CityRovers?

[C1am]

I need to pick the brains of CityRover owners on here. Are they a viable proposition as an only car? Are they reliable, what goes wrong, and how are they for parts availability?

I've got the classic dilemma of my car costing me a lot in repairs recently (£1200 on bearings, seals and clutch in the last eight months). It's superbly reliable and I love it to bits, but is getting expensive,  so do I keep it or buy something cheap?

[The Old Bloke Next Door]

As an ex owner my answer to your questions, No, No, Most things, Difficult.

Some one may be along soon with something positive to say about them.

[smellypoo]

If your car is reliable and you love it, the bits you've described sound like maintenance? Is there some other underlying scary fault/upcoming potential wallet pain likely to drive your view towards a different car?

[lesapandre]

The City Rover is something that I see very occasionally and view as a kind of collectors curio and talking point than an everyday car...something to hang on to if you can get one as a second car as it is the last of it's kind starting with the Austin 7 and ending with this. If you are only popping about town ok - but as something for most regular useage I think you would struggle. I suppose the name sums it up 'City' car.

I remember when they were launched - pity they were never got right and marketed right. They were priced as a -'premium' car when they were really cheap and cheerful. I think the came into the UK fully assembled.

[Skut]

Iv'e only driven but was not much smitten.  If expense is a concern i'd suggest something else. I have a Maruti built Alto Zen. Parts are a problem and its not from a defunct manufacturer. 

[crapcarcollector]

Stick with what you have or buy a Panda. Others will he along shortly to disagree.


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[New POD]

My Aunt sold a very low mileage metro to buy a new rover 100, and sold that to buy a new Shitty Rover. 

My uncle phoned me, because despite having only 12k on the clock he was worried that the only key that worked might fail, and he couldn't get another key just in case. I chose to offer no advice as I didn't know and he can use the internet as good as me, and built his own electric bike, so probably more practical than me.   So they Pxd it for an i10.  

And the answer is C1, 106, Aygo. 

[lesapandre]

 

AR Online has the whole sad saga. 

https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/rover/rover-cityrover-rd10/the-cars-cityrover/

[C1am]

Quote

 Is there some other underlying scary fault/upcoming potential wallet pain likely to drive your view towards a different car?

Yes, unfortunately water pump gasket is starting to fail (so I'd replace the lot - cambelt, tensioner and water pump), and propshaft(?) oil seal.  Ultimately all consumables, so I'm coming to the conclusion that I'll keep it as once replaced they'll never need doing again (car has done nearly 112,000 miles).

Quote

And the answer is C1, 106, Aygo.

Not for me - my nephew had an Aygo, and there was nothing wrong with it, but just too small and basic for me. 

[lesapandre]

www.carsurvey.org have some contemporary owner reviews. No love for the little 'Rover'.

http://www.carsurvey.org/reviews/rover_-_austin/cityrover/

[C1am]

And with that, case closed! Thanks all. 

[lesapandre]

Someone on here was looking for a £100 car to run and write about. This wd be it, rarer than an Isotta Fraschini and more exotic than a Pegaso - parts more difficult to get than an Armstrong Siddeley and not even two decades old.

[sierraman]

The clutch on them is pathetically weak. A mate worked at a Rover dealers when these were new, he was sick to death on swapping clutches on them. The furious power of the 1.4 K series apparently. 

 

Dont know why why but these usually seem to follow an ownership pattern if Old giffer owner followed by an impoverished relative that ‘inherits’ it then promptly runs the fucker into the ground within about 6 months. 

[clayts450]

 No K series in these, it's an anonymous Peugeot lump from about the year 1975. The only reference point is the engine is called a 476 or something. A mass of information.

I think the tricky issue is parts availability. For sure it's a Tata Indica in disguise, but as the rugged Indian vehicle never made it here, parts are still hard to find. There is (isn't there always) a Facebook group with a whopping 249 members (including me, oddly) https://www.facebook.com/groups/cityrover/

There is a chap on here who loves his CityRover - post here

Also be aware that there is actually a Mark 2 version, even though MG-R had collapsed before they were relaunched.

The Longbridge input into 'building' the CityRover was I believe pretty much 'Rover-ising' them (badge here and there), not a lot else.

