Faults:

Numerous rattles.

Head gasket failiure.

Seats wearing out.

Electric windows do not operate correctly.

Misfire at random at all engine speeds.

Radiator fallen to bits.

Uneven tire wear due to worn suspension bushes.

Cutting out when hot, difficulty in restarting engine.

Broken down on me twice in space of 100 miles.

Rust on front wings, rear arches, bonnet.

Rear bumper started to fall off.

Numerous oil leaks.

General Comments:

This is the worst car I have ever owned, it is badly made, unreliable pile of junk.

I have only managed to cover 200 miles in the car since owning it, most of the time it has been off the road being repaired.

I have been unable to trace the poor running fault despite trying everything.

However it is cheap for a 200bhp car, but if you buy one you will soon find out why. You can do much better for your money.

No wonder Rover is in the state it is in, they have got themselves a bad reputation building cars like this. If you buy a Rover buy one with a Honda engine. Rover engined ones are troublesome.

Faults:

Bought the car with a cracked headlight.

A broken door handle.

Interior lights coming on and off while driving.

All this was fixed at a cost of £25, bought the car for £850.

Ohh, and the back box needed replacing, which I never got round to, was only the tails...

The filter that goes in the neck of the water washer bottle gets clogged up with gunge/dirt, more a nuisance than anything. Takes longer to fill the bottle.

As of 26/02.03, the car is officially broken, bent the chassis after sliding sideways into a high kerb. Rover said it needed a new front subframe.. :O ( (

General Comments:

I had an 820Si prior to this, which was comfortable as hell, with its plush velour seats, adjustable seats and steering. which made for a perfect driving position...

The vitesse is my first Turbo powered car, and boy, did it make me smile. The first thing I bought for it was a twin piston dump valve, WOW!, what a noise.. Tisssshhhhhhhhh, after every gear change, sure made heads turn, with everybody looking round for an Escort RS or Subaru Impreza.. He he he.

After about a month of grinning and giggling I thought I had better get stuck into the maintenace of the car, I took it to a local garage and asked them to give it the once over, and tell me what I needed.. I waited for the report to come back, and all it said was... Back box needs replacing / headlight cracked / door handle missing (it had fell off by this time).. so I drove to the local autobreakers and bought a new headlight, a colour matched door handle and a door courtesy light switch, all for £25...

This car has given me nothing but pleasure, the driving position is superb, the seats are half recaro and grab your bum like you were strapped in a fighter jet, the performance is good for such a big car, the 2.0 turbo pushing you to 60 in about 7.5 - 8.5 seconds.

In the 6k miles I have driven it, I have changed the oil twice, swapped the panel filter for a cone filter, Fitted X fire plugs..

The gearbox is a gem, the engine pulls all the way up the rev range, the boost pressure could have been set a bit higher, maybe from 6psi, up to about 10psi.

The interior is gorgeous,the leather is easily maintained, a few coloured bulbs around the dash/speedo etc, changes the look from an orange glow to something a bit more appealing.

Since these cars were never thrashed by boy racers, as they were well out of their price range when on the market, the turbos are usually in good order..

All this car needs is fresh oil, fresh tyres, clean induction, and smooth exhaust flow, and your laughing... The T series Turbo engines are faultless.

Sleek, fast, different, a cruiser, Best of british.

If you get one, you WILL have fun!!