Andybarbet
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| posted on 1/9/13 at 08:42 AM |
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Rover 420 buying advice
I might pop to look at a 2.0 litre diesel rover 400 later. Its on a V reg with about 110k on the clock.
We basically need a cheap medium size diesel car & have a budget of £500 ish so this is matching up.
Is there anything major that they suffer with ?
I understand its probably not the best car but its cheap, has 3 proper over the shoulder seatbelts in the back & its diesel so should do more than
the 26mpg of my current old saab.
Give a man a fish & it will feed him for a day, give him a fishing rod & you've saved a fish.
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morcus
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| posted on 1/9/13 at 09:22 AM |
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It's basically a Honda with a psa engine and can you really go wrong with a running car for the money? My dad had the previous model which I
believe had the same engine and he loved the thing, but he is a rover fan.
In a White Room, With Black Curtains, By the Station.
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Andybarbet
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| posted on 1/9/13 at 09:31 AM |
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I didnt know they used the peugeot engines.
We really just need a very cheap functional car thats diesel & this has 13months mot on it.
I wouldnt normally go looking for a rover but we are just ticking boxes in this price range, just want something that hopefully will last the next
18months without any common expensive problems.
Give a man a fish & it will feed him for a day, give him a fishing rod & you've saved a fish.
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paulf
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| posted on 1/9/13 at 09:37 AM |
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It has actually got an L series rover engine which is a very good diesel engine, I had a 600 with the same engine and managed 250000 miles and was
still going strong when i got rid of it. The good thing about them is that as well as averaging 45mpg it also ran it on veg oil occasionally with no
problems as the Bosch pump can easily cope with veg oil.
I think the running gear is basically Honda and the build quality and trim is quite good.
Paul
quote:
Originally posted by Andybarbet
I didnt know they used the peugeot engines.
We really just need a very cheap functional car thats diesel & this has 13months mot on it.
I wouldnt normally go looking for a rover but we are just ticking boxes in this price range, just want something that hopefully will last the next
18months without any common expensive problems.
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britishtrident
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| posted on 1/9/13 at 09:47 AM |
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L is a diesel version of the BL O series very reliable, the gearbox is the PG1 gearbox which is just about unbreakable.
Biggest problems you are likely to encounter are corrosion of front to rear brake pipes I usually splice these leaving the original pipe
from the drivers seat forward and do a slight re-route of the pipes, be sure to use the correct type of pipe tube nuts with a longer thread than
normal or the threads in the rear flex hoses won't have enough threads engaged. You will probably find rust in the rear bumper crush tubes
but it is not an MOT problem and would be easy to fix.
You may find the radiator is suffering from old age new ones are as cheap as chips on ebay.
Rear trailing arm pivot bushes are often an MOT failure easy enough to fix but buy decent quality replacements or you will be doing them again the
following year
At the front the top wishbones last about 100,000 miles but they can be pain in the neck to fit because the fulcrum eybolts on replacements are
often not a good fit.
Personally I would look for a 45 1.4 petrol there are lots of good ones around I live in an area with quite steep hills and mine even in mixed
urban/suburban use return 40+ MPG and with 104 bhp was fairly nippy
[Edited on 1/9/13 by britishtrident]
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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Matt159888
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| posted on 1/9/13 at 09:51 AM |
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hi my general experience with rovers are they are cheap nasty and very fragile. This engine is the better of the bunch but dont think for one minute
Honda quality!. Having said that 500 if she has mot etc is cheap. Any car these days running is 500 so at that price you kind of pay your money and
take your choice. Hopefully she will be a good one for you and give good service just be warned at 500 pound it really is always a gamble!
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britishtrident
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| posted on 1/9/13 at 10:02 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by paulf
It has actually got an L series rover engine which is a very good diesel engine, I had a 600 with the same engine and managed 250000 miles and was
still going strong when i got rid of it. The good thing about them is that as well as averaging 45mpg it also ran it on veg oil occasionally with no
problems as the Bosch pump can easily cope with veg oil.
I think the running gear is basically Honda and the build quality and trim is quite good.
Paul
quote:
Originally posted by Andybarbet
I didnt know they used the peugeot engines.
We really just need a very cheap functional car thats diesel & this has 13months mot on it.
I wouldnt normally go looking for a rover but we are just ticking boxes in this price range, just want something that hopefully will last the next
18months without any common expensive problems.
The 400 is an awful lot lot lighter than the lardy 600 so MPG should about 10mpg better
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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Andybarbet
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| posted on 1/9/13 at 10:14 AM |
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Some good info there chaps, I think I will pop over to take a.look then.
I would really prefer to be looking at something more expensive but with wife out of work, funds are very tight & even the £500 has been hard to
gather together.
I dont want to go down the carloan or finance route at the moment but once the next 12months are out of the way I probably will.
Give a man a fish & it will feed him for a day, give him a fishing rod & you've saved a fish.
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britishtrident
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| posted on 1/9/13 at 10:32 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Matt159888
hi my general experience with rovers are they are cheap nasty and very fragile. This engine is the better of the bunch but dont think for one minute
Honda quality!. Having said that 500 if she has mot etc is cheap. Any car these days running is 500 so at that price you kind of pay your money and
take your choice. Hopefully she will be a good one for you and give good service just be warned at 500 pound it really is always a gamble!
Even after Honda's Swindon plant opened until the time of the BMW take over Rover built an lot lot of cars for Hondas for sale in the EU
market , Honda built a lot of cars in Japan for Rover that were sold outside the EU including for example Malta.
You won't see many Honda of the early Swindon production on the road as most rusted fairly quickly but a lot of Longbridge built 200/400
of the same era are still around.
[Edited on 1/9/13 by britishtrident]
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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MikeR
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| posted on 1/9/13 at 03:24 PM |
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don't expect it to be very spacious inside. despite rovers marketing its really an escort or focus sized car. I used one for work and apart from
a lack of headroom with a sunroof enjoyed doing a lot of miles in it. had a 200 with the same engine as my personal car and that always felt nippy.
would drive from the north west to london in it (and back) every weekend without any trouble.
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NigeEss
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| posted on 1/9/13 at 03:40 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Matt159888
Having said that 500 if she has mot etc is cheap. Any car these days running is 500
That's what I always though, however I've a 98' Clio 1.4 and a Y2K Corsa 1.0, been for sale a month now
£500 each, both T&T and best offer I've had is £200 
Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.................Douglas Adams.
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mark chandler
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| posted on 1/9/13 at 04:23 PM |
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I'd be looking at 306 pugs myself, much nicer to drive and once off idle all the diesel rattle disappears.
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Matt159888
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| posted on 1/9/13 at 04:52 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by NigeEss
quote:
Originally posted by Matt159888
Having said that 500 if she has mot etc is cheap. Any car these days running is 500
That's what I always though, however I've a 98' Clio 1.4 and a Y2K Corsa 1.0, been for sale a month now
£500 each, both T&T and best offer I've had is £200
Thats crazy mate 200 is scrap value i suppose only worth what someone will pay as they say but 500 fair price i would say mate!
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