Rattle in interior - took it to the dealer, and it turned out that they had forgot to screw the dashboard in place.
A/C makes funny noises in hot weather, dealer said it would have to go back to the factory - fat chance of that now!
The engine is nippy and has plenty of grunt. The 110bhp unit overtakes effortlessly on the motorway, and copes well doing 2mph on the marlebone road, even if a little noisy.
The cabin is made with good quality plastics, but in some places shoddily put together. The standard oak effect dash is a nice touch, but in truth the whole interior is a little dated. The heated seats warm your bum on a cold morning, and that's just as well because the A/C takes ages to warm up.
The exterior stands out from the crowd. The chrome trim, 15" alloys and twin headlights give it the Jag look, and compared to the focus/astra euroboxes it is an individual choice.
It seats 5 adults comfortably, and has Vectra spaciousness in the cabin and boot, even the 5 door (I have the 4 door).
This car is a company car, which is why I got it. Unless buying second hand, don't pay out of your own pocket for it because things are bound to go wrong more than in an Astra/Focus, and will depreciate drastically now that Rover has gone bust. Don't forget that this car was originally to contend with the 3 series, so you get 3 series equipment (such as heated seats) for focus money. Buy if you want to stand out form the euro-box crowd.
Two notes:
The cabins on these are very cramped - you were lucky to get five normal-sized people in there!
Their (400/45) reliability record is very good, certainly better than the equivalent Vauxhall or Ford and they seem to wear their age much better. It's just trendy to belittle Rovers for their reliability - in reality it's no worse than any other European mainstream car maker.
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