15th Aug 2001, 06:05

I am thinking of buying a Rover 416i.

I have heard good and bad reviews, but I like the car, it's a 1998 model.

Any comments gratefully received.

7th Feb 2002, 14:26

Bought a 1998 416SLI in November 2000 and we're still thoroughly enjoying it.

Have had absolutely no problems with it so far, although it's only done 20,000 miles (bought it at 10,000) had one previous owner and has been dealer serviced.

Car is a joy to drive, silky smooth with a very good turn of speed. I find it great on either A or B roads with very good handling and cornering.

Does tend to be fairly high revving (about 3000rpm at 70mph) but fuel economy still very good, getting on for 40mpg without trouble.

Interior also very pleasant place to be, stereo also decent & we've a 6 CD player fitted to ours which gives great sound.

What more can I say? I'd thoroughly recommend one to anyone.

One word about Rover dealers. We own two Rovers and have found the bigger city dealerships fairly unpleasant, expensive and unhelpful. I would give you this tip, look for the smaller firms, they tend to be far better, cheaper and ultra helpful.

29th Jan 2004, 04:33

I bought a 416i 1998 (S) two years ago with 36k on the clock. It's now done 64k and only over the last two months have I started to have a few problems. Radiator fan went, accelerator cable sticks and give high rev's when in stop /start traffic after a while and a few other niggley problems. But overall has been fairly reliable.

My alarm has never worked properly; constantly goes off, at the moment I can't lock the doors with remote as alarm sounds.

Nice interior and gives the driver the feel of driving a more luxurious car, sound system a bit dull for me, but has the option of adding a 6 cd multichanger.

Also seems to jerk a lot when traveling in low gears in slow traffic.

Despite the niggles I still enjoy this car it has been an excellent family car and I fit two child seats in the back with plenty of room to spare. The boot is large (mines a saloon) and good for family trips out, space for pushchairs etc.

For some reason it seems to have a bit of an old man image, but I am only 31 and I think it looks pretty stylish - a drivers car rather than a boy racers!

Anyway hope you enjoy yours!