1988 Peugeot 205 GRD review from UK and Ireland

Diesel injectors:

Were removed after diesel was bubbling from around the base of one of them, this leak was cause by a copper seal washer that had been reused when the injectors had been removed in the past. All four were reconditioned by "Deisco" (and came back looking like new) after testing showed their spray pattern was misaligned, at a cost of £24.00 each.

Front disc calipers:

Were replaced after breaking the bleed nipple-off (corrosion had welded the nipple into the caliper) when attempting to bleed the brake system, at £40.00 exchange each.

Front shock absorbers:

Were replaced because one of the two was leaking the shock oil out of the rubber gaiter and all over the spring etc. So both were replaced, at about £18.00 each.

Front suspension top mounts:

These are a little arrangement of plates and bearings and rubber discs that the car rests on, on the top of the suspension.

These had become rusted and extremely stiff to move, and resulted in heavy steering, and when cornering a coarse rubbing sound.

These were replaced at the same time as the shock absorbers. The kit to replace them came from the "Peugeot Spares Dept" as it seemed you could not get them elsewhere. They cost about £32.00 for the pair.

Manifold exhaust resonator box:

This is a box resembling a small beer keg, that is joined onto the exhaust manifold. It is a muffler for the exhaust but referred to as a "resonator".

The resonator box had become quite rusty and a hole had broken through the top of the box, this resulted in a "raspy" exhaust note when you put your foot down. It sounded a bit like a small hole in the exhaust pipe.

To replace this the inlet manifold along with vacuum pump had to be removed, as the exhaust pipe had to be disconnected (the sound of the engine without the exhaust system at tick-over was almost like a big V8).

The exhaust gasket was replaced.

The resonator box came from from a third party manufacturer, and cost £28.00.

Driver's seat has become worn on the outside edge with people getting in and out (suprisingly little overall wear for 180K miles).

Rear speakers are awkward to get to as they are behind a plastic panel that that has to removed very carefully as it is quite brittle and has lots of mounting screws.

The fuel economy is not-bad, I've worked it out with fuel bills and mileage records at about 48mpg, but it's still going up. Considering how badly I drive it I think this is quite good!

The book says over 70 mpg when driving in motorway conditions at 50 mph in 5th.

Performance is excellent for a diesel. The 205 GRD (1.8) seems to be much faster than a Mondeo 1.8TD, and able to get 25 mph in 1st, 50 mph in 2nd gear, and 70 mph in 3rd, I see 4th and 5th as over-drive gears for cruising when at lower speeds.

It's also able to go at 30 mph in 4th with the engine just ticking over returning super economy.

Top speed is a bit lacking, as this car is over 10 years old wear and tear on the engine has resulted in reduced power output, so the poor old thing can't quite get to 95 mph, but I've seen 87 mph and my Dad 90 mph, there just doesn't seem to be any straight road long enough for it to creep up to its top speed.

4 speaker sound system, this is a good thing, as I've put a new CD player in mine which has four channels, so no waste.

I would say to anyone who is thinking of buying a cheap second-hand car, go for a 205 diesel!!!, but make sure it's the later model with power steering!