1996 Rover - Austin 400 420 SD review from North America

Bit of surface rust appearing on one wheel arch, but a quick and easy DIY repair soon tidied it up and the car looks a whole lot better for it.

Only owned it for a short period of time so far so nothing else really except the usually wear and tear items, bulbs mainly.

After hearing lots of conflicting reviews regarding Rovers and their build quality, I decided to find out for myself exactly what the hype was all about. I have always liked the look of Rovers and it seems that you get a lot of kit for the money, so after my last Fiesta failed its MoT and I couldn't find another Mondeo Diesel I wanted in my price range, I turned to the Rover 420 SD.

It was advertised in the free ads for £350 with a full 12 month MoT and 6 months Tax, low mileage for this age diesel on an N plate. I viewed it, drove it and bought it. What an absolutly cracking car!

There are two versions of Rovers L Series Diesel engine, the ~85bhp none intercooled variant, and the ~103bhp intercooled version. Mine is the former, and even though it has the lower power output, has plenty of torque to haul it along at sufficient speeds, keeping up with other traffic and pulling you out of stick situations with ease. It is also very economical, returning on average 550 miles/tank, which is a combination of numerous, long trips on motorways, and numerous town journeys.

The cabin is an extremely nice place to be and the seats are very comfortable and supportive on long journeys. All the controls seem to be well within reach and easy to find. The only problem I do have is that, with this being the hatchback version, the control for the rear wiper is in a rather strange place (halfway along the stalk for the front wipers) and can sometimes be trick to get to, especially if you are on a tight road which requires lots of steering action!

On that note, the car does have some noticeable body roll in the corners, but then, this car wasn't made to be chucked around bends, but more for long distance motorway drives, which is absolutely loves and laps up with ease. I really cannot see why people slate these Rovers, as it is an absolutely fantastic car.

I know that the petrol engined models can suffer head gasket failures as a common problem, but from the reviews I have read, the L-Series Diesel is virtually bulletproof. Plenty quick enough for me, anyway!