Rover 75 - Would I be mental

unkel

podge3 wrote:

I did it

Good luck with your new motor

podge3

Curran wrote:

But be sure to let us know the first problem if any you have with it....but somehow i dont think you'll tell us cos if the " I TOLD YOU SO!!" element

Actually I might give a quick review in a couple of weeks time. I'm sure I'll find a few niggly/annoying things that I want to whinge about!

Curran

podge3 wrote:

Actually I might give a quick review in a couple of weeks time. I'm sure I'll find a few niggly/annoying things that I want to whinge about!

Excellent.....please do!!
So i can say i told you so

Ah no......hope no one has to say that to you.....not fair!

bazz26

podge3 wrote:

Well to anyone out there who cares - I did it

Purchased a brand new Rover 75 1.8 Classic in Tempest Grey. I have had it for about 12 hours now, driven about 100Km and WOW! - what a car. My impression so far is that it is probably the best car I have ever driven or owned. Deal was 20% off list price, 2 years warranty, 2 years AA and 0 % finance over 3 years.

Anyway,thanks for all the opinions/advice/votes. I know a lot of you think I should be carried away by the men in white coats, and maybe you are right. Time will certainly tell.

P.S. I found out today that there is a consignment of Rovers in Rosslare that are being held up by some dispute between MGR Ireland/MGR Uk/PWC. These will probably eventually feed into the dealers. Don't know how many are 75s, though.

Hey, maybe I should buy another one for spares

Where did you end up sourcing it? Best of luck with it anyway.

podge3

bazz26 wrote:

Where did you end up sourcing it? Best of luck with it anyway.

Thanks bazz

I had to travel to the "Greater Dublin Area". I'd rather not say at the moment exactly where I bought in case I have to go back with a problem.

If any difficulties do arise, I can always threaten with exposure on Boards

I'll probably give all the details in a few weeks with a review.

If anyone really wants to know, send me a pm.

bazz26

Was passing through Ennis Co. Clare today and the local MG Rover dealer there had about four brand new 75s, an MG ZT-T estate and about a dozen 25s/45s on his forecourt. No prices on the windscreens though.

podge3

bazz26 wrote:

Was passing through Ennis Co. Clare today and the local MG Rover dealer there had about four brand new 75s, an MG ZT-T estate and about a dozen 25s/45s on his forecourt. No prices on the windscreens though.

Yeah, I rang that Garage (Cleary's I think) about a week ago and it was the only garage that I tried outside the Dublin area that seemed to have stock.

However, its far easier to get to Dublin from where I live (only about an hour) and his price over the phone was dearer than where I bought.

Another thing to note is that while garages may have a few 75s on show, not all (if any at all) will be the base model @ €24,864. The garage where I bought had two more - a 1.8 turbo and another far more expensive model.

Not surprised about the large amount of 25s/45s. They may be harder to shift

commited

Good man - you bought a good car.
Enjoy it

Did anywhere have a 2.5v6 for under 36 grand? The oul mans tempted

podge3

commited wrote:

Did anywhere have a 2.5v6 for under 36 grand? The oul mans tempted

I didn't see one, but I wasn't looking for such a beast . My budget could only stretch to the base model!

You could give K&C Garages in Churchtown a ring. They seemed to have access to a bit of stock, although I found them a little on the expensive side and wouldn't budge on price.

You could also try giving Rover Ireland a ring - the number is in the Golden pages. Don't know for how much longer they will be answering the phones, though.

P.S. the price of the base 1.8 is €24,074 - met paint is €790

podge3

For those who are concerned about the spare parts situation on Rovers, have a look at

http://forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.php?t=73087

on MG Rover forums

Also

http://forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.php?t=80452

Bluehair

Thanks for the updates, I'm pretty certain I'll be picking one up myself in about a month when some cash comes through but reckon I'll be going second-hand diesel. Great cars.... just lovely for crusing up and down the motorway in comfort..

Shadow_2k5

Yeah its a nice motor but parts for all rovers will only be avalable for the next 5 years aparentley but if you only plan on keeping it for 5 years well nice choice but prob be hard to shift her to an other person.

podge3

Shadow_2k5 wrote:

but parts for all rovers will only be avalable for the next 5 years aparentley but if you only plan on keeping it for 5 years

I think 5 years is a bit pessimistic.

Have a look at

http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/birminghampost/business/tm_objectid=15657858%26method=full%26siteid=50002%26headline=xpart%2din%2dlifeline%2dto%2dmg%2drover%2dsuppliers%2d-name_page.html

Important quote:

"With 3.5 million Rover cars on the road around the world, XPart chairman John Parkinson said there was likely to be work for at least ten more years and possibly more."

Also look at

http://www.aftermarketnetwork.com/News.aspx?Action=-617781463&ID=6007d719-ed82-44da-83d5-ff27f93e32b8

I think I'll be OK for a few years yet

I believe all this 3/5 year parts supply is just another media driven bad-news story.

