Just bought a CityRover

[dave-lew99]

Today i bought a CityRover Sprite to replace my written off 220 (see my other thread in the 220 forum).

The dealer gave me 12 months MOT and 6 months tax (previous MOT failed with a minor wiper problem and the brakes binding - both of which they have fixed).

It's got 40k on the clock.

Do i need to watch out for anything in particular after i get it, i will be taking it to my cousin who runs a garage in a few weeks to make sure there are no major problems.

[R25Silver]

Im sorry to say this but they are complete junk. My friends parents had a 55 plate one and everything including the radio, speakers etc all broke. They are very poorly built and they are made in India.

[dave-lew99]

Looks like you're misinformed, for a start they're made in india.

And yes they are cheap - i was forced into it as there was nothing else available. Radio and speakers are hardly a problem, it's the mechanics which need to work.

[Peterover]

A couple of my neighbours have them and yes they are cheap, but neither of them have had any probs with their cars..

They were made in India by a company called Tata, they should be pretty robust.. for the UK though they have poor finish and Rover asked far to much for them at launch.. though they are nice and cheap now..

[MGJohn]

A close friend of the family has had a Sprite for over four years now. She's had minor routine renewals with it and it is still very tidy despite never being garaged. I have driven it several times and like so many other similar A-to-B cars which leave me cold, it does what it says on the tin and no more.

The garage she bought it from promised her a radio/cd player but it never materialised and she gave up chasing them for it. I suggested she get one of the OE Rover/MG then available on Ebay at low start ~ I suspect they were new stock destined for the MG-R production lines and never delivered as the liquidators were called in about that time. The vendor had a large number to sell. She got the genuine new Rover CD player for about £35 which included p/p... that has worked flawlessly ..

The most serious problem with her car was needing a nearside wheel bearing at around 40,000 miles... I suspect she's brushed against too many kerbs and that may have played a part in the premature wheel bearing wear.

I sometimes service the car for her and it is a doddle to work on so costs peanuts to maintain.... and gives the impression that's it's built like a tank ... very rugged no doubt because of the type of roads in the country of its origin. Now over six years old, the paintwork and panels are still like new.

... these can be purchased for very little outlay now and if you find a well cared for example, they are good A to B value.
..

[empsburna]

You can pick up a 214sei on a M/N reg with 12 months tax and test for under £500 now, why would you buy a cityrover?

[Rover V6 Coupe]

Originally Posted by empsburna

You can pick up a 214sei on a M/N reg with 12 months tax and test for under £500 now, why would you buy a cityrover?

exactly.

Sorry to hear about the 220, and just as sorry to hear about the city rover. Should be a cheap car to run and maintain though, so perhaps we all need one. TaTa.

[dave-lew99]

Originally Posted by Rover V6 Coupe

exactly.

Sorry to hear about the 220, and just as sorry to hear about the city rover. Should be a cheap car to run and maintain though, so perhaps we all need one. TaTa.

Well that's just it - i was in a massive hurry and thats all that was in the area.

Basic is absolutely fine, all it has to do is get me the 3 mile round trip to work and back every day, with the occasional 360 mile round trip to see the parents.

I'll have my cousin (who runs a garage) go over it next week just to make sure.

What do you guys think of these 3rd party car warrenty schemes?

[patpending]

Originally Posted by Peterover

They were made in India by a company called Tata

aka the now owner of Jaguar Land-Rover! car fans can't ignore this huge automotive force (which also owns Tetley Tea )

Originally Posted by dave-lew99

all it has to do is get me the 3 mile round trip to work and back every day

warning, that sort of motoring will zog the engine of any modern car. Good job you've not bought a diesel.

Why don't you walk to work?

The only other MGR round here is a CityRover and that is still looking good 6 years on...

[dave-lew99]

I would walk to work but its just a little too far (probably more like 6-7 miles round trip now i think about it)

On saturday i almost went to Halfords to buy a bike - trouble is it's almost certain suicide cycling to work as the only way i can go involves either cycling on the pavement (illegal) or crossing 4 lanes of rush hour traffic!

[MGexe]

Originally Posted by dave-lew99

Do i need to watch out for anything in particular after i get it, i will be taking it to my cousin who runs a garage in a few weeks to make sure there are no major problems.

Let's not beat about the bush. They're ******g ***t. What ever you do, don't have a crash unless you want a steering column through your eye.

Have a look at this....

http://www.carsurvey.org/reviews/rov...9371/comments/

[MGJohn]

Originally Posted by dave-lew99

I would walk to work but its just a little too far (probably more like 6-7 miles round trip now i think about it)

On saturday i almost went to Halfords to buy a bike - trouble is it's almost certain suicide cycling to work as the only way i can go involves either cycling on the pavement (illegal) or crossing 4 lanes of rush hour traffic!

Cycling on today's UK roads is a nighmare ~ folks simply rarely ever ...

THINK >> BIKE

Despite huge sums of taxpayers hard to come by being 'invested' in various campaigns.

Originally Posted by MGexe

Let's not beat about the bush. They're ******g ***t. What ever you do, don't have a crash unless you want a steering column through your eye.

Excellent advice ... in ANY **************************** CAR



Be sure your safety gizmos will see you through.

My car's got more stars than your'n so I dont have to drive as considerately as you must do... I'm alright Jack.

The CLUELESS out there should understand that the best safety device on any vehicle, is the quality of the **************************** NUT holding the steering wheel.
..

[dave-lew99]

Quite right.

It was never going to be the safest car in the world in a crash but it will serve it's purpose. Got to be better than being on a bike at 70mph+

Looking at the comments from carsurvey.org the majority of people had problems when new (so sorted under warrenty at the time - even if it did take a while) or a trivial complaints about trim, noise, handling etc.

