I have just been reading What car reviews for the rover 45 & 25.( I was bored at work)

They have them both down as having known head gasket problems along with the Fabia.

Also the suspension on the 45 is very suspect as well.

All sounds very familiar maybe the same Friday afternoon worker made them after he had been sacked from one place and moved to the other

The reliability review for the 25 is shocking I always thought they were good cars I learnt to drive in one and it was a great car and the instructor raved about the good reliability.

A lot of these car magazines do spout turd a lot of the time IMO

my dad had a rover 45 (rover 400 then) for a company car, using the rover 2 litre petrol engine, ran it for 90k no problems at all

A lot of these car magazines do spout turd a lot of the time IMO

Yep, especially What Car and Which?, all imvho!

Chris

Had a Rover 214 for three years - not a single fault

As with all cars , its pot luck whether you get a problem or not.

Had a Rover 400 1.6 k series. HGF after 2 days of ownership, but fixed by dealer and did 40k in 2 years without a problem.

Traded in to get an MG ZS 120+ (similar K-Series engine) no problems so far as my dad now owns it after i made him take it off my hands so i could get i vRS.

A lot of these car magazines do spout turd a lot of the time IMO

I like Auto Express with it's in house exclusive computer generated artists impressions of what a car might looks like.

The K series do/did suffer from HGF. My grandfather used to by recon heads from a company in Brum and at one point he was replacing about 2 a month.

That said I had a company pool car for about 6 months when the 200 was a new car (Was an R plate). Sweet car, ran well, went like stink, handled well and was well equipped. That finished life when it was written off by one of the managers. It had around 100k on it and it was still sweet.

the problem with the k series engine was that it had wet liners, the block was made of some silicon alloy, and the liners were steel, and when they get hot they expand at different rates, and the liner ends up pushing up on the gasket, which forces it into the head and normally leaves a 4 nice neat circular grooves in he head.... i've lost count of how many times i've changed head gaskets on those k series engines..... the 2.0 T series however was a lot better

Rovers are just ****, IMO

Rover,s are for old farts who remeber the days (1950's & 60@s) when they actualy produced a quality product! Today,s cars are crap & for people of a time gone era, thank god they went bust they wouldn't know quality if it hit them in the face.

After all you can,t polish dog s***!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I personally found both the Rover and the MG i owned were a delight to drive. Very punchy engines that rev very nicely. The ZS and the 400 red-lined at about 7000rpm.

Handling wise, the understeer and body roll on the 400 was un-believable, whereas the ZS felt like it was on rails.

The only complaints i have with them other than reliability, was the fit & finish on things like trim - bumpers out of line slightly etc, and things like switches and nobs felt quite cheap.

Given the chance i would definately buy something like a ZS180 or a ZT190 and would be very proud to own one.

Aren't the Chinese resurrecting the MG TF's...with the K series engine?

Isn't it about 40 years old that engine?

Should be taken out & shot!!!!!

At the end of the day you can have a zs,zt,zr & think its a great car but beneath all the fancy badges trim etc its still a rover!!!!!

I quite like the ZT. Its about the only decent car in the range, I think it was designed by BMW but I may be wrong.

I ran a '98 214si for a couple of years with no problems- regularly thrashed and had 120k on the clock when I got rid.

The K-Series is a cracking little engine if looked after properly- very revvy and a great power output for it's size/ weight. If the H/Gasket does go you can replace it with a heavier duty version with steel dowels for approx £400-£500 which should eliminate that problem.

I had a 1997 Rover 416i As a company car. The HG was replaced inside the first 6 months. It was back at the dealers for a total of 12 days in the first 12 months.

That MG ZT they made with the V8 ford mustang engine was awesome, I wouldn't mind one if I could afford 20 MPG economy:eek:

You mean a ZT260? Ive seen them for under £10K now , nice looking car , as was the 75 on which it was based , In fact I wouldnt mind a Conn. SE in black with beige leather.

the problem with the k series engine was that it had wet liners, the block was made of some silicon alloy, and the liners were steel, and when they get hot they expand at different rates, and the liner ends up pushing up on the gasket, which forces it into the head and normally leaves a 4 nice neat circular grooves in he head.... i've lost count of how many times i've changed head gaskets on those k series engines.....

Did they not also have about an eggcup-ful of coolant in the entire cooling system as well? Can't have helped...

I think they did the 75 with the V8 (not MG) too? not many about and I reckon they will become quite collectable.

Should be taken out & shot!!!!!

At the end of the day you can have a zs,zt,zr & think its a great car but beneath all the fancy badges trim etc its still a rover!!!!!

And beneath the fancy badging and bumpers a vRS is just a standard Fabia.

Obviously though - it isnt!

There are subtle differences that make an MG and a vRS a completely different car to drive compared to it's standard counterparts. Namely brakes, suspension, tuning of the engine, gear ratios etc. As i said, i've owned a 400 and a ZS. Pretty much the same chassis, but to drive they are oceans apart. I may get hung for saying this, but if it wasn't for the fuel econonmy , i would have bought a facelift ZS180 over the vRS. The V6 engines in those are fantastic and they look absolutely stunning.

I had a Rover 214si before my Fabia, and it wasn't bad at all. It was pretty cheap to run, went well enough and was comfy. Actually, in one respect it was considerably better than the Fabia is; you could get a guitar in a hard case into the boot widthways.

Aren't the Chinese resurrecting the MG TF's...with the K series engine?

Isn't it about 40 years old that engine?

yeah they are, but anonther company has made a revised HG and it stops the HGF almost completely. ive seen a few fitted here as we used to be rover dealers and still fix them too. I too had a rover a few years ago and the HG went a few times over teh years, but apart from that it was a crakcing motor. 1.4i and 105bhp crackin!