Rover 200 & 400 Owners Club

I went to a trusted mechanic for him to take a look at the work on the radiator which was replaced on Friday.

Well. there was no water left in the system, so he said he'd look it over. Too late, lack of water had overheated everything and damage has been done to the headgasket joints or covers or something and the bill would be in the 1000s. Also, it's probably about time for a timing belt, a full service....
conclusion, it's not worth it. I'm going to send it off to the breakers for 120 euros. Taken in by those leather seats ...

I've looked around for other R25s. One seller has now decided she's not selling and another convinced me that R25s are not the way to go for a daily drive. He promised to fix the defects to pass the MOT, but the distribution timing belt hasn't been done for 80,000 kms and it's due a service, plus whatever else I'd find and he's asking for 1400 euros. Even if it were free the bill could run into the 1000s.

On my cherished 220 coupe I'd be willing to spend a couple of thousand, but not on the Rover bubble cars that are not wearing well and are well overpriced here in Spain. I've seen a high mileage Streetwise diesel for 2600 euros!! It's madness.

If a R25 is going to be your cherished vehicle, go ahead, if not, get ready to dig very deep to keep it on the road.

mrsimon wrote:
If a R25 is going to be your cherished vehicle, go ahead, if not, get ready to dig very deep to keep it on the road.

That's a blow!

As with all models, there are good ones and there are bad ones. It's the proportion of each that varies. Unfortunately yoyo seem to have a bad one....

Are you saving those seats?

GTiJohn wrote:

mrsimon wrote:
If a R25 is going to be your cherished vehicle, go ahead, if not, get ready to dig very deep to keep it on the road.

That's a blow!

As with all models, there are good ones and there are bad ones. It's the proportion of each that varies. Unfortunately yoyo seem to have a bad one....

Are you saving those seats?

I was thinking of saving the seats but now I don't think it's worth it as I've decided against getting any other R25s

Can't say about the prices over there but a donor engine over here can be had on the cheap,
I got a full 1.4 engine and gearbox for £50, gearbox is still on my 25, the engine head was
warped but still got a good few bits off it.

I know its rubbish mate but as said it can be hit and miss, I got a major hit with 'Brian' the Mrs'
25, fixed a few bits, still got loads to sort on it, boot loom is duff, boot lock needs de-rusting
and greasing up and I need to refit the door car trims as we had the regulator replaced.

At the very least i would be going back to the guy that done the radiator and asking for a refund unless he wanted to fix the problem that had been caused. How many miles had you done since the radiator was replaced? had you checked the water leave after say its first run once it had cooled down?

Its a pity as the 25's and ZR's are generally good cars.. and good every day cars at that.. small, with plenty of room inside, bootspace, good mechanics - generally. I have had a 1.8 ZR for a long time now, with no major probs.. its on 110,000 miles now.. was "her" car.. and I inherited it.

So, I think you had bad luck and bought a rough one by the sounds of it.. but one that hasn't been looked after, but saying that if you could do the work yourself it would cost about another £150 to sort..

and prices of them over there - wow.. they do seem alot more expensive over there, a really good one can be had for around £500 over here in the UK..

Kev

I spoke to other sellers and the work needing doing on the engines made it unfeasible to spend big money on.

At the same time, we're asking a lot of a car that wasn't supposed to be special in the first place.And then with the Project Drove it was made even lower in quality.

I like it because it's a very useful car to get around in. I think that as a collector's car, it's too ordinary. The 90s ones seem more collectable and special. I'll invest more money into the 220 coupe for that reason.

I've already mentioned I'd looked at the Streetwise, but with crazily high prices for a crossover style 25 with full project drive implemention in the final quality, I'd feel insulted and stupid buying one, just because it's British.

In the end, through a contact in the town, a mechanic's was selling a Peugeot 206 2002 1.4 D with 135000kms with cambelt, clutch and full service done on it by them plus a professional clean and put in my name all for €2200. Got body dents and scratches but a no-brainer. Will go on for ever probably if serviced regularly and it's for an employee anyway.

mrsimon wrote:I spoke to other sellers and the work needing doing on the engines made it unfeasible to spend big money on.

At the same time, we're asking a lot of a car that wasn't supposed to be special in the first place.And then with the Project Drove it was made even lower in quality.

I like it because it's a very useful car to get around in. I think that as a collector's car, it's too ordinary. The 90s ones seem more collectable and special. I'll invest more money into the 220 coupe for that reason.

I've already mentioned I'd looked at the Streetwise, but with crazily high prices for a crossover style 25 with full project drive implemention in the final quality, I'd feel insulted and stupid buying one, just because it's British.

In the end, through a contact in the town, a mechanic's was selling a Peugeot 206 2002 1.4 D with 135000kms with cambelt, clutch and full service done on it by them plus a professional clean and put in my name all for €2200. Got body dents and scratches but a no-brainer. Will go on for ever probably if serviced regularly and it's for an employee anyway.

The 1.4 HDi is a good economical engine, I see that you state they've done the clutch, did they replace the Dual Mass Flywheel at the same time? It's a really weak point on both 206 and Fiestas that share the same engine, keep an ear out for the tell tale little rumble as the wheels rotate. Good luck with the 206, I'm amazed at the prices of cars where you are, the same car here would cost between £500 and £800.

Be warned on the small 1.4 and .1.6 hid engines they do have a bad habit of destroying turbos due to carbon build up

Glennb wrote:Be warned on the small 1.4 and .1.6 hid engines they do have a bad habit of destroying turbos due to carbon build up

Thanks for the advice, I'll make sure to take the comments in mind.