1987 Peugeot 505 STX | Retro Review 

The 'dated styling' is actually a plus now. This car looks great.

Revving the snot out of an engine immediately after cranking it over is a MotorWeek signature.

ABS, heated leather seats and keyless entry, that would've got me sold on one of these in 1987.

I was a tech at a Peugeot dealership from 1982 through the end of Peugeot in North America. I never saw one of these 505s with the V-6 engine, only saw them in the 604. Peugeots were very nice cars to drive but didn't really hold up that well in the US despite all the mythology surrounding them, and depreciated horrendously. I owned a 504 and 40 years later my wife still occasionally out of the blue mentions how unreliable her old Peugeot was. I remember vividly the day when Peugeot pulled out of the North American market. One of our salesmen arrived at work saying he had heard about it on the radio on his way in to work, but we had received no notification from Peugeot. Finally around 10 AM our service writer called Peugeot N.A. and asked them and they confirmed it. They said they just hadn't gotten around to telling us about it yet LOL! Keep in mind that we were an official Peugeot dealership and had been for about 25 years. When we got the announcement in the shop all of us were literally jumping up and down and yelling in celebration. That's how much Peugeot technicians liked Peugeots.

Peugeot 505s reminded me of my paternal grandpa, since it's the last car he has ever driven..... I remembered him driving this thing as a kid.....

I am french and I am proud and suprised "MotorWeek" talk about to this car. I thind funny how he pronounce the mark "Pougeot". In France and in Europe, the 505 was a best seller when this car was produced. Until early 2000's years, we saw again this model on our roads.

I miss these cars so much. Wish we had a FDM scene here in the states.

I had a 504 diesel to cut down on my wife's speeding tickets. GREAT car! Most comfortable ride, fantastic brakes, wonderful fuel economy... unfortunately, she still got tickets.

145 bhp is pretty impressive at that time . Standard Ford 302 2 barrel V-8 only made about 155 hp .

Thank You @Motorweek!!! My Dad drove a Grey 1990 505 STX V6! up until I was 13 in 2002 then he bought a 01 Lexus GS430 because we couldn’t find parts! I’ve been looking for one to buy now that I’m able to maintain it ever since!🔮🤗

I had one of these and the only parts that ever failed were the German-made Bosch electric relays. Replaced them with Japanese ones and problem solved.

I love this vehicle, peugeot is a well accepted vehicle in México and Argentina.

I remember during the early 90s when I was in the military 🪖, I mostly saw this car along with the Saab 900, Volvo DL, and BMW 318 being driven by soldiers.

145 hp and 173 lb.ft torque was quite impressive back then!

Man, that was such a beautiful car. Still looks great to this day. About 20 years ago I had a neighbor with two of these in wagon form. She would periodically swap parts from one to the other to keep at least one of them in running order until she could find parts to get the other running again.

4:52 John: YOU GET READOUTS FOR EVERYTHING BUT VOLTAGE! LOL

Back in 1986, my boss had a 1983 505 STI coming off lease. He asked me if I wanted to buy it. He sold it to me for what it cost him to buy it off the lease. It was black with a buckskin color leather interior. It had about 20K miles on it at the time. Before he sold it to me, he had the car fully detailed and wow, it looked amazing. There wasn't a scratch on the car and it was in mint shape. The paint was beautiful and the leather was gorgeous. I really loved the car but it was extremely quirky. The power door locks sounded like bullets, the AC vents pulled away from the dash, the interior door panels had plastic plugs where the window cranks would of been, the horn was a stalk on the steering column, the middle of the steering wheel had a secret compartment, the dashboard lighting was a weird orange/red color... I could go on and on. But, the car was really good looking for it's time, was built like a tank, and was a blast to drive. I kept the car for a few years and then traded it in. I never had any problems with it and it got decent milage.

I worked with a mechanic from Egypt. He said he was surprised that there were very few Peugeots in the USA. I met someone who did have a Peugeot diesel. She said the car was very reliable for a long time. The only downside was that it she needed to plug in the block heater during winter in New Jersey. I have heard one great thing about French cars is that the suspensions is as cushioned as a Buick. 5:09 Factory remote keyless entry for 1987? I thought that wasn't an option on anything until 1989.

Got one same-same sitting in my driveway. Lead WWll bombardier father-in-law bought new. 71,000 miles. New Firestones. Drive anywhere. Grandson has first dibs.

I loved my 2 renault leCars, very reliable.

Great cars these are, extremely underrated. Glad I’ve got some to enjoy.

Always loved the 505. Still see some on the road, which always makes me happy.

I wonder how many of these were imported to the USA and now many still exist. I’m a very well seasoned car guy and never seen one of these irl for sure

The 505 had a very good looking design. I grew up in South America and saw these all over the place. It's funny to me that my Q50 3.0t will hit 60 in half the time.

I LOVE IT.... MY KIDS FATHER PURCHASED ME PEARL WHITE PEUGEOT 505 TURBO DIESEL IN 1991... I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT IT; EXCEPT THE DIESEL BUT WAS GOOD ON GAS MILEAGE. LEARNED TO DRIVE STICK IN THIS MAKE/MODEL 👍...

