The Rover 75 after 14 days - review
in [UK Drivers]
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From: Harry Bloomfield on 11 Jun 2010 18:45 I said I would post my findings after owning it for a while, so here goes... It is a late 2004 Rover 75 Mk II Contemporary SE CDTi (rather than the Connoisseur SE I originally suggested) in a metallic black colour, with a bit more mileage under its belt than I really intended (90K), but my opinion from the feel of it is that they are mostly motorway miles. It has every conceivable option already fitted. 17" wide low profiles, sports setup, Satnav/TV, electric everything, power folds, all leather and a manual box, Traffic Master, instrument pack, Xenon's. All it lacked was a tow bar + electrics, which I fitted the first weekend and it was slightly over due a full service/inspection, prior to which it had FSH and a fresh MOT. Over the past couple of weeks I have been working my way gradually around the car, finding and sorting out the few minor problems I could find and doing the service / inspection and finally running the diagnostics - which indicated no faults at all recorded or current. The car had by far the least number of problems of any vehicle I have ever bought second hand, yet by a fair margin, with all of its built-in toys, is the most complex one. My only complaints are that I don't like the way the memory seats operate, its FWD and it lacks a 'global close' for the windows/sunroof. If you press a memory button whilst on the road, it does a shuffle to the new set position, rather than taking the quick short route to the new position like my old car did and you have to manually close all of the windows. The dash instruments are also of rather an eccentric retro look styling and the clutch pedal is heavy. The paint work is just a tad below being immaculate, I found no sign of any rust anywhere in it including the underside. If you asked me how old it were, from my inspection I would say a matter of months, rather than years, it also drives the like new. It is in much better condition and feels newer than my 18 month old works hack. I sorted out one suspension level sensor (for the xenon's) which had been pulled from its ball joint, an handbrake lever with excess travel and a rather odd case of a loose bolt each on two small suspension sub-frame braces. One bolt was hanging by its last thread and I suspect these were not tightened correctly at the factory. It has an annoying twanging front O/S suspension spring - which I have still to resolve. I have so far clocked around 500 miles in it, between working on it. On the road, it is more than capable of making good fast progress and its handling is good if a little soft particularly at the rear. It feels a little cramped inside, when compared to my old motor - which was almost an identical overall size, if a bit faster and a little more powerful. Interior noise wise it is about the same, but a little quieter on noisy road surfaces. Despite continuously swapping on a daily basis from manual to auto, the Rover feels so like my old auto, I'm tending to forget I need to manually change gear. The car oozes quality of build. Am I happy with it - absolutely. It handles well, is extremely comfortable, it is far from slow and it is between 2/3 and half the fuel cost to run as my 3L petrol. This was the first 75 (or any car) I looked at in the flesh this time around and I agreed to buy it after just a ten minute run in it - with not much clue about its true condition. I'm a terrible car buyer and I hate buying them. I'm good at finding and fixing problems, but it takes me a good couple of weeks of effort to really judge the condition of car. This car I now know is spot on, which straight away doubles its value to me. The 75 has a very active web forum inhabited by some very knowledgeable enthusiasts and parts seem not to be a problem. -- Regards, Harry (M1BYT) (L) http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk
From: Harry Bloomfield on 11 Jun 2010 18:55 Harry Bloomfield pretended : > It is a late 2004 Rover 75 Mk II Contemporary SE CDTi (rather than the > Connoisseur SE I originally suggested) in a metallic black colour, with a bit > more mileage under its belt than I really intended (90K), but my opinion from > the feel of it is that they are mostly motorway miles. It has every > conceivable option already fitted. 17" wide low profiles, sports setup, > Satnav/TV, electric everything, power folds, all leather and a manual box, > Traffic Master, instrument pack, Xenon's. Nearly forgot, the rain sensing wipers - brilliant :-) You can just turn them on and forget them. It rains they wipe, it stops they don't - they wipe just as and when needed, they make a better job of knowing when you need them to wipe and how often to wipe than I could. -- Regards, Harry (M1BYT) (L) http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk
From: Silk on 12 Jun 2010 03:28 On 11/06/2010 23:55, Harry Bloomfield wrote: > Nearly forgot, the rain sensing wipers - brilliant :-) > > You can just turn them on and forget them. It rains they wipe, it stops > they don't - they wipe just as and when needed, they make a better job > of knowing when you need them to wipe and how often to wipe than I could. Yeah, we get the picture. Had them for years. Nothing new.
From: Ret. on 12 Jun 2010 03:28 Harry Bloomfield wrote: > Harry Bloomfield pretended : >> It is a late 2004 Rover 75 Mk II Contemporary SE CDTi (rather than >> the Connoisseur SE I originally suggested) in a metallic black >> colour, with a bit more mileage under its belt than I really >> intended (90K), but my opinion from the feel of it is that they are >> mostly motorway miles. It has every conceivable option already >> fitted. 17" wide low profiles, sports setup, Satnav/TV, electric >> everything, power folds, all leather and a manual box, Traffic >> Master, instrument pack, Xenon's. > > Nearly forgot, the rain sensing wipers - brilliant :-) > > You can just turn them on and forget them. It rains they wipe, it > stops they don't - they wipe just as and when needed, they make a > better job of knowing when you need them to wipe and how often to > wipe than I could. Delighted to hear that you are pleased with your 75 Harry - I didn't really doubt that you wouldn't be! -- Kev
From: bod on 12 Jun 2010 03:34
Silk wrote: > On 11/06/2010 23:55, Harry Bloomfield wrote: > >> Nearly forgot, the rain sensing wipers - brilliant :-) >> >> You can just turn them on and forget them. It rains they wipe, it stops >> they don't - they wipe just as and when needed, they make a better job >> of knowing when you need them to wipe and how often to wipe than I could. > > Yeah, we get the picture. Had them for years. Nothing new. > > Untill I got my present car, I didn't realise how very helpful rain sensors were, brilliant. Bod |