End of the line for my 75

[Murphyv310]

Hi.
Well It's time to replace my 75. I have a couple of Automatic gearbox problems that have showed up in the last 3-4 weeks, The Brake Duty Solenoid failed in those weeks and now another problem has been highlighted and that is it doesn't go above 4th gear.
On top of that there is a rattle from the steering/suspension and its has been confirmed as axial play in the steering rack, it's not inner or outer track rods unfortunately. There are a couple of other items needing work too.
Running costs are high on a 2.5V6 Auto anyway and tax is £220 a year.
I'm leaning to a Fiat Panda 2008-2010 either the 1108 or 1242cc Fire unit, I would half my fuel use and road tax is £30 a year. I did see a minter, one owner and FSH but a 2006 model well within my price range. Not sure yet if I want a 10 year old car although it would be 6 years newer than the Rover.
The other thing is my knee and I'd need a run in a manual to see how it goes, I was OK in Emma's new MG3 though.

[Mark Hennessy]

As I always say, it baffles me that people take VED into consideration when buying a car. Providing it's not in the top 3 or 4 bands (£270+), then it's an inconsequential amount of money in the overall scheme of things. OK, finding the lump sum once a year might be a pain for some (direct debit is now available), but £220 per year when you might pay £100-£200 (or much more in some cases!) on insurance, £200-400 on routine servicing and MOTs, and of course, fuel. I do between 1 and 2 thousand miles per year (cycle to work, mostly), so in theory, that £220 should "hurt" much more than someone doing (a more typical) 10 times my mileage, but that's not how I view it at all. And look at all the folk who have bought zero-rated cars, only to have all the savings wiped away when the DPF needs replacing

I'm interested in what you decide. We're in a similar position - I still have my Focus (nearly 16), and my wife has a Fiesta (13). Both were bought back in the pre-children days, when we could afford new-ish cars every few years, and neither was bought with the expectation of being kept for more than 3 or 4 years. Since then, life has changed immeasurably, but the cars remain. The wife's car is still on the original battery, and mine lasted 13 years before the garage finally convinced me to change it (though it was reading "low", it hadn't let me down yet). Both have original exhausts. The only unscheduled maintenance has been water pumps (both cars), coil springs in the Focus, plus a seized calliper because of low usage. Contrast that with the last VW I had, which by the age of 4 had had a new exhaust, battery, starter motor, wheel bearings, and a whole load of other stuff I've managed to put out of my mind!

Anyway, what to replace them with? I'm convinced that all manufacturers - whatever the product - go in "cycles", and I think we bought our Fords at a good time (just luck - we liked the dealer). Would a modern Ford be as good long-term? There's really no way of knowing, and past performance is no indication. 15 yeas on, it's a different economic climate, and manufacturers are better at engineering to the design lives - that delicate balance between good but not too good durability - not so poor that reputational risk becomes a serious issue, but not so good that people keep their cars forever.

In my experience, the dealer matters far more than the actual vehicle, especially if you have them service it for you. And at the time, there was only 1 VW dealer in a 40-50 mile radius - and they knew it! Whereas there's a Ford dealer every 5 minutes - if you have problems with one, you simply move to another. That's worked well for me - in fact there was only 1 garage that I was less than happy with, and they've closed down now. (happily, my present garage took on the decent mechanics).

Anyway, I know your feelings about Ford, so I'm not asking for an opinion on my situation - and I wouldn't want to "threadjack" anyway. But, I will be interested to hear what others suggest. Personally, I know relatively little about current cars, but will have to make a decision sooner or later...

[radioman]

Hi Trevor,
Sorry to hear about your Rover 75. There comes a time when all cars seem to constantly need money spent on them to keep them on the road...
As you know, I recently bought a new car (VW) after having driven a Ford Focus for 12 years (£295/year road tax!) but boy, do I miss it !!
Good luck finding a nice replacement.

Andy

ps My Focus (2003 year) still had it's original battery and exhaust system as well.

[Cardigan]

I thought of Trevor this morning when I found myself following a mint condition Rover 620i!

Mark has a good point - the cost of VED is lost in a few tankfuls of petrol. Okay, if you only fill up your petrol tank five times a year (as Mark would seem to, looking at his annual mileage!) it's a significant sum, but think about it in terms of tankfulls of petrol and it doesn't seem so bad.

[Mark Hennessy]

Yes, I fill up so infrequently that I have no idea about petrol prices! I remember following them closely when I did 20,000 per year. Of course, life is just a series of different phases, and in a few years time, I could easily be back to doing high mileages again. Right now, I'm just grateful for my current lifestyle, but take nothing for granted

I get around 35 to 40mpg, so about 420-450 to a tank miles. So yes, I might only fill up 2 or 3 times a year when it's quiet. Perhaps 5 times at most.

In theory, this is a terrible way to treat a car. It's usually stored in a horribly damp concrete sectional garage, and mostly comes out in the winter when it's too horrible to cycle (I'm not as dedicated as some!). Why didn't it fall apart years ago? I've been doing these very low miles for about 4 years, but for the previous 7 or so years - before I took up cycling - I was only doing about 5,000 per year, and mostly short-distance stuff...

