Buying an MG ZR 1.8+

motorguy

pwllbwdr wrote: »

But the KV6s in the ZS and ZT and the Rovers had their own problems too. Thermostats and inlet manifolds being the main two.

All cars have problems specific to them, it doesnt necessarily mean every car will have every problem associated with it.

I've heard of a lot of instances of fords needing gearboxes prematurely. It doesnt seem to be stopping people buying them though

motorguy

ringo_24601 wrote: »

We use to have an MG ZR 1.8 .. we sold it after the head gasket went - once it goes, it keeps breaking..

Wouldn't touch one with a bargepole now.. nice car to drive, will cost you a lot in repairs in the long run

If its totally repaired right it should be fine as the replacement gaskets are heavier duty. The problem is you dont know until 6 months+ later when / if it starts to go again.

Inactive

There is a very good reason MG / Rover went out of business, they made rubbish cars.

cyclonebri1

pgilc1 wrote: »

All cars have problems specific to them, it doesnt necessarily mean every car will have every problem associated with it.

I've heard of a lot of instances of fords needing gearboxes prematurely. It doesnt seem to be stopping people buying them though

However we are talking Rover here, believe me, it's a given

motorguy

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

However we are talking Rover here, believe me, it's a given

We'll have to agree to disagree then and trust me, i do know my rovers.

cyclonebri1

pgilc1 wrote: »

We'll have to agree to disagree then and trust me, i do know my rovers.

Unfortunately so do I,

motorguy

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Unfortunately so do I,

Lets just leave it there then.

Lum

General consensus seems to be that it depends on the quality of the repair. There are aftermarket headgaskets that are designed to actually work properly, so IF one of these has been fitted AND the head was skimmed properly AND the head was fitted correctly then it should be ok.

My personal opinion would be that if you can't confirm all of these things* then walk away, especially as the job was done recently because chances are then that they read about repeated HGFs on the internet, got it fixed as cheap as possible and are now trying to sell the car before it goes again. TBQH this is exactly what I would do.

The ZR is the barried Rover 25 isn't it? Surely you can find a better hot hatch for the money?


* eg invoice is from a repairer that has a good reputation on whatever forums exist for this car.

Mcfi5dhc

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

The head gasket will fail again, period. Take one look at the engine, if you can find where they hid it and it will confirm it's a maintenance nightmare.

My older daughter bought one, without my "consent", she is still disinherited, ;)

I'm not going to join in the "Mgs are rubbish / oh no there not / oh yes they are" discussion, but I have a 53 plate MG ZR 1.8 120+

Yes, its head gasket did go, but this was partly my fault. I had it repaired properly, and have done more than 50,000 miles since the single repair. The car has just over 100,000 on the clock. It is showing no signs of problems currently.

Going back to the OPs question though, I would avoid the car in question on the forecourt. Why would anyone fix the headgasket properly then flog the car?

mambo69

My fears are now confirmed by the power of the internet and therefore the MG on a K series engine is off the list :-)

Switched now to an ST ford (2000-2004 models) or maybe a Leon Cupra or the 2.5 V6 ZS