Faults:

A lot, but most of it was wear and tear expected of mileage. Exhaust, brakes, and so on. Sump gasket had a small leak when I sold it (common issue), but no big deal to replace.

General Comments:

Any Rover from this time period with a Honda engine is not as unreliable as people say. The fact I bought mine used and had it for 7 years and putting about 50K on it with little to no issues says it all.

The car is very nice to look at and drive/ride in. Black 827 Si with the V6 2.7 24v Honda engine - one of the best you could get. Fast, not that economical however. Auto-box was also pretty smooth.

Bright interior looked good and had great visibility. I miss when cars were this easy to see out of. A larger car, but easy to drive and judge parking spots.

All in all, I miss this car. Wish I never sold it, but was bored with it at the time, as any car would be after driving it so long. But really would love another now as a classic car to play about with. You can still get the odd one coming up for sale in the ads, and thankfully they are realistically priced, usually only a few grand for a good one, unlike some overpriced cars from this time period.

Faults:

- The clutch slave cylinder leaked and had to be replaced.

- The electric windows on the driver's side wouldn't open; I got this fixed (soldering the contacts under the switch in the door).

General Comments:

I love the fastback design, great interior, especially the seats. The only minor problem is that some plastic parts rattle at certain speeds.

The ride comfort is very good, although it's a very soft ride and the cornering is a little unpredictable, though very stable.

Acceleration and fuel consumption are very good for a car of this size and age - I manage about 35 mpg on average.

Faults:

The clutch slave cylinder failed, new part was £120.

New radiator and (secondhand) cooling fan required - £100.

Replaced the heater switch as it was only working on one speed - £10 secondhand.

General Comments:

This old barge was a bit of a bargain at £180 with a long MOT, but it needed a little work - still, I can't complain, because these problems could easily have struck a car costing 10 times as much.

Although Rover build quality has been much derided over the years this car still drives with a lot of grace, no creaks and no groans. A solidly built car, and doing exceptionally well for the mileage on it.

Driving is a bit like being at sea around corners, but it holds the road very well even at very high speeds and rides with a bit of dignity. The steering is too light and doesn't give you much information. It's not a car to hustle, but it can cope reasonably well with it...

The interior is very '80s (it's basically the same as the mk1 Rover 800 launched in 1986) and it's disappointing that Rover carried on with it up until the year 2000. The buttons are scattered everywhere - adjuster for the dashboard lights at the bottom of the centre console anyone? The materials are mostly hard and cheap-looking, but the design is "endearing" and preferable to the often very boring and equally cheap Honda dashboards found in later Rovers. Headroom is tight in the front, probably because the sunroof takes up so much space, but accommodation in the rear is very good, even with the front seats right back on their runners. The boot is huge though, you could stash a good few corpses in there, if you wanted...

VM's 425 OHV engine (shared with Ford Scorpio TD, Jeep Cherokee TD, Chrysler Voyager TD, etc.) is very good despite its weird backwards design - pushrods and valves instead of cams, gear driven instead of belt/chain driven, but it makes it a tough and friendly old thing. It has around the same torque as the sporting 820 Vitesse models, so accelerating is a cinch, but unlike the Vitesse it has the potential for 50MPG. I manage to derive about 40MPG from it, but factor in that it runs well on vegetable oil from the supermarket and it's the cost equivalent of 80MPG.

The exterior styling has grown on me, subtle and elegant - but then most see it as an old man's car which should be in the scrappy. The body is in very good condition for such a cheap old car with only two small rust scabs and a little laquer peeling off the boot.