1989 Peugeot 405

Sedan

1.9L 1905CC l4 GAS DOHC Naturally Aspirated

Manual

VF3DA2127KS501457

Clear

GAS

1989 Peugeot 405 MI16 For sale- a 1989 Peugeot 405 MI16. This unfortunately is a parts vehicle only. I guess you could potentially restore it, but it has been sitting unused for ten years. It has just under 145K on the odometer. I am the third owner I believe. The second owner only kept it a short time, he bought it for his wife who didn’t drive cars with manual transmissions. Smart fellow. He bought it at auction so I don’t think he knew who the previous owner was. It had a really bad white paint job over the original silver. I would have to guess that might have been to conceal some damage, why else paint it if you were going to do such a lousy job unless you just really hated the silver? But I never noticed anything to indicate body damage, nor did I ever have any drivability issues that would have been associated with crash damage. When I bought the car it only had about 67K on it. It ran like hell, from sitting I guess, which sorted itself out as I drove it. The heater didn’t work but I fixed that. The heated seats didn’t work and I never got around to doing anything about that. Looking back this was a great vehicle. It was quick and agile, got great mileage, and has nice lines that still look contemporary even today. It was better maintained than most of my vehicles because my brother in law was the service manager at the dealership that had been the Peugeot dealership, and he saw to it that I didn’t get stuck on the repairs and that the Peugeot trained mechanic was the guy that did the work. Then the mechanic left and my brother in law went to work at another dealership. So the maintenance fell on me to perform. I was no stranger to shade tree mechanics, having owned a string of Italian cars. After awhile you just get tired of paying a premium for mechanics that know less than you do to work on them. It came to its present sad state because I replaced a ball joint on the driver’s side. In getting the old one off I destroyed a retaining clip, when the new one arrived mail order it didn’t have a new clip with it. I figured it would be OK without it. I was wrong. In the space of about a month as I recall I was driving a twisty road when the guy in front of me decides to turn into his driveway without the courtesy of a turn signal. I brake hard, all of a sudden there is major tire squeal and I don’t seem to have much directional control. Fortunately I am able to get partially off the road into Mr. I don’t need no stinkin’ turn signal’s driveway. A tow truck is called, it’s towed to my home, and hasn’t moved since. As you can see the drivers side front wheel was jerked out to the side, hence all the squealing rubber. It made contact with the wheel well but didn’t do much damage, hardly noticeable. It did pull the drive connection from the transmission out, I should still have that piece around here somewhere but until I find it that is the one part of the car that isn’t complete. I kept the car hoping that maybe I would come across a 405 with body damage and be able to use it as a donor. But as that hasn’t happened in ten years it’s time to face reality and sell the car. I’m getting too old for such a project even if I found the perfect 405 to restore. Prior to the incident it was running great. It was overheating a bit courtesy of the folks at Jiffy Lube, who said yes they could flush the cooling system, but what that consisted of was draining the old coolant and then adding new coolant without getting the air out. I was dealing with that by keeping the heat on, and it was something that happened just prior to the ball joint. So other than having sat unattended for ten years the engine might still be usable, but I haven’t even tried to turn it over. The transmission worked fine at the time. Now? Who knows. The glass is all intact and all of the body parts should be salvageable. No rust of any consequence noted in a casual inspection. Not sure whether I could find the keys or not at this point, should be able to but presently they are not in hand. The rear deck had been cut out and replaced with a speaker grill for a custom subwoofer enclosure. I think I still have that, if so you are welcome to it. Whoever the first owner was must have had a really big butt, because by the time I got it at 67K the drivers seat outside bolster was shot and the leather was torn there. The passenger seat was OK, but I have to assume that if the seams haven’t already split they probably will the first time you sit in it. So I’m not sure you will get a whole lot useful out of the interior. The dash still looks OK and the instrument cluster was functional when it was parked. I have tried to sum up what I remember of the vehicle, but I may well have forgotten other issues. Again, it is being offered as a parts vehicle, and it should be mostly complete, but other than that it is what it is. A 20+ year old car that has been sitting for the last 10+. The car has been sitting too long in my yard, it needs to find a new home where it can do somebody some good. The opening bid assumes that I can get $200 for the car scrap and another $200 for the wheels, which I am pretty sure are the same as those on an Alfa Spider of the same vintage. I just hate to scrap it. It will obviously need to be towed, and a flat bed would probably be preferable. If you are going to try to take it away with a tow dolly I should probably check to see if the emergency brake will release. The tires were almost new but after sitting for ten years I would want to make sure that at least 2 will still hold air. As I recall the struts/shocks had all just been replaced when it got parked. You wouldn’t have to come get it immediately but I would want to get paid within a week and it would be nice if it was out of here before Christmas. There is a dead pine tree behind it just waiting for a strong wind to push it over, so the sooner the better. I have a neighbor with a flat bed tow truck that could probably be commissioned to bring it to you at a reasonable rate, but over a great distance that isn’t going to be all that reasonable. I will have to look for the title, it should be around here somewhere. I think that about covers it, email me if you have a question I haven’t already covered. Thanks for looking. UPDATE: I found a set of keys for it. It will not turn over with a jump start, but the battery is probably really dead. I have inflated all four tires and they appear to be holding air although they may have slow leaks. I have had several people act like they thought they would come slap a new battery in it and drive it home. Don't be ridiculous. I now have the title in hand.