Rover's customers: what do they buy now?

[Formula Autos]

The Rover dealer in my area changed over to Nissan after "the unpleasantness" of 2005 and, given that a lot of their customers are fairly loyal, you'd have thought that most would have gone back to the same garage and bought a Nissan as their next car.

 

I've noticed though that a lot of former Rover owners have bought Hyundais and Suzukis (albeit from this dealer's other premises, about 12 miles from the former Rover dealership). I think it's now also reached the point when those new-car buyers who stubbornly kept hold of their Rover are now conceding that it's time to buy a new car, so a lot of new plate Hyundais and Suzukis (i10s, i30s and Swifts, mostly) are being inexpertly piloted by giffers at the moment around here (West Cumbria).

 

Has anyone else noticed any trends relating to Rover's former customers?

 

Also, why are former Roverists spurning Nissans around here? You see the odd giffer in a new Pixo or Micra, but that's about it. Is it Nissan's strange model range (mostly niche models, and nothing directly comparable to a '45')? Or are they just so shit that even undiscerning giffers notice?

[ashmicro]

Defo, former Rover owners are going for HyundaiKia, around here anyway, There's a big Hyundai dealer near here (http://www.cannonhyundai.co.uk/), and I know the (relatively) new owners of the business quite well. The dealer principal was telling me once that over the last 5/6 years they've taken quite a few MGRs as part ex, and usually have no real trouble shifting them. Not that many have had to be shunted through the auction.

 

He told me he knew Hyundai had "made it" when folks started chopping in W202/W203 and Frog-plagued Nissans against Tucsons and Santa Fe's. And I can see why. My last W203 was a pile of shit and cost a disgraceful amount to service. The Tucson I replaced it with was a great machine, with cheap servicing and a 5 year warranty.

 

Have a pic

 

[Cavcraft]

Round here they seem to have mostly gone to KIA and Hyundai. There's still the odd highly polished, washed on a Sunday, use twice a week 25/45/75/820 about which I love to see.

[Shep Shepherd]

My local Rover dealer is now a Hyundai dealer. I imagine that many of its former Rover customers have remained loyal to it and are buying Hyundais nowadays. I'm sure that the local Kia dealer gets a fair few ex-Rover customers through its doors, too

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

An elderly couple near me have very recently replaced their lovely Rover Metro with... wait for it....

 

 

a CityRover

[Justin Case]

The local Rover emporium shut down at about the same time as the factory, when the owner retired and the former showroom now sells beds (there must be a joke there somewhere but I can't see one ). The former Rover owners seem to have migrated to the Pug Palace just down the road from there, from the number of newish 207s and 308s around. They look smug because they have bought diesels solely because there is no VED on them, and the garage looks smug because of all the work that it brings them 6 months/500 miles later sorting out DPFs, EGRs, ETCs. A satisfactory result all round

[cms206]

My boss still buys Rovers. He's looking for another trio of 75s over the holidays for use as schoolbuses next year...

 

Talking of which, does anyone have an under-bonnet photo of a Honda powered automatic R8? He can't remember how to put everything back together now he's nearly finished converting the third 416 tourer from Kettle/manual to Honda/auto.

[Split_Pin]

The man whom Rents_L have lived across the road from since 86 has never been without a Rover.

 

Started with a SD1 V8 JSX88T, then a Series 1 Sterling E538NMS, then a Series 2 4 Pot Sterling K310DLS, and now a 2003 75CDT that he has a private plate on. His wife had a Metro to start with, cant remember what the inbetween ones were and then she had a KA and then a Fusion. However, he wanted to keep that and chop the 75 in for a new Focus, but they offered him such a shit price he kept the 75 thankfully and traded in the Fusion for it.

 

So I think when the time comes he will probably get another Ford.

