MGF Not all great (Rover MGF 1.8i)

Member Name: l500589

Product:	Rover MGF 1.8i
Date:	10/06/09 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Soft top in the good weather

Disadvantages: Roof leaks, rear screen cracks, wind noise, handling, brakes.......

I owned an N Reg (1996) 1.8i MGF, and unfortunately I was not very pleased with it at all. I only kept the car for 18 months, and although it was great in the summer on the very few and far between sunny days, it was a nightmare for the rest of the year. The handling of the car is awful, resulting in me having 2 accidents in it during those 18 months, against only 3 accidents (2 of which were the MGF ones) in my 14 years of driving. The MGF's are rear wheel drive, and so as soon as there is any rain (don't even think about driving it in the ice or snow!!) on the roads the back end is really hard to control, any pressure on the accelerator whilst going around a bend, or a roundabout, and the back end of the car flies out of control. The brakes are also very poor.
Aside from the handling issues, I had the following problems / complaints:

The roof leaked in numerous places whenever it rained.
Wind noise from the roof while driving at 50mph + is terribly loud.
Poor visibility through the back plastic window.
Back plastic window splits during the winter
Gear Box had gone at 50,000 miles, could not get it into reverse!
Unable to drive over most speed humps without the bottom of the car catching on them.

I also know a few other people who have had one, and experienced the same problems. The only thing I would recommend about the MGF is that it is a good looking car, and is great for a summers day, but only worth having it as a spare car for exactly that purpose, if you have the luxury of being able to pay for, and house a spare car through the winter.

Summary: I would not recommend it!

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