My dad had a 1990 505 GR Wagon. I still remember how pleasant it smelled on the interior. And it wouldn't die. He eventually gave it to his brother 8 years later.

Loved my 89’ STX…still miss it.

I just bought a 30+ yr old 505 (2.0 l 4-cylinder carbureted engine) last year here in Thailand. A really nice car, drives really nicely but a bit of rust and some interior parts are falling apart. Hoping to get it properly restored.

Beautiful automobile, mom had a black turbo 5 speed, sweet ride

The only bad thing is that so few of the V6 ones sold in the states, so they're few and far between now. Older cousin of mine had the 2.2 Turbo one when I was a kid, and it was actually quite dreamy.

My parents had a dark red 504 back in the day…rode great and was slow. It was totaled in an accident and was replaced with a 84 Volvo 240GL… both excellent cars.

Growing up, my neighbor across the street drove one of these in a diesel version forever.

I always thought that car looked great! And the interior way ahead of it’s time! Also with abs!

Hearing the english speakers wrong pronunciation of francaise is the most hilarious thing in the world.🤣🤣

When I lived in Europe recently, the Peugeots were some of the nicest looking cars there.

this show was so damn consistent since the '80s. Great job.

That 505 STX looks epic. However, I still prefer the 6000 SUX for its sheer size. You know what they say…bigger is better!

what a great looking ride. Alway was intrigued by one of these back in the 80's

I loved the styling then and love it now. I wanted one of these so badly, but as a poor college student back then, I ended up with a low spec Corolla. UGH.

I thought these looked good when I was 16 in 1986 and I think they still look nice

My grandfather had many of these since they were built like tanks. Too bad I never got to drive one, these are getting hard to find these days.

I absolutely love the 505, I think it's up their with the E30

i like how it looks like it’s angry

There was a Peugeot dealer within a mile of my childhood home. It was the only one for hundreds of miles. Our little town here in Virginia had more Peugeots than any other import. I had lots of friends with parents that had a Peugeots.

So weird, where I live (Argentina) that car very popular one!! almost a entry luxury car, still that price of 24K was waaaaay up! t The back lights, back then, here in 1987, they already had changed them to a same shampe,but different design, the SR version was very popular, I think they stopped making them around 1995

My grandpa had one of these. Surprised to see a review from Motorweek.

Wow this is a memory flashback, I almost bought one of these when I was stationed in Germany, but I extended a year and bought a BMW instead and when the mark rate was 3-1 I could not go wrong. It's kinda funny though expensive cars were 20-30k-now cars and trucks are 50-60k. Geezus times.

My parents bought a 1979 504D and it was the most comfortable car I’ve ever sat in. The downsides were horrible reliability. Eventually they ended up with a Camry, or should I say CamRay, lol

I always liked the clean, simple design of the 505's. I also never knew they used a V6 in them.

If it was currently 1987 and I was shopping for a new car I definitely would have looked into one of these. However I wasn't born until 5 year later.

It had quite a few features ahead of its time for 1987 like ABS, keyless entry and heated seats. However, in hindsight, we can see that it still wasn't enough as Peugeot never really caught on in the US or Canada.

My aunt had a black one with a manual transmission sunroof leather int. I thought that was the nicest car ever made.

When my Grandmother needed to buy a car in 1991, I tried to interest her in a Peugeot. The idea did not fly.

I had a 1986 505 Gl, the base model, with automatic and a sunroof.. which wasn't standard on the gl, it was a slug , but was comfortable and handled well enough, it would chirp the transmission shifting from 1st to 2nd, my friends thought that was cool. It was fairly reliable too, but trying to get the oil changed at the local jiffy lube was a joke.. Nobody had the tool to get the drain plug off. I read a comment above about seeing a lot in New Jersey.. well that was there USA headquarters.. so I'm guessing a lot of their executives were driving them to drum up business. The best and last one would have been the 1989 505 turbo S it had 180bhp. But with the manual only.. the automatic still was 150bhp.. that was what John Davis was talking about updating the exterior.. that year 89.. they changed the front and rear bumpers, with lower airdams in front with integrated fog lights a much cleaner look... but Still NO European headlamps.. ugh. That was the last year for the sedan. Peugeot only imported the 505 wagon and 405 until there departure in 1991. I gave mine to a friend because I wanted a car that had Air-conditioning so I got a 1988 Saab 900s 4 door 5 speed .. the AC in it lasted until I traded it in a Mercedes.. I miss that old PUG!

I had one of them , 505 stx v6 , love style , design , how it rides , miss it

That Teves ABS system was fitted for many different makes and models back then. Of all things, it's in my '89 Lincoln Mark VII and are better than my 2020's brakes.

Peugeot was on a huge resurgence mid 80's. -WRC victories & championship -205 GTi selling fast in Europe -Pikes Peak hillclimb victory. -405 winning awards Never seemed to get traction in US beyond "professor car" reputation. Seems now like Citroen or DS would be better candidate for US to play up the quirky French angle.

