MG TF buying advice

Speedway

Hey all,

I'm taking a 2005 MG tf for a test drive at the weekend. It has low mileage, 1 previous owner, is offered with a warranty, full service history and NCT done.

I just want to know does anyone have suggestions of things I should look out for during the test drive. I asked and the head gasket hasn't gone in it and hasn't been replaced because I heard that this can be a problem with it.

Thanks in advance!

In 2005 they introduced a rear glass window that was heated, if the one you are buying doesn't have this than it is the up to 2005 version, there were other improvements too to the suspension, trim and ventilation so the rear glass windowed ones are worth getting if buying a 2005 model in my opinion. When the TF was introduced in 2002 (replacing the F) the HG was improved with steel locating dowels, this improves engines ability to cope with heat shock. A well maintained, average mileage 2005 model should drive like new and be in mint condition, if it's not walk away and find one that is. I'd love an F or a TF someday, preferably a TF as the old hydragas suspension puts me off the Fs. If the one you are looking at is a VVC ensure there is no rattling from the mechanisms, there shouldn't be on a low miler but its worth checking for.

If you do buy it I would strongly recommend you check the coolant level weekly, they have a low indicator warning but I wouldn't rely on this, frequent oil changes and coolant change every two years by someone who knows what they're at to ensure no air is left in the system. Also don't accelarate agressively when the engine is cold, keep it gentle and below 3000 rpm. The K series engine is wonderful (and reliable) if looked after.

smash

Is this the one http://www.carzone.ie/search/MG/TF/CABRIOLE/200947195924217/advert?channel=CARS ?

There's another 1005 but it's green, with a black hard top for some reason....

Tragedy

Whats the price Speedway? Even low mileage late model TF's go for next to nothing these days.

[edit]That's about twice as much as I'd be willing to pay, based on what I've seen them going for on gumtree/donedeal and in the UK.[/edit]

pburns

MG TF buying advice in one word?

Don't...

smash

pburns wrote: »

MG TF buying advice in one word?

Don't...

constructive post there.... I like the way you backed up your opinion!

Tragedy

Tragedy wrote: »

Whats the price Speedway? Even low mileage late model TF's go for next to nothing these days.

[edit]That's about twice as much as I'd be willing to pay, based on what I've seen them going for on gumtree/donedeal and in the UK.[/edit]

You won't get a 2005 TF for €5000 so if someone wants one they will have to pay more.

Regarding the "don't" from the other poster, as said very constructive, please list the reasons why for us please.

Tragedy

RoverJames wrote: »

You won't get a 2005 TF for €5000 so if someone wants one they will have to pay more.

Regarding the "don't" from the other poster, as said very constructive, please list the reasons why for us please.

You'll get 2003/2004's for around €4,000, seen around 6 in the last 3 months(most of which had the optional hard top as well as the soft top).

Majority of the ones on carzone are there for upwards of 6months.

bryaner

Don't do it i used to work on them (a local rover dealer used to sub their warranty work out to us) Rover= Ball of ****e

Speedway

Thanks for the posts everyone and for the advice. I'm kind of looking for a more "here's what to look out for when test driving it" as opposed to don't buy it!

Thanks though for all the advice, very helpful RoverJames cheers!

bryaner

Well all i can say if you like spending lots of money repairing

cars buy it

Quite often the problems with Rovers are due to leaks in the cooling system (radiator, inlet manifold gaskets, water pumps etc). When the car overheats and the HG goes many mechanics who repair them fix the head gasket but sometimes do not find the initial cause of the coolant loss, therefore the HG goes again. These mechanics then refer to the car as a ball of ****e

The one I bought was after getting a reconditioned engine fitted, the HG went on it after a month or so, the previous owner got it fixed again, the 2nd time the mechanic replaced both the rad and water pump. The car still was losing coolant and I bought it. Leaking from the inlet manifold, very very easy fix and car fine for the last 3000 miles.

No doubt the mechanic put the issue down to the car being a ball of ****e rather than his own troubleshooting skills being rather poor

Tragedy

bryaner wrote: »

Don't do it i used to work on them (a local rover dealer used to sub their warranty work out to us) Rover= Ball of ****e

So, you think they're unreliable because you received warranty work for them?

You do realise how silly that logic is don't you?

Of course you see a lot of ones with problems, people have to bring their cars to you to get them fixed under warranty

It's like a hotpoint engineer saying he fixes a lot of hotpoint washing machines under warranty, so they must be ****

Speedway

Speedway wrote: »

Thanks for the posts everyone and for the advice. I'm kind of looking for a more "here's what to look out for when test driving it" as opposed to don't buy it!

