MG Rover - not actually all that shit.

[Station]

I found the MGF to be rust resistant as well? Wonder if it was decent quality steel or something? There's not a spec of rust in the interior, even though the window leaked for years. The same can't be said for the bolts holding it together though. Nearly everyone had seized.and snapped off.

Have driven a 25/200 and a 75 estate, and apart from the hideous 75 interior I couldn't fault them.

[rml2345]

Only had experience of the 75 and it was a lovely motor to be in. One of the best interiors of the last 20 years IMHO. It drove really well too, in a sort of solid feeling way that was pleasant rather than "sporty" so that it was comfortable as well. The earlier pre Project Drive cars are the nicer of them apparently as they hadn't been cheapened by that Phoenix shower and seem to have worn their years very well.

There's still loads of MG Rover shite round here as well.

[D-Dubya]

Due to my love of alcohol and also wanting to keep my license I use taxis frequently. About five years back a lot of the firms were running newish skodas and mondeos but now there's a lot of previously well cared for chod appearing. This includes s and x type jags and rover 45/75s- all lowish miles not being ran into the floor

[Lord Sterling]

There a 2 Rover 75s, a couple of 45s and a couple of 600s doing the rounds as taxis at the moment.

 

I got a Taxi from the train station to home in a Rover 75 estate Taxi, really comfortable. This is why I must buy myself a 75 at some point.

[Hendry]

Speaking of MGR I passed a 25 on the motorway about half an hour ago which is worthy of the late registration madness thread, an 07 plate, SV07 DLZ, I knew there were some 06s lying around due to unsold cars when MGR went tits up but didn't expect that.

 

The other thing I didn't like about later Rovers were the trim name changes, prefacelift 25/45 had names like iL, iE, iS, iXS, Impression, Olympic, Classic, Club, Connoisseur, etc but the flush tailgated ones got names like GSI which makes you think of fast sporty Vauxhalls, not frigging 1.4 k series 25s with wheel trims.

[chaseracer]

I think all car companies have had 'project drive' moments, only it's not as well documented as Rover's efforts.

Tru dis. Nissan did it sneaky-stylee to the K11 Micra...

[AndyW201]

Had a lot of experience with Rovers.

 

Did a YTS scheme at a Rover dealership when I left school. They had a lot to be pleased about then, the K series Metro and the R8 200/400 had just come on line and were selling well. The old Mini had been given a lease of life with the 90s Cooper. The 800 was quite popular, the 827 Vitesse fastback was a favourite of mine to go on road tests in! It was a strange time though because you could still buy an A series engined Metro, an MG Montego, or a povo spec Maestro Clubman as well at the time.

 

Ah, back in the day when OMGHGF wasn't even heard of!

 

Ma and Pa W201 owned a couple as well. The K reg 214Si they had was head and shoulders ahead of any rival at the time, build quality wise. I still have a soft spot for the R8 now. They later had an R3 214, back when the R3 had a premium price tag attached, and they still had a quality feel.

 

Some years ago, I drove a 600 TD as a taxi, and I was mighty impressed with that. A very quick car with tidy handling, and apart from the odd CV joint, hugely reliable. Lack of headroom and legroom in the back counted against it as a taxi though.

 

Back in the early '00s, The wife and me were into the Max Power scene a bit, and she was looking to replace her first-car Suzuki Swift, just as the ZR came out. I always thought considering the limited budget, they did a pretty good transformation from the 25 to the ZR. So we ended up with one of the first ZRs around here, NY51 FNK. In Trophy Yellow with all the X Power graphics in Black, a while before everybody else started putting them on, so quite an eyecatcher. We loved the way it looked and drove, but within a year, the drivers door lock had disintegrated (no central locking on early bottom spec ones), making getting in and not setting the alarm off a challenge. That was sorted though, without too much hassle. Then the gearbox went...

 

Then a couple of years ago, I had sold one of my 190s and needed a cheap beater for the Winter. For some reason I quite fancied a ZR again, and ended up with a 9 year old 70,000 mile ZR 105. It was another base spec one, but at least the first owner had specced it with RCL, sliding sunroof and the nice 17" alloys.

