1989 Peugeot 505 Reviews from UK and Ireland

Starter motor, head gasket + radiator, and that was over 10 years ago. I do not drive as fast as before, so hopefully the engine will not have to be opened again.

This car is the best I have ever had, and it has no end of pulling power. It will really accelerate away with the best of modern diesels today, and the beauty of it is there is no complex ECU, or any other gimmicky, problematic, unnecessary add ons to this. It is getting very rare now, especially the saloon model, and if I need parts, they are getting harder to come by as time goes by.

Also the 390 TRX tires are expensive, and I dread when I have to replace them.

Endless brake fluid leaks, which I suppose is dangerous, and I'm still trying to fix at this present time.

There's a hole forming on the under side of the rear wing, and the rust is even eating away the lower half of the driver's door.

And had to replace the alternator. (Which was a pain to find).

A superb family vehicle to own. One day you can cart the kids down to school. And the next minute you can fold down the seats, to create a completely flat loading area to carry a couple of fridge/freezers to the city dump, of course. Then in the evening, if your feeling adventurous you can race though the typically wet English bends. Which is serious fun in a rear-wheel-drive car.

However it does eat though a lot of tires.

Oh yea. Parts are next to impossible to come across.

Reverse gear failed necessitating a replacement box.

Vacuum pump for brake servo failed.

Heater matrix valve failed.

Clutch pedal push-rod failed.

Engine seized after consuming oil.

The car is excellent for a large family for which it was designed. I can take our 4 kids out with the wife, plus luggage and 2 of their friends can come too!

It looks and drives like a bus, but is big and comfortable.

During the warranty period, nothing failed on the vehicle (3 years).

Injection problems were encountered first of all. A Peugeot specialist dealer diagnosed the fault to be the automatic choke, and charged us £1500; this did not rectify the problem (sudden loss of power). They then stated that it was the fuel tank; this was not the case, and a much smaller garage diagnosed the fault to be the injection sender unit (next to the ignition coil), and replaced it at a cost of £150; considerably cheaper than the dealer, and it works too!

Electric aerial always plays up!

The rod from the clutch pedal to the clutch master cylinder wore through at approximately 50000 miles, with the clutch slave cylinder failing shortly after.

Alternator failed at 55000 miles (not unusual).

Starter motor failed at 60000 miles (not unusual).

Speedometer cable failed at 63000, and was not repaired for 18 months, so my mileage is a little inaccurate.

Front shock absorber failed at approximately 55000 miles.

Brake lines, brake pads, brake drums (rear) and brake discs were all replaced at 63000 for peace of mind!

Central locking required attention at 75000 miles.

The front wheel bearings were replaced due to noise from the hubs at approximately 50 miles per hour at 80000 miles.

My father acquired the vehicle new, and as it turned out, it was one of the last imported to Britain.

The car has never ceased to amaze us, doing whatever we asked of it, whether it be carrying a ton of bricks, or happily traveling at 110 miles per hour.

We have even towed a 3.5 tonne truck for 200 miles without a problem!

Handling is very good for an estate, although now at 13 years old it is not as fast from the traffic lights as it was.

Although I have listed a lot of faults, considering we have owned the car from new, it has been wonderful.

We will keep the car until it is no longer possible to maintain it (hopefully a long time).

Since we bought the car, our friends have purchased second hand 505's, and they swear by them!