# Opinion on High Mileage Rover 75



## muffinsda (28 Mar 2007)

Changed job recently, need a car to go to work. Will do a bit of N11/M50 regularly so need something safe. Came across a high mileage (101000) Rover 75 with the following description: 

Petrol, 4 Door Saloon, 4 Doors, Manual, One owner from new. MOT until Feb 08, 107k miles. Banbridge Area. Full Dealer Service History, ABS Brakes, Full Climate Control, Alloy Wheels, Front/Rear Electric Windows, Electric Mirrors, Remote Control Audio, Body Coloured Bumpers and Mirrors. Full 100k Service in Feb 2007 included new Timing Belts and Tensioners, Clutch, Radiator, Water Pump, 4 x Tyres (Spare Tyre as new), Suspension Overhauled. Car management system reports 13k+ until next service. (Banbridge)

Do you think it's worth 4000 euros + VRT (@around 1400 euros)? Mileage is very high but looks like it's been well looked after. Rover doesn't have a good reputation for reliability but this one has very good reviews. 

Do you think I should get it?
Other option I'm considreing is a 00 Jap Import Galant (Auto). That'll be more reliable but less safe.


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## john m (28 Mar 2007)

I would stay well clear. But you never gave the year or engine size, if it has the Honda engine it will stay going but the rest of the car might not! I would take the Galant of the 2 you mentioned but the auto will be thirsty on M50 type drives. I really dont see how the rover would be safer. Why not look at a Accord? They will go for ever but depreciate fast (old models anyway, not the new one) and be relatively cheap to run if you locate the 1.8 petrol. A Nissan Primera would be similar.


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## muffinsda (28 Mar 2007)

john m said:


> I would stay well clear. But you never gave the year or engine size, if it has the Honda engine it will stay going but the rest of the car might not! I would take the Galant of the 2 you mentioned but the auto will be thirsty on M50 type drives. I really dont see how the rover would be safer. Why not look at a Accord? They will go for ever but depreciate fast (old models anyway, not the new one) and be relatively cheap to run if you locate the 1.8 petrol. A Nissan Primera would be similar.


Thanks john, and sorry, Year 2000, engine 1.8
Not a Honda Engine. It's made right after split-up with BMW so the engine would be quite similar. In fact the 2litre diesel version of the same car has exact same engine as 320d.

Anyway, it's safer than a galant because it has side airbags and also because numerous reviews and euroncap say that. I don't know how much of it reflects reality though. But the galant does'nt have side airbags and having to merge in with traffic a couple of times a day it would be useful... generally none of those earlt 2000s jap cars have as much safetly credentials as major european rivals.


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## muffinsda (28 Mar 2007)

just found this: for those interested in safety matters:
[broken link removed]

turns out galant is also very safe in real life reports!

(btw, you can see what a boring person I am  )


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## RS2K (28 Mar 2007)

Nah. 75's aren't as bad as you might think but a one with that amount of leg, especially in petrol guise, is best avoided i reckon.


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## Kerak (28 Mar 2007)

if its any comfort,Im on my 2nd Rover75, petro  01d, and now a desel 05.
neither has given any trouble at all.
The spec is very high, and the car is quiet classy to look at . The petrol was real good car for long runs, and I switched to desel auto cause wifes car was auto as well and switching back and forth from auto to gear was annoying.

And Igot all the usual oh Rover are terrrable cars, maybe inthe 70's
but as I said never any problem and love my racing green 2liter auto


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## muffinsda (28 Mar 2007)

Thanks lads. That's why I've read on other reviews as well. This one seems to be better built than the rest. Pity they went belly up when they were getting their act together.
btw, I agree that it looks very beautiful and classy.  It has to be damn good looking to win a "most beautiful car" award from a motor show in Milan!
Obviously those who thing Impreza is a beautiful car wouldn't agree with me though


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## ang1170 (28 Mar 2007)

muffinsda said:


> Thanks lads. That's why I've read on other reviews as well. This one seems to be better built than the rest. Pity they went belly up when they were getting their act together.
> btw, I agree that it looks very beautiful and classy. It has to be damn good looking to win a "most beautiful car" award from a motor show in Milan!
> Obviously those who thing Impreza is a beautiful car wouldn't agree with me though


 
The fact it's one owner and has FSH would tend to mitigate against the high mileage, and it is a lot of car for the money.

