2001 Rover - Austin 45 IXS review from UK and Ireland

Rear driver side door central locking stuck on locked, seemed to fix itself after a week :D.

This car has not had anything apart from that go wrong in the 10 months I have owned it.

Rover have gone bust, again. Never will a rover roll of the production line again after their new owners have stated they will only make MG's from now on.

Try not to think like most people do, Rovers are not just for old Sunday drivers and should not be overlooked as a good, solid everyday car for younger people too.

This means both good and bad news for us all. The bad news is eventually there will be no good rovers left to buy as age will catch up with them. But the good news is you can pick them up for a great price now. This Rover 45 IXS came with 15" Alloys, Air Conditioning, central locking, fog lamps and a sporty boot spoiler with 43k on the clock and all for 3500 pounds...bargain. The book price on this model when released in 2001 was around 14k.

That's a brief history of the car and company now on to what I love (and what I dislike) about this car. This car is surprisingly nimble for its size, you can throw it around quit vigorously yet still it finds grip, now this may not be supercar grip, but you can push it quite far before it decides to slide towards the kerb and even when it does you can easily gain control again with a dab of the throttle. The chunky 225 section tyres probably help with this. Power wise it may not have the hot hatches worried with 10.7 seconds to 60MPH time, but it is no breathless wonder either and from 6,000 RPM there is a little go to be squeezed out of this k-series engine (the same engine in the lotus elise).

The only thing that is bad with these cars is the petrol consumption, they drink the stuff. If you push this car even a little you will see yourself through a tank of petrol in no time, I worked it out as 26MPG. Not good so reluctantly I am selling it. I took a Skoda Fabia vrs out today and I am changed forever :D (read the reviews) lower insurance and 52MPG from a hot hatch, yes please.

A great thing about k-series rovers is how easy it is too do all your own servicing and repairs. A haynes manual and a set of sockets and spanners will see you clear for a host of DIY repairs. On my previous rover, a 214SEI from 1993 I changed an alternator with no experience in an hour :D.

I would advise a rover 45 for anyone on a budget looking for a good looking (in IXS guise) practical, easy to drive 5 door hatch.