Faults:

To pass its MOT it required an upper suspension arm, cost about £100 with labour.

Central locking sometimes just comes on while driving, and when you park, so I never leave keys in car and close doors and walk away, as I have no spare set!

Hard to tell if air-con works or not, but just use the sun-roof.

Apart from that, it has been 12 cheap months of motoring.

General Comments:

Very comfortable to drive, and fast enough when you use the kick-down auto.

Cruise control is a great gadget when on dreary empty motorways, and to ensure you avoid average speed cameras.

Lots of extras, leather interior, electric seats, etc.

Faults:

Rear wheel bearings needed replacing at 60K.

Window regulators ceased (common fault easily fixed!)

General Comments:

Here we have a car similar in size to a double decker bus that gets slated in most reviews due to cost of ownership in terms of insurance, petrol (averages 25 mpg, ouch!), handling and parts.

I own said vehicle in it's saloon guise and call me a sadist, but this car is unrivalled in terms of value. Where else can you get such a spec in a car with 200 bhp and a top speed of 145mph for next to nothing? Some people may say it's cheap for a reason and I can see their point to an extent due to a build quality that is slightly lacking.

I say get behind the wheel and I’m sure this opinion will change! Comfort is courtesy of half leather Recaro seats (lumbar support in drivers seat), everything is electric (x4 windows, sunroof and mirrors), there’s digital climate control and plenty of space in the front and back for 6 footers. There is a boot that will swallow your weekly shopping with ease. But best of all you’ll smile when you drive it! :-)

The exterior is nice and understated with 17" alloys and subtle styling. There’s no spoilers, splitters or pointless vents.

My Vitesse has never let me down other than the rear wheel bearings needing replaced unlike cars I have owned in the past costing £6K +.

For me the best bit has to be the performance. I have owned a Saxo VTR which pushed out 100 bhp and weighed less than a pound note. The Rover would wipe the floor with it. Every boy racer cowers at the next set of lights when their 1.2 Corsas and Clios have been destroyed by the 'big bus' should you choose to do so, just stay away from corners though!

The Vitesse is also a great motorway car and will happily sit at 80mph on long journeys with safe overtaking due to the turbo.

Overall this is a cheap car that is not without it's faults like any car, but get a good low mileage 98 or 99 Vitesse and I’m sure you'll be happy with the comfort, reliability, performance and capability of a big, big mileage.