I think the V6s are more reliable. I know midlifecrisis had a 2.5 ZT and absolutely loved it.
Plus it's a V6 - you could almost forgive head gasket failure provided it made a nice noise.
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I certainly did........and I still miss the grin I always had when I drove it!
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>>the 1.8 can have issues if not looked after properly and seems to have a higher than average failure rate
Talk about understatement.
"Issues" as in enormous problems. 'Higher than average' - yes, by about two orders of magnitude.
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It's the 4-cylinder engines which have head gasket problems. The V6's are a lot better in this respect although the variable intake valve siezes up on the V6's causing bad performance (to be fair, no more annoying than the inevitable cam position sensors failures on just about every BMW straight 6).
MG prices are not that much of a bargain - the right model, spec and colour is fetching good money at the moment. ZS 180's are almost becoming cult future classics and prices are hardly dropping at all.
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They are old cars tarted up with some plastic bits and alloy wheels. They were quite good drives though as the suspension was reworked.
Definitely avoid the 1.8 but I would not assume the 1.4 and 1.6 are free from HGF - it's not what I've read or heard (including from a Rover mechanic).
Build quality on the ZR is poor - bottom place in the most recent Autoexpress survey IIRC.
It's not a car I would want, these are old designs and they show it in a number of respects. But if you like it then good luck.
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If you want a car that on average goes wrong more often than others, does not take kindly to any kind of abuse, and can be off the road for ages when seeking a hard to get spare part, then I agree i a MGR ZR is the car to buy. And if you have a crash the insurance company is more likely to write it off due to spares issues.
None of those are my opinions. They are facts. If after all this you buy one, good luck. You'll probably need it.
madf
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Broom,
I am probably seen as anti-Rover by some on his board and RD40 will be along to tell us off for having opinions on the parts situation when we are not 'experts' on it but I perceive myself as merely telling the truth and hoping to help someone out.
Some parts are hard to come by now. Fact. Another board member posted that his colleagues Rover 75 was off the road for three months for the lack of a front bumper. His insurance company would not allow the use of second hand parts ('elth and safety guv') and Xpart waited until it had sufficient orders before it did a production run.
Fully comp cars in any accident will likely just be written off for lack of parts. Third party types will be left with Xparts business decision whether to make the part or not or scouring the scrap yards or conceivably actually having a part custom made if such skills still exist in UK. Many Rovers are/will be off the road until an MOT crucial part becomes available by whatever means.
Buying any Rover should only ever be a proposition if its cheap enough to be thrown away. Prices at present don't seem to reflect this. When they do go for it, until then steer well clear.
The OP did not mention a price so a vital part of the decision making process is missing.
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You raise in interesting point about write-offs though. If parts become hard to source and means cars get written off... won't this be reflected in the premiums? If I were an insurer that could have to write off a vehicle that ought to have been fixable, then I'd sure be looking to increase the premium to reflect risk.
So a question.. could we see bargain basement MG Rover's being ignored because of high insurance?
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"could we see bargain basement MG Rover's being ignored because of high insurance?"
then it won't be a bargain and the deductible - first £££ of any claims- may rise as well..
madf
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That was my point. You might not be able to give them away because of high insurance costs.
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Surely if they are bargain basement prices the cost to right off the car is low as insurance companies only pay 'market value'. I saw an X reg 75 for sale at £1,500 yesterday - no idea of mileage, condition etc, but a relatively minor prang, slow rear end shunt for example, could see this written off, but the insurance company would only pay out £1500.
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Exactly. Price. For 75's
The lowest price on Autotrader is an Archer for a 190,000 mile diesel.
Highest price is £22,000 for an 04! Wonder what value the insurance companies would write that off at?
At £1,000 or below we start to get in to disposable item territory and that is when these cars can and will sell and be used up and gone within 5 years.
A brand new 75 for £6K is a runner. £12K as advertised in the Telegraph last weekend is laughable.
Currently they are either too expensive or the behind the scenes discounts from sticker/advertised prices are hiding their real sale values.
Apparently they are holding up at auction though. Go figure.
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In four years at a Rover main dealer, from 1998-2002, I saw very few HGF, simple as that.
It was not a common problem, but then most of the cars we dealt with were serviced well.
All you need is one owner to start going cheap on servicing or not checking levels and you well on the way to HGF. The car that I saw HGF on most of the time was the MGF, perhaps poor cooling. The only other times I saw it was on the 214/216 models but at around 6-8 years old and quite frankly, at that age, stuff happens.
My sister has an MGF, its 5 years old with full service history, running its original head gasket. It gets very well used by its enthusiastic owner. All she does is check the coolant once a week. Thus far, its never needed any, nor does it overheat... so how is that possible if its a dead cert?
