Wizzbang

Anyone have any first hand opinions of this car ??

I'm looking to replace my tired old passat tdi soonish and am looking at possible replacements. Budget up to 2k max, not fussed for fuel type, main constraint is that it has to be reasonably comfortable, and able to pull a lightish trailer with no bother


I've been looking around and these estates (better looking than the saloon equiv) are going for £1200-£2500 for the 190bhp v6 variant on an 02/03.

prodriverules

iTrader: (52)

I know of an 54 plate for £1500,it's a saloon though.

Wizzbang

Thats all very well and good (could you pm details please) but what are they actually like ?

Iain250

iTrader: (1)

i owned a black saloon for 7 years before the impreza - superb machine 1 thermostat went in all that time - great family car with huge boot - make sure no overheating issues and that the cam belts have been done as this is a complicated procedure and not really suitable for doing at home - Brakes and and a million other bits and pieces are shared with the bmw330d which speaks for itself.
Iain.

Jamescsti

I owned a saloon version for about 4 years was a nice comfy car not overly big inside though back seat space was limited. Mine was the k series though and the engine wasn't good, the head gasket was on its way out when some one ran in to the back of me anD wrote it off.
That brings me to my next point, mine had a cracked rear bumper and the insurance company wrote the car off as a new bumper was £800 just for the part.

Head light bulbs were a bitch to change and required the bumper removing to do it properly.

The v6 suffers from the housing on the thermostat failing which is located in the "v" between the banks of cylinders on the top, people often mistake this for head gasket failure as the effect is the same.

Covered quite a bit there but for best advice go to mg-rover.org I used that site all the time when I owned one, good community.

Jamescsti

Oh forgot to mention the boot is a stupid shape on the saloon and difficult to fit bulky items in, obviously the estate would be better.

Dave Thornton

I had the same engine in a Freelander for a short while - in that instance it was thirstier than a Subaru and was a typical 24v V6 - has to be revved to get it shifting though was silky smooth at low revs.

Wizzbang

Test drove a ZT-T190+ with 100k miles this morning, was a nice drive, engine felt smooth and strong, chassis was still taut and the interior was well put together with minimal squeaks & rattles.

Seemed like a nice place to be for long journeys and also seemed like it could offer some reasonable drivering pleasures when pushing on (compared to my passat at least)


Gonna get my budget together then go on the hunt for the 'right' car I think.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

My dad has the 190 and my mum the CDTI, the 190 feels a lot nicer, quite classy I think with a restrained but pleasant exhaust note, you sum them up quite well, more special than a Passat, a decent enough car but a bit mundane, the MG corners well, remember going to pick my dads one up and having a go on the way back, was pretty impressed, not mad quick but usefully so, think the refinement makes them seem slower than they actually are. The diesel is a bit of a clattery old thing in comparison but reasonably economical for a big car.

My uncle has the V8 model which he loves, again not that fast in the scheme of things but by all accounts a lovely car to own, despite the 18 mpg.

Wizzbang

Cheers Jacko, any idea what kind of mpg your old man gets from his 190 ?

I know coming from a tdi that my wallet is gong to be in for a bit of a bashing, but I'm old enough now not be ragging it everywhere (that's what my bikes are for). Most of my mileage is either around locally or long trips to race circuits around the country.

SRSport

My cousin had one. The electrics failed, locked the car and he couldnt get in it. I think it forced opened the boot and he had to crawl through to get the bonnet open and fiddle around to reset it.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

260 to a tank, 23 mpg I think it works out to, he tends not to do big journies, it only did 1500 miles last year so not an issue.

Dr.No

I had a 2003 MG ZT-T CDTi - a great car in many ways, but i replaced it with a Passat estate 1.9TDi PD which was much more economical. The 190 is far from frugal when compared with similar rivals - and as I only got about 35mpg from the CDTi I can see the 190 being low 20s at best.

There were issues a few years ago with body panels for the ZT-T, to the degree that a prang could result in a write-off due to unavailability of certain panels. Not sure if thats still the case but the MG/Rover Forum is very good and they'll know.

Fuel pump issues with the CDTi meant hat you had to keep it more than 1/3 full at all times - but I doubt the 190 suffers similarly.

As the ZT/75 was Rover-BMW designed and shares many parts with the 5 series (inc the BMW diesel engine) its well designed, drives and handles pretty well and the ZT-T looks great with little touches like the opening rear tailgate window which make it a pleasure to own.

If you can cope with the fuel bill (and tyres are an odd size and not cheap) and happy with parts availability then get one. Even though my daily drive is now a £50k+ Lexus I still miss the ZT in many ways.

DN

Dr.No

Ipad double post

Wizzbang

Forgot to update this thread during the week.....

I picked this up in the end






ZT-T 2.5 V6 190+ with nearly every extra fitted.

Wizzbang

Its got the following options fitted....

18" 'Hairpin' Alloys
Xenon headlights c/w washers
Reverse senors
Rain sensing wipers
1/2 Leather 1/2 Alcantara interior
Dark oak dash trim
Cruise control
Auto dim rear view mirror
Electric folding wing mirrors
Trip computer
Alpine Radio/cassette/multi cd/tv/satnav c/w up to date maps
Roof rails
Boot liner
Boot tray
Luggage cover / dog guard
Illuminating mirrors in sun visors
Intergrated Traffic Master
Rechargeable torch
Dual zone climate control


Quite a high spec'd car for a small amount of cash, just £1500 got me all that in a car with less than 70k miles with loads of t&t too.

All the money saved goes towards using more fuel than in the TDi, and so far I'm seeing c.25mpg around town and c.35mpg on longer runs.

Dr.No

Nice

Jamescsti

Nice looking car, those seats are ally good, I retro fitted them into my zt as it came with the horrid chequer cloth and fake leather finish

They were an absolute bitch to fit in the rear but they were very comfy.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Wow that is cheap, but I suppose its nine years old and runs on petrol, can think of a lot of worse things to spend that much on, looks great.