Rover 75 - Would I be mental

podge3

Similar query to the one on buying an MG ("MG ZS - Would I be mental")

Thinking of buying a brand new 75 for about €24,500. There is no other car available for this kind of money with the same spec, looks etc. I have driven one a few times and I'm very inpressed.

I think the problem with second hand Rover prices now that the company has gone bust is the perception that there will be difficulty in getting spares, servicing etc.

The spares issue doesn't seem to be a problem as there are over 2 million Rovers on the road worldwide - with that kind of demand, some canny company will continue to make spares, even if the division of Caterpillar that make the spares stop(which is unlikely).

The servicing issue may be a little more of a problem but again because of amount of existing cars, there should be garages willing to do services for some time to come.

Some would say the cars are obsolete - true, they will not be made anymore but neither, for example, will the existing Passat when it is replaced in a few months.

While I would not buy a 25/45, I think the 75 offers excellent value for money.

Am I just trying to convince myself to buy

amerden

Y E S

Nuttzz

It would be a good buy for the long haul, if you plan to trade up/down/in within 4-5 years it would be folly.

Einstein

you could do just as well for 24500. Try the Alfa 147.
why your buying new in the first place is another question...

jozi

Divers wrote:

you could do just as well for 24500. Try the Alfa 147.
why your buying new in the first place is another question...

How can you compare a rover 75 with a alfa 147?? is it the 7 in both numbers??
They are 2 totally different cars in totally different classes.

I taught about trying to get my parents to change to a mg as they are cheap-ish now and (in my opinion) look nice.

Buying one being mental??? i dunno, could turn out to be a good buy.

How reliable are rovers/mg's in general? read the 75 uses bmw engines (not sure which specificlly) so they should be decent i guess

podge3

Thanks for the replies.

Nuttzz - I realise I would have to keep the car for about 5 years to make it worthwhile

Divers - Is the 147 not a Golf/Focus sized car. The 75 is (supposed) to be an executive sized motor, initially claimed to be a rival to the BMW3 series.

As for buying new - all Rovers cars (new and secondhand) have depreciated by about 20% since the collapse. So it doesn't make much difference what you buy.

Jozi - Some of the 75 engines are BMW (diesel I think). The car I am looking at is the base model with the 1.8L K-series engine. The engines had the head gasket problem, but I believe this problem has been sorted out on recent models.

Firewalkwithme

For the love of God don't do it man! Please don't buy an Alfa either - I know they look good but you'll have trouble with it. Why not look at the Nissan range - I think they have a special offer at the moment where if you but now, they replace your car with a new one next year.

podge3

Despatch

I have a Nissan Primera - great car, but boring to look at, drive etc.

Also the current promo with the "buy one get one free" is a bit of a rip-off - you pay about 3-4 grand more now to get the free car next year.

vector

If you could get a 75 for about e8000 yes it would be good, or if you intend to run it into the ground it would be good, but otherwise no

Firewalkwithme

podge3 wrote:

Despatch

I have a Nissan Primera - great car, but boring to look at, drive etc.

Also the current promo with the "buy one get one free" is a bit of a rip-off - you pay about 3-4 grand more now to get the free car next year.

Ah - the small print strikes again! Is it the new model Primera you have? I think they look pretty good. Have you looked at the Honda Accord or Peugeot 406/407? (not sure of that number)

unkel

Don't just yet...

20% of the list and including a 3 year warranty might seem a good deal, but:

-I wouldn't trust the warranty. If the Rover dealer goes belly-up, you're warranty is gone
-As said you will need to hang on to the car for the long haul (4-5 years plus)
-Parts will not be a problem
-Let them sit on their stock and sweat a bit more. When the discount goes to 30%, or better towards 40%, (and it will, believe me), strike

podge3

unkel - I think the warranty is actually two years and its some kind of insurance policy so it is not dependant on the dealers.

