I've had nearly 40 cars, ranging from a new Touareg down to a 50 quid Robin, I've got a 75 again now, the 25 is the best car i ever had, once you change the gasket it's fine,my father in law has it, it's still as stiff as new, unlike some "Good" cars people bang on about, worst car i had was an Audi 80, bag of shite, and the Touareg
Loved mine. 110,000 trouble free miles and only sold it to buy a very late model ZR aka 200 in wolf's clothing! Still got the looks. Shame people didn't buy enough of them. Their loss and made the economy poorer too.
Our British Racing Green R reg 214 had its problems. The dreaded head gasket failure, a passenger side electric window which decided to fall out one day and a temperamental alarm which used to randomly go off sometimes when unlocking the car (surprisingly loud and intimidating GTFO of my way sounding horn TBF)… But it was still a really nice little car despite its issues. Comfy, quiet and a good looking little motor for it’s time, despite being a supermini. Still remember the reg of ours. R570 EJW. Sadly scrapped in 2006.
Your 1997 214 only lasted 9 years which was a short life. What caused its early demise? A few days ago, I spoke to a Belgian lady who had her diesel 200 for 21 years!
@@rallychamp2003 My dad sold it to a family friend…who decided to go driving the car with no tax or insurance. Impounded by the police, he never paid the fine within the 14 days to recover the car, so it was crushed. 😞 My dad was furious. 21 years is a good long time to have a car, she clearly looked after it and it gave her happy motoring. 😀
These cars had a unfair reputation. The handling was good, engines free revving and more powerful, the interior was better than all the competition. Look at the competition at the time... the fiesta was horrible and unreliable, the french stuff also totally unreliable although some models (Saxo VTR, Clio sport-williams thing) had some go at least. VW polo looked awful and was less powerful. I had a rover 200Vi which I'd imported from abroad saving 40% off UK price, 144 BHP from a 1.8 versus 120 BHP from a 2.0 ford engine. Being smaller and lighter I used to leave the Mondeo ST220 and 2.6V6 Lagunas behind around town, A-roads, urban dual carriageways.
No Wan yes I agree I love the design of the car it still looks good. Even though rover collapsed im sure in 20 years or so it will be a classic like how the metro is becomig now .
Problem is rover marketed this in the megane class and it wasnt the right size inside and up against good rivals 306 etc. This would have been top of the supermini class if it was positioned correctly.
Agree completely. The competition at the time had cars which were not as stylish or classy as the 200. Ours was a cracking little car despite a few issues. Still miss our one.
Yes the rear wiper came on at reversing in the rain. I had a Rover 25 folk said it was a old granny mobile , I was pleasantly surprised by it. It over took cars no bother!
I love these cars I have had two - one 1.6Si head gasket went as they do on all of them. But my present one a 220td has never let me down with over 70,000 trouble free miles and up to 64 to the gallon! I will be sorry when if has to go, as I hate the look of the 25 model those ugly twin lights!!! (yuk) very fun cars to drive! Nikki x
Nikki mas I’m personally opposite I prefer the 25 and those fantastic twin lights and the facelifted interior. The 25 was made when I was born and in year 2001 the 25 Being made from 1999-2006 and I got a 2002 Rover 25 1.4L Impression with 30,000 miles a Fantastic Motor and it’s beautiful and legendary and British and one of the last British grand marques left. Fantastic glad I got a Rover 25 as my first car and it’s 10 months younger than me and it’s Fantastic for a 16 year old.
pretty car.....just looks perfect....the curves, lines and dimensions are perfect especially with big alloys...my parents bought a new 214i (base model) in mid 1998 - worst car they bought coz it was soooo basic......best rover to buy is a basic 400 416i and the rover 100.....had both cars and were very nice...shame rover have gone......britian is now fucked ont he car front!
Now come on, i agree he was pretty harsh, but i have a taurus and yes it has its problems, but there is a fanbase and forum for those problems. Much like MG-ROVER forums and Rimmer Bros
They should of made a 220T version. Maybe then, that would of stopped people from buying a 620ti, taking the engine from that and sticking it into one of these. Ti's are getting harder to find these days!
Award winning K-series engines (that last about 50k miles, if you are lucky!) Pretty car but also pretty flaky quality and reliability. Should have stuck with the Honda engines!
The k series did win multiple awards, they are lightweight, powerful and tough if maintained correctly. My 216 had 180,000 miles on it when it was written off in a smash. My Freelander is currently on just over 185,000 miles. Both k series and both outstanding reliability. If a k does need a h gasket, providing it's done properly it should last for many years and should only cost around £220. Average repair bill for some of the "great" German makes - around £2,500.
Small cramped with a small boot a poor crash test result and not as good as the previous better spacious more comfortable and practical Rover 400 / 200 and it's variants
If ye ask me this really shoulda been the Metro replacement and been called the 100 series rather than the facelifted Metro in 1994. Real issue as others say is the old 200/400 was really in the Small family car Golf, R19 etc category and this version was really more in the superman class size wise. They pisitioned it completely wrong in the market but other than that really not alot wrong esp styling for its time against everythin else. 9bv the K Series had its issues but defo d8dnt deserve its reputation as a car. Maybe image was also a factor being a Rover.
