1991 Rover - Austin 400 Reviews - Page 2 of 4

Manifold gasket is holed and blowing.

Rear Bumper has come adrift on right hand side and hangs down slightly.

Gearbox bearings getting a little rumbly on occasions.

I bought this car a month ago for £150 and it is great! Despite the problems noted above, it starts on the first turn of the key every time, and gives me no other worries!

I am also impressed with the performance, especially when I accelerated past an XR3i on the M1 the other day!

My only gripe is that it lacks PAS!

Alternator failed at 125000 miles.

Driver's window very slow to wind up, and sometimes jams.

Oil pipe blew from cooler to engine, resulting in sump being dumped - No damage to engine however.

Power Steering fluid pipe leak.

Metal water-cooling pipe went rotten behind offside wing.

Headlight relay fried.

Trailing arms needed replacing at 113000.

CV joints needed to be replaced at 133000.

Trailing arm bushes replaced at 148000.

This car is not to be under estimated. OK, it's not a 0-60 drag racer; standing starts are not this cars strong point so don't buy one to race away from the lights. The torque available however as soon as the turbo gets up to speed is inspiring. Overtaking at speeds over 50mph is breeze in fourth. The handling is superb; with anti roll bars front and rear, it makes twisty B roads a joy. This car will put to shame a lot of much more modern cars in terms of performance, handling and the excellent high specification equipment. Even with the mileage of my car, the emissions are still as low as they were at it's first MOT, there is very little exhaust smoke and will only consume half a litre of oil every 6000 - 8000 miles. The cabin has very little wear even after such high mileage, although this is helped enormously by the full leather interior. Economy is superb; I get about 45 - 50 mpg and only need to fill the 55-litre tank once every 500 miles. The only negative issue I have with this car is the excessive noise of the engine entering the cabin, especially at idle speed.

This car has been tried and tested to the extreme and has proved to be very reliable.

Rear number plate light major failure 89000 miles.

Slight annoying vibration from gear shifter 90000 miles.

Front left drive shaft sheared off 92000 miles.

The Rover 416 GTI has its own hyperdrive similar to that of the millennium falcon.

This is a bad ass motor not for the faint hearted.

Throttle appears to be sticky, but I am told that It's due to fair wear and tear on the carb. Difficult to make a smooth gear change.

The sun roof has developed a serious leak, which somehow runs under the lining and down by the door rubber and onto the floor pan.

The heater fan has started making all sorts of weird shrill noises when switched on - seems to play a tune of its own.

The CV joints are making that unwelcome knocking noise when cornering.

The car is old, but has been serviced regularly and is still a comfortable ride. The engine generally behaves itself, but occasionally won't start on a hot engine, that's harsh in a busy car wash!