F**ked Black Rover 827 SLi - The Mistake Machine

[St.Jude]

The buyer hasn't messaged me since last Thursday with just an "OK". Went on the banking app to refund him but that's going to take time as it doesn't show his details and I need to involve the bank to refund them.

Can't remember if I said this before (CBA looking either) but someone messaged me a month ago about buying the car, or offering more for it to get it. I messaged them yesterday seeing if they're still interested. I think it's somewhat cooled down from "I'll give you more for it now M8" to "well can I send a mate to look at it and see if it's worth my time". Think I'm as well to tell this clown to fuck off too.

I went on cartakeback and they'll give the huge figure of £228 for it. It's a kicker. But then part of me feels this might be a better way to go as the exhaust alone would recoup the difference. Issue there is while I do have somewhere to store stuff, I currently have the seats to my Lada and the various bits from the ZR I broke for the Lada.

So I think really, realistically speaking, I'm back to either just calling the scrap man and taking the haircut or investing more time in to getting it started and running.

[horriblemercedes]

Don't refund it. This is the point of a deposit - in my opinion, it's your money if the guy has broken the terms of the deal.

[Dobloseven]

A sad story,showing how in just a few years something can go from NEC Show to property value reducing garden ornament.Often wonder about all the old cars stuck on folks fronts,slowly(or quickly) deteriorating.Sure they all started with "just needs"and "it'll be worth a lot of money one day". You've done all you can to help it survive, perhaps give it best.Just hope the CTB guy doesn't get it started and drive it onto his truck!Now the CTB money could buy a nice Rover 45 that just needs..........

[Hertz]

Yep do not refund the deposit. That's his cost for fecking you around.

Have you tried ebay to sell it? Stick it on £300 start bid and see where it ends up?

[SEATMad]

Yeah I agree, whatever you do, do not refund that deposit. Maybe it'll teach him a lesson about how to not fuck people around.

[Dick Longbridge]

On 18/02/2024 at 13:56, Dick Longbridge said:

Shame there isn't much love on here for these old things. I'd lob a couple of quid in the pot for a group buy, but I'd imagine OP just wants the ungrateful old swine gone. 

I'm assuming no-one else on here feels the love for this? 

[Dave_Q]

8 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

I'm assuming no-one else on here feels the love for this? 

Your problem is not finding enough people to chuck in to cover the purchase price, it's finding someone who will be the "keeper" and actually have the thing on their drive.

I would chuck 20 quid in to save it from the scrapper but only on condition it never darkens my doorstep, and most other people will be the same.

[AnnoyingPentium]

34 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

Your problem is not find enough people to chuck in to cover the purchase price, it's finding someone who will be the "keeper" and actually have the thing on their drive.

I would chuck 20 quid in to save it from the scrapper but only on condition it never darkens my doorstep, and most other people will be the same.

Agreed. I've lowered house prices in my postcode enough so far.

[mk2_craig]

44 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

I'm assuming no-one else on here feels the love for this? 

Not going to lie, when a thread has a title like this and has an overwhelmingly negative narrative throughout, it isn’t exactly focusing on any of the car’s good aspects and creating some form of positive impression for potential purchasers. 
 

 

There will be someone out there who is both able to see past the downsides and with the necessary skills/time/money/troubleshooting knowhow to get it back up and running, but finding them quickly will require a different approach. 

[SEATMad]

8 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Agreed. I've lowered house prices in my postcode enough so far.

Seconded. I'd love to take it on as I love these big ole' Rovers but I've got 2 other projects on the go and money doesn't grow on trees. Plus my neighbours are getting rather fed up with my constant car related shenanigans. 

I'd be happy to chip in to save it. It doesn't look too far gone for someone here with the correct expertise to take on. But as @Dave_Q said, as long as it doesn't darken my doorstep. 

[Rust Collector]

50 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

someone who will be the "keeper" and actually have the thing on their drive.

I would be able to make space for it. If I had of pulled my finger out and sold something else like I’ve been meant to for the last eternity then this was one of the cars I had earmarked to buy as a replacement project because I’m a fucking idiot I reckon behind the foibles there is potentially a really nice car there.

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, Dick Longbridge said:

I'm assuming no-one else on here feels the love for this? 

well I really quite like it, it looks sharp in black and being an Automatic would make it well suited for London.

but I would not even know where to start with trying to get it fixed sadly

 

I think thats the problem most of us have, I am sure* most of us like the car, but its the big elephant in the room of getting it working thats the problem it seems?

