ROT: Replacing a Rover 75

My car's coming up to its bubble payment which it looks like I'm going to
have to make for a variety of reasons.

The car has a "Guaranteed Residual Value" of £3450 which is the amount of
the bubble.

However, this is only guaranteed up to 60,000 miles. I've had the car 3
years. It had 18k on it when I bought it. It has 82k on it now.

Now, I theoretically have three options


1) Hand the car back and the debt will be written off in full, however this
only applies up to the 60k miles limit with a per-mile penalty applying
after that. I could end up paying the total value of the bubble to hand the
car back. This would be dumb.

2) Pay the bubble payment and the car's mine. This is easy and is a fixed
value.

3) Hand the car to the dealer I bought it from to sell on for at least the
£3450 and reap any equity after that. This would be great - the dealer
reckons that they could sell it for £4500-5000. But they won't sell on cars
with more than 60k miles, so that one's out.



I've nominally got another option which is to trade it in at the original
dealers against a new car. £5k tradein against a £10k car would be fine,
but here's my problem.

I really quite like driving large cars. I do a hell of a lot of motorway
milage and small cars may go just as well, but I hate driving them on busy
roads. To get an equivalent sized car I'd have to buy either another Rover
75 or an MG ZT from this bunch, but at the spec I really want to go to
(Must have Aircon) I'm looking at £15k for a 2nd hand one with an engine I
wouldn't trust (The 1.8l K Series).

So, it looks like I'm going to have to buy the car from the finance and then
either use it as a deposit elsewhere or sell it privately and use the
proceeds to buy a replacement.

My shopping list at the moment looks a little odd. In order of preference:


Rover 75 Club or better with either the 2.0TD, 2.3V6 or V8 engines

MG ZT at the same spec as above

Ford Scorpio Ultima - a bit long in the tooth but big, comfy, all the
toys and with the Cologne V6 in anything from 2.3 to 2.9l

Granada Scorpio - Earlier Ford with all the toys again and the same
engine choice more or less as the Ultima

Vauxhall Senator

Vauxhall Omega

Rover 800 Coupe

Rover 800 series Sterling

Mid 80s Jaguar XJ6 or XJ-S

Late Model Rover SD1 Vitesse

Late model Mk2 Granada Ghia


Anything I've missed as a potential option?

Just for reference, I can't stand BMWs - the roof is too low for my headline
and I find them uncomfortable to drive. Similar problems with Mercedes. I
just plain don't like the Mondeo or Vectra. Nutterbastard motors like the
Evo and Impreza are out for reasons of not wishing to kill myself.

My requirements are:

Large executive saloon
Must have Air Conditioning
Should have decent performance
Should have decent economy
Should be (reasonably) cheap to have serviced
Must have decent parts availability
Must cost under £4000
Must be decently comfortable to drive
Must be decently comfortable as a passenger


I don't overly mind about age or manufacturer, just the above requirements

Suggestions?

Paul S. Brown wrote:

You can sell the car to any garage in PX for anything, doesn't have to be a rover.

If you fancy a new or used Jag my next door neighbour is the general manager at the Leeds dealer.

He can do mega deals if you are up for it?

Ta

Nige

>
>My shopping list at the moment looks a little odd. In order of preference:
>
>
> Rover 75 Club or better with either the 2.0TD, 2.3V6 or V8 engines
>
> MG ZT at the same spec as above
>
> Ford Scorpio Ultima - a bit long in the tooth but big, comfy, all the
> toys and with the Cologne V6 in anything from 2.3 to 2.9l
>
> Granada Scorpio - Earlier Ford with all the toys again and the same
> engine choice more or less as the Ultima
>
> Vauxhall Senator
>
> Vauxhall Omega
>
> Rover 800 Coupe
>
> Rover 800 series Sterling
>
> Mid 80s Jaguar XJ6 or XJ-S
>
> Late Model Rover SD1 Vitesse
>
> Late model Mk2 Granada Ghia
>

Options 2 and 3 are effectively the same - the dealer buys out the
finance for you and carries forward any equity (positive or negative)
into your next finance.

>
>Anything I've missed as a potential option?
>

Mid 90's XJ's might scrape into budget and IME are reliable and
comfortable long distance. Dealer servicing is horribly expensive,
but there are plenty of specialists at more sensible prices.