 

 

It also had the benefit of a complete brand new head and MLS gasket set a couple of thousand miles before I got it. Full years ticket, 5 months tax, all for £900, which I thought was very fair at the time. Had to give the paint a good mop, it had it's fair share of supermarket car park dings, and the interior needed a shovel to clean it out, but it was a fun, reliable way of getting about. Owned it for a year, it asked for nothing, sold it for £800, and it's still blezzing around our way now.

 

Still seeing a lot of Z-cars tooling about now. I wouldnt rule out a 75 or ZT diesel at some point in the future.

[Hendry]

Had a lot of experience with Rovers.Did a YTS scheme at a Rover dealership when I left school. They had a lot to be pleased about then, the K series Metro and the R8 200/400 had just come on line and were selling well. The old Mini had been given a lease of life with the 90s Cooper. The 800 was quite popular, the 827 Vitesse fastback was a favourite of mine to go on road tests in! It was a strange time though because you could still buy an A series engined Metro, an MG Montego, or a povo spec Maestro Clubman as well at the time.Ah, back in the day when OMGHGF wasn't even heard of!Ma and Pa W201 owned a couple as well. The K reg 214Si they had was head and shoulders ahead of any rival at the time, build quality wise. I still have a soft spot for the R8 now. They later had an R3 214, back when the R3 had a premium price tag attached, and they still had a quality feel.Some years ago, I drove a 600 TD as a taxi, and I was mighty impressed with that. A very quick car with tidy handling, and apart from the odd CV joint, hugely reliable. Lack of headroom and legroom in the back counted against it as a taxi though.Back in the early '00s, The wife and me were into the Max Power scene a bit, and she was looking to replace her first-car Suzuki Swift, just as the ZR came out. I always thought considering the limited budget, they did a pretty good transformation from the 25 to the ZR. So we ended up with one of the first ZRs around here, NY51 FNK. In Trophy Yellow with all the X Power graphics in Black, a while before everybody else started putting them on, so quite an eyecatcher. We loved the way it looked and drove, but within a year, the drivers door lock had disintegrated (no central locking on early bottom spec ones), making getting in and not setting the alarm off a challenge. That was sorted though, without too much hassle. Then the gearbox went...Then a couple of years ago, I had sold one of my 190s and needed a cheap beater for the Winter. For some reason I quite fancied a ZR again, and ended up with a 9 year old 70,000 mile ZR 105. It was another base spec one, but at least the first owner had specced it with RCL, sliding sunroof and the nice 17" alloys.It also had the benefit of a complete brand new head and MLS gasket set a couple of thousand miles before I got it. Full years ticket, 5 months tax, all for £900, which I thought was very fair at the time. Had to give the paint a good mop, it had it's fair share of supermarket car park dings, and the interior needed a shovel to clean it out, but it was a fun, reliable way of getting about. Owned it for a year, it asked for nothing, sold it for £800, and it's still blezzing around our way now.Still seeing a lot of Z-cars tooling about now. I wouldnt rule out a 75 or ZT diesel at some point in the future.

I always liked the ZR too and nearly bought 1 as my 2nd car, it was August 2006 and the car was a 4 year old 52 plate ZR 105+ 3 door in trophy blue, 42,000 miles and was up for £4288 despite being a plus it only had the 16" "hairpin" alloys as opposed to the 17" multi spoke "straights" alloys. But it had the kenwood cd/ mp3 stereo, side skirts, remote central locking and electric sunroof, windows and mirrors. At the time I was 19, had only had my licence 7 months and was paying £140 a month insurance on a mk3 Astra 1.6, assuming with the smaller engine and factory alarm/immobiliser the MG had which the Astra didn't, my insurance would go down, but no my insurer wanted to double it to £280 a month. Hence I scrapped buying it, often wish I'd bought the car, shopped around and got cheaper insurance.

[Grundig]

It seemed to me that the media fueled a general public MGR bashing & doing down, fashionable at the time, this rubbishing I felt wasn't fully justified but very damaging 

[Guest Tony Hayers]

It seemed to me that the media fueled a general public MGR bashing & doing down, fashionable at the time, this rubbishing I felt wasn't fully justified but very damaging 

 

This still happens today.

[Lord Sterling]

It seemed to me that the media fueled a general public MGR bashing & doing down, fashionable at the time, this rubbishing I felt wasn't fully justified but very damaging

AGREED +100000000000000.........