 

maybe we should all chip in to have it sent to @RoverFolkUs 

[Dick Longbridge]

6 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

Your problem is not find enough people to chuck in to cover the purchase price, it's finding someone who will be the "keeper" and actually have the thing on their drive.

I would chuck 20 quid in to save it from the scrapper but only on condition it never darkens my doorstep, and most other people will be the same.

Agreed. If it had a Ford badge, there would inevitably be more interest. I'd like to see this thing live, but as you, I'd not be able to have it here. 

[RoverFolkUs]

27 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

maybe we should all chip in to have it sent to @RoverFolkUs 

[Missy Charm]

Have you seen this?  https://www.mg-rover.org/threads/1989-sterling-827sli-crank-no-start.874076/

Relates to the American Sterling, but assume certain bits might be the same...  

[Jim Bergerac]

4 hours ago, Dave_Q said:

I would chuck 20 quid in to save it from the scrapper but only on condition it never darkens my doorstep, and most other people will be the same.

Aye. It's a lovely thing and I would love to see it saved, but I have no space or knowledge to offer, and that's not going to help St. Jude who has already been fucked around and just wants to see the back of the thing. 

[Stanky]

Frag it, take your family out for a nice meal on the proceeds and move on.

It's not worth the hassle, free up some headspace. It's a millstone.

[N Dentressangle]

3 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

So you're up for it then?

[RoverFolkUs]

2 hours ago, N Dentressangle said:

So you're up for it then?

Oh yeah m8!! Just shutting the doors(!) to prevent the barrage of people behind me who are also up for it from getting in front! 😅

[RoverFolkUs]

With all jokes set aside, I wish I did have the time and space to dedicate to a car like this. Because if I did then I would gladly take it on. 

But I simply do not have any space to keep it and work on it simultaneously. I could probably find space to keep it, OR work on it, but not both. Then there's the elephant in the room being the fact that I have very little time outside of work that I can dedicate to something like this, which means it would just end up parked up somewhere being ignored, ultimately delaying the inevitable. 

Anyway, with that aside, remind me where you're at with it. 

It doesn't crank, right? 

Have we ruled out the obvious such as the park interlock, ensuring the car actually knows it's in park before cranking? 

Immobiliser faults will *normally* allow it to crank..

[LightBulbFun]

26 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

I have very little time outside of work that I can dedicate to something like this,

would you (or I guess your garage in this case) take it on as paid work? I mean I would have no problems paying to help get a sweet piece of autoshite like this saved

but the problem I foresee with it and why I have not really said much until now despite liking the cut of its jib, is no one knows how much it is going to cost im guessing?

 

I mean its not a case of "oh yeah chuck a grand it and a garage should be able sort it out" is it? I see it as very much a case of "how long is a piece of string" but I am happy to be corrected if I am wrong there  

[omegod]

I'm a bit late to the party but this is screaming faulty ignition switch to me, apologies if this has been ruled out already in the looong thread, had a similar wild goose chase with a calibra that wouldn't crank and it ended up being a £3.50 part that solved it 

[Dave_Q]

@St.Jude would you be OK with some sort of crowd funding effort? I could start a thread for a "roffle" at £15 a ticket where every ticket goes to @Rust Collector (unless anyone else really wants their own), this would draw around £900 which should leave you with £5-600 after transport costs?

Tell us if you can't be arsed but I think there are enough people who would want to chip in both to help you out after the time you've had with it and to see it potentially live again?

[SEATMad]

35 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

would you (or I guess your garage in this case) take it on as paid work? I mean I would have no problems paying to help get a sweet piece of autoshite like this saved

but the problem I foresee with it and why I have not really said much until now despite liking the cut of its jib, is no one knows how much it is going to cost im guessing?

 

I mean its not a case of "oh yeah chuck a grand it and a garage should be able sort it out" is it? I see it as very much a case of "how long is a piece of string" but I am happy to be corrected if I am wrong there  

Agreed, I reckon it’ll be a case of you identify one issue, fix it and 2 more issues appear out of nowhere. Thus being in a never ending labyrinth of problems. 
 

As I said, I’d also prepared to chuck in some dosh to see this back on the road but it seems like it’s going to be a bit of a poisoned chalice. 
 

I really feel for @St.Jude on this. You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. It’s such a shit situation to be in. 
 

[SEATMad]

5 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

@St.Jude would you be OK with some sort of crowd funding effort? I could start a thread for a "roffle" at £15 a ticket where every ticket goes to @Rust Collector (unless anyone else really wants their own), this would draw around £900 which should leave you with £5-600 after transport costs?

