CityRover - too shit to be Autoshite?

[Timewaster]

City Rover is truely awful!I noseyed round one on a local garage forecourt out of morbid curiosity. It was nasty!Brittle looking plastics, a tinny clang from the pannels and a general feel of Yugoness about it.Even the bloke selling it (who I knew, and knew I wasn't going to buy it) said "If this is the best they could do - no wonder they went bust!"

[Lukas]

Tata is making huge profits, so the Indigo aka CityRover isnt the problem I think!

[dollywobbler]

City Rover is truely awful!I noseyed round one on a local garage forecourt out of morbid curiosity. It was nasty!Brittle looking plastics, a tinny clang from the pannels and a general feel of Yugoness about it.Even the bloke selling it (who I knew, and knew I wasn't going to buy it) said "If this is the best they could do - no wonder they went bust!"

Yes, but you could say that about the Ford Ka! It wasn't the best they could do - it was about all they could manage. Pricing was the big failing.

[Timewaster]

City Rover is truely awful!I noseyed round one on a local garage forecourt out of morbid curiosity. It was nasty!Brittle looking plastics, a tinny clang from the pannels and a general feel of Yugoness about it.Even the bloke selling it (who I knew, and knew I wasn't going to buy it) said "If this is the best they could do - no wonder they went bust!"

Yes, but you could say that about the Ford Ka! It wasn't the best they could do - it was about all they could manage. Pricing was the big failing.

I actually like Ka's! Yes, they have a Ford Anglia engine and are one of the few modern cars that require a welder at mot time, and they have an airfix dashboard, but they are great to drive and have a bit of charm to them.Plus there was car supermarkets knocking out pre registered new ones for under £5k when a city rover was over £7kThe city rover just reminded me of an '80s Hyundai. And not in a good way!

[Mr Lobster]

City Rover would have done fine had they priced it right and been honest about what it was - cheaply built, very basic and somewhat dated alongside the competition.If they had got the pricing right, stood outside RoversRUs and done a big "Roll Up Roll Up, Come and Get UR Cheap Rovers while we have 'em" then they would probably have been ok.But to price them at anything close to where they did was madness.Verdict - Shit, not shite.

[RedSparrow]

I think they should have just stuck a generic model only badge on it, like with the later Metro / Maestro / Montego, as being a Rover it cheapened the once pretigious marque even more.And yes, £4995 and they wouldve sold pretty well I recon.By the way, why has everyone put a banner for their local rag in their signature? - I have been on holiday for a week!

[Pillock]

I think they should have just stuck a generic model only badge on it, like with the later Metro / Maestro / Montego, as being a Rover it cheapened the once pretigious marque even more.And yes, £4995 and they wouldve sold pretty well I recon.

To be fair, if I were Rover I'd probably do something similarly desperate in my final weeks. Rebadge a pre-build cheap car and hope there's enough patriotic giffers left to make a profit from. Better than going out without trying everything you've got.But yeah, £3000 too much. CityRover money got you a 6 month old decent spec Fiesta, and with the 6-monthly reg changes it really didn't matter what was on the plate any more.A garage near me, specialising in 'shit they found at auction' had a CityRover. It was only three years old and up for £1495 or something, parked next to rusty Corsas for £995 and intergalactic 8-year-old Vectras for four figure sums. And when the garage finally went bust, it was the one car left on the forecourt after even the portakabin had been taken away.

By the way, why has everyone put a banner for their local rag in their signature? - I have been on holiday for a week!

I have no idea, but I followed nevertheless.

[Lukas]

The main mistake in the UK was that they market it as a Rover. Here, it´s called Tata Indica because it is a Tata, so you can´t be diappointed by it. Every buyer knows it´s a cheap car from India, built for developing countries, so you know what you get when you buy one.

[Lankytim]

I dont think id actively hunt one out but if one appeared for pocket money then id have no issue driving round in one... I mean, how bad can they be?I think the oddity value firmly places them in the autoshite leauge.

[AXrescuer]

CityRover? ShittyRover more like.

