it's actually good advice although I'd be looking for a fresher 75. Jag xf is the logical replacement but too expensive. So I'd consider an x type/s type, or a Volvo 60/80 before the bm.

 

75s that are just through their first mot are going for a song , if i wasnt totally skint i would be beating their door down for a real bargain , so the advice is stay rover. FLYER.:trophy:

 

So I decided to ask Honest John from the Daily Telegraph as he is probably the best "real world" motoring corrispondant.

BTW I never go near Germany but I do 800 - 1000 miles a week most of which errrrm.............quite fast!


>
> Hi John,
>
>
>
> I drive over 1000 miles per week and much of this is on unrestricted
> German
> Autobahns. It is important to keep the total costs of my travel to a
> minimum so
> I typically buy low mileage cars around three years old and dispose after
> approximately
> 18 months. I currently have a late 2003 MG ZTT CDTI 135+ which I have
> really
> enjoyed owning and has been given me superb service for the last year to
> the
> point that I am tempted to keep it until gives up the ghost! My car has
> currently done 90,000 miles which is normally the point when I would
> change
> while I can still recover some residual value however I am struggling to
> find
> anything that offers the value for money, fuel economy, build quality,
> comfort
> and rewarding drive of the MG. Ideally I need a large, well appointed
> estate
> car which can provide impressive fuel consumption at the high speeds (c100
> mph)
> which are normal in Germany.
>
>
>
> Mark Brocklehurst
>
> London

Get yourself down to the auctions and see what's going for what.

Lots of BMW 3-Series with basically the same engine as your Rover.

You'll get some idea from my November/December auction reports at hjuk.

But your Rover is worth buttons, so you might as well hang on to it.

HJ


>

Stick with it and lets see if you can set a mileage record

 

I believe there is a CDTi that has got past 300K

 

a double shifted cab would easily rack that up , i have noticed the private hire in glasgow are snapping the burners up , spotted 4 today alone . flyer.:itschy:

 

Tempting I know in todays market but suggest better the devil you know than buying into unknown.
If its giving no trouble, spend 1K on a full comprehensive service with ex mgr outlet.
Must agree some tempting offers, depends if at trade in others think the same of your car as yourself,
M

 

I am with you on the Jags, loads of reliable Ford developed car for the money but I need an estate and the X type is a bit smaller than I want really. Other than that I am tempted by a Merc 300 series, BMW 5 series or Chrysler 300C, all diesels of course. Bigger cras but I suspect they are better geared for MPG at constant higer speeds. I love the idea of 45+ mpg but cant drive everywhere at 60 mph to get it!

I reckon if I could have a 6th gear in my MG I would have all I need!

 

I am with you on the Jags, loads of reliable Ford developed car for the money but I need an estate and the X type is a bit smaller than I want really. Other than that I am tempted by a Merc 300 series, BMW 5 series or Chrysler 300C, all diesels of course. Bigger cras but I suspect they are better geared for MPG at constant higer speeds. I love the idea of 45+ mpg but cant drive everywhere at 60 mph to get it!

I reckon if I could have a 6th gear in my MG I would have all I need!

What about an XJ? Saw a feature on Top Gear recently which convinced me that I'll be getting the twin turbo diesel xj when it's affordable, they were driving 800 miles, and Clarkson was hoping to run out of juice after 500 miles near his home, but he ended up going the distance, in fact if you believe that they said they reckoned that the Jag's (admittedly large) tank was good for up to 1,000 miles on a run, the economy was certainly incredible for that size car.

Cheers,

Bozman

 

hes talkin out of his arse. go from a zt to a bmw. no way matey. no keep the zt. mutch better car in every way.

 

300c's are good.... I drive one professionally and it is very like the 75.

 

pity the car didnt blow up [WITH HIM IN IT] flyer.:irked:

 

Why Flyer? Couldn't you get your mouth round the exhaust pipe? :sofa:

Edd

 

You could always get a newer ZT, there are plenty of facelift 54/05 ZT CTDis around.

 

and at bargain prices , flyer.