As for waiting for a bigger discount - no dice, all the 75s are nearly gone. Only a few garages in the Dublin area have a little stock left. There are probably plenty of 25/45s left (but who wants those!). The dealers I have spoken to say there is great demand for the 75s and they won't really haggle - its take it or leave it.

I still think it may be a good buy for the long term.

lomb

go for it, its probably 2 grand over the odds but dont worry, enjoy a fine car for buttons. enjoy ur miny bentley.

one thing though look into getting and importing a uk one first and pay the vrt, i believe they are down to 11 stg new there, ideally the bmw diesel would b good with full digi climate control and automatic.

lomb

ive just checked u can have a 04 rover 75 classic 2 liter turbo diesel auto with all the kit for 24 including vrt from the uk, so 24 is not bad for a new petrol, as i say its probably a grand or 2 to dear, but u are paying for the convienence/warranty so go for it.

atlantean

podge3 wrote:

There is no other car available for this kind of money with the same spec, looks etc.

I wonder why

TBH I would not touch anything that came out of that Longbridge plant with a barge pole!

Curran

atlantean wrote:

I wonder why

TBH I would not touch anything that came out of that Longbridge plant with a barge pole!

The best thing to come out of that Longbridge plant were the tyres that the Rovers rolled out on! :rolleyes:

€24.5 K for 5 tyres is kinda expensive IMO

Guy:Incognito

podge3 wrote:

As for waiting for a bigger discount - no dice, all the 75s are nearly gone. Only a few garages in the Dublin area have a little stock left.

Was there not 1 or 2 in those ariel photos of the airstrips?

bazz26

I would read the small print on the warranty. This is a dealer's warranty and not from the manufacturer as they no longer exist. Some dealers are only covering parts under their warranties, you may have to pay the labour yourself or vice versa.

Also what if you buy a lemon, are you prepared to live with a potential lemon for 5 years? The minute you take it out of the garage it will depreciate by another 25 -30%.

Just stand back and think this thing through, look at the cost of ownership and beyond the sticker price on the windscreen.

These cars are being sold at €1000s below their retail price, dealers are not giving them away for the good of their health or because they are now members of St. Vincent De Paul.

Webmonkey

How many of you negative posters actually have a Rover? Just wondering

Curran

bazz26 wrote:

Also what if you buy a lemon, are you prepared to live with a potential lemon for 5 years? QUOTE]

Firstly..........they are lemons!
Secondly......seems like he is prepared to live with a lemon!

I like to keep the lemons to the bare minium.......the missus is 1 too many!

Curran

Webmonkey wrote:

How many of you negative posters actually have a Rover? Just wondering

Know a few people who have advised me not to buy one......and i know a few others who dont need to advise me.....cos they know i know already!

lomb

from honest john, i wouldnt say its any more unreliable than an opel or bmw or mercedes, definately no jap car though.