On the other hand, if it got me a new 75 for Primera money...:D

unkel

I wouldn't worry about parts supply. It's a very lucrative business, so as long as there is demand for parts, there will be supply

podge3

For anyone who is not completely fed up of hearing about the Rover 75, here is the review I promised!!

Just to put the 75 into perspective in relation to the other cars I have owned, the following is a list of my previously owned vehicles:

12 year old Ford Capri, 10 Y.O. Nissan Sunny, 4 Y.O. Seat Ibiza, 1 Y.O. Seat Ibiza. The following cars from new: Seat Ibiza, Skoda Octavia, Seat Leon X 2 and most recently a new model Nissan Primera.

I have also driven most makes of modern cars in the course of my employment - up to the family sized sector of Mondeo/Avensis/Primera. I have not, however, driven the new Avensis( 2 years old now) or the new Passat. I have rarely (if ever) driven an executive or performance car i.e. BMW, Merc etc. All in all, I think I know how most "affordabe" modern cars should perform and feel while driving. I should also say that I am in no way a car buff or enthusiast/nut - if I was I probably wouldn't have bought a Rover

I have now had the 75 for almost 2 weeks and have driven almost 800km in it. This is quite high for me as my annual mileage is about 10,000 Km. The driving was a mixture of Motorway and National/Regional roads. I can confirm what most of you thought I would say - the Rover 75 is a fabulous car. It is easily the best car I have ever owned and I would also say the best car I have ever driven. Of course the question is what do I mean by best?.

Well, this is no boy racer motor - although it does feel more powerful than my 1.6 Primera. The official specs say the 75 takes a shade short of 11 secs to get to 100 Km/h while the Primera is over 12. It does feel quite nippy despite having only a 1.8 L engine in a car weighing 1.4 tonnes. On the motorway, there always seem to be power available - even in top gear at 120 km/h.

By best, I mean an overall combination of everything that a car should give you when driving - like we have all read in countless Car Magazine reviews e.g. comfort, driving pleasure, feeling of safety, performance, looks, space, cost of ownership, equipment etc,etc. There are probably a lot more areas but these are the ones that come to mind at present. I will touch on each of them without giving chapter and verse (my two fingers would get tired!)


Comfort - extremely comfortable seats without losing support. It feels like you could drive to the moon and back and hardly notice. I read in a review somewhere that the 75 feels like an old sofa ( I'm sure the writer meant this in a good way!).

Driving pleasure - excellent car to drive. Doesn't feel like a big car at all to drive - and it is a big car, try parking it!. Great on twisty winding roads and a cruising machine on motorways. Extremely quite when driving at speed.

Safety - apart from the pretty good ncap rating, the car "feels" safe. You just have to close one of the doors and feel its weight and hear the "clunk".

Performance - as mentioned earlier, no racing machine, but then again it isn't meant to be. I do find the car quite powerful and more than enough for me @ 120 bhp. I suppose if you could afford it, the 1.8 turbo would be a good choice for a little bit more "go".

Looks - probably one of the main reasons to buy the car, although the retro look may not appeal to everybody. I really think this car looks amazing - especially the chrome bits. The interior is also in a class of its own. This car definitely passes the "do you look back at it as you walk away" test.


Now for the bad bits - yes there are things that I want to whinge about:

Cost of ownership - this is the big question and the reason that most people would not touch a Rover now. Of course, there are many aspects of ownership costs - original purchase price, depreciation, fuel consumption etc. I have accepted that I will probably have to keep the car for 4 or 5 years at least due to the fact that Rover have gone bust. The car is also heavier on petrol than the Primera - official figures say about 47 mpg on long journeys but this looks a bit optimistic to me at the moment. It will be a few more weeks before I can get a good handle on this.

Space - while this is a big car, interior space is not as big as you may expect.

Equipment - my biggest whinge is probably about the sound system. Its actually pretty poor for a car of this class. Only four airbags, no climate control on the base model and overall very few gadgets.


So thats it. I say again - EXCELLENT CAR. The irony in all this, for me at least, is that I couldn't have afforded this car before the firm went bust. I didn't really think about buying a Rover until I saw the ad a few months ago about the cars being sold off. It took a lot of research and a fair amount of guesswork/wishful thinking to make myself believe this was a good deal.

This is an amazing car and I can recommend it to anyone - although don't blame me if the engine seizes or the head gasket fails and you can't get it fixed. If you want a new one, you may have to hurry, or go the the UK. Perhaps the the biggest question for me at the minute is what I will drive after this car. I would consider any mainstream saloon to be a downgrade.

