1997 Rover - Austin 200 VI review from UK and Ireland

So far I have had the Head Gasket blow 3 times 65000 miles, 68500 miles and 70000 miles, one requiring a new Cylinder Head. (Apparently this is a common fault)

Variable Valve timing solenoid replaced, causing erratic idle and poor acceleration, the part itself is only £10 but cost over £300 to fix due to diagnostics (The ECU cannot diagnose this) and setup time (took over a day and a half to setup (Defining my poor opinion of Rover dealers)

New steering rack was required for two reasons, too much play and eventually the power steering failed entirely.

(Another Common fault)

Ball joints have been replaced 3 times as they keep breaking.

Boot latch would not hold the boot lid down and would fly up at any speed when you went over a bump. (Also apparently a common fault)

Clutch Exploded while driving down the road (Not changing gear or accelerating hard)

When I first purchased the car there were a couple of niggles, but I thought nothing too serious.

It was fairly quick, I've had a Audi Quattro Turbo so it's not the fastest car I've driven and it gets a bit stuck over 100.

The handling is OK, it's very unpredictable with the power steering being very over powered and with understeer coming on very quickly. It's not a car to push to the limit.

It was quite economical in terms of fuel, I would make quite a lot of motorway trips and regularly see over 50mpg.

The interior is not the leather, but plush cloth which I prefer. (I think the Half leather looks awful). The driving position is good with the height adjustable seat. Pedal spacing is good, but lack of a foot rest can make it uncomfortable on long journeys. The rear seats are very hard and wouldn't be recommended for passengers on long journeys.

Gear change on the car is very sloppy and having the PG1 gearbox has a tendency to crunch, especially with reverse.

Tyres are a unusual size on the alloys and as a result expensive.

Parts aren't as cheap as you would expect, exhaust Cat back is around £200 (I can buy a stainless one for £180)

Tyres are around £85 each fitted. Head gasket work can vary from £300 to £1200 (not including replacing the cylinder head, which are around £500 second hand or £800 new, as they are used to modify 1.4s)