Rover Cityrover
Registered from 2004 to 2006.
About this model
The Rover CityRover is a supermini car that was marketed by the former British manufacturer MG Rover under the Rover marque, between 2003 and 2005. Launched in the autumn of 2003, the car was a rebadged version of the Indian developed Tata Indica. Its performance was considered poor for a small car in contemporary road tests, and its lack of quality, poor road handling and high price were not well received.
From the Wikipedia article Rover CityRover, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
What fails its inspection
Great Britain's MOT record for the 2004 1.4 petrol. 32 of 99 tests failed, 32%.
Better than 13% 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 | 50% | 16 |
| Brakes | 44% | 14 |
| Body and structure | 28% | 9 |
| Lights and electrics | 22% | 7 |
| Seat belts and airbags | 19% | 6 |
| Visibility | 19% | 6 |
The defects inspectors cite
- A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn
- Brakes imbalance across an axle such that the braking effort from any wheel is less than 70% of the maximum effort recorded from the other wheel on the same axle.
- 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
- Vehicle structure corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is seriously reduced
- A flexible brake hose excessively damaged, deteriorated, chafed, twisted or stretched
- A wheel bearing excessively rough
Where it stands out against its peers
- Seat belts and airbags: failed more often than 92% of 2004 cars — 19% of its 32 failed tests, where an ordinary 2004 car has 3%.
Same model year only, at least 30 peer cars, zeros included. Every car has a worst part; this shows which, and how far from ordinary it is. A high share means more to check, not a verdict.
NHTSA's investigations are American; no European regulator publishes an equivalent record, so this section has nothing to draw on for a European car. There is no European equivalent of the service-bulletin register either.
Before you buy one
Built from what this car fails on, not from general knowledge of the model.
- Suspension — 50% 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
- Brakes — 44% of its failures
- A flexible brake hose excessively damaged, deteriorated, chafed, twisted or stretched
- Lights and electrics — 22% of its failures
- An SRS malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) indicates a system malfunction
- An obligatory rear fog lamp missing, or a front or rear fog lamp inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning
- Body and structure — 28% 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
- Vehicle structure corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is seriously reduced
- Seat belts and airbags — 19% of its failures
- Visibility — 19% of its failures