Rover

'fraid I don't know too much about the 827 but what I do know is that the cam belt is very prone to failure on some of these models (unfortunately like most cars these days), but a failure on a 827 produces damage to the the head and pistons, the repair costs of which are similar to the national debt of an African country. Unfortunately. this makes the car just not woth repairing costwise. If you do buy one change the cambelt immediately, and from then on well within the recommended mileages. You will see plenty of these for sale in the "free ads" type papers- non runner- just needs new plugs, etc. -All with broken cam belts!

Madmucks waffled on in a quite bewildering manner to produce...

Best thing to do with an 827 is ignore it, they're utter utter crap when they're old. Lousy suspension, ECU problems, door handles coming off in your hand, delaminating windscreens that crack out of habit, wonky abs, knackered catalysts, power steering pumps, and then there's the issue of the cam belts, noisy tappets, manky auto boxes... and 820's are worse. If you want a Rover, spend decent money on a V8 SD1, or buy a selection of 827s. I sold an L registration, 68000 mile 827 SLi for £400 less than 9 months ago, it was a clean, tidy, respectable looking car, with a full main agent history, 10 months MOT. I was happy to get £400, they're that bad, and mine was a good one! I even made money on it...

Buy a 75 V6 or an SD1 V8. Otherwise, ignore Rovers after 1976. Sad but true.

Pete M

The others all make good points. The 827 gave an amazing level of equipment and spec for a luxury car at the time. Getting a good one now is next to impossible. However, if you get a good SD1 (still very possible) then it will be practical to repair, good to drive (because of Rear Wheel Drive) and keep or increase its value.

I would not take on any Rover 800 series, but would welcome a nice friendly SD1.

MrCheerful

Bloke I know picked up an 827 Fastback (around a G plate IIRC) for £300, with a genuine 27k on the clock. It was a company director's car and he barely used it! Never saw it, but a mate of mine has and the engine literally looks like brand new.

Peter

Sorry to hijack this thread, but am I right in thinking that you've owned an E34 525i in the past Dave?

If so, was it an estate or saloon?

What sort of economy did you get out of it (a) around town, (b) on a long run, and (c) for a general mixed bag of driving??

Peter

Yup.

Early 24 valve 5 speed auto saloon - '92.

Town is difficult to say as it depends so much on the traffic. Somewhere between upper teens and lower twenties.

It was truly excellent on the open road, though, regularly in the upper

The early 24 valve was rather sluggish at low revs but positively flew when revved. Same with the handling - fairly soft at low speeds but really tightened up when pushed.

Later models with VANOS should have better low speed grunt.

When you say the early 24-valve - is that the pre-M50 engine? When you refer to later models with VANOS - is that a standard part of the M50 engine?

Peter

Aye, the most fun part about driving them was wondering if they'd make it round the corner.

Couldn't beat them for powerslides though.

They're fetching =A33000 now!

--=20 ________________________ Conor Turton conor snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com ICQ:31909763 ________________________

Eh? I take it you've not driven an 800, then?

Like all powerful RWD. It's what they do.

It really depends on model. The favourite is the Vitesse, but you'd get a decent carburettor one for far less than 3 grand. Might have to look a while, though, as they're getting rare.

I drove one of those (827 fastback around 1988ish) when it was nearly new (hired) and it was full of electrical problems. Petrol gauge kept dropping to empty, rear demister didn't work at all, headlight switch had to be fiddled with to get the lights to work. The brakes were very prone to locking up at speed in the wet as well and the auto gearbox was great at lurching at gearchanges. Apart from that list it was nice to drive. I would imagine that a 'sorted' one would be a decent drive.

I paid =A3100 for my 78 3.5S in 1989

--=20 ________________________ Conor Turton conor snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com ICQ:31909763 ________________________

Nah, was on about the SD1 mate.

So what would you say is the better year (if any) of the SD1?

I have had a 79 model and an 83 series 2.

I much preferred the series 2 but I remember a service mechanic telling me once that if I had a later year model in the series 2 it would have been a lot cheaper to buy the parts for it.

Is this still the case today? (Keep in mind I am in Australia and the only models of the SD1 out here are the 3.5L V8's.

In Australia most of the SD1 series 2's (around the 81-84 years) are selling for around $2,000 to $3500. (thats about £700 to £1,200) I purchased my 83 series 2 back in 1990 for $12,999. (£4,500) I don't have it any more though.

The 827 is offored for sale at $3,990 (£1,300). You don't see too many of them for sale simply because I don't think they sold too many in Australia.

Thanks for all your advice. I think I will stick with the 3500SE or Vanden Plas.

Is there anything I should be weary of with these??

Garry

About 25 quid as I seem to recall -- the early SD1 was very very bad ideed, the last ones were just bad and dated.

Ah. Now I know why you got it for 100 quid...

IMHO, they don't look dated today, since they didn't follow any real fashion. The 827 certainly does.