Drove the Peugeot in Europe back in the eighties. Definitely a smooth and comfortable ride. Reliability probably killed it in the US market.

That car has to be worth close to one million dollars it’s a true collector dream car.

Shame this wasn't show "505" ha. Also a shame that these are basically non-existent at this point, I've seen 3 in my life in person and all 3 were falling apart in driveways. A friend in NZ has seen one running though!

Wow I NEVER see these cars on the road today, I always liked them a lot!

The 604 is one of the most comfortable cars I ever drove.

One of my favorite cars of the 80's. It's amusing he said people don't want to spend 20k on a 4 cylinder. Hence the demise of SAAB. And now a days people spend 60, 70K+ on 4 cylinders lol

What a handsome car. Almost bmw-esque.

Good looking car and a sweet PRV V6 motor.

The car I learned to drive on! Loved that car.

My parents had a 1987 505 Turbo. When running good it was a dream ride. Thing was it never ran good often. Transmission let go at 17K miles and it just went all downhill after that.

this was lightyears ahead of anything designed and produced in the usa at that time and few years later

I’ve always not been a fan of car designs before the late 80s early 90s but if I was around when this car came out this would’ve sold me I think it looks really good and heated seats are a mandatory for me on every car I buy never had a car without them

In 2018 I saw in Algiers a brand new 505 wagon; it was parked in dealership garage; very impressive car!

Love this design, the inspiration for the E-Legend concept

That dashboard is so space inspired. I remember there was a video with a group of these doing some incredible synchronized arobatics maneuvers. And they were quite popular in China back then as well...

Worked for Peugeot in 87' a comfortable car, but a total repair hog, never had repeat owners!

Wow my parents had 3 of these in South Africa & they were superb!

You can find these in the northwest area(Portland and Seattle), New England, Florida and CA. There's a dealership in Huntington Beach from my understanding. Austin may still have one also

Great work Sir thank you

In 1987 I bought the 505 STI for 19k. I really miss that car, better and nicer than the Volvo 244

Seen one of these 10 years ago

Had my first car accident in a Puegot…1979 504……had ignition on the left side of the steering wheel between the window and wheel!

this car was the top choise in my country egypt back then

I’m really impressed by the “avoidance test” @3:11

The best iteration of the 505, was the Evolution SR edition. 👍

Step father was cop and he saved our lives in on of these when car accident happened in front of us and cars came flying at us. He used his evoc training and slamlomed all the cars . 👍👍👍👍

I remember these things being everywhere(oddly in this color or a brown). But just as fast as they came...they disappeared! I think with the horrible dealer network, pricey parts...which you'd buy often because these were pretty unreliable.

Who would have guessed Peugeot would have such a big future in this market selling vehicles under the brand names Jeep, Ram, Dodge and Chrysler? This might sound terrible but many of us thought Peugeot had sunk so completely, there weren't even faint traces of an oil slick left as a reminder they had ever been here.

I still would love to see both of the '87 DNCP shows.

Those brakes are insane! Better than 911 turbo from that era.

Wish Stellantis would bring Peugeot and Citroen back to USA

Still love the way they look!❤

I want this as soon as possible!

The wagons were the best examples. Look how Peugeot has ended up today and you have your answer. The 504's owner's manual had directions for jumping the cooling fan relay if it failed. They came in handy. I hauled fire wood in it. It cold started in -22 F weather with its manual choke. The suspension never bottomed out. Ice got in the shift linkage, disconnecting it. The EVAP system collapsed the fuel tank. The engine was from a tractor.

Probably next to impossible to find a working one of these nowadays.. Used to love the styling though as a kid..

My friend owns one of these exact cars! Anyone under 30 doesn't even know what they are seeing.

This would make an excellent first second car for me to drive(my first car was a 1987 Chevrolet Spectrum). At least this car has an automatic and antilock brakes. Styling is not an issue for me.

Beautifully styled by Pininfarina and the French.

All I've ever heard about the is that they were really reliable and well built cars . They never really sold well in the states mostly because many did not know about them and most could not pronounce Peugeot if they did....Then replacement parts became hard to find and were overpriced when you could find them. That alone put most into early retirement. The only reason I know much about them is because of their odd bolt pattern that just happened to be close enough to work on the older Subaru's. It was the easiest way to get your Bratt or RX out of the 13in wheels.

I lovet Peugeot 505 👍🏻

A friend's dad had a red wagon with seven or eight seats. Comfy car.

The advancements made in car safety and capabilities are amazing. They wore helmets to test cars that maxed out at 78mph for the 1/4mi. These days, soccer moms are doing 80MPH in a Suburban full of kids.😂

I used to have a 1986 505 STi with the 2.0 four cylinder and an automatic. Severely underpowered, but neat in pretty much every much every other way. It felt similar to the 1985 Volvo GL I had at the same time, but slightly less power and better handling.