Thanks to everybody who contributed to this thread and to those who voted. The poll results are reasonable now, I suppose, although they looked dodgy after a few days. It looks like less than half you think I should be locked up

So thats about it. If there are any further queries, I'll be happy to answer. I also promise to post on my first major mechanical failure . Other than that, bye bye :cool:

unkel

Glad you like it

podge3 wrote:

Perhaps the the biggest question for me at the minute is what I will drive after this car

I will start suffering from that particular syndrome by the end of next year :cool: :eek:

commited

For anyone that is interested I've been doing a bit of ringing around for my dad and in leinster there are 2 1.8s and about 4-5 diesel 75s in varying specs still available.

lomb

unkel wrote:

I will start suffering from that particular syndrome by the end of next year :cool: :eek:

saw an 1998 sl600 today, and i must say it looked very well for a 7 year old car, and id say it wouldnt cost much either, ud definately look good in that unkel with v12 badges either side of the wings and road tax is still only 1300 odd :rolleyes:

unkel

lomb wrote:

saw an 1998 sl600 today, and i must say it looked very well for a 7 year old car, and id say it wouldnt cost much either, ud definately look good in that unkel

LOL

You'd be unpleasantly surprised though. I'd bet they'd look for at least 30k for that

You'll have to hold onto your golf for a while longer till I sell you my 735

lomb

unkel wrote:

LOL

You'd be unpleasantly surprised though. I'd bet they'd look for at least 30k for that

You'll have to hold onto your golf for a while longer till I sell you my 735

LOL Im actually moving back to the uk for a little while and am considering seriously buying a 1999 or 2000 SL320, i think im looking at 16 sterling with total spec, including panoramic hard top(a 10000 euro option) full leather, climate control and a 5 speed auto gearbox.
my thinking is that a sl500 which is the same price would be much heavier on fuel in addition to it putting more stress on the suspension bushes. i think a sl600 is overkill, i looked at the tax disc and it said i dont know 59xx cc and tax 1343 i think and i smiled, wouldnt mind taking it for a rip

lomb

unkel wrote:

LOL

You'd be unpleasantly surprised though. I'd bet they'd look for at least 30k for that

id say more like 50 :eek:?hard to say? , still a guy around the corner has a new shape sl350 2004 for sale for 120000 euro (www.nrmc.ie) he parks it outside his house along with a 200 grand bentley, he did have a new ferrari 360 spyder recently also, which he parked in his front garden. still new exotic cars are no money at all in comparison to fine houses thats for sure.

pchead

commited wrote:

For anyone that is interested I've been doing a bit of ringing around for my dad and in leinster there are 2 1.8s and about 4-5 diesel 75s in varying specs still available.

Have a look here:

http://cars.kcgarages.com/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=239469

Bob Bogart

Dont buy a rover, only a mupprt would, the garage will be laughing at u behind your back, not beliving they sold it.

pchead

Bob Bogart wrote:

Dont buy a rover, only a mupprt would, the garage will be laughing at u behind your back, not beliving they sold it.

O.K., Bob - a mupprt, right.

commited

Bob Bogart wrote:

Dont buy a rover, only a mupprt would, the garage will be laughing at u behind your back, not beliving they sold it.

Like your teachers were after they taught you how to spell?

joke

Cheers for the link. My fathers after the Turbo or V6 and there is only one turbo left and no V6's. We spent an hour driving to a garage in Kildare to test drive a 1.8T and when we got there, we opened the bonnet and there was no turbo. It was odd.

There are about 8 or so new or ex demo 75's still kicking about if someone needs to find a bargain. They thought it'd take 6months to clear the stocks, it's taken 10weeks.

podge3

commited wrote:

We spent an hour driving to a garage in Kildare to test drive a 1.8T and when we got there, we opened the bonnet and there was no turbo. It was odd.

I think I saw that car when I was looking to buy mine. Is it Red and priced about 28k?. If memory serves, it was marked as a turbo right enough.

commited

Maroony/wine with a cool kinda orange flip in the paint?
It was priced up for 31k i think - Yer man was very sheepish when asked about the lack of turbo!
And it was very very slow compared to the 2.0v6 75 we have at the moment. Still a lovely car though - alot more noticeable oversteer though and the seats are a bit firmer and less comfy.

IrishRover

If anyone else is interested in buying a 75, I heard that there might be some in Kelly's Rover garage in Rathdrum, County Wicklow.

By the way, the discount in the UK is 40%.

Also, I saw this in the Herald yesterday which sounds interesting:

Rover 75 '04 Reg, 4K miles, slight damage, €12,000
Phone 087 256 0089

unkel

IrishRover wrote:

By the way, the discount in the UK is 40%

Told ya so

podge3

unkel wrote:

Told ya so

I think some garages have a 50% discount, depending on model.

However, when you convert back into Euro and add VRT there is very little saving. You also have to travel to the UK, negotiate a deal and bring the car home on the ferry. If you have a trade-in, you have to sell the car privately.
No warranty on the UK cars either - unless you want to return to the UK when it breaks down

I did look at buying in the UK when I was looking at the 75 and I figured I might save at most 2k (not including ferry or transport costs). While 2k is 2k in anyones money, the trade-in and warranty issues hardly make it worth while.