 

This something I plainly explain to people when they are indulging in a yet more MGR bashing. Other car manufacturers have done similar things and had similar problems to MGR, yet we don't hear about them because its not 'in fashion' or whatever to bash those other car manufacturers.

 

No one ever bangs on about rusty Mercs with infra-red key problems, BMWs with exploding expansion tanks and bendy heads, corroded Golfs etc.....

[RedSparrow]

This is interesting, someone's done a write up with photos of all the changes done to the 75 during project drive.

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=34369

 

I still can't get over the spare wheel thing! How did they think they could get away with that on what was meant to be a top of the range car?

[Guest Tony Hayers]

No one ever bangs on about rusty Mercs with infra-red key problems, BMWs with exploding expansion tanks and bendy heads, corroded Golfs etc.....

 

Why would they? It is German, therefore it is brilliant because Top Gear/What Car/Daily Mail said so. And Rovers are crap anyway. You drive a Rover? Lol hope you like strikes/breakdowns/AA/headgaskets etc etc.......

[Angrydicky]

My dad's Rover 600 is a brilliant car. It cost £400, has no rust, is quick and nice to drive, comfortable and good on fuel. It's also done 170,000 miles and drives like it's done less than half that.

 

The 75 he had wasn't as good, but then it was quite a high mileage example, and the fuel economy wasn't helped by being an automatic. The cooling fans had failed, and the previous owner had overheated it in a big way, and cooked one of the headgaskets on the M20. She took it to a garage who replaced the cooling fans at a cost of £800! and lobbed a bottle of K-seal in the header tank which lasted for about 18 months until my dad had had it for a while, then it started pressurising the cooling system. Was a very quiet and comfortable car though, so it was a shame. Dad drove it to the local scrapyard who then sold it on to a punter a few weeks later, and not long after that we saw it being driven on the road! Surprising really. Just checked and it's taxed until the end of the year as well.

[Guest Tony Hayers]

I had a 52 plate 45. It was fine, very little not to like, but in the face of its competition it was very much outdated by 2003 and had a serious old giffer image (I actually had it from an old giffer who loved and cherished it) I think they couldn't afford to make a new model so just kept facelifting it.

 

 

That was because BMW pissed off with the replacement, It became the 1 series. After that it was game, set and over without a new midliner (however good the 75 is)

[Grundig]

This something I plainly explain to people when they are indulging in a yet more MGR bashing. Other car manufacturers have done similar things and had similar problems to MGR, yet we don't hear about them because its not 'in fashion' or whatever to bash those other car manufacturers.

 

No one ever bangs on about rusty Mercs with infra-red key problems, BMWs with exploding expansion tanks and bendy heads, corroded Golfs etc.....

^^^^ Not to mention the BMW Nikasil incident  - When I bought a 414 SLi, my mate said "what have you got that for? they're shit" how do you know? you've never had one I said  "no but everyone says so"  

[Angrydicky]

The standard reaction from pretty much everyone not on here when I say I have a beige Austin Maestro is "urgh, why???"

 

I don't give a fuck. I like it and that's all that counts.

[Barry Cade]

MG Rovers are GR8, and I will turn Vermillion and some spittle may fly around if anyone says otherwise in my presence.

[Partridge]

 My dream motah is a Rover 75 V8 LWB. There was one made apparently, but it got destroyed when Rover went into administration.

 

 

There was one on evilbay recently.

[RedSparrow]

Yeah they made a few LWB 75s. Early ones were even called Vanden Plas interestingly.

[Lord Sterling]

Not V8s though, they made a few V6s which I'd settle for. I just don't have the money unfortunately. I doubt I will actually be able to get one ever.

[In The Pit]

Why would they? It is German, therefore it is brilliant because Top Gear/What Car/Daily Mail said so. And Rovers are crap anyway. You drive a Rover? Lol hope you like strikes/breakdowns/AA/headgaskets etc etc.......

 

That's a good point as in the late nineties some Top Gear presenters seemed to treat Rover (and Vauxhall for that matter) with utter contempt.  Jeremy Clarkson and Quentin Willson were the main offenders, I think its the later who has put this idea in a lot of the British publics head that somehow German cars are far better in everyway than anything else.

With regard to Rovers on the road today where I live (in West Wales) there are still loads of them about, the oldest cars on the road I see (not including classics of course) are Rovers, Fords and Peugeots they appear to outlast all other makes.