 

There you go. A brand new CDTi 135 in ignition blue, next to a nicer starlight silver 190.

http://users.autoexposure.co.uk/smgrover/search.cfm?

 

Nearly 20k for a car that has been sitting around for 3 and a half years at least? Blimey.

Anthony.

 

Nearly 20k for a car that has been sitting around for 3 and a half years at least? Blimey.

Anthony.

They just sold their last CDTi estate for £16k with a life time warantee. Think you would get a saloon for £15K Maybe a lot less. Still a lot of car for the money.

 

Yeah, I'm not really sure what SMC are smoking when it comes to those cars... No-one in their right mind (unless they don't know they're not new) would spent £20K on a car which was made in 2005. Hell, you can buy a 2005 car (albeit with mileage) for around £5K now. Would you pay £15K just to have the 'benefit' of a car that no-one's driven for close on 4 years?

 

13 Grand for an 02 ZT 190? Or 10 Grand for a 54 Rover 25 (oh dear)

Thats just insane. Surly people are not paying those prices? I'd be down the auctions buying 2 Bm's for the price of a ZT off of there

 

tbh, £12K is not too far off a fair price 12 months ago, but the market has just collapsed for these cars since then. (well, most big cars to be honest).

 

It was a fantastic price March 1st last year 21 months ago. Even gave me £6k pX on my four year old ZT with 44k on clock.

 

You got a good deal there then! :broon:

 

Bought from Cars 4 U Treforest South Wales hence the CN reg number.
They had 5 ZT's released from Longbridge for March 1st registration. Two red 120's at £9995 my silver 190 at £11995 and two basic black 260's at £12995. Almost went for a 260, but had already owned two black MG's.
All the cars sold within two weeks. The only reason SMG haven't sold their 2005 stock is because they are too expensive!!

Nick.

 

blimey, £13K for a 260 was a steal! Even if it was basic spec.

 

Hmmm....

If I were to be looking for a new car, I don't think that there's anything out there which has the appeal of the ZT.

Since I'm driving around in a VW Golf Tdi courtesy car right now, I can strike that off the list - it's got absolutely no character and actually feels lower quality than my ZT.

I've still got a soft spot for Alfa's so I'd probably bite the bullet and go for the 159 JTD. It would probably break down five miles from the forecourt, but at least I could stare at it adoringly from inside and outside...

 

I found this frightening

Thats a 115TD - I only paid £500 more in 2004 for a brand new ZS180 with a load of extras - they really are dreaming - the ZT is the same as outs and we just paid £3995 ill save my 16k for it having 99k on the clock

 

OK. Now you are all going to shoot me down in flames for this, but here goes!!!

I swapped my ZT-T plus cash for a Kia Diesel Pro-Ceed in the summer, and overall haven't regretted it. For what I need out of it, it comes suprisingly close to the MG.

Positives:-

• Running Costs
• Real World Performance (mid range torque)
• 7 year 100,000 mile warranty (I only do 6k per year)
• Build Quality
• Interior Space (much better than ZT)
• Ride & Handling (similar to ZT but see below)

Negatives:-

• Image (maybe)
• Controls too light (steering feel / throttle / brake)
• Rear seat access poor (3 door), but legroom far better
• A few nice gizmos missing (speed sense wipers / headlamp off delay etc)
• Auto Climate Control (does hot & cold, but not as consistent as ZT)

So heading back to Londonmark's original point, in his shoes I would be very tempted to buy the Kia's sister car the Hyundai I30. Why? Because it is a good, high quality car with a 5 year UNLIMITED MILEAGE warranty. That means if he is doing 50,000 miles a year, he has peace of mind for the next quarter of a million miles!

 

Call me a Snob, but I class my ZT as a premium car. These cars were as expensive as the equivalent BMW and Alfas when new. I enjoy driving a big premium car, and certainly wouldn't come down to a Kia of any description, or any other budget brand. When the time comes it will be another premium car for me. Hopefully an M3, but if times become hard and I had to get a small car it would be a BMW 1 series, Audi A3 or an Alfa 147. Petrol of course. No Kia's or Hyundai for me

Nick.