Volvo 900? Reputed to do monster miles and very comfy. Later V70's
also depreciate heavily and are thus good value - mine showed 35%
discount from new at a main dealer with only 10K miles and 10 months
on it. Outside your budget of course, but I had probably 100 to
choose from at the main dealer so they were happy to do deals, so
might well fix up your finance for you.

I wouldn't want a Vauxhall or anything French beyond 80,000 miles
based on experience.

I wouldn't want a Rover 800, but that's probably because I've driven
one....!

Mate has just bought a Lexus 400. He got a very good deal and the car
is quite literally showroom fresh despite being nearly 10 years old.
Same mate swapped an L reg Granada with all toys for it - that had
never let him down and been a really good bus. Again, out of budget,
but a cracking car for not much (about 10K I think).

Range Rover VM?


--

Tim Hobbs

'58 Series 2 88" aka "Stig"
'77 101FC Ambulance aka "Burrt"
'03 Volvo V70

My Landies? http://www.seriesii.co.uk
Barcoding? http://www.bartec-systems.com
Tony Luckwill web archive at http://www.luckwill.com

Nige wrote:

>
> Paul S. Brown wrote:
>
> You can sell the car to any garage in PX for anything, doesn't have to be
> a rover.
>
> If you fancy a new or used Jag my next door neighbour is the general
> manager at the Leeds dealer.
>
> He can do mega deals if you are up for it?
>

May well be, but I've still got the spend limit. If your mate can help with
that then I may be up for it.

As for the PX, the deal there is that as somebody else said a Rover dealer
will pick up the bubble payment whereas another may not.

P.

"Paul S. Brown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> My car's coming up to its bubble payment which it looks like I'm going to
> have to make for a variety of reasons.
>
> The car has a "Guaranteed Residual Value" of £3450 which is the amount of
> the bubble.
>
> However, this is only guaranteed up to 60,000 miles. I've had the car 3
> years. It had 18k on it when I bought it. It has 82k on it now.
>
> Now, I theoretically have three options
>
>
> 1) Hand the car back and the debt will be written off in full, however
> this
> only applies up to the 60k miles limit with a per-mile penalty applying
> after that. I could end up paying the total value of the bubble to hand
> the
> car back. This would be dumb.
>
> 2) Pay the bubble payment and the car's mine. This is easy and is a fixed
> value.
>
> 3) Hand the car to the dealer I bought it from to sell on for at least the
> £3450 and reap any equity after that. This would be great - the dealer
> reckons that they could sell it for £4500-5000. But they won't sell on
> cars
> with more than 60k miles, so that one's out.
>
>
>
> I've nominally got another option which is to trade it in at the original
> dealers against a new car. £5k tradein against a £10k car would be fine,
> but here's my problem.
>
> I really quite like driving large cars. I do a hell of a lot of motorway
> milage and small cars may go just as well, but I hate driving them on busy
> roads. To get an equivalent sized car I'd have to buy either another Rover
> 75 or an MG ZT from this bunch, but at the spec I really want to go to
> (Must have Aircon) I'm looking at £15k for a 2nd hand one with an engine I
> wouldn't trust (The 1.8l K Series).
>
> So, it looks like I'm going to have to buy the car from the finance and
> then
> either use it as a deposit elsewhere or sell it privately and use the
> proceeds to buy a replacement.

As a thought, you could spend £250 or so on a 12 month aftermarket warranty
and add double that on the sale easily.

> My shopping list at the moment looks a little odd. In order of preference:
>
>
> Rover 75 Club or better with either the 2.0TD, 2.3V6 or V8 engines

Fair choice, but V8 a bit thirsty and 2.0TD sluggish.

> MG ZT at the same spec as above

Interior trim (especially rubber mats on dash cubbyholes) very poorly
fitting, an air of "Halfrauds tuning" about it.

> Ford Scorpio Ultima - a bit long in the tooth but big, comfy, all
> the
> toys and with the Cologne V6 in anything from 2.3 to 2.9l

Ugly, 2.3 underpowered and thirsty as a result, A4LD autobox is one of the
most unreliable automatic boxes ever designed. But big, comfy and pretty
well put together.

> Granada Scorpio - Earlier Ford with all the toys again and the same
> engine choice more or less as the Ultima

As above, but not ugly!

> Vauxhall Senator

4-wheeled dinosaur, thirsty and probably thrashed.

> Vauxhall Omega

Keep taking the tablets.

> Rover 800 Coupe

Nice cars, especially honda v6 engined versions, but look out for weird and
wonderful electrical gremlins - lots of!