What's Good
Replaced both 600 and 800. Very good looking with styling cues from 1950s Rover P4. Looks a bit like a Rolls Seraph from the back, and sits in the market exactly where P4s did between 1955 and 1965. Nice retro-look cream oval dial instruments. 1.8 litre 120 bhp K Series four; 2.0 litre 150 bhp KV6, 2.5 litre 175 bhp KV6, or pleasant, quiet and torquey 2.0 litre 115 bhp BMW common rail direct-injected diesel. All front-wheel-drive. JATCO 5-speed automatic or Getrag 5-speed manual. Softish, cosseting ride quality. Not a sports saloon, but still handles fairly well. Good sized but fairly shallow boot. Excellent cool face/warm feet ventilation system. Prices now from £16,494 including three year warranty. 'Tourer' estate car and shift to production at Longbridge in Spring 2001 brought across-the-range handling improvements. S and T reg cars came an excellent sixth in 2001 Top Gear / JD Power Customer Satisfaction Survey. Very good score or 30 points in Euro NCAP crash safety tests. Has now been successfully developed into MGZT with 180bhp front wheel drive and up to 385bhp rear wheel drive. LPG version of 75 1.8 from July 2002 at an extra £2,195 awaiting Powershift certification which may result in up to 70% rebate. The 75 model has settled down into the market very well indeed. BIK tax beating 150PS turbocharged version from August 2002. 215Nm (159 lb ft) torque and low CO2 rating of 193g/km for both saloon and Tourer qualifies it for a BIK tax base of 20% of the list price, which works out at £3,659 for the 1.8T Classic and means a 40% taxpayer will fork out £1,463.60 a year. The 1.8T gets to 60mph in 9.1 seconds, from 30-50 in 7.1 seconds and from 50-70 in 7.4 seconds. The torque allows the higher 3.9:1 final drive of the 2.5litre to be used, giving 22.6mph per 1,000rpm in 5th and a 130mph top speed for the saloon. Official combined consumption is 35.3mpg. Tyres are 195/65 15s giving much better ride quality tha low profiles. XPOWER Power Boost kit for Rover 75 and MG ZT diesels from September 2002 lifts output to 131ps and torque to 300Nm, pulling 0-60 back to ten seconds and giving much better mid range acceleration. Costs £490 from MG Rover dealers. All official Rover 'new' CDTis from Feb 2003 chipped to 131PS, but 114bhp CDT continues. Facelifted in Spring 2004. Diesels RECOMMENDED. 1.8 available with LPG conversion for £2,195, with 60% Powershift rebate www.powershift.org.uk Spec upgrade for 2005 with Smartnav on all but entry level classic models.


Rovers generally had slightly below average warranty repair costs in 2003 Warranty Direct Reliability index (index 93.69 v/s lowest 31.93), just beating Nissan. Link:- www.reliabilityindex.co.uk All petrol and diesel models average for breakdowns, problems and faults and rated 'Worth Considering' in 2003 Which survey.

More at www.rover.co.uk


What's Bad
The badly-timed debacles over the future of Rover which marred its launch, and the fiasco of March to May 2000. Driving position and handling at speed not in same class as Mondeo. Rear-seat passengers feel confined. Suspension clonks. Susceptible to strong side winds. Not easy to reverse. Hazard light switch hard to find. Standard 114bhp diesel is a bit underpowered. Head gasket failure common on 1.8 petrol engines because very low coolant capacity of engine means small leaks rapidly lead to overheating. Weakest point is water heated inlet manifold gasket. 1.8 K Series head gasket failures website link www.shame.4mg.com Bore liners of this engine can also drop. First reported failures of similar failures of KV6 beginning to feed through, but these are still rare. Have been problems obtaining body parts. Have been problems with broken keys with owners being quoted up to £160 for programmed replacements. Reports of electrical problems, especially in the electric seat wiring. Tend to wear their tyres unevenly, especially their rear tyres. Possibility that some cars are being supplied with misaligned suspension, maybe through undetected transporter damage. Cabin can suffer water ingress as the result of blocked or kinked plenum chaMber drains. A few complaints of clutch noise on diesels, especially CDTIs. Cured by new sprung clutch plate. Some problems emerging with 5-speed autobox on diesels: clutch packs breaking up after 3-4 years. K-Series engine failure class action solicitors is: www.irwinmitchell.com/groupaction/our_work/defective_products/other_products/rover_k-series_engine.asp

Only 90% of cars up to 2 years old breakdown-free over previous 12 months in 2004 Which? survey, which is strange because the same survey found the MG ZT and ZT-T 100% breakdown-free and these are the same cars built on the same production lines.

