Out and about today was offered 2000 May Rover 75 Classic SE 1.8 in black. 37000 miles with aircon and alloys. The car is beautiful and drives like new. No ball of fire but quiet and smooth. Owner closing down his business and 'open to offers'. I don't need it but at £1850 should I buy it? Might replace my trusty old Clio with it if I thought it was reliable.
Only one place to ask ....
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Check the headgasket!!!!
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I would buy that for £1850.
For a large, well built, comfortable, low mileage car with a reasonable level of equipment I think that sounds a bargain, even if it is a Rover!
Blue
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A colleague hired one of these to drive from Shropshire to Worthing - a 5 hour journey. Said it was the most comfortable car he'd driven. Buy with confidence - budget luxury!
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An ex colleague had one, dog slow, solid and comfortable though.
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Nice car, wrong engine in my opinion. The 75 needs the 2.5 V6 or TD to make it really shine.
The 1.8 K Series has a patchy reputation, it's prone to HGF, the small coolant capacity rapidly leading to overheating should coolant loss occur. I am not familiar with the kit that HJ is refering to but on the surface of it seems a good idea. I expect the engine will take longer to heat up though.
Various modifications have been made over the years, one being using metal cylinder head alignment dowels but I am not convinced enough to put my money into one. Having said that, £1800 is very cheap.
Check the coolant level every week and if the temperature gauge starts to rise above normal then STOP IMMEDIATELY. Do not try and make it back home, these engines can cook quite quickly.
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Agree with the above - a colleague had one and it was very comfortable, but he did have two head gaskets replacements in about 40,000 miles, so a check to see if this work has ever been done is imperative. If not you may be lucky and it will be OK for years, otherwise I'd keep the cost of the CHG work in a rainy day fund.
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If you drive anything with a K-series engine then everytime you check your speed do a quick eyes-left and check the termperature gauge at the same time.
I had a K-series metro that did nearly 100K on the original headgasket, before the body rotted away.
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I've A 75 Turbo Diesel best car i've ever owned but i would not touch any of the petrol engine models ALL are likely to have some sort of head gasket probs
My mate owns a very well respected independent repair garage and will not touch ANY K series with a blown head gasket. Unless it's to replace the engine with a new or recon engine
£1800 is cheap.... BUT if the engine went pop tomorrow where do you get another engine from?
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I hired a 75 with the 1.8 turbo engine a couple of years ago, better than the std 1.8 to drive though still no ball of fire.
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leave it where it is, next time you drive by, see if the trader is still selling these he will probably have packed the job in
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Left it where itis. A friends Rover 451.4 has blown the cylinder head gasket 3 times! Lifes too short! Thanks though.
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"Nice car, wrong engine in my opinion."
I test drove one 4 years ago. The engine wasn't really up to the job with such a big car - it was also rather noisy due to working so hard.
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I had a MG ZT for two years. (2.5 V6). Never a single problem. Car was fantastic. Ran faultlessly. I would buy it at that price.
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" had a MG ZT for two years. (2.5 V6). Never a single problem. Car was fantastic. Ran faultlessly. I would buy it at that price."
Indeed, as I mentioned in my first post the 2.5 V6 is the one to go for or if fuel economy is important, the TD.
It's the 1.8 that is the poor engine. It's of variable reputation when fitted to other vehicles, including the MGF/TF and of course the infamous Freelander.
Best left, although as I said it is very cheap.
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Well went back to look and sure enough brown residue round header tank where there had obviously been some action. Owner left it running for 20 minutes to prove it was ok. Still didn't buy but crossed the yard to look at 2002 MG ZT 2.5 V6 he has also. 31000 miles, silver, new Pirelli Zeros on the back. Lovely car indeed. Wants £5500. I wouldn't want to wave £5k at him. New owner taking over at beginning of the new year. I did buy something off him - a 1994 Renault 1.4 Campus for ....£30 have until 12 noon tomorrow option on the MG then it goes into the Trader...
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sounds like you bought the best of the pitch cars then so we dont need the address
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Did any of those nutter V8 rover 75/mgs get manufactured in the end? What sort of money would they make ?
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They were made but I don't know what money they would fetch.
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Rov 75 v8's new were going at 1/2 price at the end. Seen one at a car supermarket with 2k on the clock for £12.5.
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12.5k?!?!! Now that has got to be tempting...
Obviously not the most rational purchase, but hey, what V8 saloon would be...
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Buying cars has nothing to do with being rational.
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A friend with a Freelander 1.8, 35000 miles, found that it was low on water. She took it to the local Landrover dealer who topped up the radiator and said it was perfectly alright.
Next time out she heard a noise, looked in the mirror and saw clouds of steam! Landrover rescue took it to LR dealer who now have told her she needs a new engine. It is still under warranty, so she won't have to pay.
Does anyone know if you can still get Rover engines, or is she in for a long wait?
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IIRC LR stockpiled as many engines as they could before Rover went to the wall - they could obviously see it coming. If you wait long enough there will of course be Chinese versions of the K series.
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Bit late on this thread, but IMHO anything with a K-series engine is not cheap. They are not worth a washer. Leave well alone.
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Crazy that it's only worth £1800. You could strip it and sell the parts on ebay for many times that.
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