Rover 25 New Car

[djh]

My best m8s dad is selling a 54 plate Rover 25. 49000 miles @£1600. Looks pretty nice. Loads of reviews on the net most good, some bad. Does anyone have any experience with them?

[Guest TheLibrarian]

IME Rovers are extremely reliable - as long as you don't count the electric windows; every Rover I've had (6 so far) have had problems with one or other of the front electric windows.

 

It should be noted that only in one case was it the motor, the other five were mechanical problems.

 

It should also be noted that all of the Rovers I had were diesel.

[creese]

IME Rovers are extremely reliable - as long as you don't count the electric windows; every Rover I've had (6 so far) have had problems with one or other of the front electric windows.

 

It should be noted that only in one case was it the motor, the other five were mechanical problems.

 

It should also be noted that all of the Rovers I had were diesel.

 

I know what you mean. I have a Rover 200 TDi, it's a scruffy looking thing and I have just replaced the drivers window mechanism as the nylon runner wheels broke. Central locking keeps fusing now. But every morning I get in, turn the key and it goes.

[EvLPhenom]

i have heard that rovers have problems with gaskets going on them and know of two people who this has happened to.

[djh]

yeah it's a petrol. I've read about the engine gasket going....

[Hightower]

My brother had one, 53 plate. Head gasket went. Then he crashed it, and literally bent the radiator (and nothing more) but the insurance wrote it off because "paying out is easier than getting these fixed". My Dad has one now, and 4 months after getting it (second hand of course) the head gasket went. I hate driving it - it feels like a tank, and so did my brothers. No good either if you are over 5'10" as the seat hardly goes back at all!

[solitaire89]

Did have my mother's rover 200 on permenant loan - head gasket went on that (leaving me stranded an hours drive from home with my pet snake, but that's another story). The AA man that came to my aid said that they are notorious for the head gasket going, if it's genuine rover parts. Interestingly he said that if the head gasket is replaced with a "generic" one, the problem seems to go away....

[djh]

ah that's interesting... Apparently its the 1.8s that suffer from the gasket but not the 1.4?

[K.C.Leblanc]

As people have said head gaskets are a big issue on the petrol ones. The diesel ones are fine.

 

The other thing to consider is basicaly the same car as the Rover 200 that was launched in the mid '90s. Compared to many cars of the same age it's a very dated car.

 

It's a well known phenomenom that cars get bigger as time goes on, anyway this Rover was marketed against the Escort when it was launched and the Fiesta by the time it went out of production.

[solitaire89]

ah that's interesting... Apparently its the 1.8s that suffer from the gasket but not the 1.4?

 

Mum's certainly wasn't a 1.8... It wasn't that nippy!

[creese]

Mine is 2ltr, I believe. Something like 1956cc. Not sure as I gave up being interested in cars for other than transport many years ago. It is very nippy and good exceleration. I have a great mechanic and he found the car for me, he always gets me a good car.

[K.C.Leblanc]

Mum's certainly wasn't a 1.8... It wasn't that nippy!

 

It's any model that uses the "K Series" engine, which I'm pretty sure is the 1.1, 1.4,1.6 & 1.8 (both the standard and VVC model). However it's more of a issue on the larger, version of this engine.

 

The 2 litre and deisel are fine.

 

EDIT: Some people might tell you the 1.6 isn't effected, this relates to much older Rover 200s which used a Honda engine.

[3s-gtech]

The K-Series engine is the one notorious for head gasket failure. If the gasket is replaced with a later 'Freelander type' one, and the block/head are still in good nick, they tend to be fine after that. Very revvy, small water jacket on the block so sensitive to over heating/lack of coolant.

[djh]

I was really suprised how nice it was when I looked at it, I wasn't expecting anything special but it is pretty nice. Jus the head gasket thats making me think otherwise. It could be £4 but if I have to replace that everytime it goes it's ntow orth it.

[creese]

Looks just like my 200, apart from no peeling paint on the bonnet, the wheels are a bit shinier, no dent on the wheel arch....

 

Okay, it's nothing like mine. I'd say £1600 looks a good price as you know the history.

[gshaw]

I'd say some of the posts above are pretty good advice, if you keep the coolant levels topped up and look after the car it should be fine. Being a MK2 it may well have the low coolant sensor on it (should be a red light on the dash) which helps save you if the coolant level does drop for some reason. The newer MLS gasket is said to be much better so if you have it replaced make sure you get that type rather than the old standard one.

[dirtydog]

we had a 114 gsi and the head gasket went twice on that but it was loads older than that one your looking at, which BTW seems to be in good nick!

[FN-GM]

how would people go about getting parts after rover went under?

[StewartKnight]

Rovers = Rubbish and any street cred is out the window, unless you're like 70 years old or something!

[flyinghaggis]

I wouldn't touch one personally. One my mates had the head gasket fail on their car (was a '99 1.6 IIRC ). Shame as it was quite a tidy motor (and much better than the Ford KA he bought to replace it!). Was probably worth a couple of grand at the time but he ended up selling it as a result of the failure so I'm guessing you could be looking at a pretty severe repair bill if it does go.

[solitaire89]

Oh, and mum's used to drink steering fluid! Well, actually it used to spew it out the top of the filling cap... It sounds like I didn't like the car. I did, it was a good work horse! The one you're looking at looks good - I'd go for it, but get the head gasket changed before it goes!!

[djh]

stewart, when I hear the name rover that's what I think. I wasn't expecting anything nice, but U have to admit it doesn't look THAT bad! Better than my Saxo atm.

[K.C.Leblanc]

Rovers = Rubbish and any street cred is out the window, unless you're like 70 years old or something!

 

However there isn't much else you could get on a 54 plate for £1600. Maybe a Daewoo?

[Gonk]

I was really suprised how nice it was when I looked at it, I wasn't expecting anything special but it is pretty nice. Jus the head gasket thats making me think otherwise. It could be £4 but if I have to replace that everytime it goes it's ntow orth it.

 

I used to work for a MG Rover dealer, the 1.8 engine is the main culprit for head gasket issues. The 1.4 tends to be fine so long as you check the oil and coolant every month. The Rover 25 made it to the top of the JD Power reliability survey mostly because its essentially 20 year old engineering and design. Parts a dirt cheap, and as cars go, it pretty decent on fuel.

[creese]

Rovers = Rubbish and any street cred is out the window, unless you're like 70 years old or something!

 

I'm 50+ and the only way I would get 'Street Cred' is by wearing Tracky bottoms, shave my head and be dragged around by a bog that looked like a pit bull.