Rover- CityRover 1.4 Style- Any Good

shabani

I had made up my mind to buy The Peugeot 206 second hand for around £4500 (3 year old, 30,000 miles).
However, I have just seen Rover- CityRover 1.4 Style 5 Dr Hatch for around £5000 with around 100 miles,and less than 6 months old with the following features:-

ABS brakes, Airbags (driver & passenger), Air-conditioning, 14" Alloy wheels, CD-Player, Central Locking, Electric Windows (front & rear), Power-Steering, Radio, Rear Head-Rests.

I know Rover have gone bust and there is no longer any warranty available but the car is nearly new and same price as a 3 year old Peugeot 206. I was just wondering if the City Rover is a good buy

jjames_3

Not cheap enough. Nowhere near cheap enough.

The CityRover is a rebranded Tata Indica, a car made in India for about £2000. They then put a Rover K-Series engine in it (which is prone to head gasket failures, so not the best engine in the world) and shipped it over here for more than triple that.

My advice would be to buy the Peugeot. You'll have problems with parts on this Rover (not many were ever sold, and it's effectively a cheap import), and it is said to be a very poor car to drive. Judging by the performance of the Tata Safari 4x4, I'd say there's a good chance that this car could be unreliable as well.

If you did want to buy a small car, new, for 5 grand you'd be far better off with a Korean model, such as the Getz or Kia Picanto. These are available for about £5500 from main dealers and are far better cars than the Rover.

But I wouldn't buy a car new anyway. You'll be hit with depreciation far less with a second-hand car at 2 or 3 years old, regardless of make or model.

If these CityRovers were £3000, then they'd be worth looking at. At £5000, way too rich.

Dee123_2

Like you, I was gobsmacked at the price about a month ago. I assumed it was because of the Longbridge situation but as the Chinese were moving in, I thought it might not be a bad buy if they picked up the warranty and/or made cheap parts available.

Then I read these reviews (nuff said):

http://www.carsurvey.org/model_Rover+-+Austin_CityRover.html

PS if you are still interested after this, I have seen them new for under £5k.

shabani

Thanks guys for that. When i saw the car , I was amazed at the price and just thought thats because Rover had gone bust and the warranty was no longer valid. I just could not believe the reviews its getting.
The interior of the car really looked cheap but you would expect this from a budget car. However, I would say the interior looked quite spacious ( the only good point everyone is agreed on).
I saw this car at Car Giant in London. I spoke to one of their car salesman who advised me it was a really good buy (obviously) and was cheaper to run. He also advised me car parts for the CityRover were much way cheaper than the Peugeot 206 which is foreign and thus the spare parts more expensive.
Is this really true!

And by the way, does anyone know of any car supermarkets in london apart from Car Giant and Car Land

jjames_3

Well, the 206 is built in the UK, so I'm not sure where he got that from!!!

Neither Rover nor Peugeot parts are especially cheap, but I wouldn't worry about that aspect of things too much anyway as it is labour costs that sting you with car repairs rather than the costs of the parts themselves in 90% of cases.

vansboy

http://www.motorpoint.co.uk did have 2 CityRovers with 5 miles (no is type) £3999.

Still not cheap enough, I'd say!!

http://www.honestjohn.co ask in 'TheBackroom' clik Discussion for ALL thigotoring!!

VB

MrSmartprice

I don't think I have ever seen a car get such bad reviews as the City Rover. As a result no-one seems to have bought them. But then, hey, I was in Wolverhampton the other day and I actually saw one being driven! First one ever. Couldn't believe it.

I think it will go down with the Ford Edsel as the worst pile of junk ever inflicted on an unsuspecting world. I know we are all moneysavers, but I don't know how cheap a City Rover would need to be for a sensible person to buy one.

balsingh

Even though the car is made in India, even an Indian (including me) wouldn't be seen dead in one!

They are popular in India but cost a fraction of the price there so I suppose its justifiable.

MrSmartprice

Very true, Balsingh. When I was in India the Hindustan Ambassador was the vehicle of choice. As it is based on a Morris Oxford I don't suppose much has changed.

Anyway, I'd prefer a tuk-tuk to a City Rover!