> Rover 800 series Sterling

As above.

> Mid 80s Jaguar XJ6 or XJ-S

Cost you a fortune in suspension bushes and bearings, xjs floorpans rot at
rear radius arm mounts, aircon rarely works on either, heavy on tyres and
fuel.

> Late Model Rover SD1 Vitesse

Rust, rust and more rust, more's the pity. If you can get a rust free one,
expect the odd electrical fault now and again. Oh, and budget for a new
camshaft and followers unless recently done.

> Late model Mk2 Granada Ghia

Rust, heavy on fuel, unreliable. Makes you look like a Sweeney reject!

> Anything I've missed as a potential option?

Yes, see below.

> Just for reference, I can't stand BMWs - the roof is too low for my
> headline
> and I find them uncomfortable to drive. Similar problems with Mercedes. I
> just plain don't like the Mondeo or Vectra. Nutterbastard motors like the
> Evo and Impreza are out for reasons of not wishing to kill myself.
>
> My requirements are:
>
> Large executive saloon
> Must have Air Conditioning
> Should have decent performance
> Should have decent economy
> Should be (reasonably) cheap to have serviced
> Must have decent parts availability
> Must cost under £4000
> Must be decently comfortable to drive
> Must be decently comfortable as a passenger

> I don't overly mind about age or manufacturer, just the above requirements
>
> Suggestions?

Ok, you say BMW headroom is insufficient - I am 6'2", and had an E39 5
series, a 1999 523 (2.5 ltr) to be precise. 170bhp and 0-60 in 8.6 seconds.
It returned 33/34mpg on my daily commute, quite excellent from such a large
car. There was more than sufficient headroom as it had aircon (no sunroof)
and my proverbial bad back was quite happy with the std fit seating on a 540
mile journey from the North of Scotland to Peterborough.. It meets all your
criteria with consummate ease, all except price that is, although I have
seen '98 model manuals with high miles go for around £5000. bear in mind
residuals for when you come to sell, the BM will hold its value better than
most you mention. Inspection 2, the biggy at around 55-60,000 miles, will
cost around £350 at a main dealers or £120 if you buy the parts (widely
available) and do it yourself. There is a well established network of
non-franchise specialists who will cosset your car and look after it in a
way that no dealer could even understand! Parts (in many cases original
suppliers) are widely available as well, mail order being an excellent
method. In addition to your criteria, if you get an SE model your aircon
will be the full twin climate control job and you will also get cruise
control, traction control and possibly park distance control as well. You
may even find one with satnav, but unlikely at that price.

Badger.

On or around Sat, 19 Mar 2005 21:42:13 +0000 (UTC), "Badger"
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>Cost you a fortune in suspension bushes and bearings, xjs floorpans rot at
>rear radius arm mounts, aircon rarely works on either, heavy on tyres and
>fuel.

but lovely motors, especially the XJS ragtop

one of my pipe dreams is to have an XJ saloon. Always liked 'em.

but expensive to maintain and run, certainly.

--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.fsnet.co.uk my opinions are just that
Travel The Galaxy! Meet Fascinating Life Forms...
------------------------------------------------\
>> http://www.schlockmercenary.com/ << \ ...and Kill them.
a webcartoon by Howard Tayler; I like it, maybe you will too!

"Austin Shackles" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On or around Sat, 19 Mar 2005 21:42:13 +0000 (UTC), "Badger"
> <[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:
>
>>Cost you a fortune in suspension bushes and bearings, xjs floorpans rot at
>>rear radius arm mounts, aircon rarely works on either, heavy on tyres and
>>fuel.
>
> but lovely motors, especially the XJS ragtop
>
> one of my pipe dreams is to have an XJ saloon. Always liked 'em.
>
> but expensive to maintain and run, certainly.

I used to have an XJ6c many years ago, the most beautiful pillarless coupe
ever built. 4.2 bored to 4.5, holbay cams, triple carbs, manual o/d box and
powr-lok diff. Cost a fortune to keep on the road and feed with fuel, but I
loved it. Don't like the XJS quite the same, I always wanted one - until I
sat in one and felt my head was way too close to the top of the screen,
because of the rake on the "a" pillars.
Badger.

