Comments: 1-15, 16-19
Cylinder head gasket blew at 40000.
Door trim fell off in several places leaving the car unable to be opened.
Leaks from all windows.
The engine had to be re-conditioned at 42000 because of several major problems.
Rust around sills, wheel arches and petrol cap.
Problems with power steering.
Brakes failed on many occasions.
Do NOT buy a Rover 400. They are absolute wrecks.
If you want a car that is reliable never buy a Rover. The car handled terrible was very noisy and the engine just had no power. Under 3000 revs you felt a sharp "shudder" every time you depressed the throttle and it would struggle to move.
I owned the 'Heap' for two years and it gave me nothing but trouble, it wouldn't start on many occasions, the brakes were always faulty an absolute WRECK!!!
NEVER EVER BUY A ROVER!!!
Thanks for the advice. Was the car really that BAD?
The problems started (again) for Rover when they left the alliance with Honda and created the new Rover.
I think you are a one off, My Rover 400 has been great for 100,000 miles and I am going buy another. Rust? how can the sills rust when the are aluminium? Before you take his advice, go and test-drive a rover 75, you will fall in love.
Well said. It is these people who are wrecking Rover's image by getting worked up at a one off mistake. How many times has the new BMW Mini been re called? but no one says that is a bad car?
Head gaskets can go on rover engines the k series is the engine most noted for this. I know 3 people who have all had there head gaskets go at stupid mileage such as anything from 40k to 75k mine went on 52k. Also a mate of mine has had is blow 3 times in a year first it went at 41k and now 7k later 48k for the third time. All the head gaskets where changed by a rover dealer who in my opinion no nothing about the cars they sell and service. And the sills do rust as I have had to sand the rust down and repaint the sills. Rover have told me that later k series engines from 1998 onwards have a less chance of head gasket trouble as they now use a stronger gasket and metal dowel's that hold the head to the block, in place of the plastic ones used in Pre 1998 k series engines.
I'm a mechanic of 4 years and rovers are terrible, they are awkward to work on, powerless, unreliable and ugly. I can't think what would posess people to buy one.
Mg are no better, same rubbish engine and interior in different bodywork. rovers are a true automotive mistake, even rover dealers are clueless as to what problems are half the time. one in our garage everyday.
One rover is worth buying, a honda.
I have a Rover 400 - 1.6CC - 1998
I started to have problems at 47.000 Km's, engine don't start, strange noises from engine. The car was repaired, and so far I have no more problems. The car is comfortable, maybe a little to soft, and I like the car.
But one thing is sure, there are something wrong with that engines. They fall too many times.
I owned a Rover 400 on P plate “97” drove it for three years without any problems (even though I was told by my brother in-law not to buy one because the head gaskets always blow and I thought he was wrong), well then my problems had just started, even though it had a full service history and had only done 58,000 miles the head blew, radiator replaced, water pump replaced, thermostat etc, brake sensors replaced, drivers side electric window stopped working, accelerator cable stuck on a few occasions (not good when approaching junctions) in all I spent well over £1,000 in the last few months of ownership and only got £400 when I sold it with 12 months MOT & 4 months tax. cheap to run, cheap to buy, expensive to fix.
HI everyone! I think that Rovers are very good cars they have a lot of power, but the head gasket is prone to blowing I have jus blown mine, but hopefully I will be able to repair it easily. They are very nice cars to drive when everything is working well and we should stay patriotic and buy British cars!!!
Someone tell him...
Just reading all the posts above has really cheered me up. I own a Rover 25, 38,000 miles and my head gasket has gone. Thing is when they took the head off they found it had 2 gaskets, so chances are it went before I bought it which was a year ago at 24,000 miles. Rovers really are bad, I was warned, I never heeded the advice, and now I'm paying the price. But at least I'm not the only one. Even the Chinese were afraid to buy Rover.
Think you should all stop, take a breath and try again! Every car, and I do mean EVERY has its issues! I've owned my Rover since new and the only issue I've had is a gearbox bearing go at 84k.
As for having no power, I can only fear that you must all own 'supercars' as well, you show me another family saloon that will quite happily spin the wheels up in the dry in second by just coming on the power, and I don't want to hear its 'cause of the chassis/suspension, its not a Cav!
But hey, carry on slating them if you must as it only serves to drive down the price so I can buy another one, got my missus an S reg for £300, not a single issue... You lot have fun now!
I think you should all just calm down a little, I may not be mechanic, but in my personal opinion from seeing the ample amounts of cars my dad and hubby have bought in the past years, every car ever made can encounter faults and problems. I have just bought a rover 200 for my 1st car and I love it to bits as it is so nice to drive.
My dad has had supra's, vectra's, BMW's, mercs, you name it my dad or hubby has probably had one and each and every one has had a fault in one way or another, all I worry about is the price it will cost to fix it and with a rover it isn't as much as forking out for repairs on a BMW or supra etc.
This is pathetic. As others have said ALL cars go wrong. My Rover 420 SDi is the very definition of reliability. Iv'e thrashed it to the limit, done thousand mile trips in it and drove it over fields and it ALWAYS keeps going no matter what, I even let my uncle who is nicknamed John "Schumacher" Burns drive it and its never missed a beat. It starts first time every time even in the terrible 11 month long Scottish winter. The 400 is a family car not a McLaren F1 so stop complaining about performance and handling (Even though there are few other family cars that could keep up with it) Those of you with unreliable Rovers obviously don't look after them or have bought a car with hidden history because this is a FANTASTIC car and buying one is the best decision I have ever made.
2.0 diesel was the ultra reliable and tough L Series engine, originally developed by Perkins Engines, Peterborough.
The K Series petrols are well known for head gasket problems, particularly the 1.8 fitted to the Freelander, MGF/TF and a number of other Rover models including the 75.