2 Rover 75 -time for goodbye

[tariq]

Time for lonnng overdue update .In 2009 i got this with tax and test and FSH for £700. All old MOTs, receipts, Original books.
Existing faults
Both Doors driver's side wouldn't open with central locking(they will lock and superlock)
Heated seats not working (tried but no fix)
Cruise control not working (tried but no fix)
Sticking passnger cupholder (but will open)
Dashboard Gear selector display does not show D
Age related marks , scuffs
Passenger seat tilt switch not working - (but seat slides back and fro)
Minor dent on one rear door

2001 Rover 75 2.5 Connoisseur auto(Cowley built and pre project drive)












It was almost one -off spec with very rare extras totalling £5000 when new
Personal Line Green interior
Harmon Kardon sound system , with 6CD autochanger and sub woofer in boot. ( rare)
Driver seat 3 way memory (rare)
Electric Sunroof ( rare)
Folding Rear Seat with ski flap.(rare)
Elec height adjustment Driver's seat (rare)
Electric rear sun blind
Headlamp Power Wash (very rare)
Very rare 8 airbags spec on side pillar and ITS Side Impact Protection Airbags (this very very rare option gives a NCAP 5 star rating)

Wish the dopey first owner had specced Hi -Line Sat Nav , parking sensors,winter and intelligence packs instead!

Sadly it proved to be most unreliable car i owned with the following done(luckily at mates rates as opening up that KV6 is a big and expensive job!)
New Thermostat
Inlet Manifold Gasket
Breather Pipe Set
Auto gearbox fluid change
2 Front Suspension bushes
Fr and Rr Brake Pipes
Front Pads
O2 Sensor Rear Bank 2
Rear shock absorber.
Gearbox solenoids
Fan replaced
New Battery

Although it had a solid feel , numerous trim parts fell off .The ride is not as special as claimed and i found the handling far too vague.Reversing is dreadful.
Insurance was surprisingly cheap.Fuel Economy ?.....errr 14 mpg town and best on run was 24 mpg (well chuffed with the latter)Bear in mind my 20yr town averages are 22mpg@99bhp
Some of the ergonomics are a disaster and counter intuitive.I never figured out the bonkers Climate Control

After the 2.5 i got a CDTi Classic auto 115 bhp (Longbridge built) last year /12 months tax and mot and full service for £550


Poverty spec with no extras but CDTi pulled very well -it didn't feel it lacked the 62bhp extra of the 2.5
Both cars suffered water leaks ( most the CDT leaks were done pre sale but bulkhead caused problem aswell as rear lights)
Economy ? 30mpg on run and ......21MPG town
Started to leak gearbox oil and it was found to be internal fault - so car had to go.Both cars suffered gearbox probs - but JATCO is a Nissan unit
Being autos and 2001 (the 2.5 was just 1 month out from standard rates) both had nasty road tax £260/£250 -although a 1.8 auto gets hit the same.




Sold with no tax/test( or rather my brother did , doing mates' favours) both cars for ..... £200 each
Both 75s easily top list of my most unreliable cars owned.Sorry

[whitevanman]

Well I have to say it is a nice change to get that perspective..Agree with the handling side but the 75 isn't/wasn't built for handling, get a ZT if that's what you want..

However i've just sold my V6 Conn SE and have a Laguna sport tourer, just as highly specced and an airier cabin, however it's nowhere near as nice a place to be as a 75..

Looking at your pics i'd still be driving around in a 75 if I were you as it's still the best in the road that I can see

Good luck with your next purchase anyway.

[sikelsh]

You paid £700 & £550 for the cars and expect perfection, perhaps its best you moved on

[lovema75]

To be honest, most of the items on that list are pretty much run of the mill stuff for an old car, never mind the 75. The key is being able to do those fairly routine jobs yourself - paying someone will always be costly.

Also the older examples are getting on for 15 years old! What other car will be fault free at that age? Paying for someone to do jobs like breather pipes is like fueling a BBQ with £10 notes.

It's minor jobs like that which enables you to pick up a bargain and improve as you go along. The gasps of amazement from friends as they revel in luxury says it all!