Even the paint is good. I gave up washing and polishing cars when the kids arrived (10 years back) - it gets a wash once a year at the garage - but it still looks lovely. Metallic silver is a good "low-maintenance" colour. Black might be fashionable now, but needs to be kept scrupulously clean - no good for me!

A retired gentleman down the end of our road has a mint 45 in bright red (non-metallic). He's really cared for it. There's no off-road parking there, so the fact he's managed to keep it so clean and dent-free is impressive. And a former colleague is a Rover fan - I've lost count of the number he's had. I admit to having a soft spot for them. My in-laws had an early 214, and that was an amazing car in many ways (until the engine did the usual - the garage gave him a "sympathetic" trade-in against a Honda Concerto, which was also lovely). I was once given an 800 for the day, and that was less good, unfortunately. Only travelled in a 75 as a passenger, and that was lovely (rather more tyre noise than I expected though - perhaps the type matters? The OEM-fit Firestones on my car were a *lot* noisier than the Pirelli P6000 that I've used ever since).

Having had a few hire cars that were auto, I can really see the attraction, and would consider it for my next car. But these were big cars (e.g. Mondeo, Merc C class - not my choice, but we were supplied them at no extra cost!). I've never tried an auto in a small car. The in-laws presently have an old Renault Scenic that is auto, and as a passenger, I'd say that box is a bit crude by comparison... Once I was given a manual Vauxhall Insignia, and after doing ~300 miles in one day, my left leg stopped working (honestly - I had to give up cycling for a couple of weeks). Never had that in any other manual. So I'd say that the feel and action of the clutch pedal is what tips the balance; a good manual might be fine for you, but an auto would definitely be better than a bad/heavy clutch. That Mondeo was especially impressive, but wouldn't fit my garage!

[ppppenguin]

Have driven automatics for over 20 years and wouldn't willingly go back. Some are better than others but when VAG offer the superb DSG automatic on many cars, including my Golf Plus, I can't see any reason for choosing a manual box. My next car will probably be a hybrid, very suitable for running around London suburbs, and these are always automatic.

[Nick]

36.4p (AED 1.70) a liter here at the moment - went up by 10% this year...

Don't do small cars here. Mine's at the smaller end for off-roading and it's 3.6lt... everything is automatic...

[Slidertogrid]

I ran a 2006 Mondeo 1.8 petrol estate for four years between 2009 and 2013. I changed it for a 2008 1.6 diesel Fusion 3 years ago I only intended to keep the fusion for a short while until another Mondeo became available but I was so impressed with it's economy I decided to keep it and put up with the slight lack of space. The change halved my fuel bill and with the saving on road tax (over £200) and insurance (£50) I recon I am saving £1200 a year against the Mondeo.
I would normally get rid of a Ford by 8 years old but the Fusion has been faultless so far so I can't really justify changing it for the time being. It's a case of changing the car before any big repairs are needed versus the depreciation of a newer car. A couple of expensive repairs a year would soon cancel out any savings on running costs.
VW cars and vans seem to be have dropped in build quality lately a lot of parts are made in Poland. A friend runs a couple of transporters and a small fleet of caddy vans, they all cover a fairly high annual mileage but none of the vans are very old. Some of the repair bills he has had have been fairly scary!
I was thinking of probably an Toyota estate next time if the right car at the right money can be found.
Rich.

[Murphyv310]

VW cars and vans seem to be have dropped in build quality lately a lot of parts are made in Poland. A friend runs a couple of transporters and a small fleet of caddy vans, they all cover a fairly high annual mileage but none of the vans are very old. Some of the repair bills he has had have been fairly scary!
I was thinking of probably an Toyota estate next time if the right car at the right money can be found.
Rich.

Hi Rich.
Yes I'd agree that some of the VW range has dropped in quality, no doubt due to losses after VW's emission scandal. For a long time and even now VW used the Skoda factory in Mlada Boleslav to produce parts and full cars for VW's full range, Hungary also have plants for VW. My daughters VW 2003 Beetle was built in Mexico on the Golf MK4 floorpan. underside corrosion was pretty bad on it and its sealing was far worse than the average MK4 Golf.

I have found over the years cars with a good reputation tend to gradually get worse but those who had a poor reputation get better, hence my decision to look at Fiat, they have massively improved in the last 10 years and make a reasonable vehicle at a good price, Kia too is on my list but I don't have a fortune to spend.
Before having a look at Toyota check out the number of recalls they have, the info is quite frightening!!!

[Geordie McBoyne]

Hi Trevor,
             sorry to learn that the 75 has to go but I do know the V6 versions are not all that economical on fuel, I just hope you can find a new owner for it.   At the time of the introduction of the Rover 75 Jaguar gave us the new S type, to be honest the styling of that car was a disaster, it looked awful then and it is just as awful today.   The 75 was also a sort of retro style car using cues from the P5, looks really classy.
Eighteen years on the Rover 75 looks as fresh as it did in 1998.  Still plenty 75s driving around Geordieland.  
VED: just received the reminder for the DB7, £235.00 for twelve months. I guess that's bad for a 5.9 litre V12.  
Fuel consumption is not a issue, I rarely drive it.

Geordie  McBoyne.