Having said that a quick look at autotrader.co.uk would tend to suggest that the asking price is on the high side.


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## muffinsda (28 Mar 2007)

ang1170 said:


> The fact it's one owner and has FSH would tend to mitigate against the high mileage, and it is a lot of car for the money.
> 
> Having said that a quick look at autotrader.co.uk would tend to suggest that the asking price is on the high side.



Thanks ang. That's right, I've heard that a well looked after high mileage car is better than poorly services 3-owner low mileage equivalent. But in my mind 100000 is a big threshold and I get scared to go over it 

Yep, you can get them alot cheaper in the UK but this one is in NI which mean s you'll save on costs of ferry, flight, possible accomodation etc.


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## tosullivan (28 Mar 2007)

are parts easily available for them?


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## muffinsda (28 Mar 2007)

tosullivan said:


> are parts easily available for them?


Yep, as far as I know.
The chinese crowd that bought rover are continuing to produce them in China. In fact two automotive groups in China are making them. Aside from that most dealers who were selling new Rovers in 2007 we giving a 10 year guarantee on availability of parts. So I wouldn't worry about that.

But I probably be sensible and boring at the end of the day and get the low mileage jap import Galant


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## philips (28 Mar 2007)

The 75 being petrol must be either the K series 4 or 6 cylinder unit. The K series engine whilst excellent from most points of view, smoothness, easy starting, flexibility etc is prone to head gasket failure. This in itself is not a big fix providing the car was stopped before overheating could occur.
At 100000 miles then either the job has already been done or could be about to happen! If already done and well done, especially if the Landrover modified gasket was used, you should be OK. The 6s are less likely to suffer than the 4s but are harder to fix if you are unfortunate.


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## DOBBER22 (28 Mar 2007)

The 75 is a great car very comfortable over long distances and drives great. I had a 00 model 45 for 3 years and never had a problem with it. 
Unfortunately the head gasket failure tarred the whole model line up with the same brush if you could stretch to it I'm betting you could get the below 2.0 Diesel version for 6k which would be a very good buy.



Good Luck


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## muffinsda (28 Mar 2007)

DOBBER22 said:


> The 75 is a great car very comfortable over long distances and drives great. I had a 00 model 45 for 3 years and never had a problem with it.
> Unfortunately the head gasket failure tarred the whole model line up with the same brush if you could stretch to it I'm betting you could get the below 2.0 Diesel version for 6k which would be a very good buy.
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks a mill. This is really good actually. I'll definitely try it. I can stretch to 6k probably. 
Thanks again!

And thanks for advice philip.


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## DOBBER22 (28 Mar 2007)

I wouldn't mind having this one its real classy looking.

[broken link removed]

[broken link removed]


Check below link for detailed info on 75

[broken link removed]


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## xt40 (29 Mar 2007)

i have a 75 diesel automatic in conn se spec (chrome mirrors + leather). it is brilliant,luxurious and beautiful and streets ahead of any bmw 3 series. the auto box is ultra smooth and a delight to drive. as mentioned previously, the 1.8 rover k series engine blows head gaskets about every 30k miles which really is unacceptable. i would therefore recommend you steer clear of it and find a diesel instead.


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## muffinsda (29 Mar 2007)

thanks for the advice xt40.
I have heard that the diesel engine version of them is alot better alright, but didn't know of the head gasket issue.
It looks like I won't be buying one after all, the wife managed to talk some sense to me last night and I think she has a point, we'll stick to the one car we have for now (00 Saab 93) and see if I really need one in a couple of months.
It'll be sad to miss this Diesel one though, as they don't come to market at this price that often. But sure there'll be others in future...


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## muffinsda (30 Mar 2007)

...


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## Sunster (30 Mar 2007)

Sure look out for diesels...but stay clear of the Rover


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## jmayo (30 Mar 2007)

Quote: >> the galant does'nt have side airbags and having to merge in with traffic a couple of times a day it would be useful ??? What the hell do you propose to do, bash your way in. The livelihood, even in the event that you side swipe car next to you, of the side airbag going off is low I would say. They really are meant to be as protection if you get almost full side on from car coming from side road/street.  You have better chance of getting rear ended on motorway/dual carriageway.  I have driven Galant for last 3 years and as cars go it has been brilliant. Reliable, comfortable and responsive (BTW it is a diesel). I have just come back from month in New Zealand and the country is full of  them so they can't be all that bad. As regards Rover, it is British built and if it is newer age the influence of Japanese parts and build quality will be much less if any? Always buy Japanese, there are very good reasons why they sell so many of them around the world.


