1995 Rover - Austin 600 620i 2.0i

Summary:

It's no white diamond, but it's close!

Faults:

Brakes need replacing at the rear. Nasty judder when braking.

Rear calipers need fully unseizing.

Aerial wire broke behind radio unit after removing the Rover unit and putting in my own head unit.

Couple of knocks and creaks from the suspension. Needs a few bushes.

General Comments:

This is the second Rover 600 I've had.

My last car, an Alfa 145 1.7, decided not to start one day, so I needed a road ready car, and picked this one up for £350, tax and tested!

I knew what to look out for, with experience from my last 600, and this one, granted, has a few niggles, but nothing that is serious.

Again, comfortable to relax in, competent cruiser on the motorway, the balanced 2.0 liter Honda engine is a gem.

I'm going to be a bit loathed to leave this car (my wife can only drive autos and she wants to start learning again), but the longer I keep the car, the longer I want to keep it more.

There's the usual rust on the rear arches, but nothing that a bit of elbow grease and body filler won't sort out.

This is also my very first white car I've had, so within 2 days of me getting it, a couple of black pin stripes went down the side, it looked so bland. Saying that, I don't think anyone can miss a white 600!

The I.C.E. is pretty good, now I've swapped out the Rover unit for an alternate unit. However, the radio aerial cable broke when I pushed the head unit in, so I have no radio. But that's what USB and CD's are for!

I just need to replace the rear pads and discs, and for £37 for the lot (wife works at a car dealer so gets the parts for trade price!) so that should take a few hours, as I also need to unseize the calipers for the new pads.

It still returns a respectful 27-29 mpg, but put your toe down, and you can wave good bye to that!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 12th July, 2009

1995 Rover - Austin 600 Ti 2.0 litre petrol turbo

Summary:

Expensive Junk

Faults:

Clutch seized and needed replacing.

Clutch master cylinder.

Rear wheel bearings, both.

Front wheel bearings, both.

Misfire, undiagnosed.

Brakes, discs and pads.

General Comments:

I ended up giving up on this car as it was a complete nightmare. I owned it for less than 800 miles, and every time I fixed one problem another would emerge.

I understand it is an older car, but it had Full Rover Service History, 90k and seemed to have been cared for. From what I could see, and especially after owning the Volvo, the parts were cheap and very poorly made. I would not touch another Rover with a barge poll; plus why are the parts so expensive? They are more than BMW or Volvo, seems strange to me?

The only thing I can say is in a straight line there is not a lot that could keep up with this car, but forget corners unless you like hedges.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 29th March, 2008

1st Apr 2008, 04:45

How could you go from a Volvo 850 to a Rover 600 anyway? Times must have been hard!!!

1995 Rover - Austin 600 Si 2.0 petrol

Summary:

Reliable, comfortable, cheap

Faults:

Radiator needed replacement at 100,000 miles.

As it has reached age 12, one bit or another of the Exhaust needs replacing every year.

The body-work (as with all Rovers) has succumb to rust in places.

General Comments:

Fantastically reliable (that Honda engine helps!).

Great performance, drop a gear and you've got a bit of poke when you need it.

Really comfortable. I could drive up and down the motorways all day quite happily in this car. It's a smooth and quite ride.

Rovers are so out of fashion that you can get one of these in great nick for a few hundred quid or less. Believe me, they are a bargain. If you pick up one of these it will give you years of problem free motoring.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 22nd September, 2007