1986 Peugeot 205 XR from UK and Ireland - Comments

Over 19 years...

Three batteries;

Brake master cylinder at 60,000 miles;

Two sets of pads;

Both front discs at 70,000 miles;

Nearside drive shaft at 80,000 miles;

Speedometer cable at 65,000;

Four new tyres at 70,000 miles;

Two pneumatic hatch supports at 70,000;

Fuel pump at 78,000 miles;

Fuel pipe (pump to carburettor) at 91,000 miles.

Rust on top of door frames, and at front of rear wheel arch.

A new rear silencer every two to three years.

I have had my Peugeot 205 XR since new in 1986, and have covered 91,000 miles/145,000km. I use it rarely these days, only when I am back in the UK for short holidays (I live abroad most of the year). But it is still very reliable and easy to fix when things go wrong. In April I was back in England, and put on over 12,000 miles in little over a week visiting friends and relatives. It broke down (seized brake caliper due to lack of use) but I fixed it at the side of the road in less than an hour.

I have kept a detailed record of all expenses since new. Fuel consumption has averaged 46 mpg. It has always seemed a bit fragile (its construction is very light - only around 720kg - compared with modern cars) and partly because of that has been only averagely reliable. But it has never left me stranded (save when I once left the lights on - flat battery).

Its saving grace is the ease with which repairs can be carried out by unskilled owners. e.g. the speedo cable, brakes discs and pads, hatch supports, various minor electrical repairs (interior light switch, boot light switch), and a recent carburettor overhaul, a leaking windscreen surround, armed with nothing more than a modest tool set, a Haynes manual, and some common sense.

The engine has got noticeably noisier over the last few years, which adjusting the tappets (difficult, because the engine reclines by 70') has not cured. I wonder if this is valve seat recession caused by the switch to unleaded petrol in the UK, or general age? The interior trim has lasted a lot longer than I thought it would.

The car has benefited from being kept in a garage since new. Annual hosing underneath and Waxoyling behind panels seem to keep most rust at bay, though it keeps creeping back along the upper edges of the door window frames, and the seam in front of the nearside rear wheel.

I think I shall keep it until something very major goes wrong with it.

I also have a Feb 1986 Peugeot 205 XR. It is still a great car. I use it everyday since 1986. It as 393500 Kms (more than 1 parsec, more than the average distance from earth to moon) without any inside-engine repair. Regards. jn@incm.pt.

A parsec is 3086000000000000 kilometres.

Thank you for the correction. I want to say 1 second light. The car as now 430000Kms. See you next year. JN.

Hi. Can anyone tell me for what kind of fuel were those Peugeot 205 XR-s manufactured that were made in 1986? I did not even find what kinds of fuel existed that time. (I know they were made for benzine, but what kind? 95, 98? Did these kinds exist that time?) One of my best friends has a car of this kind and he is really interested. andedrag@yahoo.no.