I loath Fords myself because ive never had one that didnt go wrong and cost lots of money - there are no common faults with Fords, everything and anything is possible and after three of them, I aint gonna risk it again, but then I understand that many people have fault free ones. Some cars are a lottery, thats just a fact of life - look at HJ's car by car section and find a car that hasnt got anything to watch out for.... hardly any of them is there?
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As is known, I loved my ZT and didn't have any problems (or rattles) in my time of ownership. I loved it. However, by coincidence, I happened to be in my force's vehicle workshops today. Unmarked 54 reg, new shape, ZS 180 with front bumper and wing damage. Car's been written off due to unavailabliity of parts!!
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Appologies for taking the topic up: But i was looking up a few MG ZRs in the past week as a possible future purchase, after reading this thread, it made me shiver when i read about write offs due to lack of parts, but then how often do we have prang in our lifes? not many unless you've been cursed!!!
Anyway can anybody comment on the 1.4 105hp engine? i understand that the cooling tank is still an issue when there's a leak but is it more or less reliable then the 1.8 version?
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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I've been rethinking my opinion on the last model MG Rovers.
For example:
- MG/Rover stopped making the old Honda based 2xx/4xx models a long time ago but we still see lots on our roads. Nobody saying avoid these.
- If someone was buying say an Omega (out of production too) would we be saying you won't get spare parts etc.
- Many people like Beemers like the E36 and E39 but they aren't made either and I doubt BMW are making replacement body panels etc. either
- Heck we still we original Mini rust buckets too.
So basically any "older" car is reliant on a third party company to supply parts and these all make good money.
Of course we all know of some issues with Head Gasket Failures on some ex MG/Rovers.
Rob
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Rovers are prone to HGF if you dont look after them.
My sister has an MGF VVC with the 1.8 which is apparently the worst, yet she has had none of these apparently common problems because she took on board my advice when buying that if she was gonna have one, she MUST be vigilant about fluid levels and leaks.
She has done thousands of hard driven miles over the last few years and the car hasnt missed a beat.
All she does is check the coolant and oil once a week ( which you should do with any car anyhow ) and this seems to be all that is required.
Only cars ive ever had problems with HGF on are on 1980's VW and infact, if your really that concerned about HGF, buy a car and budget to get it done. Ive bought many cars and needed to spend a whole lot more than 400 quid on them - the two Rovers ive had never suffered from reliability issues at all, just rust like any other old car.
On the subject of the ZR, get the diesel. Its noisey but a hoot to drive and very economical. Its the closest to a 1980's style hot hatch you have been able to get in years.
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On the subject of the ZR, get the diesel. Its noisey but a hoot to drive and very economical. Its the closest to a 1980's style hot hatch you have been able to get in years.
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If you actually believe this i think you should try driving a few more cars mate.
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I used to drive cars for a living all over the south east and Ive driven about 800 different cars in the last 6 years.
I had the misfortune to drive a Peugeot 206 GTi and it was the heaviest, dullest so-called hot hatch id driven in years. The gearshift was rather similar to a Talbot motorhome I drove once. Id take the ZR over that pile of junk any day. A customer o mine gave up her MK3 Golf GTi for a 206 GTi and after 5 days and numerous problems with it, she bought her old car back off the dealer!
I also happen to clean cars for a large company who bought up a lot of the last MG ZR and ZS models on the cheap. The staff love them and several requested that when they came round to changing their company car again, could they have another MG located which was done for them.
Im not sure what bit you disagree with - Im guessing the way the ZR drives because thats a matter of opinion for sure and your entitled to yours, but I think modern hot hatches arent all that hot but heavy and slow to respond. I do have a liking for older cars though, so that could explain why I liked the older design of the ZR.
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If someone was buying say an Omega (out of production too) would we be saying you won't get spare parts etc.
No, not at all, because GM are still in business and I've never had any difficulties getting spare parts for any Vauxhall.
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>>On the subject of the ZR, get the diesel. Its noiseybut a hoot to drive and very economical. Its the closest to a 1980's style hot hatch you have been able to get in years.
Are we talking about the same ZR here? Has there been another one since the rebadged Rover 214?
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The ZR was facelifted about a year before the company went bust.
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I can't pull off sarcasm very well.
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Yep i'm with Adam here - the ZR is a rehash of the late 80's Rover 200, it was then turned into the bubble shape and eventually given a bodykit and called an MG. The handling wasn't too bad compared to its rival when first launched but over 15 years later it can't hold a candle to a most it's rivals.
If you think the diesel ZR handles and goes like an 80's hot hatch i suggest you try driving a 205 GTi or a Golf GTi. And then for comparison try some of the newer hot hatches such as the 306 GTi6 and Renault Clio 172. You will then realise actually how bad the Rover is.
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After seeing a few more positive posts about the MG ZR, it's proded me have a test drive in one if i can find one in the "plus" spec, although my budget is about £5k or less.
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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