Paul S. Brown <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> My car's coming up to its bubble payment which it looks like I'm going to
> have to make for a variety of reasons.
>
(snip)

> My requirements are:
>
> Large executive saloon
> Must have Air Conditioning
> Should have decent performance
> Should have decent economy
> Should be (reasonably) cheap to have serviced
> Must have decent parts availability
> Must cost under £4000
> Must be decently comfortable to drive
> Must be decently comfortable as a passenger
>
>
> I don't overly mind about age or manufacturer, just the above requirements
>
> Suggestions?

Something Audi. Superb build quality, fast, discrete and much less chav than
old BMW's.

In news:[email protected],
Paul S. Brown <[email protected]> decided to enlighten our sheltered souls
with a rant as follows

[snip stuff about Rover sales staff]
> My shopping list at the moment looks a little odd. In order of
> preference:
>
>
> Rover 75 Club or better with either the 2.0TD, 2.3V6 or V8
> engines

Yup

>
> MG ZT at the same spec as above

Yup
>
> Ford Scorpio Ultima - a bit long in the tooth but big, comfy,
> all the toys and with the Cologne V6 in anything from 2.3 to
> 2.9l

Yup, but the 2.3 isn't V6, it's the I-4 lump with a balancer shaft. Quite
good really.
>
> Granada Scorpio - Earlier Ford with all the toys again and the
> same engine choice more or less as the Ultima

24v is the best.
>
> Vauxhall Senator

24v or don't bother
>
> Vauxhall Omega

3.0 Elites and MV6s are nice
>
> Rover 800 Coupe

Nice, but the suspension isn't upto much.
>
> Rover 800 series Sterling

As above
>
> Mid 80s Jaguar XJ6 or XJ-S

Don't go for the XJ-S, I've owned two, both awful.
>
> Late Model Rover SD1 Vitesse

*Yes*
>
> Late model Mk2 Granada Ghia

I've had lots of these, great cars. The 2.8i manual is remarkably good.
>
>
> Anything I've missed as a potential option?
>
> Just for reference, I can't stand BMWs - the roof is too low for my
> headline and I find them uncomfortable to drive. Similar problems
> with Mercedes. I just plain don't like the Mondeo or Vectra.
> Nutterbastard motors like the Evo and Impreza are out for reasons of
> not wishing to kill myself.

I love my Merc 260E.
>
> My requirements are:
>
> Large executive saloon
> Must have Air Conditioning
> Should have decent performance
> Should have decent economy
> Should be (reasonably) cheap to have serviced
> Must have decent parts availability
> Must cost under £4000
> Must be decently comfortable to drive
> Must be decently comfortable as a passenger
>
>
> I don't overly mind about age or manufacturer, just the above
> requirements
>
> Suggestions?

SD1 Vanden Plas, cheaper than the Vitesse, most have leather, all have AC.


--
Pete M

Mercedes 260E
Ford Capri (ressurection started)
"Never moon a werewolf"

COSOC #5
Scouse Git extraordinaire. Liverpool, Great Britain

On or around Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:28:10 +0000 (UTC), "Mike Buckley"
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>Something Audi. Superb build quality, fast, discrete and much less chav than
>old BMW's.
>

hmmm. good point. If you want big, you should get a pretty good Audi 100
for the sort of money. Not sure when the A6 started, but you might get into
the first of them.

--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.fsnet.co.uk my opinions are just that
"My centre is giving way, my right is in retreat; situation excellent.
I shall attack. - Marshal Foch (1851 - 1929)

On or around Sun, 20 Mar 2005 02:55:54 -0000, "Pete M"
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>Yup, but the 2.3 isn't V6, it's the I-4 lump with a balancer shaft. Quite
>good really.

the older granadas had a 2.3 V6, I used to have one. lovely smooth engine,
but not much power for the size of car. the "small" V6 grew to 2.4 I assume
at the same time as the 2.8 grew to 2.9

--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.fsnet.co.uk my opinions are just that
"The great masses of the people ... will more easily fall victims to
a great lie than to a small one" Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
from Mein Kampf, Ch 10

