As gutted as I am that I have to do this, the 205 is up for grabs. She has served us well for over 3 years and 20k, but situations change and there is just no way we can keep her.
She is a 1990 3-door non-sunroof XE model, with the 950cc TU engine and four speed box. She has 181k on the clock, but still drives very well and has been extremely well looked after. She carries a fair few characterful dents and scratches but is straight, solid and reliable. I’ll list the good and bad points below
Good
• Refurbished £350 rear beam fitted with just over 1k miles on it, along with new Monroe shocks and appropriate bushings all round. We also replaced both rear brake cylinders, flexi pipes and solid pipes.
• Brand new alternator, fitted a couple hundred miles ago
• Four matching Goodyear tyres, with a fair bit of tread left, although the wear is a little uneven from when the rear beam was on its way out
• Currently has MOT, but only until Sunday 1st May. She might pass again, but I have my doubts about the TCAs. Luckily, included in the sale is a pair of brand new Lemforder TCAs worth £100.
• Lovely revvy little engine, which runs well and is reliable.
• Good gearbox, a little noisy but no worse than it was 20k ago.
• Loads of fun to drive. Like, silly fun. Who needs a GTi when a 950 is this good.
Bad
• The nearside sill is a little rusty (shown). The paint flaked away ages ago, but the rust hasn’t got much worse at all. It looks superficial and has withstood some prodding with the screwdriver just fine. There is also a little rust on the NS B pillar (shown) and behind the rear wheel wells with a small hole, but it is well over 30cm from any mounting points and not integral to the chassis. It passed an MOT with it. I haphazardly filled the hole with filler to stop water getting in, but have the repair panels for both sides if you fancy tidying it up.
• The engine leaks oil and a little coolant. It marks its territory nicely but is fine as long as you check levels weekly. The stem seals aren’t great either, but I have another cylinder head, cleaned and skimmed, with the full headgasket kit which will go with the car.
• Occasional stutter when prodding the throttle, mainly when cold. I think this is down to small amounts of oil getting into the dizzy, but I just ignore it. I have a spare dizzy too
• Tear in the drivers seat bolster
Come get it before 1st May and you can drive it away. The price is low because we could do with a quick sale, ideally before the 7th May. If it doesn’t sell by then I may take it upon myself to attach the included parts and get another MOT on it, but the price will go up to reflect this as I don’t have a lot of time to spend on it.
To summarise, a dirt cheap, retro hatch that’s cheap to run and great fun to drive, in need of a little loving but that’s all part of the fun anyway. Plus pretty much all the bits you need are included. The car is located in Aylestone, Leicester.
