Buying A 205 Gti In 2014

[jshep205gti 3]

Hello all,

 

I have recently had a hankering to again own a 205 GTi. I had a cherry red for 4 years and sold it for £1500 in 2009.

 

I can remember putting the car on Pistonheads and there were 64 205's on there. Now there are 25! And only 14 on Autotrader! Nothing much on Ebay or Car and Classics.

 

Anyway my point is that there are not many for sale and they seem to have gone up in price a fair bit. So I thought I would check back on this forum and I can't find much here either.

 

So basically where can I buy a GTi? About £2k would be nice but I think I may need to spend more.

 

Anyone selling up?

 

Many thanks

[gruffa 7]

I think nowadays it's a case of either people keeping them or buying a banger as a project. The ones that are for sale are WAY overpriced, when I bought my first one 15 years ago it was £2400 for a 9 year old 1.6.

[lightflow 59 1 Cars]

They are not overpriced if they sell. This is simple market economics. Supply and demand. The fact there aren't many for sale is a short supply. Good ones are getting rare. Prices are going up.

[forbeslongden 32 13 Cars]

Why not buy a project? That way you're actually saving a car from a hasty end and you get to mark your stamp on it. I'm not talking like a bare shell and sourcing parts that way but something a little scruffy that you maybe pay £400-500 for and sink maybe £1000 to get it up to muster.

[cybernck 400 1 Cars]

^ That's very satisfying but unfortunately costs a lot more if you have to factor in a full respray, not to mention engine rebuild etc.

[audiobull 6]

yes i am in the market too and the ones selling in running order that are over priced will never sell or will be sold to an idiot which will eventually part ex it because its "old" and the condition of them is more then likely worse then a project you buy. they may have the sills replaced but i expect behind the sills is nasty rust thats not been treated and it then starts eating the car from the inside!

 

A few told me on here a good tip........... dont be in a rush. the right one will come along soon.

 

 

ive been looking for the past month now. see a few, seen a few well over priced ones too. just do not buy something that is over priced there is plenty of other cars that are better for less money.

Edited May 2, 2014 by audiobull

[Edp 67 3 Cars]

They are not overpriced if they sell. This is simple market economics. Supply and demand. The fact there aren't many for sale is a short supply. Good ones are getting rare. Prices are going up.

 

Sounds like the housing market!

[audiobull 6]

They are not overpriced if they sell. This is simple market economics. Supply and demand. The fact there aren't many for sale is a short supply. Good ones are getting rare. Prices are going up.

do they sell? those overpriced ones are still being advertised........ no demand for overpriced rusty 205 gti's

[jshep205gti 3]

Thanks guys.

 

I get the supply/demand of the market. I was just surprised at some of the prices some cars were listed at. And if they sell then of course they are not overpriced. But do they sell?

 

I imagined searching for Gti's, finding about 10 I liked in my price range and then going to view some! Not quite like that now.

 

The annoying thing is that my car I sold in 2009 would definitly be worth more money now. I should have just parked it up!

[forbeslongden 32 13 Cars]

In 2009 there were double the amount of roadworthy examples on the road (3,500) today we are looking at around 1,500 with more SORN than actually taxed, it's difficult to find a decent one that's just ready to go. I think it's quite justified how much they are passing hands for now. Most of the cheap ones have been bought up and butchered hopefully the prices rise to the extend where cars are actually being bought to get back in a shape fit for the road and a cost-effective way is found to produce the parts that are usually harvested.

[jshep205gti 3]

1500 left! Is that official???

 

I will try and enjoy my hunt for a decent one...

[Tom Fenton 1,526]

1500 left! Is that official???

 

 

If it is, it means I own 0.26% of all that are left! (Which I very much doubt to be the case)

[ATK 137 1 Cars]

Exactly the same as me mate. I sold my 1992 cherry red 1.9 GTI back in 2009 for £1600.Around that time and when I bought it there were lots about, I viewed about four close to me.

 

Fast forward to late 2013/early 2014 when I was looking again for one, and there were f*ck all about, and prices were alot higher!

 

I picked up mine for £1900 end of Jan 2014 but had to wait a good few months for one to come up, and even then I travelled 3 hours to go get it. Be patient!

 

There was an amazing blue 1.6 that sold on here for £2500 by a member recently for example, so there are excellent ones that come along for a good price, at the moment at least.

[forbeslongden 32 13 Cars]

There is indeed in 1,500 taxed. 4,000 SORN. It's a fair assumption those SORN ones are in bits or mass projects.

 

 

If it is, it means I own 0.26% of all that are left! (Which I very much doubt to be the case)

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

When are those figures dated, Forbes? Many people now take these off the road in the winter and will SORN when the spring comes around so if there's the ability to refresh the figures regularly, I imagine you'd see a fair spike.

[tartanbloke 35 1 Cars]

My vehicle was on Sorn until just recently and I would assume that there are at lest 5000 left in running condition.

[jackherer 543]

It's a fair assumption those SORN ones are in bits or mass projects.

You can't assume anything, the ones I know of range from bare shells to perfect running examples and everything in between.

[Tom Fenton 1,526]

Agree with above, I know of SORN 205 GTI's that range from scrappers through to clean cars ready to go.

[forbeslongden 32 13 Cars]

Well whatever way you look at it, there's just above 5000 examples that grace the UK roads, the DVLA reckon 1,500 are taxed and on the road and 4,000 odd are currently not on the road so going back to the point, there are less actually on the road than in 2009.

 

Just going by howmanyleft and the data is from Q4 2013.

Edited May 2, 2014 by forbeslongden

[speno 239 2 Cars]

A good place to buy would be on here , due to the simple fact everyone ( but a few ) owns one on here

[Leon 24]

One of the reasons there are so few left is the obsession that many members of this forum have with scrapping and/or breaking easily repairable cars.

I've never known a one make forum like it.

[welshpug 1,627]

Often i find the opposite, get one by word of mouth and youll find a reasonably priced well cared for honest car.

[acox99 73 1 Cars]

Try the E30 Beemer boys. They too break cars like there still being produced!

[ATK 137 1 Cars]

I don't think the figures on howmanyleft.com are probably very accurate anyway. And it's not a case that SORNS are in bits or projects - the owner before last who had my car SORN'd it pretty much for two years and only did 200 miles or so, yet it was fully running etc.

[forbeslongden 32 13 Cars]

I would hazard an educated guess that considering how many have been broken on this very forum recently and the amount that have been on eBay for breaking that a decent portion are SORN because they are being used as donors, I'm not saying that this is the general rule but there are quite a few that have been broken down. Even if the data from Howmanyleft is not accurate it's still an accurate enough estimate of the downward trend of the 205 in general.

 

That's just my observations, your mileage may vary though.