advice on am mg zr

sfhawke7w

okay so i have a 99 opel astra 1.4 club, 94k on the clock, time belt/head gasket done about 18mths. love my car, has gone through every nct without spending more than 80euro. cheap tax and insurance

so my bro in law has just got a 05 mg zr, 3 door, 1.4, blue/purple colour, i love this car and is nice to drive, gearbox tight compared to astra but feel like something edgy compared to my safe astra.

he will take mine along with 500euro, it is up for nct booked in for nov am just wondering are there many probs with the mg, he buys and sells cars the whole time and he got the 05 quite cheap as the previous owner wanted rid quick.

thanks for the help. any advice would be great

thanks

EPM

As long as you budget for a head gasket replacement it could be ok. They eat heads for breakfast.

Could be why the previous owner wanted rid actually...

sfhawke7w

previous owner got into bit of bother and is going on a "holiday", bro in law has checked the car etc and all is fine.

EPM

sfhawke7w wrote: »

previous owner got into bit of bother and is going on a "holiday", bro in law has checked the car etc and all is fine.

I'd be checking if there was finance owing and who exactly owns the car too in that case. Not saying anything is amiss, just better safe than sorry

sfhawke7w

bro in law checked it out before he bought it, no finance on it. and the seller is the registered owner.

Mr Benevolent

Take it so, sounds like it's a good deal.

sfhawke7w

just need to sort out the 500euro, it is a nice car with a good sound system.

thanks for the help.

atlantean

sfhawke7w wrote: »

he got the 05 quite cheap as the previous owner wanted rid quick.

Just remember some parts can be hard to get as there is no Rover anymore!

bazz26

atlantean wrote: »

Just remember some parts can be hard to get as there is no Rover anymore!

Sorry but this is not true, parts are still being made and are plentiful as there are alot of these cars still on the roads in the UK.

Webmonkey

atlantean wrote: »

Just remember some parts can be hard to get as there is no Rover anymore!

Absolute bull****. How do you know this? - Just because you heard it? And production is starting with new vehicles with NAC MG. and SIAC.

OP - MG's are a lovely car to drive. I've a ZS myself. They are very reliable *except* for the head gasket. Every other part of the car is perfect....not a thing gone wrong.

Is this the uprated version, the ZR+ or just the ZR. The newer ones have a coolant level sensor that will give you some notice.

Not all car's HG's go however, and its rare for the newer ones. It was more common back in cars during the late 90's.

This forum might interest you: http://forums.mg-rover.org - some good guys on that.

If your HG was to go, it really isn't that bad of a job to change yourself once you get a book. Do it in half a day. There is also a new version of a head gasket developed by land rover for the Freelander which uses the 1.8K series. Using this one, you shouldn't see HG anymore.

Symptoms for HG: - dropping coolant, mayo stuff under the cap of the oil filler on the rocker cover. Oil on dip stick. If you want to put your mind to rest, you can get a simple enough pressure test done.

What millage is up in the car?

atlantean

Webmonkey wrote: »

Absolute bull****. How do you know this? - Just because you heard it?

Actually no! I work in the industry and I have seen it first hand where people have found it difficult to get so called Main Dealer Only parts! Not always impossible but difficult!

Webmonkey

atlantean wrote: »

Actually no! I work in the industry and I have seen it first hand where people have found it difficult to get so called Main Dealer Only parts! Not always impossible but difficult!

Well that is very strange then.

Have you looked for these parts from www.xpart.com or www.rimmerbros.co.uk

XPart is the fastest growing automotive parts distribution and marketing organisation in Europe. It is a division of Caterpillar Logistics UK Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the global Caterpillar Inc. XPart was born out of the MG Rover car company and is still today the continuous driving force for worldwide sourcing and supply of MG Rover Original Equipment Parts. XPart have created a network of some 250 XPart AutoService centres across the UK, recognising the need for MG, Rover, New Mini and other makes of car for ongoing quality service and repair at affordable prices.

atlantean

Webmonkey wrote: »

Well that is very strange then.

Have you looked for these parts from www.xpart.com or www.rimmerbros.co.uk

The point I was making was that you can't walk into your local dealership and pick up the part off the shelf! That's why I said "some parts can be hard to get"

Not everyone does their parts shopping on the net!

Webmonkey

My point is that you go into a dealer and they order it for you from the distributor Anyways I'm not trying argue with you, just letting the OP know that parts shouldn't be a problem :pac:

atlantean

Webmonkey wrote: »

My point is that you go into a dealer and they order it for you from the distributor

Where are the dealers?

Webmonkey

atlantean wrote: »

Where are the dealers?

There's one back the road from me Killarney out the tralee road. Any Landrover dealer should be able to as well since they have the same engine in the Freelander.

atlantean

Webmonkey wrote: »

There's one back the road from me Killarney out the tralee road. Any Landrover dealer should be able to as well since they have the same engine in the Freelander.

Well that's one then! As for the Landrover dealers - I'll take your word on that!

Webmonkey

yeah, they scarce alright. Only making point that parts are available if needed and not all that difficult to get really infairness.