Paul S. Brown wrote:
> My car's coming up to its bubble payment which it looks like I'm
> going to have to make for a variety of reasons.
>
> The car has a "Guaranteed Residual Value" of £3450 which is the
> amount of the bubble.
>
> However, this is only guaranteed up to 60,000 miles. I've had the car
> 3 years. It had 18k on it when I bought it. It has 82k on it now.
>
> Now, I theoretically have three options
>
>
> 1) Hand the car back and the debt will be written off in full,
> however this only applies up to the 60k miles limit with a per-mile
> penalty applying after that. I could end up paying the total value of
> the bubble to hand the car back. This would be dumb.
>
> 2) Pay the bubble payment and the car's mine. This is easy and is a
> fixed value.
>
> 3) Hand the car to the dealer I bought it from to sell on for at
> least the £3450 and reap any equity after that. This would be great -
> the dealer reckons that they could sell it for £4500-5000. But they
> won't sell on cars with more than 60k miles, so that one's out.
>
>
>
> I've nominally got another option which is to trade it in at the
> original dealers against a new car. £5k tradein against a £10k car
> would be fine, but here's my problem.
>
> I really quite like driving large cars. I do a hell of a lot of
> motorway milage and small cars may go just as well, but I hate
> driving them on busy roads. To get an equivalent sized car I'd have
> to buy either another Rover 75 or an MG ZT from this bunch, but at
> the spec I really want to go to (Must have Aircon) I'm looking at
> £15k for a 2nd hand one with an engine I wouldn't trust (The 1.8l K
> Series).
>
> So, it looks like I'm going to have to buy the car from the finance
> and then either use it as a deposit elsewhere or sell it privately
> and use the proceeds to buy a replacement.
>
> My shopping list at the moment looks a little odd. In order of
> preference:
>
>
> Rover 75 Club or better with either the 2.0TD, 2.3V6 or V8
> engines
>
> MG ZT at the same spec as above
>
> Ford Scorpio Ultima - a bit long in the tooth but big, comfy,
> all the toys and with the Cologne V6 in anything from 2.3 to
> 2.9l
>
> Granada Scorpio - Earlier Ford with all the toys again and the
> same engine choice more or less as the Ultima
>
> Vauxhall Senator
>
> Vauxhall Omega
>
> Rover 800 Coupe
>
> Rover 800 series Sterling
>
> Mid 80s Jaguar XJ6 or XJ-S
>
> Late Model Rover SD1 Vitesse
>
> Late model Mk2 Granada Ghia
>
>
> Anything I've missed as a potential option?
>
> Just for reference, I can't stand BMWs - the roof is too low for my
> headline and I find them uncomfortable to drive. Similar problems
> with Mercedes. I just plain don't like the Mondeo or Vectra.
> Nutterbastard motors like the Evo and Impreza are out for reasons of
> not wishing to kill myself.
>
> My requirements are:
>
> Large executive saloon
> Must have Air Conditioning
> Should have decent performance
> Should have decent economy
> Should be (reasonably) cheap to have serviced
> Must have decent parts availability
> Must cost under £4000
> Must be decently comfortable to drive
> Must be decently comfortable as a passenger
>
>
> I don't overly mind about age or manufacturer, just the above
> requirements
>
> Suggestions?

Paul, talking to my next door neighbour yeasterday they have a 04 plate Jaguar X-type in at around £11k.
They get all manner of stuff in trade in.

If you are after anything specific let me know & I'll have a word for you.

Ta

Nige
--
Subaru WRX (The Bitch)

Series 3 Landrover 88" (Albert)

"Christ's fat cock"

In news:[email protected],
Austin Shackles <[email protected]> decided to enlighten our
sheltered souls with a rant as follows
> On or around Sun, 20 Mar 2005 02:55:54 -0000, "Pete M"
> <[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:
>
>> Yup, but the 2.3 isn't V6, it's the I-4 lump with a balancer shaft.
>> Quite good really.
>
> the older granadas had a 2.3 V6, I used to have one. lovely smooth
> engine, but not much power for the size of car. the "small" V6 grew
> to 2.4 I assume at the same time as the 2.8 grew to 2.9

Indeed they did, the 2.4 V6 (bloody awful thing) replaced the 2.3 in around
1988.

The I-4 2.3 is the same one used in the Galaxy, based on the RS2000 Mk5
motor, taken out to 2.3 and with balancer shafts. Much better than the 2.3
V6.


--
Pete M

Mercedes 260E
Ford Capri (ressurection started)
"Never moon a werewolf"

COSOC #5
Scouse Git extraordinaire. Liverpool, Great Britain

Well, been doing the runaround on this one.

Had a look at a Rover 75 Connoisseur with everything I wanted, but the nasty
rattle off the waterpump and various other creaks, grinds and groans scared
me away a little.

Went to have a look at a Jag XJ6. Seemed pretty sound other than having a
major fuelling problem that wouldn't let it rev above around 3500 revs -
it's a Jag with a problem - run don't walk.

