Rover 75
Registered from 1999 to 2007.
About this model
The Rover 75 is an executive car which was manufactured from 1998 to 2005 by the British Rover marque. There are two body styles—a four-door saloon car and a five-door estate car. Initially built only with front-wheel drive, a rear-wheel-drive variant with a V8 engine was later sold. There was also an extended-wheelbase model. In 2001, MG Rover launched a badge engineered variant, the MG ZT. A coupé concept was built, but did not receive further development.
From the Wikipedia article Rover 75, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
What fails its inspection
Great Britain's MOT record for the 2004 2.0 diesel. 769 of 2,422 tests failed, 32%.
Better than 16% of 2004 cars. The typical one fails 28%, across 750 models with enough tests behind them to say.
| Where | Share of failures | Failed tests |
|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 66% | 509 |
| Brakes | 42% | 320 |
| Lights and electrics | 35% | 266 |
| Body and structure | 21% | 161 |
| Tyres and wheels | 17% | 130 |
| Seat belts and airbags | 15% | 117 |
The defects inspectors cite
- A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn
- The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired
- The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements
- A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc
- Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement
- Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded
Before you buy one
Built from what this car fails on, not from general knowledge of the model.
- Suspension — 66% of its failures
- A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn
- The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired
- A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc
- Brakes — 42% of its failures
- Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement
- Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded
- Tyres and wheels — 17% of its failures
- Lights and electrics — 35% of its failures
- An SRS malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) indicates a system malfunction
- Body and structure — 21% of its failures
- The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired
- Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded
- Seat belts and airbags — 15% of its failures
When it starts failing
At 200k+ miles this one fails 34% of its inspections, against the 30% an ordinary car of the same age fails.
| Odometer | Failure rate | Rate | Its age | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20–40k miles | 18% | 17% | 40 | |
| 40–60k miles | 21% | 22% | 128 | |
| 60–80k miles | 28% | 25% | 267 | |
| 80–100k miles | 31% | 28% | 411 | |
| 100–120k miles | 31% | 29% | 432 | |
| 120–140k miles | 35% | 30% | 457 | |
| 140–160k miles | 32% | 31% | 265 | |
| 160–180k miles | 37% | 31% | 183 | |
| 180–200k miles | 39% | 31% | 109 | |
| 200k+ miles | 34% | 30% | 108 |
2,400 British inspections, grouped by the odometer reading recorded at the test.
Half of these have more than 100k miles on them. That is how far people drive this car, not how long it lasts.