1989 Rover - Austin Maestro EFI review from UK and Ireland

Original engine started smoking badly at 60,000 miles. My first mistake was taking it to my local Rover dealer who promptly stated they hadn't a clue what was wrong with it. Left it in their "care" for 2 days, during which they did nothing, then when I rang them, stated it needed a new engine as valve guides etc etc were badly worn and it would cost £1200 for a new engine plus all their usual rip off charges. Decided against that, and had a recon engine fitted and all work done by local independent garage including getting a fault fixed on ecu for a total of £800.

Other than that, wheel bearings needed replacing on both sides at the front. Beyond that it was just wear and tear, although it did seem to eat michelin tyres on the front quite a bit, and had by the time I got rid of it started to succumb to the usual Maestro rear wheel arch rust.

Other than the faults I have detailed above, which all came pretty close together, I had 4 years of fun motoring all over the place with this vehicle. It was finished in a nice red and was the MG version. Only ever succumbed to burning off a baseball cap wearing boy racer on one occasion, and he got a nasty shock when his Escort was blown off the road by this car. The look on his face was a picture made my day.