Funny, I was talking with a work colleague just this lunchtime who's based in Birmingham and who I don't see too often. He's driving an 55 plate 75 CDTi saloon, which he's owned from new (bought stupidly cheap when Rover collapsed). It's done 104,000 miles and has had very few problems. It still looks immaculate inside and out, and is well pleased with it. It replaced a Passat TDI 130, and he reckons the Rover is just as well made, and far more reliable.
Based on my nose around it earlier, I have to say it really does feel like a well built car with even shutlines, deep, even paint, good quality materials inside, and a nice taut feel at six figures that wouldn't disgrace a premium German brand. The later models were apparently widely regarded as well made cars by most reviewers.
I've known a few 75 owners (my neighbour is on his third 75, and says he would buy a fourth without hesitation), and they seem to generally rate the cars highly.
If you like the styling (I personally find it a little kitsch), it is a *lot* of car for £2850, and a cheap route into a great BMW diesel engine.
Cheers
DP
Edited by DP on 20/08/2008 at 17:16
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Kitsch but not displeasing DP...
mrmender whom we seldom see these days got one of those 75 diesels, and he has an eye for horseflesh. I seem to remember at the time there were several prophets of doom here, but they didn't seem to know any more about Rover 75s than Jasper Carrott knew about Skodas. Just cheap shots.
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I owned a 75 for just over two years. It was a CDT that in the end when I traded it in had covered 225,000 miles. I had every receipt from new and other than the normal servicing it needed a clutch, starter motor and flexi pipe on the exhaust. Not bad!
I replaced it with my A4 that I have now and the 75 is as well put together and gives a far better ride - maybe not when thrown around country lanes but thats not what its for - buy a ZT if thats what you want! I only changed it as my mileage was 40K a year and I didnt fancy any potential bills - and I found the CDT a bit underpowered, the CDTi will be fine though
In my experience they are very capable, reliable and particularly now they are fantastic value for money.
I wouldnt have a 75 again as I dont like having the same car twice but would get a ZT tomorrow if someone gave me a decent trade in against my Audi.
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Forgot to mention, parts are not a problem as they share their engine with the Freelander and xpart and Rimmer Bros will supply 99% of the parts for the car. Im guessing the 1% is stuff that you would never change anyway
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A sound and reliable car with spares readily available and an active owners club at www.the75andztclub.co.uk/forum where you can read up on the car.
Have had a 75 for five years now and have just bought one of the one hundred V8 variants that were built. I suspect the CDTi will be a mite more frugal on the consumption front ;)
Good luck
R40
Edited by R40 on 20/08/2008 at 18:08
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Congratulations on the V8!
So for regular runs between Cornwall and Brighton would we go for the Rover/MG 75 Diesel, or a Xantia Estate HDi, or C5 Estate HDi? Brisk, but economical progress is wanted.
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I don't think any of these can be described as brisk by any stretch of the imagination - I think you should be looking at something like a 330d if thats what you are after. The cars you've mentioned are all good value but won't offer anything other than 'adaquete' levels of performance. Especially on a route like that where much of it is A roads and you really want proper levels of power to make the most of the few overtaking opportunities.
Edited by Pugugly on 21/08/2008 at 07:17
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10/10 Lud we have just travelled 2000 Miles is ours in the last week on our French holls could't wish for a better car to do it in. Totaly trouble free in our 3 years of ownership.
Love or hate the styling (We love it) It's the only car we have ever owned that people (Admitedly of a certain age) stop us and say "what a beutiful car" happens all time. good cars that are sadly not made anymore
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 21/08/2008 at 01:27
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Just as I would have hoped mm, and not at all surprised... good to see you still about.
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The later models were apparently widely regarded as well made cars by most reviewers.
