To buy a City Rover, or not???

Stigy

Probably worth £500 at a push on an 04-Plate...For £500 I'd say maybe, but not for £1,100!

Test_Card

Better off putting 4 wheels on a washing machine, you wouldn't get laughed at as much. Sorry, keep well away from it. Are you sure they weren't offering you £1200 to take it off them.;)

begley

Thank you all. I'm thinking we'll avoid it then! There is a Clio there too, but it's done 90,000 miles...... Ah well, we'll keep looking!

Ultrasonic

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, have you tried using the Autotrader website to search for cars local to you (does trade as well as private sales)?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/

Stigy

begley wrote: »

Thank you all. I'm thinking we'll avoid it then! There is a Clio there too, but it's done 90,000 miles...... Ah well, we'll keep looking!

90,000-miles on a Clio isn't that bad, as any car worth it's weight will do well over 100,000-miles. Plus at 90,000-miles it'll more than likely have had all the stuff that tends to go wrong, all at once, at around 70,000-miles, go wrong by now!

alastairq

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/rover/cityrover-2003/?

is an 'honest' opinion of the car.


In my humble and generally-disregarded opinion, the problem with the Indica/Cityrover is the fact that it has the Rover name attached to it.

{The fact that Rover no longer exists, yet Tata are busy saving the world, speaks volumes to me]....

As noted elsewhere , it has very little Rover input, so spares should generally still be available from Europe [as the Tata Indica]...

The floorpan/suspension had much input from FIAT....and Peugeot designed the engine.

I have noted elsewhere, the biggest issues for the Indica centre on anything made from 'rubber'...[door seals, etc]

But then, even the mighty VAG group [volkswagen,et al], had rubber issues a decade or so ago, with loads of windscreen leaks....seems suppliers were at fault??

The link above notes that these cars went through auction for under a grand back in 2007.

In its defence, it is a design of more than a decade old....it was 'out-of-date' when Rover stuck it's name to it. [should have left Tata on the front...more credibility, for starters]

But as the Indica, it was built for the Asian driving environment.....thus the basic vehicle [not the fripperies] would be rugged, with plenty of ground clearance.

Maybe these will become qualities we all end up seeking in our cars, if the road conditions get any worse than what they are now?

Plus, two Southampton students bought one cheap, and with minimal [ie cheap] preparation, drove it from London to Delhi, suffering little more than a dented wheel and a sticky throttle cable.. throughout the journey.

Only buy one for banger prices.....it will be what you make of it.....

colino

The City was the last throw of the dice for Rover. Apart from "europeanisation" of the Tata, there were virtually no development costs. Greedy, incompetent, personal wealth building owners then saw the demos and went mental.
Car would have been a value for money, bargain basement, profitable, company saving car. If they had supported it and retailed it at £4000.
Unfortunately, with the ££ goggles on, they tried to shoehorn it into an existing market. The car did not compare in any way with what Rover thought its rivals, it was cheaply built, badly "upgraded" and was an instant laughing stock.
On no account should anyone buy these things, I appreciate people will buy them for the reg., but they really arent worth it.
On that age, a trader will try for £995 if he has been saddled with one and simply hope to get it off his forecourt for anything he can get in a week and then off to auction.

adamc260

According to wikipedia

MG Rover was reported to be paying Tata £3,000 for each car

mikey72

I wonder how much VW pay the Slovakians for each Up they put a reduced £7000 price tag on? Ironically Skoda charge over £600 more to put their name on it still.

motorguy

alastairq wrote: »

Only buy one for banger prices.....it will be what you make of it.....

+1

I sold one on Thursday - an 04 one, mint with just 14K miles. It was a sprite with alloys, electric windows, etc. No MOT but driving well, for £200. A guy bought it for his daughter - he had a look around and was budgeting £200 to put it through MOT (needed discs and pads).

Will turn out a cheap car for him, but wouldnt like to be paying £1000+