What Car?

[donald_5078413]

I wonder if you guys (and Gals ofcourse) have any opinions as to a good tow car for an Old Eldis Hurricane delux 2birth. I currently have a Ford Scorpio 2.3 Ghia X but would like something slightly newer. I have been looking at a Rover 416i. Because of the colapse of Rover they are cheap at the moment. Any advice would be useful.

 

[mcghee]

Donald, I'm sure some forum member who owns a Rover will jump right down my throat here, but the 200 & 400 series Rovers were terrible in every aspect. I don't know if Rover even had a quality control for these cars. I think unless your 'van is very light the Rover will be too light anyway, but I'd avoid them like the plague. The 200 series is the only front wheel drive I've ever driven which oversteered on full throttle, not good.

 

[donald_5078413]

Thanks Craig I thought as much. I used to tow my Eldis with a Rover 418 deisel but that had a Peugot engine and was fantastic but I have no experience of petrol Rovers. Looks like its going to be the Scorpio or a Volvo then. Thanks again.

 

[john_5094558]

Hasnt the Rover 200 series come out really well in the What Car? reliability survey? Worth a check first I would think. JL

 

[cris_408518]

I've no axe to grind with Rover cars, Many posted when I commented on a poor new Rover 75 I drove last Autumn that theirs were good.

A business contact has resorted to having another garage service his Rovers due to uncertainty about the Rover dealerships.

He was advised that dealer has problems due to warranty work and could close due to the financial pressure, if it is a nasty rumour that's sad. But if there is any truth how does he stand with car in bits in the workshop if they go bust. He's not taking the chance :-(

 

[Paul_5041248]

A colleague of mine runs an Alfa as his company car - the previous one was an Alfa and both spend a great deal of time in the garage having warranty repairs. I run a Discovery - bought at 65,000 and now with 150,000 and in that time it has cost me

 

[giovanni_5060838]

A colleague of mine runs an Alfa as his company car - the previous one was an Alfa and both spend a great deal of time in the garage having warranty repairs. I run a Discovery - bought at 65,000 and now with 150,000 and in that time it has cost me

 

[giovanni_5060838]

when talking about cars, its a case that u need to put things

into perspective. ie, u state u bought a discovery at 65k, and now 100 k later its been fine.

but what about the first 65k? how did the original owner get on?

was it too in the garage for regular warranty work?

u must compare like with like.

me... never buy new, 30 or 40k cars not only because of price,

but most known problems will be sorted by then,and hopefully

the car will run pretty well there onwards...

from a 120k ALFA owner, who has to put up with jibes because he

uses forum sight, where the 156 has plenty of members who would

call a 150k discovery....low mileage...........

as to the rover 400? maybe if there are any owners on here,

they could answer if it is up to the job......

 

[rayc]

Donald, Consider a 2ltr Mondeo. I had a V reg estate and it was a great tow car for my 1350kg van.

Ray

 

[donald_5078413]

Thanks for all your input people. The Rover I have seen is quite old (R Reg) but is very low miles and verrry reasonably priced. I wasnt sure if the 16i engine would be powerful enough to tow my 15ft 2 birth Edlis. The 18 turbo deisel was, but that had a Peugot 405 engine in it. I have a Ford Scorpio 2.3 ghia X which would do the job at P reg but it has over 180,000 on the clock and has lots of little things starting to go wrong. If anyone has any experience of towing with a Rover 416i it would be realy usefull to hear from you. Thanks again.

 

[MeonIan]

Donald, whilst I do not have personal experience with a Rover, my father has owned a 1994 416Sli for the past 10 years and tows a 1991 Swift Danette, he rates the outfit but I have no idea how heavy the Swift is (not heavy I wouldn't have thought). The car has been very reliable (Honda influence back then I think) and has now covered almost 100k still original clutch etc. I do know that all Rover 400/45 have max towing limit of 1000kg whether you drive 1.4 petrol or the diesel, strange I have always thought. Hope this may be of some help.

 

[mcghee]

I never actually called Rover's reliability into question. What I said was that the 200 & 400 series cars were terrible, and I really do think they were. Driving position like a monkey, brakes like chocolate, very light and skittish rear end, had a tendency to veer about the road under braking, and offered little to no grip in the wet. In the last 13 years I have had nearly 400 cars pass through my hands and I rate the Rover 200 & 400 as probably the worst.

 

[Lol1]

Hi Donald, although I can't comment on their towing ability, you will find that the 400 are quite a nice car to drive and own. I had a 420 saloon (diesel) for a year and just used it to commute to work each day approx 140 miles roundtrip) and it never let me down. It had 120,000 miles on the clock yet still felt quite well bolted together. Brakes were good, handling a little on the soft/comfortable side. Good seats and a good driving position, it went and stopped well. The K series engine is well known for reliability. The only negative I could find is that should I want to tow, the choice of vans would be limited due to the cars weight. Like you say though, there are quite some bargains out there, a lot of car for the money, so take a test drive if you have a small van.