205 GTI as a daily driver?

[Chris71]

I had it in my head that 205s had shot up to silly prices now, but judging by ads like this, they haven't:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3128968.htm

Has anyone bought one recently? I've owned one in the past so I vaguely remember what they're like, but I'm curious as to whether you can still expect a solid, everyday-useable car for sub-£1,500 in the current market?

I guess the biggest problem if you can is the 306 GTi-6 ... quite similar to drive (from memory), more practical, more recent and more examples to choose from?

[craigb84]

I asked my cousin (mechanic / master tech) the same and he steered me towards a mk2 golf gti. More solid and reliable but more prone to rust at the sort of price you're looking to pay.

205's had galvanised chassis so should be better for rust but the interior quality is supposed to be shocking.

Red carpets tho. Tres cool.

[Chris71]

Gotta love the red carpets.

Quite surprised by the Golf comment. I'm more of a Pug person anyway I think, but a quick glance in the classifieds revealed very few Golfs for less than £2k. Most seem to be £2.5k upwards - fair enough if that's what the classic scene pays for them, but that puts them a bit beyond shed territory for me I'm afraid.

[craigb84]

I was looking a while back and you're looking at 3 to 4 for a good example. To me that doesn't represent good value. Not for what they are (a shoddily thrown together French hatchback that goes like a cat on fire).

I think most of that money is for the 'iconic status'. Sadly I think you've missed the boat on the cheapies. Prices have already gone up and the good ones seem to get snapped up pretty quick.

Ps. My cousin has always been a bit of a dub fan but he knows his stuff.

[trickywoo]

I ran a 1.6 for a few thousand miles, showed 125k on the clock when I sold it.

It was fine. Maybe budget for a new gear linkage (cheap and easy enough to replace) and new dampers.

Apart from the possibilty of the ream beam needing work there isn't a lot to break and parts were cheap and easy to get. Its a pretty easy car to work on too.

[banksey]

I miss my GTi6

[Chris71]

Thinking about it, I'm not convinced the 205 GTi has any advantage over the 306 GTi-6 for what I want. Consensus seems to be the 306 is fractionally more economical and more reliable as well as being bigger, more refined and more numerous at this sort of price. I think I'd still prefer the character of the 205 (this is my old one here):



...but (a) I've been there and done that and (b) the 306 sounds like a more solid every day prospect for that sort of money. Less nervous about letting my girlfriend driving it round wet roundabouts too!

Of course if I can find a good 145 QV then it all become a bit academic, but there are even less around now than there were when I started looking and I'm getting quite keen to switch cars.

[GreatGranny]

Loads fo choice for under £1500 for a daily driver, not sure if a hothatch from the 80's is the best for this.

You can pick up a Clio 172 for around that money.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3195042.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3134886.htm

106 GTi

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3167255.htm

Polo GTi (beware of chocolate gearbox!)

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3162169.htm

E36

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3094137.htm

[petrolsniffer]

What about a 205 xs or ax gt?

A fraction slower than a 1.6 gti but you'd definately find a very nice one for around £800-1000 just seen a very clean black one go on the classfieds for £800

I'd say they're more reliable,simple,cheap parts,insurance/tax,economical.

[Actus Reus]

Ollie Marriage's GTi-6 Rallye is up on the classifieds (for 2,150). I'd be sorely tempted...

[Chris71]

GreatGranny said:

Loads fo choice for under £1500 for a daily driver, not sure if a hothatch from the 80's is the best for this.

You can pick up a Clio 172 for around that money.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3195042.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3134886.htm

106 GTi

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3167255.htm

Polo GTi (beware of chocolate gearbox!)

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3162169.htm

E36

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3094137.htm

I'd love a 172, but they're about £250 more to insure than the other cars I'm looking at and somewhat more expensive to buy. Still, I guess I'd get that back over the cost of a year in fuel costs with a 172 over a GTi-6 or Alfa 145. Hmm.

An E36 is very tempting, but I need a large load area for bikes and so on, so a hatchback shape suits me better than a saloon/coupe (particularly given the seats don't fold on all examples).

The Polo is a bit smaller than I really want and seems to be a bit more than I was intending to spend - I'd be more tempted to make those compromises for something with a Renaultsport tweaked chassis I think!

I think the 106 GTi is probably still more expensive like-for-like than the 306 GTi-6 and I would imagine it's not as refined or as spacious.

[Plotloss]

They're alright as dailys, bit heavier on fuel than I imagined a small engined tin foil car would be mind.

[Chris71]

Just consulted the meerkats and to my surprise the 106 GTi isn't too bad on insurance. Really enjoyed my (base spec) Saxo so maybe a hotter version with a different badge is worth investigating... A quick Google suggests they're pretty reasonable on fuel too (as indeed they should be, given they're a tiny little hatchback!)

[craigb84]

Chris71 said:

Just consulted the meerkats and to my surprise the 106 GTi isn't too bad on insurance. Really enjoyed my (base spec) Saxo so maybe a hotter version with a different badge is worth investigating... A quick Google suggests they're pretty reasonable on fuel too (as indeed they should be, given they're a tiny little hatchback!)

I had a VTR about 7 years ago and when it wasn't sat on a jig having the chassis straightened it was actually a fantastic little car. It had character and was plenty fast for a 20 yr old.

I popped 2 or 3 driveshaft though in less than 12 months so in the end it had to go.