Buying advise please.

[Grumpyold2hat]

Good evening

New to the scene and trying to buy my first 75. Torn between 2 cars.

1st car- 75 1.8 petrol Club 88K apparently serviced and looked after by a senior who passed away so cant find FSH. Cant verify cam change head gasket change. Mileage looks good on Car Verticle and has only done 2k per year. Very straight but has a few rust advisory items
sills corroded
both subframes corroded
all rear suspension arms badly corroded
Oil leak, but not excessive (8.4.1 (a) (i))
brake pipes corroded.
£1500 but for peace of mind would like to have the above done not sure how much though.

2nd car- 2004 Rover 75 Contemporary Se Cdti Automatic.
2.0 diesel engine as in the e46 BMWs
No Service History
10 Months Mot.
86 Thousand Miles.
**
In the past year it has had
2 front suspension arms.
Droplinks.
2 track rod ends and tracking.
Service.
Sunroof drain mod.
Bonnet release mod.
Thermostat conversion.
Upgraded fan resistor.
EGR blank.
De cat.
Map by Julian Pritchard.
Including current speed on the IPK display.
Interior is in good condition some marks on the drivers bolster.
Heated seats work as does the high line Harmon stereo including the Subwoofer and the cd player works.
No warning lights on the dash at all.
Power fold mirrors fitted too.
Boot is dry.
Comes with a set of 5 18inch 11 spokes
And a set of 16inch winter steel wheels
Bodywork is very tidy for the age but it is a 20 year old car.
Has had a patch on the drivers side rear sill.
£1995 with a private plate.

Your comments and advise would be much appreciated.

[macafee2]

Personally I'd go for the diesel.
The suspension upper arms can be purchased from DMGRS. Not to sure about lower arms
Rear sub frame if not to bad can be shot blasted and repainted, had 2 done latter part of last year for I think £35 each.


How good are you with a spanner?

macafee2

[The Rovering Member]

Considering the work needed the 1.8 sounds expensive.

[SD1too]

Hello Martyn and to the club.

I would keep looking if I were you.

• Budget another £1,000 for the sill repairs on the 1.8.
• No service history for the 1.8 is concerning, particularly for the alleged cylinder head work.

It's a similar story for the diesel.

• No service history is a worry.
• No dash warning lights should ring alarm bells.
• How does it pass the MOT with the catalytic converter removed?

With any car, do consider whether it is liable for the Clean Air Zone charge. You are near Manchester which has to be a candidate in the near future (Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow and Greater London already operate them). Look on the V5 for the NOx emissions. Petrol engines need 0.08 g/km or below and diesels 0.06 g/km or below.

Just one question to close ...

Originally Posted by Grumpyold2hat

New to the scene and trying to buy my first 75.

Your profile says you have a 2003 1.8.

Simon

[Grumpyold2hat]

Thanks for all the great advise.

Checked clean air zone, Diesel fail but petrol pass.

My search continues.

[planenut]

Welcome to the Club Martyn. Browsing amongst the tons of information on the site you will be bombarded with our personal preferences, and each is affected by our own ups and downs.

Other people who don't run these vehicles will also have their own opinions.

As Simon says, keep looking, there will be other choices, good luck.

Fred (planenut)

[macafee2]

Originally Posted by SD1too

Hello Martyn and to the club.

I would keep looking if I were you.

• Budget another £1,000 for the sill repairs on the 1.8.
• No service history for the 1.8 is concerning, particularly for the alleged cylinder head work.

It's a similar story for the diesel.

• No service history is a worry.
• No dash warning lights should ring alarm bells.
• How does it pass the MOT with the catalytic converter removed?

With any car, do consider whether it is liable for the Clean Air Zone charge. You are near Manchester which has to be a candidate in the near future (Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow and Greater London already operate them). Look on the V5 for the NOx emissions. Petrol engines need 0.08 g/km or below and diesels 0.06 g/km or below.

Just one question to close ...

Your profile says you have a 2003 1.8.

Simon

I took no warning lights "no fault" warning lights stay illuminated once the engine is running.
It could be just as well you took it as something else.

macafee2

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by macafee2

I took no warning lights "no fault" warning lights stay illuminated once the engine is running.

Yes, agreed Ian, that particular comment of Martyn's is ambiguous. I think your interpretation is probably the correct one although in his reply, Martyn didn't pick me up on it.

Thanks for pointing it out though.

Simon