2000 Rover - Austin 25 iL review from UK and Ireland

In just over 103,000 miles its had only 1 fault which was with the air con system, it just wouldn't work at all, a visit back to the dealer 3 days after purchase had it fixed within 5 hours, the culprit being a dodgy switch.

The only thing this car has had to have replaced are usual service parts such as pads, wiper blades etc...

Starting off with the body work, after 103,000 miles its pretty good, the odd stone chip on the bonnet, but no visible rust.

Its very comftable to drive around town and on short journeys although the seats do lack any form of decent lumbar support on long distance journeys, anything over 2 hours or so and your back starts to ache.

The interior although dull looking is functional and instruments are set out to be rather handy.

Driving position is above average when you play around with the seat height adjust and steering adjust, I say this as its not a car you can just get in and feel at home.

Rear leg room is very good for a car of this size, easily seating 3 adults in the rear in comfort.

Boot space is also not bad for a car of this size, easily swallowing a few suitcases or a pushchair and a trolley full of shopping in my case.

On the road the car is quite nippy, its the 103ps model and therefore alittle quicker than the usual 1.4 unit. This is mostly noticed in acceleration which takes you from 0-60 in just over 10 seconds.

When driven hard the engine can be quite noisy, but the power is there and its very rare that you feel the car struggles. Road noise is acceptable although this does get more noticeable on motorway driving at anything over 70mph.

Handling is much better than the old Rover 200, its very precise in country lanes with no trouble at all and almost no hint at loss of traction.

As for fuel consumption this car runs on the tears of squirrels!

Around town I get about 36mpg and on a long drive I get about 48mpg!

Why people hate Rover and this model is beyond me, unless I have just been lucky, but for me this car has served me very well and has now been passed on to my wife to replace her Metro.

The only reason I have changed vehicle is due to an ever growing family, I now have a Mondeo TD-Di.

So to sum up... cheap running, cheap insurance, great handling, above average ride and comfort and mainly no major repair issues, in my opinion you can't go far wrong in regards to reliability, although high depreciation costs may be a factor to consider if you don't keep your cars long.