If it's a good condition low mileage one it should drive like new, nothing in particular to look for really. Is it a reputable garage ? Just beware of it being in a crash before etc. Also as I mentioned the glass rear window shows it is the 2005 on model, they were introduced in very early 2005 but dealers would have had 2004 unregistered stock in showrooms that would be reg'd in 2005.

Speedway

Thanks RoverJames. Yep it's a reputable garage. It's the one someone found on carzone above http://www.carzone.ie/search/MG/TF/CABRIOLE/200947195924217/advert?channel=CARS

Cheers everyone appreciate the advice.

bryaner

We did warranty work for a lot of different dealers i.e different vehicles

and rover were 5/1 in amount (suited us nicely busy busy) in my 35 years

in the trade i never saw such badly made motors as for cylinder head work

they have left the rover factory with pulled head bolts ffs muck i tell you

muck

Tragedy

VOSA published MOT failure rates for all cars up until 2006.

Guess what, MG TF doesn't do badly at all.

(http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/repository/MOT_Make_Model_Comp_2007.pdf for those interested)

bryaner

Tragedy wrote: »

So, you think they're unreliable because you received warranty work for them?

You do realise how silly that logic is don't you?

Of course you see a lot of ones with problems, people have to bring their cars to you to get them fixed under warranty

It's like a hotpoint engineer saying he fixes a lot of hotpoint washing machines under warranty, so they must be ****[/QUOTE

Can you read?? rover had to sub their warranty work out to us

they were that overran with it!! comprehend

bryaner

Tragedy wrote: »

VOSA published MOT failure rates for all cars up until 2006.

Guess what, MG TF doesn't do badly at all.

(http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/repository/MOT_Make_Model_Comp_2007.pdf for those interested)

I take it you drive a rover

Speedway

Speedway wrote: »

Thanks RoverJames. Yep it's a reputable garage. It's the one someone found on carzone above http://www.carzone.ie/search/MG/TF/CABRIOLE/200947195924217/advert?channel=CARS

Cheers everyone appreciate the advice.

Nice car, though you won't get it or another 2005 for €5000 I wouldn't pay €9500 for one, also I reckon that is not a glass rear windscreen.

bryaner

bryaner wrote: »

I take it you drive a rover

I do, I've had 5 so far, 3 K series ones, an L series and a 1.8 Honda engined one. Great cars, all 5 of them, also I a visit a few Rover Forums and most folk find them easy to work on and reliable once looked after.

Tragedy

Tragedy wrote: »

VOSA published MOT failure rates for all cars up until 2006.

Guess what, MG TF doesn't do badly at all.

(http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/repository/MOT_Make_Model_Comp_2007.pdf for those interested)

They mustn't be a ball of ****e so, or maybe competent mechanics worked on those ones

bryaner

RoverJames wrote: »

They mustn't be a ball of ****e so, or maybe competent mechanics worked on those ones

Well even the FULLY QUALIFIED rover mechanics found them to be balls

of sh ite oh yea easy to work on no problem, but this should not be the case

with cars under 2 years of age, all they should have seen is a standard service

or 2 and maybe a set of pads not major warranty work end of!

bryaner

bryaner wrote: »

Well even the FULLY QUALIFIED rover mechanics found them to be balls

of sh ite oh yea easy to work on no problem, but this should not be the case

with cars under 2 years of age, all they should have seen is a standard service

or 2 and maybe a set of pads not major warranty work end of!

A chap I know served his time in a Rover dealer and had huge fondness for the brand, he is now a tech in a BMW garage and finds taking the heads off 335s with low mileage due to exhaust valves not seating properly a bit of a pain, also takes 4 days to do turbo wastegates on the diesels, much of these are under warranty too, a bit beyond an oil change and a set of pads, are Bimmers balls of sh1te too ?

Tragedy

bryaner wrote: »

Well even the FULLY QUALIFIED rover mechanics found them to be balls

of sh ite oh yea easy to work on no problem, but this should not be the case

with cars under 2 years of age, all they should have seen is a standard service

or 2 and maybe a set of pads not major warranty work end of!

In my experience newer cars have more niggledy problems than 3-7 year old cars.

There's also the fact, if absolutely anything goes wrong or seems wrong while you're under warranty, you bring it in.