There are a few mechanical ones related to gearbox, engine etc though but then again far more people voice a complaint about something than a compliment!

The dealer gave me a 14day/500 mile engine/gearbox warrenty and it's just passed MOT, my cousin will look at it in his garage so hopefully we can get things like that ironed out.

If bits of trim fall off, to be frank, i couldnt care less, it just has to perform it's basic function.

Also seems to be common that the electrics are a bit dodgy - i'll be putting in the almost brand new Bosch Silver battery i had in my 220 and taking out the original battery so that should help a bit (helped my 220 massively)

[patpending]

1) don't let Clarkson advise you - "it's got to have a German badge"

2) don't let a German journalist advise you, or else you would presume you were dead at the sight of a moose, without ESP and 29,000 airbags. And who cares if the dashboard trim isn't soft?

forget the fashion of crash tests, sounds like you've got a nice bargain there. You wouldn't want to spoil a newer car with that kind of journey (until electric cars arrive)...

[Reverie158]

I've had one as a courtesy car a few times and I thought they were OK. Roomy for their size, had enough go for town.

My only criticism would have been the dash looked very cheap and plasticky.

Personally I wouldn't bother with a 3rd party warranty, very expensive and poor value.

[sabu]

It's not a very good car but when you compare the price,for a 2004 car with PAS,AC, E windows,just under £1300.Yes it's good.The main MOT failure is bottom ball joints.But can be purchased from ebay for below £25 .If you need any other parts like suspension spring,better go to the breakers yard.

Originally Posted by dave-lew99

Today i bought a CityRover Sprite to replace my written off 220 (see my other thread in the 220 forum).

The dealer gave me 12 months MOT and 6 months tax (previous MOT failed with a minor wiper problem and the brakes binding - both of which they have fixed).

It's got 40k on the clock.

Do i need to watch out for anything in particular after i get it, i will be taking it to my cousin who runs a garage in a few weeks to make sure there are no major problems.

[dave-lew99]

Well i've had it now for a few hours and to be honest, it's not all that bad (in terms of basic A-B ness)

It does have quite a lot of niggles - none of which i'm massively bothered by or a beyond my ability to fix.

Petrol gague only works when turning left...
SRS light is always on (was always on in my mum's old Saxo too)
Can't figure out how to do rear wash
Buttons for front/rear fogs don't appear to work
Reverse lights don't work
Indicator stalk is awkward and doesn't always click into or cancel
Can't figure out how intermittant wipers work (or if they're broken)
Passenger side wing mirror cracked
Can't do central unlocking/alarm disable with the key, only the fob
Wiring for speakers seems dodgy - gave the stereo a thump to make it come on both sides, although the inclusion of a Sony X-Plod CD player is a bonus.

All the electrical stuff i can sort out without an issue, i picked up the full service manual so it's all there.

Battery seemed flat also starting the first time but i've got my Bosch Silver S5 battery out of my 220 i'll be putting in.

It seems pretty nippy - better than the 220 but it is noisy and the high driving position feels like driving a mid-size van.

At £995 including 6 months tax, 12 months MOT and under 40k mileage i think it's pretty good.

I spoke with my indian colleage today and he said that the Indicar is massively popular over there but it does only sell for £3.5-4k not the £8k+ Rover were asking!

I would comapare it reasonably favourably with a Nissan Micra from the mid nineties, obviously Rover were 10 years too late!

[dave-lew99]

Well i've figured out a few things

Intermittant wipers - me being a muppet, i worked out how to use them eventually
Indicator stalk - someone has attempted a repair on the cover for the steering column and there is a screw stopping the indicator going right, all this requires is taking to pieces and put back together properly

The Sony CDP is pretty bad but thats no problem as it's coming out.

The petrol gague seems to be the common problem of a full tank registering as three quarters full unless turning left, in which case it's full! Not really a major problem, i can live with that.

Of an interesting note, in the glovebox was left what looks like a key fob, however it has a 'learn' button on it and a cable with funky connector which fits inside the car.

What's this for? Can i get another key fob and programme it? I'd quite like to give my gf a key but i only have one fob (but two keys)

[dave-lew99]

Fog lights do work, have to RTFM (which i don't have), make sure the main lights are on then press and HOLD the fog button until it comes on.

Indicator stalk looks excessively worn (ie the driver was rough and didn't care). Might source a replacement, might just live with it.

Ditched the Sony CDP and put in my pioneer - sounds much better already, i'll probably switch out the speakers though at some point.

I'm having trouble finding space to fit my car computer into (not the computer itself - that goes in the boot but the controls and other bits:

usb hub - hidden
Griffin PowerMate
MatrixOrbital LCD Screen - in my 220 it was where the clock is, might fit it in the same place but the dash looks pretty well sealed so it may be hard to get wiring about.
Bluetooth GPS reciever + PSU
Phone charger

[418sld]

Well, You're lucky to have the learn plip. These were supplied with the car when new and are the only method of programming plips. If you loose it you have to buy a new alarm unit. Opinion is a bit split on Cityrovers, I worked on them new and apart from from a few stupid build quality faults they were basically OK. The main problem was that they were about £2500 overpriced new and compared to similar priced cars such as Fiestas simply not good enough but that has evened out now. Long term problems are lower ball joints as mentioned and rear wheel bearings. Non-abs rear wheel bearings are cheap enough but abs ones require a complete drum from Rover, the answer is to remove the old bearings and buy some from a bearing specialist. SRS faults are usually the connections to the clock spring.