2nd Hand Rover45

Toots

I'll start by saying that I'm pretty clueless when it comes to cars, and am looking for some opinions on the Rover45. I saw a nice one at the weekend when I was looking at cars, it's 2002 but only 24k miles. Just wanted to know are Rovers reliable? As I said, I'm not very knowlegable about cars, and anyone I know who does know a bit doesn't seem to know much about Rovers :rolleyes: so I'd like your opinions and advice please! At the end of the day, I don't care quite so much what the car looks like so long as it's running well and I'm not burning money getting it fixed every few months.

What do ye think?

Cheers!

biko

Honestjohns review
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm?md=345

Toots

Cheers Biko! That's a handy site!:pac:

bbam

Turn your back and keep your hard earned dosh in your pocket....
Brother-in-law has had 2, a '03 & '05. both shocking poor cars... Everything broke or went wrong ar felt poorly made.. I recently drove his '05 with leather seats and sports suspension, shocking !!:eek:. It now sits beside his garage as he drives an 04 Audi.
Cant get sale for the rover and is fed up advertising it...

If you don't mind how a car looks buy a Nissan or Toyota, maybe even a Ford Focus..

The Rover will break your heart... and wallet

cantdecide

They are SOOOOOOOOOO cheap and they're not bad looking. If I were looking for a cheap car and I was prepared to put a few quid aside for when the worst happens, I think it wouldn't be a bad choice. They usually don't go completely wrong unless they aren't cared for IMO.

Oilrig

Given that Rover are no longer, what's the story with parts? surely not everything can be got spurious?

Gut instinct would be to avoid TBH

cantdecide

'02 car should go to the scrapyard??

the GALL

I had a rover 214si great car and great crack driving it. The brother in law had a rover and he said it was a great car also.
The thing about parts is when the company folded they still had/have to produce the parts for ten years from the close date.

L1011

the GALL wrote: »

The thing about parts is when the company folded they still had/have to produce the parts for ten years from the close date.

Thats what happens with cars that go out of production. MG Rover just *ceased to exist* - theres a large glut of parts around but theres no more being made.

The 1.4 engine is decent enough just be VERY careful cehcking for coolant in the oil / oil in the coolant. It doesn't affect the 1.4 K-Series engine as badly as the 1.6/1.8 but there is still a risk of head gasket failure. All required parts can be got still, but if its been done before you could be looking at a new engine (also acheivable)

Its possible the head gasket has been replaced with a better designed LandRover one which eliminates that issue, mind.

Also, the Chinese are starting / have started productions of their (legal) Rover and MG clones, theres Rover 75 ('Roewe 750') and MG TF (erm, MG TF - they got that brandname)s being built already. These parts should be mostly compatible but as the 45 is the most dated car in the range, it may not resurface in the shakeup.

mondeo

Honestly they are not a bad car at all. I had one and found it very smooth and comfortable. However the head gaskets are infamously an issue.
It feels like a much more expensive car then it actually is. Mine was a 1.6 saloon and pulled well enough.
Parts for them are pretty much guaranteed for the next 15 odd years at least.
People pull away from buying them because Rover are now bankrupt but with
recent events with the new owners in China somthing interesting is suppose
to be coming to our shores. Rover may yet be back in a surprising way just with a differant badge.

Cheers

the GALL

And then I rapped it around the black stairs mountains at half six in the morn....she was not happy with that.:eek:

Toots

I had heard about the head gasket thing alright. My bro in law bought an 04 a couple of months back and the dealer even said it to him to keep an eye on it. I'm currently driving a Matiz, which the head gasket has just gone on, so I know it's a pain in the arse.

Are they any other problems that ppl know of? Are they expensive to maintain as opposed to other cars?

groupb

Coming from a matiz , anything else you buy is going to be a massive move up in the motoring world.
A friend of mine has had two rover 214's and swears by them.
One did blow its head gasket , after 150,000 miles.

Esel

Afaik, the 1.4 is the Rover K-series engine, which has the known overheating/blown head-gasket problem due to small coolant reservoir. You must check the coolant level very regularly with this engine. If the gasket is gone, replace it with the Land Rover MLS gasket. Timing belt should be replaced every 35K miles.

The 1.6 is a Honda engine, afaik, and does not have the above issues.

The 45 could be a good buy - get it cheap, keep aside a fund for possible repairs, and don't expect much for it when selling.

Toots

Well after doing a bit of research I ended up going with a late 04 model. The re-vamped ones don't have the same issue as the earlier ones do with the overheating and head gasket blowing. It was more expensive than the 02 model I was looking at (obvoiusly) but I think it was worth spending a little bit extra to have the better engine.

Cheers for all the advice guys! Now I'm off to adverts to sell the Matiz..........:D

markymac

Toots85 wrote: »

Well after doing a bit of research I ended up going with a late 04 model. The re-vamped ones don't have the same issue as the earlier ones do with the overheating and head gasket blowing. It was more expensive than the 02 model I was looking at (obvoiusly) but I think it was worth spending a little bit extra to have the better engine.

Cheers for all the advice guys! Now I'm off to adverts to sell the Matiz..........:D

Well wear.