Any advice on Rovers?

squiggers

I've been offered a 1998 Rover 200, 1.4L for 500quid. Seller says he's just after puttin in a new head gasket, clutch and gear box. The mileage is low at 64k. It's also NCT'd till next year. But at the moment it doesn't run. The seller says all it needs is to clean the fuel pump because it's been standing in a garage for a long time and when he was driving it, he let it run out of petrol. Does this sound dodgy?

I've never bought a car before and haven't got a clue what rovers are like to run and maintain. A friend said they're pretty unreliable.

Could anyone give me some advice?

RoundyMooney

Hard to call. I'd personally prefer to see the bugger running before parting with any cash.

One main reason for saying so, is that the other K series (Rover) achilles heel, which people never hear much about is the ECU. When it goes, the car stops, and replacement is considerably more expensive than changing a fuel filter.

They aren't a bad car, once the coolant is changed regularly. Build quality is better than some European manufacturers...

The downside is of course, you can't give them away.

squiggers

Thanks for your reply. Are you saying that instead of it being a simple blockage in the fuel pump, the ECU could have broken down?

The seller says it tries to start up but doesn't get going. He did say he'd clean the pump himself if I gave him a reasonable offer.

crosstownk

It's impossible to say what's wrong with it from this side of the screen. But RoundyMooney is right - it could well be the ECU. If the seller reckons it's a simple fix then get him to fix it before you buy it.

It's true that they aren't the most reliable car on the planet, but you are getting a lot of car for €500. You could also be buying a lot of trouble too.......

RoundyMooney

Indeed.

OP, ask him to define reasonable

I'd personally see the car running, after that, my offer would depend on condition. 500 notes is hard to argue with if the car is running, and in good enough order.

junkyard

Tbh I wouldn't pay 500 euros for this car, it simply isn't worth it. I bought a 2000 Rover 75 in mint condition with a suspect headgasket for 100 euros recently.

squiggers

Umh, don't fancy buying a lot of trouble. I do like the look of the car a lot though..it's a hatchback (which I like) and it isn't one of those tiny ones that only fits little gnomes and the likes in the back. And it is less than 10 yrs old, which insurance companies will like.

Well, I guess I'll let the seller bring it to driving standard if he can, before I do anything about it.

maidhc

junkyard wrote:

Tbh I wouldn't pay 500 euros for this car, it simply isn't worth it. I bought a 2000 Rover 75 in mint condition with a suspect headgasket for 100 euros recently.

Damn good value.

junkyard

maidhc wrote:

Damn good value.

Absolutely, I took it up for its NCT test and it walked it, I added radweld to the coolant and haven't had a problem since I got it. It's already made me about 1500 on hire so if it ends up on it roof or in the tide I've lost nothing.

RoundyMooney

I'll give you the ton, plus another one for your trouble so, Junk.

TCP/IP

Talk to these guys
http://forums.mg-rover.org/

crosstownk

junkyard wrote:

Absolutely, I took it up for its NCT test and it walked it, I added radweld to the coolant and haven't had a problem since I got it. It's already made me about 1500 on hire so if it ends up on it roof or in the tide I've lost nothing.

A man after my own heart! I always find that putting certain cars out on daily hire can recoup more than what the car is standing. It backfires sometimes, but usually it will be fruitful.

squiggers

junkyard wrote:

Tbh I wouldn't pay 500 euros for this car, it simply isn't worth it. I bought a 2000 Rover 75 in mint condition with a suspect headgasket for 100 euros recently.

why isn't it worth it? are they that unreliable?

i've spoken to the seller again and he assured me that he had mechanic look at it and it's the fuel pump and not the ECU that is the problem.

squiggers

TCP/IP wrote:

Talk to these guys
http://forums.mg-rover.org/

Well, cheers, i gave a go, anyway...though the site made me feel a bit intimidated - especially when they ask you in the registration process (!) what kind of Rover one drives at the moment, the ponces:cool:

unkel

junkyard wrote:

I bought a 2000 Rover 75 in mint condition with a suspect headgasket for 100 euros recently.

Lol, did you severely bully & torture the owner first?

TCP/IP

squiggers wrote:

Well, cheers, i gave a go, anyway...though the site made me feel a bit intimidated - especially when they ask you in the registration process (!) what kind of Rover one drives at the moment, the ponces:cool:

Dont be intimidated at all these guys are lovely and are mad into rovers and MG's and belive me they know what they are talking about sure you can even catch me online there

squiggers

TCP/IP wrote:

Dont be intimidated at all these guys are lovely and are mad into rovers and MG's and belive me they know what they are talking about sure you can even catch me online there

Yes, this was the case, I take all my smart remarks back!

Cheers,
Mateja

golden

I would really weigh up the pros in cons and have serious thoughts about car parts as I believe Rover are no longer around would is a cheap car can turn around to be an expensive car at the end of the day.

Aslo if the head gasket has been changed what about the timing belt, most manufactures say between 50 - 60k miles they need to be replaced. If the seller has not mentioned that timing belt you can assume that it has not been changed and would be advisable to get changed.

Also have you seen any documentation to prove that the head gasket, clutch and gear box have been changed ie invoices?

Personally I would be inclined to walk away from it and its not because its a rover the main reason being is they are no longer around.

