Thinking of buying a Rover 75

[rover420]

My current 420 is the most reliable car i've ever owned and that includes a Honda. Done 46000 miles in the 420 and only had to replace the exhaust and tyres.Totally agree about the Alfa, fantastic car but i just couldnt live with the fuel consumption of the V6.

[Milford Cubicle]

Why not keep the 420 then?I saw an 03-reg 75 in the scrappers the other day, I think it was a n/a 1.8. It's the newest not obviously damaged car I've seen in there.

[rover420]

Had if for 5 years now and fancy a change, its given me great service over the years but the tin worm is now getting into the front wings.

[VWPowered]

wish i didnt blow up my 418 Tourer was a great car that, 75's are all owned by oldies here,

[rover420]

Have just turned 40 so maybe its the start of the mid life crisis wanting a 75 lol

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

If you want a really good car that costs fuck all to buy, rarely goes wrong and looks nice inside and out, get a Rover 600 - the Honda engined one. £1000 would probably buy the best one in the universe.The 75 was a nice car new with a warranty, but they're just trouble now. The K Series is just a piece of shit and the V6 is too expensive to maintain and not noted for brilliant economy. There's just something nastily unfixable about a buggered 75.

[AnthonyG]

There's just something nastily unfixable about a buggered 75.

As much as I like them, I must agree with the above. Theres very little room in the engine bay either (at least on the V6s or diesels), so DIY is not easy for someone enthuiastic, and nigh on impossible for the average person.Ones at the cheap end of the market won't have had much maintenance or care either, which is a receipe for trouble with most cars. Even a modern Toyota can turn into a expensive piece of shit if it is not maintained. I would be very choosy, get a good one with a service history (not just a few stamps in the book but a nice big wodge of invoices, paperwork etc) and if you can afford it, get a diesel. There's not much point buying from a dealer unless they have a particularly nice example in stock.Avoid Ebay, ordinary auctions or any situation where you can't properly look at and drive it before handing the cash over, its not a simple car like a Mk2 Golf or Astra Mk3 etc where you can wing it a bit and take a risk.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

If you do a completed items search on eGay theres any amount of 75's with head gasket/timing belt problems for a few hundred quid. Urgh!

[Guest]

I remember the one Baz had... wasnt that long ago that early 75s were a four grand car!!

[AnthonyG]

I remember the one Baz had... wasnt that long ago that early 75s were a four grand car!!

I got my V reg 2.0 V6 in June 2006 for £2200 at an auction, more or less the cheapest one I had heard of at that time.

 

Mind you, it cost a fairly hefty amount over the next year and a half of ownership, why is why I wouldn't recommend getting one at an auction now, with so many reasonable private sale ones around at £1000-£1500.

 

Make sure the timing belts have been done properly on a V6, it is a £400 job as there are actually three to change.

 

Baz did buy from a dealer as well, he paid top dollar for the car, but did like it a lot. I would have another 75/ZT but only a diesel as the petrol ones are either crap (1800) or juicey (V6).

 

All cars from the earlier part of this decade seem to go very cheap now - I saw a clean 52 Mondeo 1800 LX, with 75k, go through a local auction ring at £950 provisional, seems only a couple of years ago that would have been 5 grand at a Ford dealer!

[rover420]

Decided not to go for the 75 after taking everyones comments onboard. In the end I got a 2004 Vectra 1.8 club, yes probably as bland as a Toyota Thanks for all the advice

[garycox]

Eurgh. If you'd started a Vectra B thread the responses probably would've been even worse. Isn't the Club the base model too?

[rover420]

Its a Vectra C, it seems that club is not the base model, it fits in above LS. Seems pretty much to be the same as an LS apart from having 16" alloys

[Albert Ross]

Get ready for broken springs, play in the rack ends, rear suspension arm bushes wearing, uneven tyre wear, wiper motor/linkage failure, water in the pollen filter mounting flooding the carpets, Enjoy replacing the nearside headlamp bulbs, where's the PAS pump? Is it visible by the back of the engine? If so, you've been lucky, the earlier version was under the offside headlamp making topping up a nightmare, you have to remove the bumper (or just the corner and peel it back). The radiator mountings have had a recall to prevent "groaning" noises from the front end as you set off. Knocking from the steering column is becoming normal, there's a recall on the parking brake lever for fitting a secondary hold up spring, as there have been some failures in this area. Oil leaks from cam and crank seals, also crank rear seal, and sump gasket. Driveshaft seals also go, lower balljoint play is fairly normal,the rear electrical centre sometimes shows faults when there aren't any, bringing on the EMWL for no reason............Cambelt tensioners and guide rollers get noisy, and should always be replaced when the belt is done, and don't forget to check the water pump as they are also cambelt driven...............there might be more, I guess they are ok cars, I just see more of these as I work for a Vauxhall dealer!Still, all that said, you didn't get the Rover eh?

[autohausdolby]

I like the way that the cams snap on the V6 as you torque up the bolt in the end. WINMOTA.I don't know why they went under. Oh no, wait a minute. Still, I'd roll a V8 one, but only if it looked like a 1.8 retired giffer spec povo model. I drove one once when I was on a corporate slag day at Gay-don, it was great. They let me have a sit in the Xpowa sports car effort thing as well - it seemed worthy enough but a child could have designed a better interior.

[Pete-M]

I like the way that the cams snap on the V6 as you torque up the bolt in the end. WINMOTA.

 

I don't know why they went under. Oh no, wait a minute.

 

 

Still, I'd roll a V8 one, but only if it looked like a 1.8 retired giffer spec povo model. I drove one once when I was on a corporate slag day at Gay-don, it was great. They let me have a sit in the Xpowa sports car effort thing as well - it seemed worthy enough but a child could have designed a better interior.

I had this one for a week or so last year. Unfortunately it was stock so it was bought and sold pretty much straight away. I will buy one for myself in the next year or two though. Ace thing.

 

 

 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Wow, an estate! Now that is a rare mota. Lovely!

[Guest]

Decided not to go for the 75 after taking everyones comments onboard. In the end I got a 2004 Vectra 1.8 club, yes probably as bland as a Toyota

So instead of a car from a defunct manufacturer, you bought one built by a manufacturer that'll probably cease to exist in the next couple of years Still, at least there'll be plenty in the scrappies to rob bits off, which was one of the things I really appreciated when running a Mondeo