Faults:

When the car was first acquired, the gearbox was quite noisy, however, the garage which supplied it, fitted a brand new gearbox and clutch free of charge.

General Comments:

This car is very much better than my previous one.

It travels very quickly, and I have been in danger of getting speeding fines several times. This is thanks to the high performing 1400cc, 16v DOHC K-Series MPi engine.

The standard stereo was pretty poor, but this was soon resolved with a Sony CD head unit and Alpine speakers.

It looks sporty and aerodynamic, and the metallic paint scrubs up well.

It is pretty economical, and the tank holds about £30 at current prices (74.9p).

I would recomend a Rover 214Si to anyone.

Faults:

The car was quite reliable and inexpensive to run. This was not the cause of me selling it.

The check engine warning light remained lit despite all attempts by me to sort it out. I was told that it was a problem with the oxygen. It ran OK despite this. Whenever I got it checked and reset the problem would return.

An exhaust seal was replaced which gave me back more power and helped the car to run nicer.

The suspension would groan and sometimes bottom out on speed ramps. This was more noticeable with more people in.

The brakes did not inspire confidence and occasionally made strange grinding and banging noises under heavy use.

General Comments:

This was not a bad car and was nice looking. In some ways I do regret selling.

However after almost a year of ownership it had to go as I did not feel comfortable driving it.

The power steering was far too light.

The car was underpowered though the 16v engine was quite sweet.

The brakes were poor.

The gearbox was good, but the clutch was too light. I found reverse too near fifth.

The interior was quite smart and spacious. The seats were excellent. The dashboard and steering wheel were set far too low down.

The handling was OK.

In short despite it looking like a fast car I did not get any real pleasure from driving it and consequently got bored.

Faults:

Everything is wrong with this car.

The resale value if this car is next to nothing.

I never lost so much money on a car in my entire life when I eventually sold it.

I used to change tyres as frequent as the engine oil.

I prefer my old 1970 mini minor.

General Comments:

The looks of this car are very attractive, elegant and luxurious however in my opinion it's a heap of junk.

I was so stupid to replace my Isuzu Gemini for this car.

Faults:

Most pressing concern was leaking power steering fluid. Traced to a perished hose and replaced.

An irritating rattle from the exhaust heat shield from 2-2.5K R.P.M., it seems to be a fairly common fault to the model.

General Comments:

First impressions are good, the subtle night fire red setting off the dated, though undoubtedly classy lines.

Paint work has held up well to seven years of use, aside from the expected stone-chip rash.

The SEI has part leather sports seats, and alloys that impart an up market feel, heightened by the is it -or isn't it pseudo wood veneer. Very comfortable, restrained, but firmly middle aged, I'm afraid.

Performance has to be revved out of the 1.4 k-series. Despite its modest capacity the unit feels punchy and potent. It enjoys a good thrashing and rewards you with a pleasingly mellifluous hum as the 185 section tyres and precise handling add up to a suprisingly quick point-to-point machine. Only ship-at-sea body roll mars the driving experience.

The old 200 series has something of an image problem, demonstrated ably by by car's (only) previous owner- a retired Grandad type character.

I'd never owned a Rover group product before, and I pleased to report (so far) I've been utterly impressed by build, comfort, economy (35+ MPG, even when 'pressing on') and reliability.