1985 Rover - Austin Maestro L review from UK and Ireland

Oil leak from sump, fixed.

Oil leak from rocker cover, fixed.

Oil leak from gear linkage, left.

Oil leak from diff, left.

Exterior door handles broke.

Rear arches rusting badly.

Roof lining fell down.

Indicator switch broke.

Rear wheel bearings both failed.

Gearbox whine at only 80,000 miles.

Petrol tank leak at 80,500 miles.

Slipping clutch at 83,000 miles.

Etc, etc...

I bought my Maestro in good faith after I decided my old (but reliable) escort mk2 had to go. Big mistake.

The car was only 7 years old and the rear arches decided to dissolve almost overnight. The car decided to spew a load of oil from the sump which was fixed, then from the rocker cover, this too was fixed. A week later the oil leaked from the diff and gear rod linkage so I left it. One winter morning I tried to get in the car and the plastic exterior handle snapped off in my hand, as too did the passenger side. What a fantastic car Austin-Rover well done! I had to get in the car through the tailgate.

The interior looked like something out of an allegro and always smelt damp and sicky. The dashboard used to viabrate and numerous switches used to break, the scrapyard owner got his pension money from me!

Only after a year the petrol tank decided to leak which filled the interior with fumes (made a change from the smell of pee) and then just before I needed the car for a long journey, the clutch started to slip.

After serious debate weather or not to torch the car out of sheer frustration, i sold it to a guy for £250 and bought a 1988 Cavalier 1.6 GL which was an absolute gem compared to the nasty Maestro.