[FrazzleTC]

Sorry to hear about your disappointment regarding your 75s.
However, in the case of your V6, by 2009 prices, you got a very good deal, for a car with full history, tax and test. In terms of the unreliability you describe, I'd term the likes of brake pads, a gearbox fluid change, new brake pipes, suspension bushes, a battery and a shock absorber as normal wear and tear, on a car. The other work you describe isn't exactly the end of the world either, and fairly normal for a 75 of that age, and price. It's easy to become blind to the problems of a car when in a club like this, but I'm not, and I know how annoying it can be to have an unreliable car. Even taking into account the issues you've encountered with the car, you've not really lost a great deal over the course of four years, when your initial outlay was £700. I'm fairly sure that the car would have achieved a bit more than £200 if advertised on here too, but that's by the by.
75s are now so cheap that it's inevitable that there'll be jobs that need done, but, the vast majority of these are not impossible, and, can normally be done at an affordable rate with a bit of research.
In terms of trim falling off, yes, I have noticed this in some examples, particularly those with more elderly owners, who struggled to get in and out of the car, but, this is usually restricted to the plastic sill trims. Reversing a 75 isn't that pleasant if there are lots of low objects, I agree, and I would far rather have a Tourer if I lived somewhere where parking in very tight spaces was a daily occurrence.
In terms of fuel consumption, it very much depends on how you drive. I'm quite heavy-footed, but I was averaging a good bit more than 24 mpg on long runs when I ran 2.5 autos. A 2.5 V6 auto is never going to be great on fuel around town.
As I say, it's a pity that you didn't like your 75s, but, I think that for what you paid, you didn't do badly at all.

[DMGRS]

Sadly I've got to agree - I've never really spent more than £1000 on a car, and have owned many 75s and ZTs for a lot less than this - repairs come as par for the course.

Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't - and when you don't you just have to crack on and fix the (sometimes seemingly endless) list of things that don't work correctly.

I've had 75s which needed a bit of a service and that's it (my latest, for example - also a 2001 Auto CDT) and some which needed a deep clean, several mechanical parts replacing and constant maintenance thereafter. Pot luck.

Good luck in the future with cars - if you're after a sub-£1000 car the best bet is to go as simple as possible if running costs and repairs are a consideration. Sadly the 75 is not a simple car at all, and is thus (in my opinion) unsuitable for running on a tight budget - there is just so much that could throw rather nasty bills at you with little warning.

[Westonboy]

I think that buying a Rover 75 is likely to throw up some costly surprises. My W reg 75 Connoisseur cdt cost me £2000. Although the bodywork and interior was perfect, it still had issues. I decided to take it to Jules and spend whatever was needed to put it in A1 condition , and with other upgrades I now have a luxury car that is has been totally reliable over the last 2 years for £3500, and I look forward to years of pleasure and proud ownership .I know not everybody can spare the money but I allocate £500 per annum for service and repairs and would need to find £40,000 to buy a new car with the spec of my Rover.

[thundercat]

What I find amazing is the difference between these cars, some give endless problems and some just run on and on without a hicup, I wonder why, it cant be build quality, as these cars are all built using the same components, I cant see Rover or MG accepting a duff batch from a supplier as I am sure quality control would have weeded these out. So that only leaves lack of servicing or rough usage, I can't see that though.

[trikey]

Originally Posted by thundercat

What I find amazing is the difference between these cars, some give endless problems and some just run on and on without a hicup, I wonder why, it cant be build quality, as these cars are all built using the same components, I cant see Rover or MG accepting a duff batch from a supplier as I am sure quality control would have weeded these out. So that only leaves lack of servicing or rough usage, I can't see that though.

Yes, I have found this to be true, cars with FSH that die easily, and 'abused' examples with 150k on that run and run

[lovema75]

Even with mechanised production, variations can still occur. Also it depends who is doing the quality checks - I used to work for a Nissan supplier, all the quality checking was expected to be done by the component supplier, and the assembly workers lineside just took them out of the box and fitted them to the cars. They would be unaware of small variations that would lead to early failure. So any car is only as good as its suppliers. It only takes 1 slightly poor batch, along with a production manager who says "it will be fine, they wont notice" to affect change.

Much also has to do with owners - while cars dont require "running in" as such now, much long-term damage can be done by unsympathetic drivers while the car is settling down to use.