MG/Rover Servicing

lllnorrislll

Hi a friend of mine has a MG Zr 160 which he has been qouted £440 for a service at a ex-rover garage.
He wants to keep the rover stamps up (although they dont exist anymore)
any suggestions where he can get a recognised service (by rover/mg enthusiasts)
He lives cov/nuneaton area.

cheers

lllnorrislll

oh apparently its 4years old so needs timing belts setting

shellsuit

With Rover dealers no longer existing so to speak i'd recommend that your friend just phone a few local independant garages to get it serviced. A full Roverish service history will make no difference as due to the end of Rover the used prices of their cars has crashed in line with the price of the new ones that were being sold off a few months ago.

A full service history is good to have when you buy any car and certain makes it is even better if it has a full main dealer one but i'm sure your friend could save themselves a load of money in the long term by going to a local mechanic. Their car will be worth very little now compared to what it should be so why bother spending extra cash just for the sake of a named stamp which will mean nothing in a few years to come. Failing that a full service is not tricky to do yourself as long as you have a fair knowledge of cars and how they work. Spark plugs, HT leads, air filters are relativley simple to swop. Things like oil changes just require you jacking the car up and getting underneath it to undo one nut. I do all my own servicing and save myself £200+ a time by doing so as i am only forking out for parts and not labour.

The going rate for labour in most garages now is around £50 an hour and a service will take them around 4 hours or more if they are taking the michael.

Hope this helps your friend to make their mind up.

tomstickland

As said, get a decent independant to do it. Timing belts are important, the price isn't too bad, but you could get a bit cheaper than that.

Fran

Perhaps he'd be interested in the MG-Rover Forums?