As I said, look at the MOT failure rates and compare it to other cars.

bryaner

RoverJames wrote: »

A chap I know served his time in a Rover dealer and had huge fondness for the brand, he is now a tech in a BMW garage and finds taking the heads off 335s with low mileage due to exhaust valves not seating properly a bit of a pain, also takes 4 days to do turbo wastegates on the diesels, much of these are under warranty too, a bit beyond an oil change and a set of pads, are Bimmers balls of sh1te too ?

Yea beemers went to fook after 04

bryaner

I machined the seats on 530d heads with a mira centronic to

+/- 1/4 a thou of an inch know all about them

bryaner

RoverJames wrote: »

A chap I know served his time in a Rover dealer and had huge fondness for the brand, he is now a tech in a BMW garage and finds taking the heads off 335s with low mileage due to exhaust valves not seating properly a bit of a pain, also takes 4 days to do turbo wastegates on the diesels, much of these are under warranty too, a bit beyond an oil change and a set of pads, are Bimmers balls of sh1te too ?

He's a bit slow on the wastegate

bryaner

bryaner wrote: »

He's a bit slow on the wastegate

Yeah, apparently he has to do it bit by bit and the Master Technician has a looksee every so often.

bryaner

Tragedy wrote: »

In my experience newer cars have more niggledy problems than 3-7 year old cars.

There's also the fact, if absolutely anything goes wrong or seems wrong while you're under warranty, you bring it in.


As I said, look at the MOT failure rates and compare it to other cars.

Fully agree the newer they get is seems more trouble is en route

But looking at rovers over the years they are just made with bad materials

front to back

Speedway

actually, aside from the rear windscreen. Is there any way to tell which version of the TF it is. There's loads listed on here with the 1.8 engine with various BHP ratings. How can I tell which one it is when I look at the car?

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/summary.aspx?model=1205

The dealer looked at the log book and service history etc and wasn't able to tell.

Tragedy

Speedway wrote: »

actually, aside from the rear windscreen. Is there any way to tell which version of the TF it is. There's loads listed on here with the 1.8 engine with various BHP ratings. How can I tell which one it is when I look at the car?

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/summary.aspx?model=1205

The dealer looked at the log book and service history etc and wasn't able to tell.

Easiest way to tell is by alloys, but even that isn't a sure way.

Good news is: the alloys on that car confirm it's MY05.

Bad news is, MY05 had all 15" alloy wheel designs superseded by just one.

It's most likely a 135 as 160's had 16" wheels.

Seriously, €9,450 is mad money for that. It doesn't even have a hard top.

This is better specced, and even this is expensive: http://www.usedcarsni.com/30556402?grtkey=1263486013_cd7fffc83a0baaffad1a8fd86c7d1aaa

The TF 115 is a 1.6 so that ones easy.

The TF 120 is stepspeed (not manual) and has steering wheel controls to change gear as well as the gear lever, 'tis a failry nifty autobox actually.

The TF 135 has no VVC and 15" alloys from the factory. (people often upgrade though)

The TF 160 has VVC and 16" alloys from the factory and 304 mm front discs with red four pot brake calipers.

The one you are thinking about buying is a 135 me thinks .

Tragedy

Tragedy wrote: »

This is better specced, and even this is expensive: http://www.usedcarsni.com/30556402?grtkey=1263486013_cd7fffc83a0baaffad1a8fd86c7d1aaa

I reckon that may be a 160 as it has the 16" 11 spoke 160 wheels and red calipers, may be only a wheel upgrade with DIY painted calipers though.

Tragedy

It's on HPI as a 135 Spark, very tidy though.
Love the alcantara interior and two tone leather wheel!

Speedway

that one does look tasty alright, think i'll look into that! Thanks for the advice everyone!

Quigs Snr

I had an MGF. Same car, same engine with a bit of lipstick on it. Your head gasket will fail, even if it is the so-called "uprated one" which does away with the old plastic dowels. Budget at least 1000 euro from an independant, unless you are out of luck like I was and your engine block warps and you need a new one (thankfully available in traynors yard in the north, get their number you will need it).

Also watch out for dampness in the footwells from leaks around the front upper section of the windows. They all leak to some extent at some point, you can live with it though, its not all that bad.

Apart from that and weak paint that scratches easily - keep it polished, you will have to wash it by hand anyway so give it a coat of wax or polish on a regular basis and that will go a long way.

All that being said, my car although it had electrical problems with the windows and brake lights at 20k, needed a new engine at 29k following a gasket failure (it was out of warranty at that stage), sprung several leaks around 32k, had the clutch fall apart at 38k (it wasn't worn, the part it was bolted onto basically sheared off). All of this despite a full main dealer service history.... despite all this, I loved driving that car.

