MG Parts - Availability?

rdfcpete

rdfcpete

rdfcpete

Associate
Joined
6 Oct 2003
Posts
1,651
Location
Northampton/Cambridgeshire
Guys,

I've never been so tempted to buying a car.
The MG ZR just looks the best second hand priced car out there imo, especially as for what I'm looking to purchase next, regardless of all the Rover issues and depreciation reasonings.

I was speaking to a mechanic the other day who said it will be around 7-10 years before you actually struggle to find parts for MG's and Rovers, because there will always be some of them in circulation, i.e. scrapyards, smaller car part dealers... etc... But what's your feelings on that?

If I was to buy one, and needed parts, how much trouble would i have to go to compared to parts for my Mk1 Punto now, say?

Cheers,

Petey :)
 
Plenty of parts available and theyre gunna be around for ages.

MG ZR is a pants car though, my wife has one and its really poorly made. Its a 53 plate and its already starting to rust :( you have to remember its a car that was first made in the early 90's and has hardly changed at all since (except for the body kit :p) and it shows compared to the competition tbh my freind has a 1995 Rover 214Si and it has the same interior, dashboard, seats everything is exactly the same.

They are cheap for a reason.
 
Ahhhhh, dude, my bonfire is nearly out :(

Are they really that similar to the 90's 200 series?
I thought they'd come on leaps and bounds. They just look one of the best cars on the roads tbh. Your getting a 1.4/1.8, very quick, neat handling car with 17" alloys for well under 4grand when its less than 4 years old in most cases.

I'm glad about the parts though :)

Whats the engine like on your wifes ZR? Has she got the 1.4 , 1.8 or 2.0TD?

Cheers bud,

Petey.
 
rdfcpete said:
very quick, neat handling car
Click to expand...

Just incase your mistaken this is the MG ZR.

3-4del.jpg


Seriously = its a really old design, before rover were using it im pretty sure it was a japanese car before that so the design could be even older. It shows!!

Handling is nasty, body roll is very bad, the suspension bottoms out when your cornering fast and the wheels scrub the arches when it does this too. (on its 16 inch wheels not 17)

She has the 1.4 which i think is 105bhp, the 1.8 is prone to head gasket failiure and if you want a sports car then a £4 diesel shouldnt be on your wants list :p

Fiesta Zetec S can be had for the same money, its better in pretty much every way although the blue steering wheels are nasty lol
 
Last edited:
And that's coming from a guy who drives an Evo :p

I like the ZR, much prefer the ZS though. Parts are an absolute doddle to come by.

My local Rover garage recently closed down... they simply moved the parts depo to a Land Rover dealership.

If you can't get parts from a dealer, try bestofbritishrover.com :)
 
great advice said:
Fiesta Zetec S can be had for the same money, its better in pretty much every way although the blue steering wheels are nasty lol
Click to expand...

Another car you could look at is the Citroen Saxo VTR.
I was looking at these about 3-4 months ago.
They are very cheap, cheap fix and dont have an many problems.
There is a thread on them with loads of info, GT3 has a phase 1 VTR and loads a lot about them.
The only things that steered me away from buying a VTR was that it would be very hard to find one that hadnt been ragged by a boy racer and one that doesnt have small annoying problems, trim coming away (mostly inner roof lining), notchy gear box. The interior wasnt to my taste at all as well.
When i was considering buying one the insurance was shocking (im 18) so i wen a bought a Zetec S instead. It's faster, better made, better interior and good examples are becoming quite cheap.

I've got the blue interior in my Zetec S and i think it looks great, much better than the red interior but a common problem on Zetec S's is that the coloured bits on the steering wheels fade. Mine is starting to fade a little but some members on ZSOC have either bought new steering wheels from Ford (can be expensive) or you can just buy leather paint and it'll sort the problem out.

In my opinion Zetec S's are the great and you can pick up a decent example for about £3500-4000. They also come with better extras such as air con (this is a common option and likely to be on 90% of Zetec S's), some come with electric heated mirrors and a rare option is heated front screen.
 
xcessive said:
Another car you could look at is the Citroen Saxo VTR.
Click to expand...

Tut :eek: Get out :mad: *slaps* xcessive

Any serious suggestions?

MrMoon said:
I had a ZR ages ago for a company car it was pants
Click to expand...

In what way?

And yeah, I've considered the Zetec S.
My dads had three Fiestas as his ADI cars, and he's loved every single one. They're reliable as muck, and he could probably get me half decent deal on one as he's bought his last 5'ish cars from Ford :) They usually sort him a pleasant price...

Just the MG is so cheap, and attractive, and seems good performance?

Regards,


Pete.
 
Last edited:
Parts that will work are easy to get hold of, genuine MG badged parts can be tricky but I believe that now longbridge have stopped sucking up all the spares thate are a few more available in the supply chain.

3.5 - 4 K does seem like a lot to spend on a ZR though. That cash would get you all manner of better cars. I think that the ZR had a lot of suspension modifications form the standards rover 25/200 shell that it was based on?

Of all the Z cars my favorite would be a ZT-T but I suspect this is out of your price range.

HT
 
MGs arent as bad as all that.

If anything the downside of the ride is that its so stiff... makes every pebble feel like a pothole, but imo sending one on the other week i was pleasantly surprised at how capabke it was really.

Revvy engines tho, so need to be worked.

The one i drove was the V6 ZS, and my Dads company are starting to bolt on Superchargers now for a fw k more, and by crikey it was quite good fun!
 
agw_01 said:
Your dads' company wouldn't happen to by RSM would it?

And you don't use Sprintex superchargers do you?
Click to expand...

nah not RSM (Tho they may subcontract to them i dont know) more likely the branch of the company that would do it is PTP (Powertrain Projects), but as i say, there may be some subcontracting...
 
I wouldn't worry too much about parts being available for it, the parts business was spun off as XPart and are owned by Caterpillar with a contract to provide parts for, I believe, 7-10 years after the last production model, plus there are over 2 million MG/Rover cars on the roads in the UK, so should be scrap supplies for years.
 
If you're after an MG buy one soon. The prices might start to climb again when Longbridge starts production again and people become more confident with the brand. They do offer great value for money at the moment because people slate the cars loads (MG/Rovers aren't all bad) and people are not confident about spares and long term availability.
 
tom_nieto said:
If you're after an MG buy one soon. The prices might start to climb again when Longbridge starts production again and people become more confident with the brand. They do offer great value for money at the moment because people slate the cars loads (MG/Rovers aren't all bad) and people are not confident about spares and long term availability.
Click to expand...

Isnt it true that at first they are only starting production of the MGTF at Longbridge?
People slate the cars for good reason, generally speaking MG/Rovers arent good cars.

Parts are generally ok to come by, although we've had a couple of major problems trying to get some parts, I work in a motorfactors.
 
I just went to Rover to get a power steering belt.

I asked the bloke about the spares situation and he said something about an American company which trade in the UK under a different name have been doing it for years, before Rover dissapeared even!
 
that'll be XParts they are owned by Catapillar and were sold off by the people that bought Rover for £1 (or was it £10? ) a few years ago. Tpwards the end of production at longbridge there were huge problems getting hold of new spare parts. I've heard stories of people waiting > 6 months for a new bumper.

Yes it's only the TF that they are going to start producing again at longbridge immidiatly. Not sure how they are going to sell it though...

HT

HT
 
happytechie said:
Yes it's only the TF that they are going to start producing again at longbridge immidiatly. Not sure how they are going to sell it though...

HT

HT
Click to expand...

Nor do i, went in several last weekend, look alright on the outside but the interior is some 80's throwback design finished off with metro clocks.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom