Why buy a Rover?

I wouldn't have bought a Rover until the Astra we had went for an MOT and showed up that it had been in a crash and not repaired properly.

Lets just say we were desperate to find another car quickly and on the cheap.... We were offered a P reg Rover 620 SI Auto, 62k miles and 2 owners (!) from a friend of the family for £600 and although i had my reservations about buying a rover... Beggers can't be choosers.

That was 4 weeks ago and it's a lovely car that has nullified all my thoughts about Rover :)

Only problem is, it's grandad gold :(
 
Simon said:
In 1995 Rover made the most cars in the Uk with about 380k. They were the best in the class too, much better than the escorts. It's a bit unfair to base the opinions of them now on old cars really. The fact you see a lot of the mk2s (As developed with Honda and same build quality as the Concerto) on a the road is a testament to how popular they were at the time.

Who really cares anyway, I certainly wouldn't of a bought a new one but it's doesn't mean the old ones are bad cars.

This is why I've still got mine. Its great fun putting pompus badge snobs in their place. Both on track and the road :cool:
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ive got to be honest and say that if I had to pick a car thats owned by someone off OCUK as my favourite, simons rover 220 would defo be in the top 5.
 
I've always been a little surprised at the large anti-Rover sentiment shown by many

I've been in a 1992 214 and a 1994 216 (both owned by my parents) and they're light years ahead of the Escort or Mk3 Astra. The Escort has got to be one of the worst cars I've been in!

I think Rover made a mistake with the bubble shaped cars originally. The 200 should have been pitched at Fiesta level and the 400 at Focus level. Yes this is how they were when facelifted and reworked as the 25 and 45 but this was during the period of their decline

The 600 was a nice car, but it was a Honda Accord underneath and a little pricey so suffered from the same problem as the bubble 200/400. I don't think the 800 is a nice car personally having been in a few!

Everyone moans about Rovers being based on old designs. This is true as there is little difference between a 45 built right at the end of Rover's life (2005) and a 400 built in 1996 (9 years previously). There were more substantial changes made to this though then the 406 throughout its life - this was also introduced in 1996 and unchanged (save a minor facelift) until the 407 was introduced in late 2004. This still sold well!

Cars often have a 8/9 year lifespan anyway as they cost a huge amount of money to develop

This is a catch-22 situation for Rover - they needed new cars desperately but they had no money to develop them.

The 75, however, is a great car and it got rave reviews from the motoring press (winning What Car awards, for example) and international recognition. Despite this it didn't sell in the numbers it should have

The MG range was more than just a rebadge - they really did work on the suspension too and used these to cater to two different markets

Rover just had a problem with its image unfortunately.

geiger said:
I heard its a good block but due to having so litle coolant, it needs all thats there. Its gets blocked easy and you have to keep everything pristine, flush it every 6k miles, etc. Most people have got used to tough as nails engines now
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/Off topic request - Sorry for my complete noobness but I'm considering a K-Series ZS ( :eek: :D ) and wondered what do you mean when you say flush it every 6k miles? Cheers!


EDIT: I love the HGF failure jokes/comments about Rover. Yes, the K-Series was particularly bad but they're not alone. Remember the problems with the 405? :p :)
 
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ajgoodfellow said:
I don't think the 800 is a nice car personally having been in a few!
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To me, the 800 feels the best built model out of the 200/400 and 600 range. Very very comfy seats, nice roomy interior, huge boot... I love it!

The MG range was more than just a rebadge - they really did work on the suspension too and used these to cater to two different markets
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I've been saying that for as long as I can remember... but to these guys the MG cars were still just rehashes of old models.

/Off topic request - Sorry for my complete noobness but I'm considering a K-Series ZS ( :eek: :D ) and wondered what do you mean when you say flush it every 6k miles? Cheers!

EDIT: I love the HGF failure jokes/comments about Rover. Yes, the K-Series was particularly bad but they're not alone. Remember the problems with the 405? :p :)
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Re the flushing, pull the bottom radiator hose so the coolant drains. Reconnect and stick a hose pipe in one of the top hoses or expansion tank. Drain it again and re-fill with proper 50/50 coolant. I think 6,000 miles is a little overkill for coolant changes. I'd change the oil at 6k, but the coolant can stay in for 10,000. If it's still nice and clear (and blue) it's fine by me.

I've given up trying to stick up for Rovers. Most of the people who slate them haven't ever owned a Rover, and one or two who do slate them, haven't even had HGF themselves. You can't win!
 