Current option looks to be a 1993 Lexus LS400 that drives like a charm and
seems to be pretty much intact and is half the price of the Rover I was
looking at.

I'll let you know how this one turns out.

P.

On or around Wed, 23 Mar 2005 19:40:54 +0000, "Paul S. Brown"
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>Current option looks to be a 1993 Lexus LS400 that drives like a charm and
>seems to be pretty much intact and is half the price of the Rover I was
>looking at.

sposed to be quite decent motors, they. Top end of Toyota, rebranded so as
not to sound cheap, innit. Toyota don't have a reputation for ****e motors,
recently.

--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.fsnet.co.uk my opinions are just that
"For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals. Then
something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination -
we learned to talk." Pink Floyd (1994)

On Wed, 23 Mar 2005 20:39:48 +0000, Austin Shackles
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On or around Wed, 23 Mar 2005 19:40:54 +0000, "Paul S. Brown"
><[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:
>
>>Current option looks to be a 1993 Lexus LS400 that drives like a charm and
>>seems to be pretty much intact and is half the price of the Rover I was
>>looking at.
>
>sposed to be quite decent motors, they. Top end of Toyota, rebranded so as
>not to sound cheap, innit. Toyota don't have a reputation for ****e motors,
>recently.

IMO the car which has taken over the mantle of 'indestructible and
last forever', recently abandoned by Mercedes.


--

Tim Hobbs

'58 Series 2 88" aka "Stig"
'77 101FC Ambulance aka "Burrt"
'03 Volvo V70

My Landies? http://www.seriesii.co.uk
Barcoding? http://www.bartec-systems.com
Tony Luckwill web archive at http://www.luckwill.com

On or around Thu, 24 Mar 2005 09:59:37 +0000, Tim Hobbs
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>On Wed, 23 Mar 2005 20:39:48 +0000, Austin Shackles
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>On or around Wed, 23 Mar 2005 19:40:54 +0000, "Paul S. Brown"
>><[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:
>>
>>>Current option looks to be a 1993 Lexus LS400 that drives like a charm and
>>>seems to be pretty much intact and is half the price of the Rover I was
>>>looking at.
>>
>>sposed to be quite decent motors, they. Top end of Toyota, rebranded so as
>>not to sound cheap, innit. Toyota don't have a reputation for ****e motors,
>>recently.
>
>IMO the car which has taken over the mantle of 'indestructible and
>last forever', recently abandoned by Mercedes.

yeah, I'd heard that MB (or daimler-chrysler as it is now, innit) has some
rather serious cracks in their previously-good reputation for quality.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.fsnet.co.uk my opinions are just that
"Quos deus vult perdere, prius dementat" Euripedes, quoted in
Boswell's "Johnson".

Well,

I've owned some of the cars you mention, and I have to say that they all had
their gremlins and costly repairs (Rover 800, great car, nice soft ride,
wonderful seats etc. Engine gave up after 80k. Omega 2.5. Interior not as
comfy as the 800 but Silky smooth engine, until it ate a camshaft & tappets
at 125k. Vauxhall had no idea what was wrong with it, replaced the parts
and it did it again almost immediately. New head in the end, cost: nearly
£2000 and ended up being oil starvation) Ok, they are the worst two.

I do have to agree with Badger as my current car is an E39 BMW 530d.

I wasn't looking for a BMW at the time, but had heard of the reputation of
the BMW diesel and saw one at a local (independent) dealer. Initial
opinion: Seats a little hard, ride also a touch hard. I was worried about
owning something with a costly reputation. Opinion after nearly 2 years:
Cheapest car to run and service (main dealer everythng) I have ever known.
Motorway driving is so effortless with the low down torque of the diesel
turbo it makes joining the lane to your right so easy and the miles just fly
past. Especially when (allegedly) it does 110mph at just 3000rpm!

The slightly harder ride is more than compensated by its confidence
inspiring and safe feeling handling (compared to this, the 800 felt like it
was about to fall apart as you ventured into the forbidden zone, and dont
think about avoiding anything in one)

But for me, the feel of the BMW, the quality, reliability, safe feeling
handling & noticeable 'respect' you get from other drivers far surpasses
anything I have ever had before. It has 84k on it now, and it still feels
and looks excellent. Its probably the first every day car I've owned that I
would consider replacing with the same, and in fact, the first car I've ever
felt was worth the money (Apart from my Landies that it!)