DP - Worth noting that the Rover went through a cost down exercise on late 75 models. Dont know all the details but, a colleague used to be a supplier to Rover and mentioned reduced sound deadning, and some "cheaper" materials being used. Also told me that in the last few months of production when most suppliers had put them on stop, parts were finding their way back out of the reject bins and back onto the production lines........ Having said that a friends father bought a bankrupt stock model with all the bells and whistles and to date has been very pleased with it (his second)
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Mr Fox
Dangerous question on this forum - just wait for all the MG Rover bashers to start up!
I bought a 2004 ZT190+ in January with 15k miles on it. I did have some considerable initial expenses which I had not expected but, touch wood, the car seems to run fine now.
It's certainly the nicest car I've ever had, looks fantastic, very quick, brilliant handling.
I've needed quite a few parts (unfortunately) and have not had any trouble getting hold of them.
At the price you quote, I would say go for it, especially as you know the history.
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I bought a 2004 ZT190+ in January with 15k miles on it. I did have some considerable initial expenses which I had not expected but touch wood the car seems to run fine now.
Hi Pete, Glad to hear you are now able to enjoy the car to the full.
Wasn't your main problem caused by someone driving into the car just after you got it, or is my memory going?
Edited by R40 on 20/08/2008 at 21:34
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It looks a sensible price. You'd end up paying as much at auction, maybe a bit more, once you take into account buyers fees and you know the car well.
If you like the car it looks like a good deal. Good condition 75/ZT's, especially the diesels, still sell and many owners seem to be at a loss to find something to replace them with.
Can't see you've got much to lose frankly.
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R40
No, your memory is quite correct. Someone did drive into the car 2 hours after I bought it, and it then took 7 weeks to repair.
Shortly after I got it back, the clutch master cylinder went, so I had to have a whole new clutch system.
Then I noticed a coolant leak - so had thermostat and water pump replaced. I also got the garage to do the cambelts at the same time.
Since then I've had 4 new tyres.
All in all, spent about £2.5k on repairs / tyres - and that's after the warranty company contribution. The garage I used wasn't cheap.
That's probably more than I've spent on repairs on all my previous cars. But I would still buy the car again (well, perhaps not this particular car!). It's so great to drive and look at. If I had my time again, I'd still get a ZT, but one with a better warranty!
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Well We've just got rid of an 02 MG TF for £ 3850. I think we will go for it, need a spacious runaround for the wife and child, can't believe that a week ago we were considering buying a Fiat Stilo for almost the same price. Rule Britannia !
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I had own till some uninsured driver deciced to rearrange it, a car I would have kept some electronic parts can be expensive especially ECU's but other than that no problems a well put together car and your not gambling with a lot of money.
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OOh Dear,
Just borrowed the car for the weekend to check it over, its horrible. Gutless and bloated. It actually had the 116 BHP engine. The Mrs hated it, we've bought a Renault Grand Scenic instead, which we got for a good price.
So the Rover's going to auction
It will be ideal for a pensioner with a large dog
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You need the CDTi (or get it chipped) to enjoy driving the diesel. They can be easily chipped to 160hp which is sub ten seconds 0-60.
I thoroughly enjoy driving my dad's 75, and am considering buying the MG ZT-T when I return to England. The 75 is a little too much like a drawing room for my taste, it would be lacking the fog of pipe smoke if I drove it. I'm getting tired of putting my bike into the Honda Accord through the back door, and I don't trust roof racks that aren't bolted to the roof.
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we've bought a Renault Grand Scenic instead which we got for a good price.
We've had ours for 18 months now and have had 20,000 miles of reliable and comfortable use out of it. A near perfect family car-cum-general workhorse, IMO, although Renaults don't have many fans on here.
Which one did you go for?
Cheers
DP
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Mr. Fox,
We have a perfect opportunity for a little experiment here.
There is absolutely no market for these cars.
I would have said if you want it offer no more than £1,200 as it will struggle to make £1,000 at auction.
Can you track it and find out what price it goes for?
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>>There is absolutely no market for these cars.
>>I would have said if you want it offer no more than £1,200 as it will struggle to make >>£1,000 at auction.
