1997 Rover - Austin 200 214 Si from UK and Ireland - Comments

Head gasket blew after 35,000 miles, gearbox shortly afterwards.

On its third starter motor, even the seatbelt pre-tensioner system went wrong.

There is play in the steering rack which is getting worse and will cost £1,000+ to repair.

Also the bottom has fallen out of the used Rover market so it's worth bugger all now.

I will NEVER buy another Rover.

DON'T relax - it's a Rover.

I totally agree with you as my head gasket has just blown today (15/01/01) and the car has only covered 33,000 miles!

I will never ever buy another Rover, this is quite probably the worst car we have ever bought, the build quality is OK but the engine always was really noisy, so now I'm left with a £528.45 bill to skim the head and replace the gasket.

TO ANYONE ELSE READING THIS, NEVER EVER BUY A ROVER, THEY ARE OVERPRICED, OVERRATED CRAP!!!

Ok folks, listen carefully, to all head gasket blowers, in the 30,000 odd miles the original head was OK, how many times was the water level checked? I would imagine 0 times, think about it.

Starter motor? The trick is to release the key instantly when the engine fires. I have an 11 year old 414Si, which has 92,000 miles on it and it is mechanically mint with plenty of power and is basically the same K-series engine all of the head blowers are on about. If you cannot look after a car get the bus, and no one is forcing anyone to go to the dealers, there are plenty top class mechanics whom are self employed who do top class work at reasonable prices.

My mate has an H-reg 414 which has done 156,000 miles and has had no problems at all except for a new clutch. I could list loads of problems from other cars that I have either had or my mates have

(Vauxhall), but Rover are certainly no worse than other similar manufacturers.

With regard to water levels being checked. I check the oil & water levels weekly!!! The Sunday before the head gasket went, as normal the levels were checked and were OK.

A head gasket doesn't fail for no reason. Either the engine has overheated due to coolant loss, or the cooling system has never been flushed and refilled with new antifreeze every two years, or the engine has been thrashed.

The K series engine is a tough nut - Caterham and Lotus use it in their tarmac ripping sports cars.

My Rover has done 100k (214 Si). As far as I know the head has never been off. The trick here is to make sure that the radiator has not lost its fins and keep an eye on the two steel (!) pipes used in this engine. These engine's water capacity is small compared to other engines, so any deficiency in the cooling system will cause the motor to run hot thus blowing the headgasket.

Other than that, it is a great British car!

These are good cars, but the aluminium engine always needs anti freeze to preserve it, even in the summer otherwise problems will happen. it sounds like you just haven't serviced or looked after it properly.

Looking after your Rover is a bit like making love to a beautiful woman. I had a 94 (M) Metro GTa 1.4 8 valve, I had it about 4 years. When I bought it, it had 3400 miles on the clock and it was 3 years old (yes, I did say 3 thousand four hundred miles, in 3 years!). In those four years I did absolutely nothing to it, apart from the usual oil check etc and the odd modification to little bits here and there to make it a little more personalised. After hammering it round town racing everything and anything AND doing a hundred miles a day up and down the A1 to and from work for about ten months I finally sold it with around 84000 miles on the clock (that's eighty thousand miles in four years). This was a K-series engine and the only problem I had, came in the last six months, which was problems starting and running in the damp and rain. This frustrated me, but it had served me well. Thus trading it in for a Rover 200Vi which also has a K-series engine. The K-series engine is also used in the road version Lotus Elise and the new MGF roadster. A car looked after = a very happy customer. Although in this case a car NOT looked after = a very happy customer, with an even quicker car from the same manufacturers. I think you people with the problems with Rover have just been very unlucky. You do get cars that will always have problems, a bit like women. TTFN.

To the first two comments. Headgaskets do not blow for no reason. I think you might find that you probably had no coolant left thus overheating the engine and blowing the gasket. Rover K series engines are virtually indestructable. They are all alloy so you need coolant in it, if not it all gets very messy.

Best tip I can give is to LEARN BASIC MAINTENANCE!!!

Talking about head-gaskets I have a Lotus Elise (K-series engine) which blew at 18,000 miles. The car is regularly serviced and I myself pay carefull attention to all basic maintenance. Considering the car is so cosseted - I don't even drive it particularly hard - it was rather galling to have this happen.

My Rover.

Regularly serviced and checked weekly.

Head gasket failed after 32k.

Some units are prone to failure.

Plus the alternator went. The cat converter needs replacing... the brakes are rubbish. Rovers are plain useless.

You get problems with every manufacturer. I have a 1990 H 214SLi bought from new. It's done 74k miles, it's had no major probs so far and no head gasket probs <touch wood>. We bought a bubble shape 414 P reg from new, and no major problems with that so far either <touch wood>.

Jam.

I have a 97 216Si and the brakes aren't rubbish.

Also, to everyone who thinks the engine is noisy, it's not really, it is one of the most powerful for it's size (especially the 1.4 16v). If you want silent running buy a Toyota Corolla, but don't expect to enjoy driving it.

I thoroughly agree with comments, Rover 200s are unreliable, well I take that back. You can rely on it to fail, especially the head gasket.

My car needs a complete new engine, having bought it second hand from the Rover dealership here in Barbados.

I think the defect in the engine is made worse here in the Caribbean, because of the heat of the Tropics. I have started forming a group here in Barbados, in order to take action against the dealers, since there are so many other Rover 200 owners in my situation.

Let the statistics shine light on the problem.

More 214 head gasket misery; mine blew after 35000 miles and wrecked the engine, and then again after 35000 miles on the new engine, all after regular servicing and checking coolant levels. I have had to spend £1000 getting the second engine sorted out just so that I can get rid of it. And the spiv dealers just offer you half price on repairs, secure in the knowledge that they are charging twice as much in the first place. Rover head office don't want to know - I suppose they are hearing it all the time. Grim car, mickey mouse company.