Back when all of our group of friends first passed, I had a 306 others had clio's fiestas etc. None of them were a patch on my mates slipper mobile (416gsi) with the honda 1.6 engine, boy did that shift. Alright so its a honda engine, but the car held up well :)
 
agw_01 said:
Re the flushing, pull the bottom radiator hose so the coolant drains. Reconnect and stick a hose pipe in one of the top hoses or expansion tank. Drain it again and re-fill with proper 50/50 coolant. I think 6,000 miles is a little overkill for coolant changes. I'd change the oil at 6k, but the coolant can stay in for 10,000. If it's still nice and clear (and blue) it's fine by me.

I've given up trying to stick up for Rovers. Most of the people who slate them haven't ever owned a Rover, and one or two who do slate them, haven't even had HGF themselves. You can't win!
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Thanks for that!

Re: The 800 - it was many years ago and I was expecting it to be a great executive car but I just felt a little underwhelmed. It just didn't seem quiet enough or refined enough - I prefered Dad's Xantia at the time! It's all personal opinion though and I might have a better opinion of it now! :)
 
-Mike- said:
Back when all of our group of friends first passed, I had a 306 others had clio's fiestas etc. None of them were a patch on my mates slipper mobile (416gsi) with the honda 1.6 engine, boy did that shift. Alright so its a honda engine, but the car held up well :)
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Yeah it really did! Nice sound to it too

My Dad had a 214 in that shape liked the car but it felt a little sluggish. After driving the 216 he moved up. Not sure what the exact figures are but it really felt like it was raring to go!
 
You can always tell a good Rover by the sound the doors make when you shut them. ;)

The 200's sound a bit 'tinny'... but on my dads' 800... woah! Proper sound insulated thumpyness :cool:

The 214's are very rev happy, and you need to rev them to make them move. A week after owning my GSi, I went to pick the 214 up from the garage. Boy was it slow! I felt myself about to burst into tears as to how I put up with the performance for so long.

Then, the engine got up to temp so I let it rip.

Ohhhhhhh yeah, there's the K-series roar :cool: And it wasn't actually all that slow! Decent first cars IMO.
 
ajgoodfellow said:
Yeah it really did! Nice sound to it too

My Dad had a 214 in that shape liked the car but it felt a little sluggish. After driving the 216 he moved up. Not sure what the exact figures are but it really felt like it was raring to go!
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Max. output
(DIN) 112.5 PS (111.0 bhp) (82.8 kW) Thats the only stats I can find on it, pretty good for sohc :)
 
agw_01 said:
You can always tell a good Rover by the sound the doors make when you shut them. ;)

The 200's sound a bit 'tinny'... but on my dads' 800... woah! Proper sound insulated thumpyness :cool:

The 214's are very rev happy, and you need to rev them to make them move. A week after owning my GSi, I went to pick the 214 up from the garage. Boy was it slow! I felt myself about to burst into tears as to how I put up with the performance for so long.

Then, the engine got up to temp so I let it rip.

Ohhhhhhh yeah, there's the K-series roar :cool: And it wasn't actually all that slow! Decent first cars IMO.
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Yeah - I think that's a good point

I was always rather impressed by my Astra with 89bhp - it was quicker than my friends Metros/106s/etc

Someone used to a 2 litre version though would probably hate it!

My Dad's got a 75 now - he had a 2001 2.0V6 and he's just replaced it with a 2004 post-facelift CDTi Estate. Nice cars

He's just bought an MGTF too!
 
-Mike- said:
Max. output
(DIN) 112.5 PS (111.0 bhp) (82.8 kW) Thats the only stats I can find on it, pretty good for sohc :)
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Yeah - that is good

Most modern 1.6s can only manage about 100/110bhp and don't feal nearly as eager
 
lol my doors sound so sweet when you close them man its wicked innit :cool: :cool:

You dont have to experience a HGF to know your car could be prone to them do you? its like saying my Lada Riva's wheel hasnt fallen off, does this mean they are good quality well built cars?

Andy if you stop fighting your corner, you will be doing a disservice to Rover enthusiasts worldwide :D

 
Hmm, a lot of people knock rovers, we used to have them as company cars, and had literally about 10 of the buggers. Not one of them had a problem(one got stolen), and now dad has one with a 1.8 200 bhp k series in it, and that owned a Z4. If you have a meet when i can drive ill nip up in it and idd bet a few of you would change your opinion. It sounds like a bike it revs so quick:P and it cost around a grand totally, so if you want "bang-for-buck" a rover is a good car to choose (if you can get performance parts cheap)
 
[huzeeee] said:
dad has one with a 1.8 200 bhp k series in it, and that owned a Z4
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Considering the Z4 range starts with the 2.0 4 cylinder pushing just 150bhp, the ability to 'own' a Z4 is not neccesarily as impressive as it may at first seem.
 
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