Hands up those who think our old MGs and Rovers are expensive to run.

[COLVERT]

Just posted the comments below on another thread.


Future for my R75 ???


I intend to keep it until it or I expire.--

Bought in 2006.---Owned it now 12 years.

Three sets of tyres.

Two sets of brake pads

Two sets of wiper blades

One headlight and one tail light bulb.

Several oil and filter changes.

One change for gear box oil.

One change of anti-freeze.

That's it in total.---The rest of the car is original.--


Apart from fuel the total cost in 12 years is around £1,000 maybe.


Best and most reliable car I have ever owned.---( Diesel. )

The fuel counter says 52.3 mpg. I just leave it running all the time and never reset it.
__________________
----Its all down to maintenance. ( The stitch in time type. Lol. )

[Framps]

I was always told if you feel that it is costing to much then it is time to think about what you are spending, I must say that what I spend on my rover I am happy with, wish it was less. But I love the car. Sorry if you wish me to say different.

[Framps]

When I looked at post, with what I have spent on this car I could have bought at least 3-4 rovers, but there is something about these cars that are so special. The car I bought at £1250 but spent £2500 so far, but still love her, new cars do not have that feeling. Sorry if you feel this is wrong to say.

[Typhoon190]

The expense for me has been having to replace poor quality replacement parts.

I agree with the statement regarding assistance here. I have received huge amounts of invaluable advice and help from people I've met here.

[Sebastienclement]

I drive a 75 because there's nothing else on the road I'd rather be driving. I was tempted by a Volvo V70 at the back end of last year, which I bought and ran for a bit. Unfortunately it was written off when it was parked by a lorry / tractor / machinery - whatever it was opened up the side of the car like a can opener.

The Volvo was nice. The cabin - while not aesthetically pleasing - was very comfortable, ergonomic & well screwed together. I would have another one, but it was a completely different ownership experience for me than the 75s. I look forward to driving my 75s every single time - they're a beautiful place to spend time.

As for costs, the Volvo cost me nearly £2500 in the 6 months that I owned it, and that was just for little bits and bobs: Top mounts, couple of tyres, gearbox fluid change & reset etc...

I've spent nearly £5000 getting my 2.0v6 Connoisseur SE up to the standard I want it. I'm not blessed with mechanical skills (or time!) so a chunk of that has been spent on labour (at the wonderful AJF Motor Engineers, Westcott, Aylesbury - they're fantastic). However I now have a 75 that drives like new, I don't have to worry about belts, or it overheating, it's got brand new Michelin tyres on, emissions are perfect thanks to a full new exhaust and cat etc... etc... etc...

A friend of mine took out a PCP deal on a brand new Vauxhall Zafira almost three years ago (because new cars never go wrong). He paid circa £250 a month for it, and then if he wanted to purchase it there would have been a balloon payment at the end of the term. He ended up having to pay £1500 to settle early and hand the car back as he managed to break it (needed a new engine). Over three years that's £10500 in monthly payments and early termination all to drive a Vauxhall Zafira. But it's ok, because he saved money by not having it serviced

Moral of the tale is that cars are expensive. They will be expensive if you are proactive but they will be even more expensive if you try and skimp. So don't. Drive what you WANT and look after it properly! I do expect that the average yearly maintenance cost of the 75 referenced above will drop over the next couple of years, as there's not much left to renew!

[MSS]

My approach is also as above.

In my experience modern cars require significant work at around 8 to 10 and 15 to 18 years of age. I buy my cars at less than 8 years and carry out preventative maintenance at 8 years by replacing all the items that may otherwise fail over the following years. The aim being that they then run largely trouble free for the next phase of their life. This approach has worked well with all my cars.

My Omega V6 estate will be 19 years old on 27th September and has covered 137k miles. It still drives like new and I hope will last until 22 years of age when my son completes university. It has only ever developed two unexpected issues - a failing crank sensor and now a failing DIS pack which I have replaced this week. All suspension components other than the rear track control arms are original. The arms were replaced with Lemforder so will outlast the car. Despite being the largest and most powerful of my cars, it has proven to have the lowest annual depreciation/maintenance cost of them all, including the 75s.

I don't think our cars are anything really special when it comes to reliability or cost of ownership - the same approach to owning a reliable or unreliable car works with all cars. It all comes down to the age at which the car is purchased and how it is maintained i.e. whether the owner takes a long or short term view in relation to maintenance.

I have also had no issues with the quality of replacement parts on my Rovers - but I do tend to buy mainstream manufacturer parts.

Our cars are special, but not because they are in any way out of the ordinary in terms of reliability or cost of ownership.


p.s. I also don't believe that it is reasonable to compare the depreciation of a nearly bnew car to one that is 10+ years old. One is nearly new and will last many years whilst the other is not and will not. All cars were new once and suffered the depreciation, ours included.

[Mike Noc]

Originally Posted by mss

I have also had no issues with the quality of replacement parts on my Rovers - but I do tend to buy mainstream manufacturer parts.

If you haven't yet then you will have - it's only a question of time.

[MSS]

Originally Posted by Mike Noc

If you haven't yet then you will have - it's only a question of time.

As far as I am aware, the only parts where people have experienced significant quality issues are a) droplinks, b) front suspension arms and c) CSC. My droplinks seem to last, suspension arms we'll see as my car is on the originals and the Luk clutch kit is now on 60k+ miles and sill seems fine. I also have an Luk 3-piece clutch kit, DMF and a Bosch MAF in the cupboard, all purchased about 5 years ago, so hopefully.......

[genpk]

Ive got 3 rover 75s and an mgzt.
All are kv6 except one being a diesel.
Over the years ive spent a bit on keeping them in good running condition ie
new belts, water pumps , suspension etc but nothing more than a car you keep and run for 10 plus years.
Facts are the more you use them, parts will wear.
Ive been hit repair wise a bit lately, a couple new tyres, a bit of work on the diesels cooling system etc so it all adds up.
Having said that, the wifes 75 with a kv6 never gets touched except for oil changes and always drives well, same for the zt.
Re depreciation, my brother bought a new Kia sportage, nice car, now about 2 years old, he bought it for about $24k aud.
He reckons the moment he drove it of the dealers yard he wiped 5k off it then add a couple of years driving and he would be lucky to get maybe 16k for it.
New cars are really now a disposable comodity.
Would i have spent 8k on repairs the last 2 years, no way but i guess with a new car you have that feeling of reliability .
My latest issue, my diesel now has a crack in the windscreen due to a stone chip!!

[charlie 22]

I have had to spend £851 to get through the MOT, which I will admit did hurt a lot. Could of bought another car for that kind of money BUT come MOT time could be in the same position again. As other people have said how much do you want to keep your car? (how long is a piece of string).