Rover 25

Needing to change our car to a smaller model, I spent a couple of weeks trawling the internet to have a look at a few cars that I would be interested in. Most importantly, the new car had to be reliable and cheaper to run than our last car. Initially I was looking for a 1.4 litre engined car to save on the high cost of insurance of our MK3 Mondeo 2.0 litre car.

At the wifes insistence - or orders! - the new 'baby' had to have 4 or 5 doors, so I looked up images and reviews of some mid-range cars. VW, Volvo and Skoda were first on the list but our limited budget meant we could only look at the older models which were sadly beginning to show their age. Seeing photos of the Rover 25 and liking the style of this car settled it for me. Further 'research' was soon done to find out more about this mid-range car. The more I found out, the more convinced I was that we were going to have a Rover 25!. O.K, it's considered a car mainly bought by old people, but if you look through Google, there are plenty of modified examples around so the 'old codger' image doesn't really stand up. And anyway, the distinct Rover 'face' and the Britishness of it can't be all that bad.

It has a certain amount of 'poshness' about it that Rover was once renowned for in their earlier cars of 1950 to 1970's. Remember the Rover 95 of the 1950's?, all leather and wood interiors.

It was a real shame that BMW fell out with MG Rover - makes you wonder what could have been.

Several examples of the Rover 25 were found locally through websites, so we began the task of going round car sales pitches and dealers to have a closer look at the better looking cars. We phoned one seller who said he would be open at 10:30 am, on going over to see him we found his pitch was still closed at 11:10 am!. So I took the wife off to another site about half a mile away to show her a VW Polo I had seen a photo of whilst doing research into the Rover 25. Being at the cheaper end of the market, the little car was a bit scruffy, but that could be overlooked since reliability was more important - if we had bought it. And anyway, I had once borrowed one as a courtesy car so I knew how it handled on the road. A few questions later about the Polo revealed that the dealer had 'lost' the road fund licence disc!.

Just as I was walking away to look at something else, the salesman said "We've just had this come in", indicating to a Rover 25 in alumina green. Well, didn't I beam! I said "I've just been down the road looking at a Rover 25 but the pitch was closed", and the wife chipped in "Ooh, that's nice". So we started having a closer look around and inside the car. The car was owned by a Doctor's wife, which explains why the car has never been smoked in and has been very well looked after.

"How much is your budget?", asked the salesman. "Er..I wouldn't like to say", I replied. (Having once been sold junk for maximum budget).

Then the wife turned to me and said "Ask him how much he'll give for ours", Well, I was absolutely stunned when he offered £300 for it off the asking price of £995 for the Rover!. We gladly accepted the salesmans offer and headed off into his office to complete the deal. As an added bonus, there was also a free seven day drive away insurance scheme that we naturally took advantage of. Later the same day, I found insurance at £200 less than our previous 2.0 litre car. We are beginning to save money straight away.

We found the salesman friendly and not pushy at all, didn't feel as if we were 'pounced' on as soon as we stepped foot onto the site. Hate it when sales staff do that, even in shops. This car dealer certainly gets a big recommendation from us and if we needed to, we would by from him again.

Returning to the dealer to hand over our old car, we proudly took possession of our 'new' baby who had been positioned conveniently at the entrance of the dealers ready to leave.

After the essential seat shuffling and mirror adjusting, I starting her up and noticed immediately how quiet the engine was compared to our old diesel engined car, that doesn't mean to imply that MK3 diesel Mondeos are all noisy of course.

We began to move off the forecourt, tentatively feeling for that precise moment when the clutch 'bites' and we can, er..smoothly move away. Gathering speed I noticed how light but positive the steering is and the smoothness of the engine. Finding a place to turn around, I did the usual fumbling for the indicator switch. Surprised how much 'bigger' the car seemed inside, similar to the same impression I had of an Austin Maestro. The handling is very good thanks to the BMW engineered suspension system.

The view out of the rear window when seen from the rear view mirror is excellent, helped by the more upright positon of the glass and the absence of a protruding boot. The drivers seat is also height adjustable to give that extra vision over the steering wheel, which has the Rover badge in the center.

So far, she has been used for the run to work and a trip to the supermarket, attracting some admiring glances along the way.

Pootling around at 30 mph, fifth gear doesn't seem necessary and the ride feels a bit rough when I do try using it. At night the lighting seems adequate though I always prefer lamps to be a bit brighter, the closer to pure white the better.

Had this car a couple of weeks now and it still brings a smile to my face when I drive it. Now feeling more comfortable with how it handles and where all the switches are. Still getting that 'people are looking at me' feeling.

Will have to start getting ready for Winter very soon!

Should there be any problems, I can always look on the MG-Rover forums to look for answers. There is also a tremendous of amount of spares available online from many shops and enthusiasts, none of which are very expensive. Those Lexus style rear light sets are looking attractive at the moment.

Just had some led sidelights in but had to take them out again after part of the circuit failed within the lamp. Noticed the remaining two leds in the lamp were flashing! Oops, don't want to be pulled up by the Police for that.

Recently put in a pair of single led bright white bulbs and had to 'frost' them using a nail file because they originally did not show up too well in the lamp reflectors, if you don't have a magnifying lens in front of the leds then the better option is to spread the light. The side on view of the bulbs gives an idea of what this looks like. Decided to take these out again because they still don't look very bright.

Recently found a pair of 9 LED SMD type that do the job very well from ebay.

BMW style alloy wheels - would you expect anything less?

CD Radio as in some BMWs.

Antilock Braking System - discs on the front, drums on the rear.

Front electric windows - (wondering if there is a conversion kit for the rear doors).

Central locking and immobiliser.

Digital Clock.

High level brake light.

Part wood trim fascia - could be plastic made to look like walnut trim. But what the heck, it gives the car that air of poshness associated with executive saloons.

Had this car for three months now and I am still very pleased with it, think this car has been unfairly underrated in the past.

12/11/2011 - Fitted a pair of brighter headlamp bulbs (+30%) with matching sidelamp bulbs and took out the LEDs, now looks much better and safer. New bulbs give the HID look but without the expense of a conversion kit.

28/11/2011 - Got an annoying rattle/tapping from the exhaust manifold heatshield but thankfully very easy to fix with a new nut/bolt. Noise comes and goes of its own accord.

18/12/2011 - Trying out some other LED sidelamp bulbs, still deciding if I like them or not.

25/12/2011 - Fitted a pair of daytime running lights behind the lower grill - between the front fog lamps - so that they cannot be stolen easily. Needs a suitable ignition key operated live feed to work. I should really have disconnected the battery when fitting the lights but I don't yet have a radio code to reset the radio! Have since used software to find the radio security code and found the suitable live feed. This is the light green wire with a white line along it that connects to the radio and is only live when the ignition key is at the first position.

01/01/2012 - Took out the radio to have a look at the serial number in order to get a security code. Surprisingly easy to do, just undo two bolts with a 2.5mm Allen key and then ease the unit forward. Once the unit was put back in I noticed an annoying console squeak had gone! Found software on the internet that can calculate the security code from the radio serial number. No need to find a Rover agency and pay £20 for the code number.

28/01/2012 - Rover 75 placed 2nd out of 10 best diesel cars by Mail Online!

20/02/2012 - Now at five months of ownership and I AM STILL SMILING! Wish we had bought this car first instead of the Mondeo MK3. Looks as though we changed cars at the right time because diesel prices are jumping well ahead of petrol.

09/03/2012 - Went to Birmingham (UK) to have a look at how much the city centre has changed from 20 years ago. Very easy getting there, but a little bit lost on the way back. Car handles well on the motorway at speed.

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