Cant hurt to take one for a drive!

Darren
110V8CSW Amongst others.

P.s. The other half likes it so much, we've just acquired another one for
daily use! Although this ones an E28 petrol, still almost pristine after
nearly 18 years service, although this now makes us a 6 car family. Anyone
got a spare Barn? (seriously! Kent preferably!)



"Badger" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Paul S. Brown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > My car's coming up to its bubble payment which it looks like I'm going
to
> > have to make for a variety of reasons.
> >
> > The car has a "Guaranteed Residual Value" of £3450 which is the amount
of
> > the bubble.
> >
> > However, this is only guaranteed up to 60,000 miles. I've had the car 3
> > years. It had 18k on it when I bought it. It has 82k on it now.
> >
> > Now, I theoretically have three options
> >
> >
> > 1) Hand the car back and the debt will be written off in full, however
> > this
> > only applies up to the 60k miles limit with a per-mile penalty applying
> > after that. I could end up paying the total value of the bubble to hand
> > the
> > car back. This would be dumb.
> >
> > 2) Pay the bubble payment and the car's mine. This is easy and is a
fixed
> > value.
> >
> > 3) Hand the car to the dealer I bought it from to sell on for at least
the
> > £3450 and reap any equity after that. This would be great - the dealer
> > reckons that they could sell it for £4500-5000. But they won't sell on
> > cars
> > with more than 60k miles, so that one's out.
> >
> >
> >
> > I've nominally got another option which is to trade it in at the
original
> > dealers against a new car. £5k tradein against a £10k car would be fine,
> > but here's my problem.
> >
> > I really quite like driving large cars. I do a hell of a lot of motorway
> > milage and small cars may go just as well, but I hate driving them on
busy
> > roads. To get an equivalent sized car I'd have to buy either another
Rover
> > 75 or an MG ZT from this bunch, but at the spec I really want to go to
> > (Must have Aircon) I'm looking at £15k for a 2nd hand one with an engine
I
> > wouldn't trust (The 1.8l K Series).
> >
> > So, it looks like I'm going to have to buy the car from the finance and
> > then
> > either use it as a deposit elsewhere or sell it privately and use the
> > proceeds to buy a replacement.
>
> As a thought, you could spend £250 or so on a 12 month aftermarket
warranty
> and add double that on the sale easily.
>
> > My shopping list at the moment looks a little odd. In order of
preference:
> >
> >
> > Rover 75 Club or better with either the 2.0TD, 2.3V6 or V8
engines
>
> Fair choice, but V8 a bit thirsty and 2.0TD sluggish.
>
> > MG ZT at the same spec as above
>
> Interior trim (especially rubber mats on dash cubbyholes) very poorly
> fitting, an air of "Halfrauds tuning" about it.
>
> > Ford Scorpio Ultima - a bit long in the tooth but big, comfy, all
> > the
> > toys and with the Cologne V6 in anything from 2.3 to 2.9l
>
> Ugly, 2.3 underpowered and thirsty as a result, A4LD autobox is one of the
> most unreliable automatic boxes ever designed. But big, comfy and pretty
> well put together.
>
> > Granada Scorpio - Earlier Ford with all the toys again and the
same
> > engine choice more or less as the Ultima
>
> As above, but not ugly!
>
> > Vauxhall Senator
>
> 4-wheeled dinosaur, thirsty and probably thrashed.
>
> > Vauxhall Omega
>
> Keep taking the tablets.
>
> > Rover 800 Coupe
>
> Nice cars, especially honda v6 engined versions, but look out for weird
and
> wonderful electrical gremlins - lots of!
>
> > Rover 800 series Sterling
>
> As above.
>
> > Mid 80s Jaguar XJ6 or XJ-S
>
> Cost you a fortune in suspension bushes and bearings, xjs floorpans rot at
> rear radius arm mounts, aircon rarely works on either, heavy on tyres and
> fuel.
>
> > Late Model Rover SD1 Vitesse
>
> Rust, rust and more rust, more's the pity. If you can get a rust free one,
> expect the odd electrical fault now and again. Oh, and budget for a new
> camshaft and followers unless recently done.
>
> > Late model Mk2 Granada Ghia
>
> Rust, heavy on fuel, unreliable. Makes you look like a Sweeney reject!
>
> > Anything I've missed as a potential option?
>
> Yes, see below.
>
> > Just for reference, I can't stand BMWs - the roof is too low for my
> > headline
> > and I find them uncomfortable to drive. Similar problems with Mercedes.
I
> > just plain don't like the Mondeo or Vectra. Nutterbastard motors like
the
> > Evo and Impreza are out for reasons of not wishing to kill myself.
> >
> > My requirements are:
> >
> > Large executive saloon
> > Must have Air Conditioning
> > Should have decent performance
> > Should have decent economy
> > Should be (reasonably) cheap to have serviced
> > Must have decent parts availability
> > Must cost under £4000
> > Must be decently comfortable to drive
> > Must be decently comfortable as a passenger
>
> > I don't overly mind about age or manufacturer, just the above
requirements
> >
> > Suggestions?
>
> Ok, you say BMW headroom is insufficient - I am 6'2", and had an E39 5
> series, a 1999 523 (2.5 ltr) to be precise. 170bhp and 0-60 in 8.6
seconds.
> It returned 33/34mpg on my daily commute, quite excellent from such a
large
> car. There was more than sufficient headroom as it had aircon (no sunroof)
> and my proverbial bad back was quite happy with the std fit seating on a
540
> mile journey from the North of Scotland to Peterborough.. It meets all
your
> criteria with consummate ease, all except price that is, although I have
> seen '98 model manuals with high miles go for around £5000. bear in mind
> residuals for when you come to sell, the BM will hold its value better
than
> most you mention. Inspection 2, the biggy at around 55-60,000 miles, will
> cost around £350 at a main dealers or £120 if you buy the parts (widely
> available) and do it yourself. There is a well established network of
> non-franchise specialists who will cosset your car and look after it in a
> way that no dealer could even understand! Parts (in many cases original
> suppliers) are widely available as well, mail order being an excellent
> method. In addition to your criteria, if you get an SE model your aircon
> will be the full twin climate control job and you will also get cruise
> control, traction control and possibly park distance control as well. You
> may even find one with satnav, but unlikely at that price.
>
> Badger.
>
>