Now that Rover is in administration, parts may start to become more of a problem.
What to Watch Out For
Parking dings in easily damaged slab-side doors. A nice surprise is that Longbridge cars are better built with better handling. The easy way to distinguish a Longbridge (MG Rover) built 75 from a Oxford (BMW) built 75 is that Longbridge 75s have body colour sills and Oxford built cars have black sills. Early Oxford-built black-sill 75s need checking carefully for rust along door bottons and lower edge of boot. They also need checking for rusted front to rear brake pipes (well known problem). All Longbridge cars are fully EOBD compliant (3 oxygen sensors). Check clutch operation if buying a diesel. THOUGH SITUATION HAS IMPROVED SOME PARTS FOR ROVER 75s ARE NOT IMMEDIATELY OBTAINABLE AND CAN RESULT IN LONG PERIODS OFF THE ROAD. Take care that the ventilation plenum chamber drains are not blocked before putting through as carwash, otherwise can flood the ECU which then requires replacing at a cost of £1,000.
Recalls
13/3/2000. 8,550 cars VIN RJ 001242 to RJ 127623 built between Feb '98 and Oct '99 recalled to correct crankshaft position sender fault which could cause the engine to cut out, announced Radio 4 News 10/3/2000. Sensors to be replaced with modified units. 11-07-2002: 12,592 75s from VIN RJ001242 to RJ133299 recalled because "vehicles operating in high corrosion areas may experience fracture of the front suspension road springs" which may lead to puncturing of the inner wall of a front tyre. Front springs to be replaced

Banjo013

"The long haul" is not as long with Rovers as it is with other cars. I've never owned one because A. I don't like to look of any of them and B. I don't trust them. I know a few people who own one though - various models. Without exception, every one of them gave major trouble inside of 5 years. The latest I've heard for example is my mates 45 needs a whole new engine - with less than 50k on the clock.

Just don't forget that Rover went out of business for a number of reasons, and the biggest reason was reliability issues and lack of consumer confidence. To buy one now because it's cheaoer is not a good enough reason IMO. Yes it's cheaper, but it's still the unreliable bag of spanners it always was. Why worry about warranies, spares, servicing etc. when there are plenty of other good cars out there that don't bring half the issues.

lomb

Banjo013 wrote:

Why worry about warranies, spares, servicing etc. when there are plenty of other good cars out there that don't bring half the issues.

Like BMW

rover 75s are good, rover 25 and 45 and probably any k series engine is dirt. go for the bmw diesel, a solid, quiet workhorse.

podge3

I have no worries on the question of the Rover 75 being a "lemon". It is widely accepted in the motoring press as being an excellent car. I have spoken to a few owners and they concur with this. Of course an individual car can give problems for whatever reason.

What will affect the value of these cars is the perception that the cars are in some way faulty/defficient now that the company has gone bust. I think most contributors to this thread probably fall into this category

Having driven a few of thses cars, there is no doubt that they are an excellent motor.

lomb

what spec and engine is on offer for 24? is leather included in that or an auto or digi climate control?

Curran

podge3 wrote:

I have no worries on the question of the Rover 75 being a "lemon". It is widely accepted in the motoring press as being an excellent car. I have spoken to a few owners and they concur with this. Of course an individual car can give problems for whatever reason.

What will affect the value of these cars is the perception that the cars are in some way faulty/defficient now that the company has gone bust. I think most contributors to this thread probably fall into this category

Having driven a few of thses cars, there is no doubt that they are an excellent motor.

So why did you ask for our opinion?
Just wasting our time :mad:
Only joking

podge3

Curran, you're not telling me what I want to hear i.e. BUY, BUY, BUY

unkel

20% discount is not good enough imho. Remember you can buy any car that is not a great seller for 10% less than list if you pay cash! The discount is only 10% so...

Like lomb, I would like to know what kinda package you get. Obviously if you get auto / leather / aircon / alloys / metallic / alarm, etc. it is starting to look better

The standard 75 1.8 petrol has NONE of the above except aircon / alarm

To put things into perspective, the asking price of €25k is about the same as the list price (you'd pay less than that) of an entry level Laguna / Mondeo / Avensis / Vectra / 407

If you could get the diesel for €25k I'd jump if I were you

Easily_Irritated

podge3 wrote:

Rover 75 - Would I be mental

YES

but in saying that I don't even have a car right now.

Rotarys are the way to go tho

Curran

Easily_Irritate wrote:

Rotarys are the way to go tho

They sure are.......and how id love to get a spin in the Mazda RX8 :rolleyes: