I have to say that I am going to go against the standard Maestro opinion on this. You ask many people what they think of the Austin Maestro, and they'll say how awful the car is, many of them without ever going anywhere near them. Myself I think the look of the Maestro is incredibly old fashioned, but if you scratch beneath the surface and know what to look out for you can pick up a bargain Maestro that will serve as an excellent first car or family runaround.
Everyone associated the Maestro with rust, however I feel that this was always harsh because very few cars of the Maestro's age avoid rust patches. Admittedly a lot of the earlier Maestro's were prone to the British Leyland effect - i.e. questionable build quality and reliability, but I feel the Maestro's bad reputation was largely uncalled for.
As I said earlier Maestro's make excellent first cars and family runarounds, so heres a few tips on what to look for if your after a Maestro and a few tips on the Maestro range.
For starters the engine - The Maestro in it's Austin-Rover guise came with a choice of a 1.3 or 1.6 engine. These are both incredibly reliable engines whichever you pick. The 1.6 is the same as was used in the Montego (examples of which are often seen having done 100,000+ miles as ex-company cars and still running strong), and the 1.3 is the excellently reliable and simple to work on Austin A Series engine, as used in the Metro.
You will also see MG Maestro's about which are similar looking to the 1.3/1.6 Austin-Rover models, but they have alloys, MG grilles, some more luxiourious features and a 2 Litre engine in the EFi. There are also some MG Maestro turbos around which look excellent and are incredibly quick with 2 litre turbo engines in.
You can't really go wrong with Maestro engines, they are the best of British design, the only thing really to watch out for is the slightly dodgy automatic choke, which is prone to failure, but manual choke conversions are available cheap and the conversion is an easy job to do.
The bodywork has to undergo serious examination because of the rust problems. Main Maestro rust hot spots include the rear wheelarches (this is the main place), along with underneath the grille at the front, and the sills and pillars are often susceptible to rust. Be careful to check these places very carefully because although it can be successfully treated, there are some cases where it has gone too far and cannot be put right. When purchasing a Maestro you should also check thoroughly the central locking (if that model has it), which can sometimes be prone to failure and also the boot catch can occasionally play up.
Interior wise again the Maestro holds up pretty well. They are very spacious cars internally and if reasonably well looked after, the seat and interior trim lasts forever. The main problem internally with the Maestro is the headlining which in some cases can be prone to sagging, this can be a difficult job to put right but it is possible.
These are the main spots to look out for with a Maestro. I have only highlighted the main spots to look out for, in no way am I slating this car at all. If you just check the main problem spots, you can pick up a car that will last you a long long time and give you excellent, reliable, and economical service for many years to come. The good thing is about the Maestro's bad reputation is that second hand models are dirt cheap and hence should be on a list of potential cars of any first time buyer or economical minded person.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Very helpful review for anyone considering buying a Maestro.
sarsons 31.10.2002 21:42
Not bad intro, but info on what the car has to offer would have resulted in a higher rating (eg comfort, ride, equipment, insurance costs etc.). If you ever redo this op, please let me know and I'll reread it and review my rating :)
Apr 16th, 2001
very helpful by (94%):
helpful by (6%):
