the amount of new cars to these cars is a big difference.

 

How many 206's or Golf mk 2's are there compared to the 205?

 

Mint 205gti are very rare, you cant argu with that.

[cybernck 402 1 Cars]

Feb, get on board french-classics.de (I'll contact the admin if you're unable to register)

and you may find some local 205 owners or at least get some help about what garages to use.

[farmer 328 1 Cars]

Part availability in the U.K can only make things harder to keep the 205 on the road most of the parts that are left are in Belgium , Netherlands etc