IrishRover

A colleague of mine went to see this car and he felt there was something very dodgy about it and the seller.
Oh and besides that, the fuel filter thing sounds like bollox.

BTW,

RoundyMooney wrote:

the other K series (Rover) achilles heel, which people never hear much about is the ECU.

Never heard of the ECU being an achilles heel in Rovers.
It's a Motorola MEMS system. The only thing people say about them is they can't be remapped.

Maybe he messed up the timing after putting the head back on with the gasket change. That would tally with trying to run and then cutting out. Maybe all the valves are bent now. Totally let him fix it first if it's such a simple fix.

If you did have a Rover, parts aren't hard to get, and in a lot of cases are cheaper and easier to get than equivalent parts for other manufacturers like Honda for example. Ryan's Garage in Blanchardstown is great for parts.

squiggers

IrishRover wrote:

A colleague of mine went to see this car and he felt there was something very dodgy about it and the seller.
Oh and besides that, the fuel filter thing sounds like bollox.

Was the seller on Blackhorse Ave? Yeah, there's somethin fishy about him. I contacted him again and he's bein difficult about fixin the 'fuel pump' himself. He first offered to do it himself although then went on to put the price down again sayin 'you can use the 100 to get it fixed, coz it wouldn't cost more than 70-80'.

He really wanted me to come to have a look at the car and started to include a lot of "hun"s, "love"s and "x"s in his txt msgs!

Think will give this one a pass, just doesn't feel right at all....thanks for all the feedback.
Mateja

TCP/IP

I think you made the right decision without a doubt but dont let that put you off a rover you might find a nice clean one for cheap

squiggers

TCP/IP wrote:

I think you made the right decision without a doubt but dont let that put you off a rover you might find a nice clean one for cheap

yeah, the hatchback models look quite nice and roomy...and I wouldn't mind having a rover..i guess i must be a bit of a ponce myself, :rolleyes:

IrishRover

squiggers wrote:

Was the seller on Blackhorse Ave? Yeah, there's somethin fishy about him. I contacted him again and he's bein difficult about fixin the 'fuel pump' himself. He first offered to do it himself although then went on to put the price down again sayin 'you can use the 100 to get it fixed, coz it wouldn't cost more than 70-80'.

He really wanted me to come to have a look at the car and started to include a lot of "hun"s, "love"s and "x"s in his txt msgs!

Think will give this one a pass, just doesn't feel right at all....thanks for all the feedback.
Mateja

When he went to see it, he was asking 1,500 I think he said. He said it wasn't running because the battery had gone flat due to standing, and said he'd knock off 500 if he took it now. Then asked if he had the owners documentation for the car, log book, whatever and he said he didn't get them yet but could get them no problem, would knock off another 500, said "nah I think I'll leave it" - ok will knock off another 200. When someone is that desperate to offload a car and doesn't have the papers for it, it sounds hot.

Weird that he was sending you amorous texts. He was described as being tattoed.

Marcus.Aurelius

A rover?

Never ever ever ever ever ever.

:rolleyes:

No offence to the rover lovers!

squiggers

IrishRover wrote:

When he went to see it, he was asking 1,500 I think he said. He said it wasn't running because the battery had gone flat due to standing, and said he'd knock off 500 if he took it now. Then asked if he had the owners documentation for the car, log book, whatever and he said he didn't get them yet but could get them no problem, would knock off another 500, said "nah I think I'll leave it" - ok will knock off another 200. When someone is that desperate to offload a car and doesn't have the papers for it, it sounds hot.

sounds very much like the same guy, allright. his last offer was 200.

IrishRover wrote:

Weird that he was sending you amorous texts. He was described as being tattoed.

He was literally bombarding me with them yesterday afternoon! Tattoes, eh? Maybe I did bewitch him with my sultry phone-manner, haha! Or it was his way of attempting to charm me into buying it...in any case, it seemed he was desperate on more than one front, the poor guy!

crosstownk

By the way things have unfolded I'd be inclined to stay away from it too. Seller sounds like a waster and doesn't care what the car is worth - he just wants a few handy quid which makes the whole thing very dodgey.

You are right to steer clear - plenty more fish in the sea.

Glanza V

its sound dodgy alright. And if you are looking to lesrn mechanics i can tell ya that rovers are brilliant to learn on!!!!

squiggers

Glanza V wrote:

its sound dodgy alright. And if you are looking to lesrn mechanics i can tell ya that rovers are brilliant to learn on!!!!

Is that because they are temperamental? I know nothing about cars - i've never owned one. A friend of mine swears on Japanese makes for reliability, cheaper parts and minimum maintenance. I wouldn't mind a bit of basic maintenance, but I'm not the type to not be seriously annoyed if things break down on a continuous basis.

From what I've heard, Rovers can be fine if they have been looked after.

IrishRover

squiggers wrote:

From what I've heard, Rovers can be fine if they have been looked after.

That's pretty much it yeah, and the same goes for pretty much any car. The K series engine in particular, is prone to head gasket failure due to a few factors like thermal shock, low volume of coolant, plastic head dowels, head creep when overheating. The Landrover uprated multi layered metal head gasket and oil ladder with new bolts and metal dowels and relocating the thermostat pretty much cures the issue. Do use new bolts if changing the HG as they are stretch bolts no matter what anyone says to you. Do a cheap job and try to skimp on it and you will only have a recurrance.