Another 75 joins the family!

biffa75 · 2nd April 2022, 08:03

Morning everyone

Well on Tuesday evening we went and viewed a 75 classic se 03 115 CDT in starlight silver I believe it's called? For the wife. her little ford sportka has become too small and with prices rising etc, the cost for such a small car seems unrealistic. So we came away with the 75 two owners from new, previous owner an elderly couple had owned the 75 for the past 14 years!

145k miles still on its original clutch. Needs a few jobs sorting but for the money we paid it's okay and the originality of the car will be worth the work.

It still has its original dealer plates, dealer sticker in rear window, tax disc holder and key ring. Original contour alloys and the rear seats look like they haven't been used much. Nice tidy interior but a few bodywork gremlins which be attended to in the near future. ( Usual jacking points and drivers lower wing).

One slight downer on the whole experience was found yesterday when we were all out in the car for the first time properly, and found when setting off on busy roads, uphill starts that the clutch would make a weird metallic type sqwark noise only for a brief second or so. Only in first or reverse. Being registered 08/08/03 it falls in the time frame of when mgr were fitting noisy clutch plates

Fearing the worst, we began to price parts up and this morning with a clearer head I've gone back to basics and found...

https://the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/s...d.php?t=246166

Great news, it's nothing to worry about at this stage just an annoyance or so I hope. At 145k miles and no receipt for the clutch ever being done and the elderly gent not knowing where the clutch reservoir was it had never had so much as a clutch fluid change in 14 years/110k miles. That's.. a long lived clutch! We did change the clutch fluid on Wednesday as the biting point was quite low and the pedal was very spongy, the fluid was black and after a few flushes the fluid was still rather black but the pedal firmed up nicely and the biting point came back up again and still no slip issues and no leaks either from the slave or master.
I think I'll be renewing our breakdown cover just to be on the safe side however.

The wife has said this though .. the 115 couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding which... I'm inclined to agree. There's no excessive black smoke (it doesn't really kick any black smoke out under full throttle which is surprising). So a remap is certainly on the cards. It does feel as flat as pancake.

It has no rear cupholders, no rear electric windows, basic heater not digital climate control ash grey interior, harmony head unit.

I'll post a few links to some pictures shortly

Oh and thank you for the birthday message on the forum 😁

Thanks
Rob

biffa75 · 2nd April 2022, 08:11

Just checked the vin against the link in my above post. Mg rovers earliest vin for the clutch issue in may 2003, our vin is number is lower than mgr stated the affected cars (hope this makes sense). Despite ours being registered in August 2003. (Need to know the build date really).

macafee2 · 2nd April 2022, 08:13

It is quite amazing how much of a dog a CDT is. A remap so improves the car.

macafee2

Ravinder · 2nd April 2022, 22:30

Sounds like a lovely car.

2nd April 2022, 08:03	#1
biffa75 Trader Mk1 2004 tourer cdti + MK1 2003 Saloon CDT Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: west yorkshire Posts: 494 Thanks: 106 Thanked 91 Times in 57 Posts	Another 75 joins the family! Morning everyone Well on Tuesday evening we went and viewed a 75 classic se 03 115 CDT in starlight silver I believe it's called? For the wife. her little ford sportka has become too small and with prices rising etc, the cost for such a small car seems unrealistic. So we came away with the 75 two owners from new, previous owner an elderly couple had owned the 75 for the past 14 years! 145k miles still on its original clutch. Needs a few jobs sorting but for the money we paid it's okay and the originality of the car will be worth the work. It still has its original dealer plates, dealer sticker in rear window, tax disc holder and key ring. Original contour alloys and the rear seats look like they haven't been used much. Nice tidy interior but a few bodywork gremlins which be attended to in the near future. ( Usual jacking points and drivers lower wing). One slight downer on the whole experience was found yesterday when we were all out in the car for the first time properly, and found when setting off on busy roads, uphill starts that the clutch would make a weird metallic type sqwark noise only for a brief second or so. Only in first or reverse. Being registered 08/08/03 it falls in the time frame of when mgr were fitting noisy clutch plates Fearing the worst, we began to price parts up and this morning with a clearer head I've gone back to basics and found... https://the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/s...d.php?t=246166 Great news, it's nothing to worry about at this stage just an annoyance or so I hope. At 145k miles and no receipt for the clutch ever being done and the elderly gent not knowing where the clutch reservoir was it had never had so much as a clutch fluid change in 14 years/110k miles. That's.. a long lived clutch! We did change the clutch fluid on Wednesday as the biting point was quite low and the pedal was very spongy, the fluid was black and after a few flushes the fluid was still rather black but the pedal firmed up nicely and the biting point came back up again and still no slip issues and no leaks either from the slave or master. I think I'll be renewing our breakdown cover just to be on the safe side however. The wife has said this though .. the 115 couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding which... I'm inclined to agree. There's no excessive black smoke (it doesn't really kick any black smoke out under full throttle which is surprising). So a remap is certainly on the cards. It does feel as flat as pancake. It has no rear cupholders, no rear electric windows, basic heater not digital climate control ash grey interior, harmony head unit. I'll post a few links to some pictures shortly Oh and thank you for the birthday message on the forum 😁 Thanks Rob

2nd April 2022, 22:30	#4
Ravinder This is my second home Rover 75 saloon x2, Rover 75 Tourer x2, Rover 220 Coupe Turbo Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Kirkcaldy, Fife Posts: 9,036 Thanks: 2,278 Thanked 2,852 Times in 1,718 Posts	Sounds like a lovely car. __________________ Wanted - Indian bride. Cash waiting. (All sorted - bargain) First name and forum name: Ravinder Rover 75 2.0 CDT Connoisseur SE 116 (160 remap) Royal Blue (JFM) This vehicle was the 50,481st 75 to run off the production line, out of 112,381 This vehicle was the 2,238th 75 CDT Connoisseur SE to be made out of 3,775 This vehicle was the 5,002nd 75 in Royal Blue (code: JFM) to be made out of 14,420 Royal Blue 75s

2nd April 2022, 08:11	#2
biffa75 Trader Mk1 2004 tourer cdti + MK1 2003 Saloon CDT Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: west yorkshire Posts: 494 Thanks: 106 Thanked 91 Times in 57 Posts	Just checked the vin against the link in my above post. Mg rovers earliest vin for the clutch issue in may 2003, our vin is number is lower than mgr stated the affected cars (hope this makes sense). Despite ours being registered in August 2003. (Need to know the build date really).

2nd April 2022, 08:13	#3
macafee2 This is my second home Rover 75 Saloon & Tourer Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Lincoln Posts: 14,912 Thanks: 1,630 Thanked 3,032 Times in 2,181 Posts	It is quite amazing how much of a dog a CDT is. A remap so improves the car. macafee2