 

I see your point but I bought my ZT-T at 4 years old and 27k miles for 7500 quid, I can't see me being able to buy an equivalent BMW, Merc or Jag for that sort of money when I'm looking to change cars. Even allowing for the state of the market at the moment, I can't find any BMW to the above spec within 1000 quid of that price.

I must admit I'd looked at the Kia Ceed.

 

Yes I would call you a snob, but that's your priviledge. Agreed the Kia isn't "premium" but that is more perception based based on marque than reality.

As for "big" the ZT certainly has an undeniable presence (and I loved mine), but the Kia is actually more spacious, and with more more stowage internally.

I really didn't believe I would buy a Kia either until I road tested one. Check out what the motoring press have written about the Ceed.

Now, if the Longbridge ride & handling boys had ever got to the Ceed and refined the steering and damping a bit, it really would be a ZT match.

 

I've had a few i30 Diesels and I agree, they are good cars. However, IMO they are no where near the quality of the ZT in terms of feel and interior finish. The ZT makes you feel special, the i30, although very good, just doesn't quite produce the same feeling.

For me anyway, but I guess the MG enthusiasm does make it damn hard for any car to be as good as a ZT in my eyes!

But the i30 Diesels are superb cars and I'd recommend anyone to at least have a look and test drive of one instead of just dismissing it.

 

I've had a few i30 Diesels and I agree, they are good cars. However, IMO they are no where near the quality of the ZT in terms of feel and interior finish. The ZT makes you feel special, the i30, although very good, just doesn't quite produce the same feeling.

For me anyway, but I guess the MG enthusiasm does make it damn hard for any car to be as good as a ZT in my eyes!

But the i30 Diesels are superb cars and I'd recommend anyone to at least have a look and test drive of one instead of just dismissing it.

Perhaps you need to try the Kia Pro-Ceed as a ZT comparator (sister car to i30). Much of the dynamics are quite similar to ZT. As to interior finish, the Kia and i30 certainly have a bit too much hard plastic, and the soft feel parts don't have the ambience of the MG / Rover grained materials. Having said that, the general fit, and freedom from rattle at least matches the MGR offering. As I said in my earlier post, it is just that last little bit of fine tuning to steering and pedal feel they need to optimise.

I come back to the original point though. For some one like londonmark, what other than an i30 would give him a quarter million mile warranty!

Yes, I do like the Kia Pro-Ceed, but I did love the ZT-T (big blue). I trust KX03WWM found himself a good home.

 

260 V8 for me next, or an E39 M5. Had a 530 M Sport a couple of years ago and loved it. Probably a ZT 260 though.
Fuel suckers. I love 'em. As they say, there's no replacement for displacement!!!!

 

Thanks for all the useful suggestions here. I never considered a new(ish) car but to be honest, I tend to look for something thats done it nuts in depreciation already and run it until expensive bits begin to fall off. That said it hard to ignor the i30 but I am a bit of a badge snob however and do have an image to maintain at work etc. One of the resaons I went for the ZTT over the Passat estate was style, it looks far more lairy than it actually is in diesel form. The Alfa had not crossed my mind either prob because I still have not got over wielding the holes in my 1978 Alfasud which I restored before I had passed my test! I must have an estate however and the 2nd hand price differential between the 159 estates and saloons is huge! I saw the Top Gear with the XJ and agree these are good for the money but again no boot. The 300c has much of what I need in terms of size and equipment but it issuch a barge I would have to put a set of decent wheels and tyres on it at least but it hard not to look like a drug dealer then!

I think this is the answer - keep the MG for a while longer and keep the servicing up in the hope of setting a mileage record. I am going to buy the missus a RAV4 which will replace the MGs family estate requirement. Buy something without a tin roof for blasting around at the weekend........Now I just need to work out the best 4 seat convertable - I am sure the answer is a 911 but really only want to spend £10K and you won't get a decent one of them for that.