A miserable full stop for the home car manufacturing industry.

I'd still have one though, but only as a commutawagon 

[BlankFrank]

Flatmate of mine had a City Rover, felt nippy for the first day until the rear suspension decided it wanted to live in the boot and promptly smashed its way right through the mountings going over a speed bump.

[Dannyk]

My exes mum had one that was 5 years old, she leant it to me.

It was miserable, gutless, piss poor build quality and the gear linkage was knackerd, apperantly it was a common fault and no one could get the parts. I actually gave it back early. Only thing i liked was the "made in india" sticker in the boot.

[UltraWomble]

The CityRover is the staple standard that bitcoin uses to determine Worth.

 

Currently Bitcoin is worth about 1:38,000,000th of a CityRover

[Lacquer Peel]

It's not really a Peugeot engine, it's Tata's own work. It's based on their 2.0 OHC diesel which is loosely based on an Indenor diesel block.

 

I think they're quite attractive cars and their survival rate, considering they were abandoned almost at birth by MG-R's collapse is decent.

 

 

 

 

[lesapandre]

Yup for their time ok styling. They definitely have some appeal. Pity Tata didn't pick Rover up with Jaguar etc. I suppose at the time the buy-out from Ford was some time away. The Rover brand could then have been applied to a cheaper car range under Jaguar - Cityrover is quite a clever monniker. Longbridge was all about affordable cars and a range with a pepped up  Tata Cityrover etc might have taken the company forward on a smaller scale and then a fight back. Ho hum of course not to be. A souped Cityrover with MG badges perhaps and why not.

The classic car future is difficult to predict but they may survive into the collected era - that is if enough survive till then. Some cars like the Citroen Visa or LNA etc survive in such tiny numbers they don't ever get much attention (except here of course).

[sierraman]

Looking back the naivety of Rover with the way they originally priced it was laughable. Way too expensive. 

 

It was symptomatic of how desperate they had got, people saw through the Rover bullshit emblazoned on it quite quickly. Reminds me a bit of Vauxhall at the moment with all this ‘built in Britain’ nonsense. After Rover had folded there were masses of them at car supermarkets up at something mad like £4000. 

[steveo3002]

my dad had one when it was near new , was a peice of crap then , cant see why on earth you would want to own one , plenty of cheap cars that do a better job than these where they actually still sell parts and manuals for them etc 

[busmansholiday]

Think Rover paid about 3.5 grand per car to Tata and tried selling them at 6.5 grand. They just changed a few panels and trim, and Tata did that for them on the production line.

I've seen a few in proper Tata clothes in Europe and some in places like Sri Lanka. 

 

If somebody gave me one I'd have it, I doubt I'd waste more than 50 quid on one.

[sierraman]

Too shit for shite. 

[Lacquer Peel]

I thought this was the forum where people are supposed to like rubbish, unloved cars. 

[Dave_Q]

What surprises me is the reports that they're unreliable?

When I was in India 10 years ago they were one of the most popular taxis, would have expected them to be pretty hardy.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

14 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

What surprises me is the reports that they're unreliable?

When I was in India 10 years ago they were one of the most popular taxis, would have expected them to be pretty hardy.

Indian car suited to Indian conditions. From the same nation that gave us - God forbid - the death trap G-Swiz.

Take it out of its natural environment and disguise it as a premium product, then watch it fail.

[bangernomics]

Absolutely shite Tata nano, avoid like a perodua nippa. (Mum has two at once)

[New POD]

5 hours ago, Lacquer Peel said:

I thought this was the forum where people are supposed to like rubbish, unloved cars. 

No. We like unloved cars which are underrated. 

HORSE manure? Under rated. Put it on your garden and the roses bloom better. 

CAT shit? Children playing in the garden get it on hands, wipe their face and go blind

 Shit verses Shite. The exact definition

 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

38 minutes ago, New POD said:

....HORSE manure? Under rated. Put it on your garden and the roses bloom better. ...

 

...or compress it into briquettes, let them dry out thoroughly, then use them as alternative fuel in your fire or stove. Burns surprisingly well.

[BlankFrank]

You can tell they're crap when even seasoned Autoshiteists won't touch 'em.