poor old Rover.... (Diesel non-starter)

<James|Rover> · 5th June 2008, 21:33

Help please!
I bought my 75 Classic CDT a couple of years back - it was first registered Dec 2000 on X reg. It had 50K miles on the clock and I picked it up in mint condition for £4K cash. I have to say I have been really pleased with it - it has never had any problem; regularly serviced every 10K miles and a new battery recently, it's now covered 120K miles and still runs like a dream...

BUT....a couple of weeks ago I noticed that it would cut out on round-a-bouts then restart again on the straight! Weird but I ignored it (fool..!). The other day during heavy rain I started it and drove a few miles when it cut out entirely. I looked around the car and noticed the passenger footwell was soaking so I looked in the fuse are and noticed water dripping through from the dash area. The AA came, couldn't fix it, and had to drag me off the motorway.
I now realise after discovering this forum that there is a weak spot with the Plenum drains which clog up and somehow water then enters the EMS. If only I'd known about this beforehand! Because the dealer SMC in High Wycombe advises that a replacement EMS is required at aprox £1K all in! They're aving a larf surely? But no, I discover that I can't simply "aquire" one of these second hand, but a new one has to be bought and coded.
Then I discovered Best of British Rover Spares on ebay & based in Birmingham and they say they if I can get the car to them (god knows how) they will do the job for some £800.
The maths on this appears to make an otherwise perfect running car only good for the scrap heap; I know you shouldn't get emotionally attached to a car but this hurts!

So, if you're still with me on this, my first question is, is there another alternative or do I have to accept the scrapping option?

If I do have to just write my beloved Rover off, I would certainly go for another...my next dilemmas/questions therefore are:
1. Diesel or Petrol (I do about 20K miles pa and sit at about 90mph on the motorway) ?
2. I realise from sifting through the forums that I must avoid the 1.8, but if petrol, then 2.0 or 2.5 ?
It appears that petrol are cheaper to buy than diesel - I see these at aprox £3.5K-£4k with 35K miles which still seems an awful lot of car for the price. I don't really mind if saloon or estate, and although my present is manual I would go auto happily.
3. What about servicing costs and likely failures/faults with either variant (cam belt vs chain etc etc)?

Any help and advice would be really appreciated as I fully intend to stay within the Rover clan, but just can't make an informed decision about what to do!

Thanks,
James

5th June 2008, 21:33	#1
<James\|Rover> Regular poster Jaguar S Type Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Amberley, nr Stroud Posts: 62 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	poor old Rover.... (Diesel non-starter) Help please! I bought my 75 Classic CDT a couple of years back - it was first registered Dec 2000 on X reg. It had 50K miles on the clock and I picked it up in mint condition for £4K cash. I have to say I have been really pleased with it - it has never had any problem; regularly serviced every 10K miles and a new battery recently, it's now covered 120K miles and still runs like a dream... BUT....a couple of weeks ago I noticed that it would cut out on round-a-bouts then restart again on the straight! Weird but I ignored it (fool..!). The other day during heavy rain I started it and drove a few miles when it cut out entirely. I looked around the car and noticed the passenger footwell was soaking so I looked in the fuse are and noticed water dripping through from the dash area. The AA came, couldn't fix it, and had to drag me off the motorway. I now realise after discovering this forum that there is a weak spot with the Plenum drains which clog up and somehow water then enters the EMS. If only I'd known about this beforehand! Because the dealer SMC in High Wycombe advises that a replacement EMS is required at aprox £1K all in! They're aving a larf surely? But no, I discover that I can't simply "aquire" one of these second hand, but a new one has to be bought and coded. Then I discovered Best of British Rover Spares on ebay & based in Birmingham and they say they if I can get the car to them (god knows how) they will do the job for some £800. The maths on this appears to make an otherwise perfect running car only good for the scrap heap; I know you shouldn't get emotionally attached to a car but this hurts! So, if you're still with me on this, my first question is, is there another alternative or do I have to accept the scrapping option? If I do have to just write my beloved Rover off, I would certainly go for another...my next dilemmas/questions therefore are: 1. Diesel or Petrol (I do about 20K miles pa and sit at about 90mph on the motorway) ? 2. I realise from sifting through the forums that I must avoid the 1.8, but if petrol, then 2.0 or 2.5 ? It appears that petrol are cheaper to buy than diesel - I see these at aprox £3.5K-£4k with 35K miles which still seems an awful lot of car for the price. I don't really mind if saloon or estate, and although my present is manual I would go auto happily. 3. What about servicing costs and likely failures/faults with either variant (cam belt vs chain etc etc)? Any help and advice would be really appreciated as I fully intend to stay within the Rover clan, but just can't make an informed decision about what to do! Thanks, James