1993 Rover - Austin Metro Reviews - Page 4 of 4

Had an accident which wrecked the front end. Repaired after 3 months and £2000.

Cam belt hit pieces of broken cover after accident and bent all 8 valves.

Gearbox developed whine which was not cured by clutch change (suspected release bearing)

Inertia switch plug blades weak causing car to cut out intermittently.

Very quick car for its size and out shines any equivalent car of the day.

Running costs not helped by small fuel tank.

If the gearbox was bulletproof it would have been up there with Volkswagen on reliability.

Head gasket and radius arms.

Great cheap little car, had a head gasket and radius arms at 45,000 due to previous owner neglection. Covered 300,00 miles a year of pure thrash for two years after that, and never had a problem. Power all the way through the gears, but needed to be revved. If you are going to buy one, make sure it's the MPI and not the SPI, the difference in performance is very noticable. I lost count of the times I left the owners of much larger more powerful cars wondering how a little Metro just left them standing. I sold it in Jan for a 22GTi which just isn't as much fun.

Suspension needed repressurising.

Battery replaced under warranty.

Severe rust in bodywork.

Could have been a great little car, mechanically very reliable, superb to drive with brilliant K-series engine. But rust, rust and more rust. If only the bodywork quality could have been better, I would still have this car. As it is I have replaced it with a Nissan, but I still miss my Metro. Come on Rover give us some decent bodywork and I'll be back for more!!