[SambaS]

Mine's a pain in the arse

[Lord Sterling]

That's a good point as in the late nineties some Top Gear presenters seemed to treat Rover (and Vauxhall for that matter) with utter contempt. Jeremy Clarkson and Quentin Willson were the main offenders, I think its the later who has put this idea in a lot of the British publics head that somehow German cars are far better in everyway than anything else.

To be honest, it is pretty much most of the British motoring press who have been fairly bias with all things British and German, they have been doing it for years now. I, like many here, have many, many car magazines and the one thing I notice with them is the consistency of arse kissing when it comes to German brands, particularly whenever BMW is mentioned. It seems they can't put a foot wrong. The way some of the reviews are worded, you could literally stick a VW/BMW badge on a piece of turd and the journos will still lap it up. Yet produce something British that is outstanding and the journos will always place the turd above the British made car. If they have to criticise, say a BMW, the wording is very begrudgingly and very reluctant as if they don't want to criticise it.

[I_am_Diesel]

And Vauxhall have got away with putting unreliable Fiat diesel engines in their cars. The 1.3 CDTi engine is the most hateful thing that man has ever made out steel, aluminium & plastic. With the exception of a few teething problems, I don't think MG Rover ever made a truly bad engine. The body styling might have been dated and the image a bit shaky, but I don't think they were any worse than the other main stream cars with regards to quality. They got a few things right, like the MGF/TF but as previously mentioned, it was trendy to knock them and in these image conscious times they were on a hiding to nothing. Ford & Vauxhall made shit cars too, but they have massive US parent companies to bail out their losses (even GM nearly went under), BL just had successive shit governments who couldn't wait to get rid and was thrown to the wolves.

[morris_ital_lover]

Quntin Wilson has proved time and again to be an easily "purchased" voice, just look at his cringeworthy reviews of the new MGs, the only way he could be less subtle is if he actually showed you a suitcase full of Chinese Yuan at the start.

 

The first chapters in the disastrous end of MG Rover had to be BMW walking off with the 1 Series and the Phoenix Four arriving to ransack the company, there were no "new" cars on the horizon for too long which gave the motoring press a chance to resume their hobby of BL bashing. This was then compounded this with stupidity like "Project Drive" and the company killing stupidity that was the Cityrover... after the Cityrover came out they were fair game.

 

There was some positive press for MG Rover, I can remember the positive reviews of the MG ZT, but the tide was definitely a tide against them some it thoroughly deserved, plenty of it not. Most importantly, when Sniffpetrol was your main source of "positive PR" it is all going wrong. Regardless I still plan on having a drive way full of rotting 75s/ZTs in the years to come...

 

A final note to end on... Possibly the death of MG Rover allowed the British motor industry to move on. Jaguar, LandRover, Mini et al managed to remove the tarnish of British Leyland from their public perception and are now doing very well for themselves suddenly British cars aren't seen as being shit any longer. The finale of the last series of Topgear was the epic celebration of the British contribution to the motor industry, brilliant stuff:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTNEnjXQOrc

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Lets be honest the Phoneix 4 were a shower of shit, apart from the 75 all their cars were 'getting on a bit' and on their watch all they actually achieved was the 75V8 (admittedly pretty ace but commercially a massive pile of bollocks) and a lot of pissing about deleting spare wheels and whatnot. Rubbish. This is coming from someone who loves Rovers by the way, i've had loads but i'm not blind to the fact that they were pretty toss by 2004 relative to their competitors.

[overrun]

I saw a dead ZR on the hard shoulder today and thought of this thread.

 

Part of me is still disappointed that I couldn't get a brand-spankin' ZS 180 for 'sock drawer' money, when I first heard they were going under.

 

I had to suffice with essentially removing interior parts from an unregistered TF with my bare hands, whilst mooching round the showroom.

[KruJoe]

Mine's a pain in the arse

That one's a complete pup and should have stayed in the scrapyard where you found it. You're too bloody soft Edd!

However, I can only echo what others have said. Other than a few minor faults designed* in, my R8 is a very well thought out automobile.

[Brent_Crude]

I too, would have a 75 in a heartbeat. I think it will be much the same with Saab in a few more years - there are so many on the roads that it just seems inconceivable that they went the same way as MGR. This Chinese electric thing with Saab might get off the ground, but it isn't the same, much like the current set up with Nanjing and MG/Rover.