A quick search on autotrader would reveal different. The cheapest 04 diesel estate with over 100,000 miles is £3800. Even early 01/02 cars with similar mileage are going for far more than you suggest.
As to the OP finding the CDT underpowered - I would entirely agree as my CDT was far too slow for my liking and one of the reasons I bought my Audi. A CDTi is better and can easily be tuned to 160bhp without compromising reliability.
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75/ZT CDTi's seem to be attacting bids at auction OK. They're cheap (usually sub-£3k) and economical which is what is selling at the moment.
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Asking and selling price are a little different I regulary see the same cars on the same lots that have been for sale for months admitidly the diesels are the best but the big petrols are worthless.
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I am sure Mr. Fox is an honourable sort and so if he can find out what the car goes for at auction I will pledge £1 for every £100 over £1,000 it sells for to the charity of the Backrooms choice.
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I am sure Mr. Fox is an honourable sort and so if he can find out what the car goes for at auction I will pledge £1 for every £100 over £1 000 it sells for to the charity of the Backrooms choice.
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See what I said earlier about the usual MG Rover bashers!!
Not sure what your point is really Niallster. Seems that, thanks to Mr Brown, all large petrol engined cars are now worthless, not just MG Rovers.
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Best ignored BRG Pete ;) Nowadays sadly spammers are to be found everywhere...
Edited by R40 on 27/08/2008 at 22:10
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I'm not sure why my offer to potentially pay money to charity is seen as spam.
Also the car in question is a DIESEL.
Sorry to threaten your carefully constructed realities I know it is frightening for you both.
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Sorry to threaten your carefully constructed realities I know it is frightening for you both.
I don't see why I should be frightened, but I do find your (and others) anti-MG/Rover attitude a bit irrational and annoying. In my opinion, some of their later products (and I would include the 75/ZT) are well-built and fun to drive. My v6 is fantastic when you get over 3k revs - but personally, I wouldn't go for the diesel as I feel it just doesn't suit the car.
Niallster, you're perfectly entitled to your views and so am I - perhaps we should agree to disagree.
BTW, I'm quite well aware that my car is now worth considerably less than what I paid for it, but that doesn't really matter, as I have no intention of selling it. The point I was making is that applies to all big petrol engine cars these days.
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75 diesels are low, but they are not down to £1k on 04 plates yet. I don't know which auctions we are talking about but at the majors they certainly aren't anyway.
As an overall average, 75's sold at Manheim (a sample of 58 cars) fetched 86% of CAP Clean over the last 30 days. That sounds about right from the ones I've seen go through from lease disposals and CAP have marked their prices down so much they are now rougly in line with reality again.
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I have made enquiries Niallster.
The price I was given was from Interleasing, they will send it to auction now as nobody wants it.
I guess they got this price from the recent auction values for others they have sold. It would possibly be good value for somebody, but this one was in appaling condition, many of the accesories had fallen off or didn't work any more, the interior parts were falling off, the boot cover didn't retract, it was going rusty, the paint was coming off the steering wheel. it truly was atrocious when I got to have a close look.
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Hello DP
We got a grand Scenic 7 seater 1.6 VVT Privilege, 3 yrs old, 40 000 miles.
It seems ideal for what we want.
Paid just under £ 5 k for it from a main dealer, seems incredible value, it has a full spec including keyless entry, automatic everything and leather seats.
it will only be used for tootling around so the 1.6 should be fine.
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DP - Worth noting that the Rover went through a cost down exercise on late 75 models.
This was the infamous "Project Drive" that the Phoenix mob initiated after they took over. More gory details are to be found on the AROnline website:
www.aronline.co.uk/drivef.htm
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Been away, interesting that this thread has been brought up again my cdti tourer 136HP is ok power wise.
Somebody is 'affin a laugh here if they recon it is worth just a "bag of sand" Local mini cabber stopped me only last week & offerd 5k for my mint tourer, 2 mini cabbers have also expressed an intererest in the past.
Friend in the trade says taxi drivers cant get enough of em
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