 

My neighbour used to have one and he said it was the shittiest most unreliable car he'd ever owned! Told us he'd "Seen better build quality in a Blackbird's nest!"

[Station]

I think adding a Union Jack on the back took the piss a little.

[AnthonyG]

City Rover is truely awful!I noseyed round one on a local garage forecourt out of morbid curiosity. It was nasty!Brittle looking plastics, a tinny clang from the pannels and a general feel of Yugoness about it.Even the bloke selling it (who I knew, and knew I wasn't going to buy it) said "If this is the best they could do - no wonder they went bust!"

Yes, but you could say that about the Ford Ka! It wasn't the best they could do - it was about all they could manage. Pricing was the big failing.

The only thing marginal about the Ka was the engine, and perhaps the paintwork quality (or lack of). They were meant to be basic inside, bare metal etc. Quite a lot of work went into the handling, suspension, styling etc.Everything about the City Rover was marginal - they were appalling, they are not 'so bad they are good' like a Nippa or something, they are just bad (in the old use of the word). The Indians hated the early Tata ones as well - Autocar India said it was the most unreliable car on sale in India in c2003.

[Rod/b]

On the subject of the ShittyRover, and safety:

"...the next was from the head of engineering for the project, after the vehicle had just completed its second disastrous crash test; He said to me "Never put anyone you love in this vehicle" The vehicle was initially awarded 1 NCAP Star for having side intrusion bars, and a drivers airbag – this was awarded after a paper assessment and was duly removed after the physical test was complete when the steering column pierced the airbag on impact and ended up lodged in the right eye of the dummy. Need I say anymore?"

[scooters]

I like the Ka - wouldn't have one as the shape is impractical but for a 2 person city runabout it's great - it will do 80mph on the motorway with ease and has the feel of a larger car on the open road - worthy kit for the discerning autoshitter - or at leat will be in about 5 years time!

[Timewaster]

I like the Ka worthy kit for the discerning autoshitter - or at leat will be in about 5 years time!

At the rate they are getting scrapped come MOT time, there wont be any left in 5 years!Those that do survive will be soon scene taxed out of reach. It is a Ford afterall!

[CortinaDave]

Yep. I like the Ka as well barring the dreadful engines in the early ones. Do later Ka's not come with the 1.25 Zetec though? thats a cracking engine.I've had a few as hire cars and found them entertaining to drive and more than competent in every way.

[Milford Cubicle]

The later engine is an OHC version of the OHV lump used in earlier models I think.It's insane that they didn't put any better engines in it. Or rust-proof it.

[Guest]

The Ka does rot like a good one, but it's also hugely popular as a used car - as long as that situation exists they'll keep having patches and coversills welded onto them. Still don't see loads of them in scrapyards, surprising considering how many were sold! They were doing the old one until 2008, so people still think of them as a fairly new car. I reckon they'll be around for quite some time to come.Wouldn't be surprised if they're one of those cars where they just disappear overnight though. As soon as the point comes where they're suddenly not worth welding up, they'll be gone.

[scooters]

I like the Ka worthy kit for the discerning autoshitter - or at leat will be in about 5 years time!

At the rate they are getting scrapped come MOT time, there wont be any left in 5 years!Those that do survive will be soon scene taxed out of reach. It is a Ford afterall!

- yeah the beeb will probably do a 90's "life on Mars" with Gene hunt in his 60's screaming round in a Ka wearing a pastel shaded blazer with a paisley tie and a ducks ares haircut -

[Pete-M]

in a KA, doing 115.

Modified or falling off a cliff like Wilie E. Coyote, hotly pursued by an acme anvil?

I've done similar speeds in a standard Ka. They will get up there if you give 'em enough time. I've got a photo somewhere of a Ka speedo approaching 110 which was taken on the M6. But not by me, oh no, certainly not, officer.As for the City Rover. No. There's shite and there's just plain old shit. The City Rover has zero redeeming features.

[Richard]

As far as I know the last KAs got an 8V version of the Zetec, because there wasn't room for the 16V one.