Thanks for the replies folks! I had found the Ultimate Buyers Guide thread, but it's a while since it was closed, and even the follow-on thread hasn't had much input for some years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stocktake
A lot of time has passed since you last owned a MG/75 and in that time there are a few things people have learnt to look out for.
On the whole we feel the marque is a very well kept secret and is one of the outstanding cars of its period.
Common things to be aware of on the V6
Timing belt, service interval is 6yr or 90k and costs in excess of £400
Cooling fan known to fail, can be anything from worn out brushes, failed resistor or completely failed fan. time consuming to repair or replace.
Clutch slave and master cyl a known point that can fail with a large repair bill, Look out for a hard to press pedal or leaking slave cyl. again a hefty bill.
Broken springs front and or rear, usually the bottom coil.
By far the most serious thing to check out are the upper rear arms and rear sills, both prone to corrosion. Although called upper arms they are what the rear spring sits in and are known to rot through, still available around £180 per pair. General opinion on the rear sills is that they will sooner or later succumb to the tin worm. replacement rear sills are available for around £120 per pair.
Other than that your looking at a 10 to 20yr old old car, common sense needs to prevail.
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This is particularly interesting...and the last bit is definitely true!
How easy is it to check these components? The rear sills should be straightforward, but the rest presumably needs a trained eye (if only I had studied something practical instead of languages...!). And I'm guessing that checking the car's recent paperwork might reveal the beginning of corrosion or a leak from the clutch cylinder, whereas the cooling fan could pack up without warning at any stage?
Thanks again everyone for taking the time to reply!