Darren wrote:

> Well,
>
> I've owned some of the cars you mention, and I have to say that they all
> had their gremlins and costly repairs (Rover 800, great car, nice soft
> ride,
> wonderful seats etc. Engine gave up after 80k. Omega 2.5. Interior not
> as comfy as the 800 but Silky smooth engine, until it ate a camshaft &
> tappets
> at 125k. Vauxhall had no idea what was wrong with it, replaced the parts
> and it did it again almost immediately. New head in the end, cost: nearly
> £2000 and ended up being oil starvation) Ok, they are the worst two.
>
> I do have to agree with Badger as my current car is an E39 BMW 530d.
>
> I wasn't looking for a BMW at the time, but had heard of the reputation of
> the BMW diesel and saw one at a local (independent) dealer. Initial
> opinion: Seats a little hard, ride also a touch hard. I was worried about
> owning something with a costly reputation. Opinion after nearly 2 years:
> Cheapest car to run and service (main dealer everythng) I have ever known.
> Motorway driving is so effortless with the low down torque of the diesel
> turbo it makes joining the lane to your right so easy and the miles just
> fly past. Especially when (allegedly) it does 110mph at just 3000rpm!
>
> The slightly harder ride is more than compensated by its confidence
> inspiring and safe feeling handling (compared to this, the 800 felt like
> it was about to fall apart as you ventured into the forbidden zone, and
> dont think about avoiding anything in one)
>
> But for me, the feel of the BMW, the quality, reliability, safe feeling
> handling & noticeable 'respect' you get from other drivers far surpasses
> anything I have ever had before. It has 84k on it now, and it still feels
> and looks excellent. Its probably the first every day car I've owned that
> I would consider replacing with the same, and in fact, the first car I've
> ever felt was worth the money (Apart from my Landies that it!)
>
> Cant hurt to take one for a drive!
>

Well, I got the replacement - a 12 year old Lexus LS400. It's the only car
I've ever driven that makes BMWs, Mercs, Jags et.al feel like you're
driving a biscuit tin.

If I had the money (somday maybe!) I'd probably buy a current model LS400 or
RX330, but for just now other than the pain in the pocket every time I fail
to pass a filling station this one will do me.

P.
--
1992 200 TDI Disco - heavily modified
1982 V8 Range Rover - heavily corroded
2000 Rover 75 - heavily driven
1993 Lexus LS400 - just plain heavy on fuel