awd wrx

My wife fancies one of these so am thinking about getting her one for a surprise , anybody got any first hand experience of them , I know , I know there hairdressers car but she likes them .

thanks

imlach

Had one of the first ones back in late 1995 (wow - nearly 9 years ago!).
It was a fun car at the time, but the design is now 9 years old really...upside is that they are pretty cheap now, but I think the MX5 is probably still the better bet for overall reliability (and also quite cheap).

mgg

MGF- made by Rover, sooner or later something will go wrong, break or fall off.
Like Imlach said, you will be better going for an MX5, much more reliable and better build quality.

richs2891

My old manager had an MGF he had decided to sell it and the next day blew the head gasket (quite a common MGF fault) cost £1500) to fix, hust for him to sell !

Agree with whats been said above buy an MX-5, lot better reliability and better value for money and better to drive !!

Richard

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

My Fiancee wanted one as well, so we look into it and all I found was stories of:

1) blown head gaskets that aren't covered under warranty
2) leaking roof, leaving puddles on the seat!

When she buys a two seat open top car, it will probably be an MX-5!!!

N1 SPAN

My mum had one when W reg was new and it looked pretty etc but not a drivers car if you want to pinch it every now & then.

My girlfriend is now on her 2nd MX-5 and I am as happy driving that as the Subaru. Her sister has an MGtf brand new and already been back for leaky roof and quality not as good as MX-5. To be fair, it does look nice, which is why she bought it.

Stephen F

My girlfriend had one on a W plate from new for nearly 2 years but the problems below totally spoilt her enjoyment of it so she bought a impreza instead

Constantly leaking roof seals despite numerous replacements
Leaking suspension ( Hydrolastic )
Steering column faliure ( six weeks at dealer to fix! )

It good fun when it worked properly but was to small for me

Stephen

Fulham71

My father has a MGF VVC Limited edition !
It looks lovely & has only covered 15000 miles
HE HAS NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS WITH IT !

If you are interested please mail me !

robby

When i worked at a delaers a few years ago the most common problems seemed to be
Head gasket failures - due to overheating (not enough cooling to engine)
Suspension - metro type hydro system which leaks
Roof - the fold of the roof above doors meant everytime it rained as soon as you opened the door the water would run straight onto seat or you if you were getting out of the car
Rattles/ creaks - body very flexible
Rear window - scratches too easy and costly to replace (also doesn't clear in winter)

Also if the car is an early one check the rear subframe (metro type)

Dapster

awd wrx - you've probably got the picture by now but the problem with the MGF is that it was developed when Rover Group was potless (when weren't they?). The car is basically sound - mid engined, very revvy K series, easy to service and a credible badge - all the traits that would see it fly out of the showroom (evern Jezza loved it).

But it was woefully under developed. No cooling meant head gasket probs, shoddy trim, poor reliability, suspension probs, leaks etc etc. Get an MX 5 and it'll do another 150k miles without a squeak.

MG dealers are by all accounts, a shower. Mazda pnes can't seem to do anything wrong.

chris singleton

Girlfriend had a 1998 (R-reg) 1.8 VVC in red with all the trimmings.

I't was great in the summer, crap when it rained, water came through near the wing mirror and ran straight into the speaker in the door

That said, you'll be hard pressed to find a soft top that doesn't have some leakage.

Handling on our one was incredibly poor (I actually spun it on a roundabout-at very low speed) and feels unstable at anything over 70.

As above, MX5 is probably the better car but IMHO they don't look as good.

Chris

Speedmeister

Loved my MX5 1.8is 2000(X reg). Perceived as hairdresser's car perhaps but great to drive- steering, rear drive tail out handling and snicky gearbox.
Also unbreakable with no leaks.
Wouldn't trust an MGF and you'll notice the higher driving position, long gear lever and softer suspension make it feel like a (v.rattly) hatch!

mn_angrybeats

The MGTF is a big impovement, proper suspension and far less scuttle shake than the MX5, For the MGTF they introduced a one piece bodyside, a engine and behind dash crossbrace + other stiffening and handling is far far improved....

The interior and driving position are still pretty poor mind you

DazV

We test drove an MGF when looking for a car for the grirlfriend - not a patch on the Mazda MX-5 we went for in the end.