Faults:

Minor things such as interior door switches failing and the manifold was blowing.

Heater was not blowing hot air, changed the thermostat but this did not fix it.

Drivers seat is starting to wear.

General Comments:

Seriously quick car for a 1600. This car flies at the bottom end and handles like it's on rails! Great fun to drive.

Only downsides are that it tends to rattle, and it probably isn't the smoothest car to drive on a long motorway journey.

These are minor problems though. If you buy one of these cars purely to throw around town, you can't do much better.

Faults:

Brake master cylinder.

CV joint.

Needed airflow meter re-adjusting.

Some erratic idling.

General Comments:

After owning a diesel version which was reliable and still powerful even with 144,000 miles on, I wanted something a bit quicker and with a better image.

I have had much fun and I always enjoy a blast through the mountain roads in Aberystwyth. I did thoroughly enjoy burning off a few of my mates when I first had my car as their 8v Golf GTI's just didn't seem to pick up as well.

I would recommend a 205 to anyone, but if I was going to have another I would definitely opt for a 1.9 GTi and a much later model with the extras like PAS as around town the 205 can be quite heavy especially when parking.

I would enjoy a reply if anyone has any recommendations for tuning mods for my 205. And also my car doesn't seem to pick up well and idles erratically, although I have had the emissions re-adjusted.

Faults:

Clutch wore out.

Handbrake cables (a few times).

Brakes wore out.

A few batteries wore up.

Shocks replaced twice.

Steering rods replaced once.

Springs replaced once.

General Comments:

A great car for its size and price. The acceleration is absolutely awesome for a 1.4 litre engine, although the short ratios in the gearbox make the car rev a lot at high speeds.

The handling is also perfect, especially with harder shocks and shorter springs. You can drive the car into corners at unbelievable speeds.

Wouldn't change it to a 205 GTi because of the insurance cost.

Faults:

Starter motor.

Erratic idling, would cut out whilst braking when cold. This turned out to be a weak mixture and incorrectly set throttle position sensor.

General Comments:

Fantastic little motor, bimbles around town then..... Oh YES! Get onto the open road - vroooom.

Superb handling and adequate performance from the engine and brakes.

Faults:

Front left drive shaft boot had cracked and let dirt and water in. That was cheap to replace, just difficult. Brake vacuum assist drum, old seal cracked and gave. Cheap to replace, just scary whilst driving.

Rattles, everywhere. The only really annoying thing. Had to remount and tighten all inside panels, very noisy.

General Comments:

Good car to throw about, really has a lot of go in the dry but can get hairy in the wet. Really needs a little bit more go and bigger rear discs.

Looks very understated, can surprise bigger and more powerful cars.