[ashmicro]

cms - I should be able to get a line drawing from Rover RAVE if it's any good? The most obvious thing is that the Rover engine cars have the 'box on the passenger side, and the Honda cars are the other way round (the engine rotates the opposite way)

[Lord Sterling]

My local Rover dealer has become an MG dealer, that said, I guess I am cheating as its Longbridge. There are loads of former Rover dealers though that have become Hyundai/Kia dealers or replaced with Bed/Furniture stores or bulldozed for housing estates/supermarkets.

 

There is still a large concentration of locally built Rovers around here, not a day goes by without seeing a few Rover 75s, loads of Rover 200s plus all the MGzzz rammle.

[ashmicro]

If any NI shiters are in the County Antrim town of Ballyclare, take note of how many Rovers you see. There was a Rover dealer there from 1935 (George Logans, just up the street from the big pub), and being as this is a country town, he sold Landies too. There's bloody hundreds of Rovers, most in good nick too. Ulster people are famously "careful" with their money, and money is hard to come by, and cars are expensive.

[AnthonyG]

Skodas in my experience. Or if they have money to burn, Volvos.

 

A local dealer in West Wales (in a place named Llandysul, a seriously small place that would count as a village in England) got a Skoda franchise about three years before MGR went tits up and ran them both side by side. Serious luck and/or business acumen there - he'd already transferred most of the Metro/100 buyers into Fabias by 2005. There are quite a lot of Rovers/MGs still about in the area, mainly 25s, diesel 75s and MG ZRs.

 

For a very brief period this garage sold Piaggo vans - based on the old Suzuki's.

[cms206]

cms - I should be able to get a line drawing from Rover RAVE if it's any good? The most obvious thing is that the Rover engine cars have the 'box on the passenger side, and the Honda cars are the other way round (the engine rotates the opposite way)

 

 

Might be an shout if you can; he converted a 214SLi manual to Honda/Auto for his wife which was written off; he stripped it and put the running gear into another Tourer which was also Rover/manual but can't remember where things go; IIRC it's the power steering pump thats his latest issue.

[Quintus]

My dad, who'll be 80 this year, recently replaced his S reg Rover 400 for a 2005 Honda Jazz.

[ruffgeezer]

 

Before selling it at 18months old because it is uncomfortable, plasticy shit.

[Micrashed]

Dad, (gawd rest his soul) had driven Metros since they were first nailed together (his last was a P plate 114 GSi with leather trim) before he died he decided to replace the Metro with something for my mother to see her years out with... So we embarked on a monster session trekking round the garages trying to find something that would suit him ( 5 doors, big enough boot for his shopping and good visibility) with something my mother (who had only ever driven Metros) would drive....

 

We spent weeks going round dealers looking at small Metro-ish sized cars and test driving a few before he eventually settled on a VW Polo TDi

 

Some weeks late I bought my first K11 and he decided that had Nissan still been making the K11 he would have had one. I cant remember why he dismissed the K12, but he didnt like them.

 

So for Mum ^ Dad they moved to VW's.

[ProgRocker]

Micra does seem to be the spiritual successor of the Metro/100 series/Shitty Rover.

 

In the 1980s I recall on my way to and from my school passing a block of council maisonette-style flats, the ground floor ones had gardens at the front. One of these gardens had a drive put in and the kerb lowered (very rare back then). In the drive was a light metallic blue B reg Metro, one of the first 5 door models. Driven by a retired couple.

 

It was replaced by a series of at least two other Metros, the last one was probably a 100 series in a dark metallic blue. The last time I noticed there was a silver K11 Micra in the drive.

[ruffgeezer]

Some weeks late I bought my first K11 and he decided that had Nissan still been making the K11 he would have had one. I cant remember why he dismissed the K12, but he didnt like them.

 

Probably because they got the parts for this:

 

From this:

 

And probably most of the other parts too, I've had the misfortune to work on a couple of them and they are contemptible buckets of electronic bilge, loosely assembled by a norvern munky and looking a lot like a Corsa with a really fat arse.