Tell us if you can't be arsed but I think there are enough people who would want to chip in both to help you out after the time you've had with it and to see it potentially live again?

Hear, Hear! 

[Marina door handles]

As a fellow 827 owner/victim I feel your pain St.Jude! I might feel a bit better about mine when it starts going back together.  Sadly I have no idea why your car wont start but I have great insight into were they can rust....... 

[HillmanImp]

I'll happily chip into a crowd fund rescue. 

[Shep Shepherd]

So would I. The car is totally the kind of thing I'd love to own, but I don't have the space to keep it

[RoverFolkUs]

1 hour ago, LightBulbFun said:

would you (or I guess your garage in this case) take it on as paid work? I mean I would have no problems paying to help get a sweet piece of autoshite like this saved

but the problem I foresee with it and why I have not really said much until now despite liking the cut of its jib, is no one knows how much it is going to cost im guessing?

 

I mean its not a case of "oh yeah chuck a grand it and a garage should be able sort it out" is it? I see it as very much a case of "how long is a piece of string" but I am happy to be corrected if I am wrong there  

Well, absolutely yes, it's got 4 wheels and an engine! But, I don't think we would be any better equipped than anywhere else! With that being said, I think we have the fastcheck kit for the Rover 800 but don't quote me on that..!

But I do know many garages would flat out refuse it. 

You're right, no idea at all on costs! It's very much a case of 'how long is a piece of string' and needs to be approached in the mindset as follows - 

"here is our hourly rate, we will have to go through everything to establish facts. Do we have power here, is it sending power here, is this working, etc etc. Only once we've done that, we will know where to start"

I would anticipate something like this would end up consuming upto 6-12 hours labour just to go through everything if that's what ends up being needed. That may sound extortionate, but getting relevant technical/service information can be extremely tricky and time consuming, and as such it needs to be factored into the job and charged for accordingly. 

Obviously if we found the problem in the first hour or two then great, but you have to assume the worst case scenario and quite literally accept an open chequebook approach, or a ceiling price to then potentially be no further forwards. 

In the first instance I would be confirming that the starter isn't receiving any feed, once that's the case then I would go straight to the ignition switch to confirm whether it is receiving a feed and sending one when desired. 

Once that's established, it's a case of unpicking the wiring diagram and checking absolutely everything. Find where the feed starts, trace along every single component that has something to do with it, until you get to the point it is lost where you find said faulty component, connection or circuit. Like I say, that could quite easily take all day if it involves stripping things apart for access. 

Let's say you find one fault, the ignition switch for example. That might take a week to arrive, after you've spent half an hour tracking one down and then buying it. (Remember , that time gets charged for) - - then you fit it, and you then work your way along and find a second fault further along. Then deal with that. This all consumes valuable time, and takes up a space on what is probably a busy forecourt. 

This car definitely has hope, it would just need someone to either own it as a labour of love, or work on it as a labour of love. 

Part of me feels an intense urge to find a way of rescuing it and go right through everything to find the fault just for the satisfaction. It's not going to be cheap to transport it down to my neck of the woods though is it? Again, if I had my own flatbed then it would make more sense to do it myself but I don't, so I would have to pay someone to get it down here after buying it, by that point I've swallowed up a lot of cost, I'm then going to sink a lot of time in it with no guarantee of ever seeing any of that money back by the end of it. Or it could end up being a total lost cause - I'm not willing to take that risk. If I wanted a Rover 800 that badly then I would just go and find a nice one to buy. They aren't worth that much!

But the other thing that needs to be considered - once you've gone to all that trouble of getting it running, then what ever next?! The welding? 

It's not going to make sense to pay a garage a grand just to get it running and then find it's going to need another 1/2/3 grand spent on it to get it safe and usable. 

In summary I would say there is definitely hope for this car, but trying to get it repaired commercially just won't be viable. 

As with any vehicle that has, realistically speaking, been preserved for longer than it's average intended useful lifespan of 13 years, it's never going to make sense from an economic point of view. It "just" needs someone who has the means and inclination to sink a lot of time and effort into it. 

I would say the actual material cost would probably be quite minimal! It's all in the labour. 

[Christine]

I went to Chichester on the A27 yesterday  , at Lewis started following a  recovery truck with a preserved  L reg  Police  Rover  827  on the back  . I overtook it at Arundel.. 

A  Peel  was going the other direction .. !