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## muffinsda (30 Mar 2007)

jmayo said:


> Quote: >> the galant does'nt have side airbags and having to merge in with traffic a couple of times a day it would be useful ??? What the hell do you propose to do, bash your way in. The livelihood, even in the event that you side swipe car next to you, of the side airbag going off is low I would say. They really are meant to be as protection if you get almost full side on from car coming from side road/street.  You have better chance of getting rear ended on motorway/dual carriageway.  I have driven Galant for last 3 years and as cars go it has been brilliant. Reliable, comfortable and responsive (BTW it is a diesel). I have just come back from month in New Zealand and the country is full of  them so they can't be all that bad. As regards Rover, it is British built and if it is newer age the influence of Japanese parts and build quality will be much less if any? Always buy Japanese, there are very good reasons why they sell so many of them around the world.



Thanks for the adivce. No I wasn't planning to bash my way in but as we all know there's plenty of lunatic drivers out there that might just do that, or similar stuff. 

Anyway, there is a reason why cars have side airbags and I wouldn't discount that reason altogether just because my car doesn't have one  Sure Galant is a brilliant car, and I might as well buy one of them, but it doesn't make it perfect! It is less safe than alot of European cars (at leasr on paper) because safetly has not been Japanase cars Forté, same as reliability not being European cars strongest point. It's not that black and white. I personally prefer European cars to Japanese ones in general, if I have a choice. I position safetly before anything else (including reliability/cost). But I'm also willing to find a good compromise, like a Galant, which has shown very good real life results.

And if Kiwis love them then... we should love them too? great logic


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## tomred007 (30 Mar 2007)

I bought a Rover 75 2.0 diesel in '02 -demo car 9k miles.
I traded my Audi A4 tdi and I must say the Rover is one of the best cars I have ever had.
Extremely reliably - car now has 78k miles and only ever had to replace battery outside of normal service items.
Very economical, lively (150bhp) and comfortable.
No problem with parts as Caterpillar are the suppliers with plenty of stocks.
Engine is as BMW 320d and Trinity motors Wexford ship anything else required overnight. 
I believe the 1.8 does have problems - Get a diesel if you can find one! 

I am currently looking to change and the only car I see to compare is the IS220d. 

Regards
Dermot


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## jmayo (2 Apr 2007)

>> And if Kiwis love them then... we should love them too? great logic

Ah now muffinsda, don't have a go at the kiwis... 
Btw my logic works in much weirder ways.
The reason I mentioned kiwis was the concentration of this model in NZ was very high.  They tend to go for cars for long term and indeed are still driving quiet a few cars from 70s and 80s.  So they must know something about it's longevity.

No car is perfect as regards safety.  Some mothers state they drive 4x4 because they are safer but they can actually be less safe if driven the same as a normal car.  
If something freaky occurs you may not be protected no matter what car you are in.  Them's the breaks unfortunately.
All you can do is improve the odds in your favour.  
So drive Humvee or Volvo.  Volvo much easier to park but not as scary to other motorists.  
Me I advise driving John Deere 150hp tractor with front loader.
You will never break the speed limit and nobody will play chicken with you.

Yes Japanese cars are lighter than your Mercs or Bmeers. 
Renault cars have had some of the best sadety ratings out there and they would not be rated as very heavy cars.


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## muffinsda (2 Apr 2007)

jmayo said:


> >> And if Kiwis love them then... we should love them too? great logic
> 
> Ah now muffinsda, don't have a go at the kiwis...
> Btw my logic works in much weirder ways.
> ...




Thanks for the clarification  
Unfortunately I'm not in the Humvee/John Deere camp! I think safety doesn't equate size! You can have a properly designed car -i.e. Renault Clio- that is a lot safer than an SUV, and lots of studies have proven that. 
I think I made the rest of my point clearly in the previous post so no need to drag it on.


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