Faults:

The driver's door seal leaks.

Developed a hole in one of the engine cooling hoses.

Right-hand side of driver's seat is getting worn.

Sometimes cuts out when stopping at traffic lights when engine is still cold.

General Comments:

Even though it's done over 100,000 it still drives brilliantly!! The engine is very responsive, especially over 3000RPM. And when you rev it harder it sounds great. The handling is also superb thanks to the stiffer body shell and extra anti-roll bar under the car, it absolutely loves twisty A and B roads, and is a joy to drive!

The seats seem to fit me perfectly and because they are bucket seats they make the car feel very focused. The interior is a bit gloomy being pretty much all grey, but the driving position more than makes up for this! Everything in the cabin is layed out nicely, and is within easy reach of the driver. The glove box is a bit small, and some of my taller friends have a bit of a struggle getting into the back of the car.

Fuel consumption is very good unless you drive it very hard, and even then it only drops to about 25-30mpg!! I get 40mpg out of mine. And also, being in Insurance group seven it's not over expensive.

If you want a cheap pocket rocket that'll beat anything below a GTi away from the lights and that handles superbly; then you can't go wrong with this!!

For £500 I think this car represents mega bang for you bucks!!!

Faults:

- Coolant hose split.

- New clutch & cable needed, the previous one had been fitted badly and was jammed half on, so wore out quickly.

- Handbrake cable broke.

- Hood slashed open by a vandal (not the car's fault), this is currently repaired by copious amounts of black tape until I can afford the money for a new one.

General Comments:

I had a 1984 205GT that I loved before and when it died, I had a year in between with a diesel Escort which I totally despised - it looked like a taxi, had wobbly handling and was slow. The feeling was apparently mutual as it disintegrating into rust during this period just to spite me.

I have had a few problems, mainly down to its age. But the whole it is reliable. The design still looks good, it looks nice with the roof down, and has a smart denim interior.

I always found 205's very good fun to drive. This model only has a single carburetor so there is a little less acceleration than my 1.4GT had. Being a cabriolet, it does lose some of the sharpness in the ride and roadholding because it is more flexible - on bumpy roads you get a fair bit of scuttle shake.

Overall, it's worth living through with the rattles, occasional leaks, draughts, and condensation, just to enjoy summer with the roof down. I love this car!

Faults:

Front shocks, expensive.

Radiator.

Water pump, the day I got it back from the radiator!

Front wheel bearing and drive boots.

This was the first 6 months.

Since then I have replaced:

The clutch.

The front brake rotors.

A heater hose burst and left me stranded half way up a mountain.

The timing belt idler collapsed.

The aircon stopped working, very bad news here in Queensland.

Finally, the rear suspension bearings and mounts needed replacing, so I traded the car for a Nissan 200sx.

Considering that the seats are in tatters and the plastic rattles like crazy, I feel I got quite a good deal.

General Comments:

This car was the most fun car when it was working, but it cost me a fortune to run.

Great performance and amazing handling make this a real driver's car, but it is difficult to overlook the problems I had.