MY FIRST CAR WAHEY (Rover 214 Si)

Member Name: mr blonde

Product:	Rover 214 Si
Date:	28/03/03 (4510 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: reasonably cheap to run, i find it to be reliable

Disadvantages: see op

A CAR, AT LONG LAST A CAR OF MY VERY OWN WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, that was my reaction 2 weeks into November last year when I bought my first car, only a couple of days before I booked my driving test.

When I was looking for a car, there were a few things I wanted in it. Firstly was something with a low insurance group, I am only 18, and insurance is a killer as it stands, so adding to that wouldn?t be a smart thing to do. Secondly, it had to be in decent condition both engine wise and bodywork wise, I didn?t want to have to pay out too much too soon (as you can guess, I am on a lousy wage at work, and am a bit of a cheapskate lol). Then there was the fact that I cannot for the life of me stand ?scallies? so something like a nova, or an xr2i etc, were all well out of the picture, apart from being tacky cars, I just refuse to associate myself with a boy racers car. I did however want something that would be capable of motorway work without too much fuss, and big enough to carry bikes, fishing gear aswell as camping equipment.

So, as you can see, considering I had a budget of roughly £1000, the decision was not easy, although when my mum got her new rover 214, I must admit, I pretty much set my sights on one, for what I wanted it had loads of room, was comfortable, is only a group 5 on the insurance, and had a 1.4 injection engine, so it had the power to cope with the size.

I first found the car I have now bought on auto trader, a site I certainly recommend, the search options really go into a lot of detail as to finding the car you want, which is great stuff for lazy internet surfers like me, so anyway, before I get this review barred for advertising a website lol, that?s enough of that. I was told that it was only 12 miles away from my home, so I got my mum to take me up to have a look, everything was in tip top condition on the car, it was absolutely immaculate, except for 2 very small scratches on the top of the boot, everything else wa
s fine, the engine itself was and still is extremely clean, and the thing that capped it for me in fairness, what that it?s a year older than my mums, and it has central locking, whereas her doesn?t hehehe, she wasn?t amused.

The car itself is an L reg, although on record it?s a late 1994 model, so it isn?t far from being an M reg. It is navy blue, and currently has 74 000 miles on the clock. I have driven it since January, but in fairness there was a great big escapade about getting it taxed because it was registered by the tax board as a disabled persons car, and I had to get all the details changed over, because I am not disabled, and therefore cannot claim free road tax, which I must say is a dam shame lol.

The car itself is due to be serviced, and once that is done then I should get roughly 35-40 to the gallon, as it stands I am getting roughly 32, not a great deal difference I know, but bearing in mind the car has been serviced pretty much dead on every 6000 miles in its life, I wish to take care of it and make sure I get a lot more miles out of it yet. It is going to be carrying me to Alton Towers within the next couple of weeks, so I want it to be in good condition. And ready to go.

Overall I must say I have definitely fell in love with the car itself, there is a lack of power steering, and after learning in a brand new Vauxhall Astra with all the mod cons you can think of, this itself was difficult to get used to, as was the exceptionally high bite point with the clutch, but overall, now I am used to the car, I cannot grumble one bit, I have been into Wales mountain biking, aswell as on and off the motorway pretty regularly, and it handles 70mph perfectly happily. I read one review that said the car doesn?t have a particularly high top speed, fair enough it won?t do mega speeds that most sports cars will, but I know from experience it will do 100 with more to give in the engine, in fairness, that?s the one boy racer thing
I have done in it, I took it on the motorway one night just to have a go and see what speed I could get out of it, but at the end of the day, the speed limit is 70 anyways, so why do you need a car that will do 200 mph? Although yes it would be nice lol.

I have not modified the car in any way or form, with the exception of putting a CD player in it, and even that is a basic CD player, no disc changers or anything out of the ordinary, because cassettes were sending me around the bend, I have also added some Simpson?s stuff, namely rubber car mats (easy to hose down after being out riding in the mud etc), and of course, fluffy dice and a nodding dog, were absolute necessities.

Anyways, as a first car, I definitely recommend this one, it?s a very reliable, and comfortable to drive car, although in fairness power steering is something I still dream of, it?s pretty economical, especially on a motorway run, and is perfectly comfortable with both motorway or town driving. I would go as far to say that if you are looking at getting a decent car at a decent price then you should seriously consider one of these, I paid 940 for mine, with no tax but 12 months MOT, and it hasn?t let me down yet (touch wood). My aim is to still have this car and 2 years no claims when I am 20, at which point if I wouldn?t mind one of the new Vauxhall Astras, although that?s a while away yet.

Thanks for reading my op, it?s been ages since I have written one, so go easy one me lol. Catch you later Bill and Ted ;)

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