Is it a good buy ? No. Is it a good car ? No. Will it cost you money ? Yes. Will you love driving it ? Yes. I had to get rid of mine because it was bankrupting me, but I missed that car. It was a joy to drive, especially in summer, I used to look forward to just getting into the car and going for a drive.

Quigs Snr

Quigs Snr wrote: »

I had an MGF. Same car, same engine with a bit of lipstick on it. Your head gasket will fail, even if it is the so-called "uprated one" which does away with the old plastic dowels. Budget at least 1000 euro from an independant, unless you are out of luck like I was and your engine block warps and you need a new one (thankfully available in traynors yard in the north, get their number you will need it).

They only warp if they overheat, they only overheat if they are driven when the temp needle is well above midway, at which point you should have pulled over and turned off the engine As mentioned in one of my earlier posts weekly coolant checks are essential with a k series engine.

Good to hear you liked her though

Tragedy

Quigs, the majority of head gaskets don't even fail. But it's a very large minority that do. Uprated gaskets do make the chance of it happening very very slim, and as said before - if you check your coolant for mayonaissing every few weeks, you should be grand.

As for the paint, it's different on the TF than the F, and the car was made in a different factory iirc.

+1, although I'd check the coolant level weekly to see is it losing any so it can be sorted prior to any overheating. Water pump and inlet manifold gasket leaks are generally quite small at the beginning, the coolant dropping from max to min level over a good few hundred miles.

I PAINT CARS

pburns wrote: »

MG TF buying advice in one word?

Don't...

I second that advice. My sister has an 05 MG TF and its turned out to be a nightmare mechanically even though it has low mileage ( 34k). In fairness its not a bad looking car but thats really all the good I can say about it. Your wallet will hate you if you buy a MG......better off getting the toyota MR2 convertible....its in a totally different league mechanically, build quality and handling wise...you have been warned!

unkel

You don't need to check your coolant every week!

What you do need to do is develop a simple little habit. While driving we all have a quick look at our speedo regularly. With a K-series engine, you just need to have a quick look at your temps regularly. Do that and your head gasket will never fail.

theirish

I just wish I had listened when people told me to stay away from rover.. I bought a 04 rover 75 new model k series. It has cost me so much time and money. It looks great but it is so poor the head went on more than one occasion. Learn from other peoples mistakes and save money. X-Rover Dealers will charge u through so much..


I have so many people telling me I told you so!!!!!!!!!
DON’T DO IT TO YOURSELF.

unkel

A car with a K-series engine is not for ignorant people. Because of the likes of them the rest of us have fine cheap cars though

Tragedy

theirish wrote: »

I just wish I had listened when people told me to stay away from rover.. I bought a 04 rover 75 new model k series. It has cost me so much time and money. It looks great but it is so poor the head went on more than one occasion. Learn from other peoples mistakes and save money. X-Rover Dealers will charge u through so much..


I have so many people telling me I told you so!!!!!!!!!
DON’T DO IT TO YOURSELF.

If the head went more than once, you're a fool.

No offence, but didn't you learn a thing?

Speedway

just to update everyone. Took it for a test drive this morning and I've decided against it. Car was great fun to drive, great looker but I just couldn't live with the interior. It's AWFUL. The whole thing felt so cheap and thrown together.
The only luxury was electric windows, no a/c and a terrible stereo. My own car has bluetooth, voice controlled mp3 player, traction control, a/c etc etc and I don't think I could handle the step down.

The TF i drove had a dodgy handbrake too. Id you put a little pressure on it at all with one finger the hand brake light comes on and the whole thing felt so loose and rattled.

Loved the looks, loved the noise from the exhaust, the driving experience was great (but strangely light steering) but I hated the interior so much. I couldn't live with it.

unkel

unkel wrote: »

You don't need to check your coolant every week!

What you do need to do is develop a simple little habit. While driving we all have a quick look at our speedo regularly. With a K-series engine, you just need to have a quick look at your temps regularly. Do that and your head gasket will never fail.

True, however for it to overheat the car will have lost over a litre of coolant, as most common cause start off with a slow leak gradual water loss will can be observed before the engine ever begins to overheat. A k series that has been even moderately overheated can warp quite easily. I'd sooner notice coolant loss from a water pump, rad or inlet manifold by a weekly glance at the coolant rather than by a rising needle

Tragedy

Tragedy wrote: »

If the head went more than once, you're a fool.

No offence, but didn't you learn a thing?

In fairness it may not have been repaired properly or the root cause may not have been addressed