I was a very happy owner of a 1985 Austin Montego until it clapped out on me during winter 2 years back. It lived a good long life. I had very little trouble with my Montego in the 3 years I owned it for. During the time I had my Montego I bought another spares or repairs so I was able to swap ... Read review
Advantages: cheap to run, reliablity,capable of 150,000 miles+ Disadvantages: Rust, Build Quality, poor motorway car.
...happy owner of a 1985 Austin Montego until it clapped out on me during winter 2 years back. It lived a good long life. I had very little trouble with my Montego in the 3 years I owned it for. During the time I had my Montego I bought another spares or repairs so I was able to swap any parts over.
What is an Austin Montego?
An Austin Montego was produced to rival the likes of the Vauxhall Cavalier and the Ford Sierra. ... ...I have heard that some Austin Montego’s have been an absolute nightmare. I think it all depends they have been previously looked after. My Montego in the 70,00 miles needed 4 new tyres at the front and 2 new ones at the back. Other problems I had with my Montego were the clutch and cable, battery, radiator and some welding to the rear wheel arch which is quite expensive, about £100.
I was a very happy owner of a 1985 Austin Montego until it clapped out on me during winter 2 years back. It lived a good long life. I had very little trouble with my Montego in the 3 years I owned it for. During the time I had my Montego I bought another spares or repairs so I was able to swap any parts over.
What is an Austin Montego?
An Austin Montego was produced to rival the likes of the Vauxhall Cavalier and the Ford Sierra. The Montego can be bought in Saloon and Estate form. The Montego is mainly aimed for a family, as it’s a very spacious car.
Equipment.
Radio Cassette Solid Paint. Sunroof. Cigarette lighter Rear seat belts
This is all I can think of for now, but as this car was the basic model equipment was very very low. I would truly recommend you spend a few hundred extra for the Vanden Plas, which has all the extras available in its time.
Value.
I bought mine for around £1000 almost 4 years ago. I thin I got a real bargain with my Montego because I had covered over 70,000 miles since I bought it. These cars can be bought for much less than this now about £400 for one in good condition on a G registration. I had almost trouble free motoring in all the years of owning mine, which may come as a surprise to many.
Reliability.
I have heard that some Austin Montego’s have been an absolute nightmare. I think it all depends they have been previously looked after. My Montego in the 70,00 miles needed 4 new tyres at the front and 2 new ones at the back. Other problems I had with my Montego were the clutch and cable, battery, radiator and some welding to the rear wheel arch which is quite expensive, about £100.
Interior.
The interior of the old Montego’s can’t stand up to much wear and tear especially the seats. I had the lower spec model the standard 1.6 engine (bottom of the range). I thought the higher class the better the interior but looking at my old spares or repairs Montego things were worse. The interior was all very cheap looking and it was all quite plastic.
Exterior.
My Montego was not the most of attractive of cars neither on the road nor in its class. Metallic paint was not standard on my entry model so I had to make so with white. The car comes with full size wheel trims, which on mine had fell off! The build quality of the exterior trim is quite poor for example the plastic door handles. Whenever frost arrives the handles go brittle and often snap off which makes the car a M.O.T failure.
Performance.
A 1600 engine is not the biggest of engines but produces adequate performance for all road driving. When new the 1.6 would have reached to 60 mph in 10.9 seconds, which I can’t believe, and a claimed top speed of only 102! The Montego has a very willing engine but very noisy especially on the motorway. I have reached 80 with not too many problems but when you try to exceed that you would be quite disappointed. The 1600 pick up speed quite easily in the lower gears but when accelerating at high speeds of 80mph the car dies.
Brakes.
The brakes on the Montego are reasonable and were quite affective in there day. I had no Abs but they were still adequate performers.
Steering/ Road holding.
The steering is quite heavy when paring so I would recommend that PAS is standard. The road holding wasn’t bad but in 1980’s you couldn’t find much better. The Montego did handle quite well but there was quite a bit of body roll when it was pushed hard around corners.
Build Quality.
The build quality of the old Montego’s is very poor. Everything is very cheap and easily breakable. The exterior of the Montego is also built to a poor standard. I had a bash to the front of the car, which was claimed on the insurance. The 1990 golf I bashed into came of a lot better than me. Numerous panels had to be replaced such as wings, bonnet, and bumper. Luckily there was no mechanical damage.
Servicing.
Servicing is very important if you can’t afford to buy another car. Servicing is cheap at little private garages. A service needs to be done every 8,000 miles to keep your car healthy. With a car this old don’t go to a Rover garage and assume they will do a better job, they wont and you will pay through the nose for it.
Engines.
Montego’s are good workhorses if they are looked after well a Montego, which has had regular servicing all its life and has been kept garaged shall live a long age approximately 16 years+.
Rust.
Garaging this car is so very important because these cars are rust magnets. Rust is there worst enemie and is a problem, which happens to all poor treated Montego’s. Rust mainly appears under the wheel arches and underneath so WATCH OUT!
Model range.
The prices now don’t vary much whether you go for the standard 1300 or the 1600 Van den Plas. There are plenty of models to choose from such as:
Miles Per Gallon.
Like all cars this performs best on the motorway for m.p.g. If you stick to a steady 60-65mph you can get around 40-45 mpg on a long run. Around town you get around 33 mpg. Not bad for a car of this size.· Standard 1300 · Standard 1600 · 1600 L · 1600 HL · 1600 Mayfair · Vanden Plas Efi. · 1600 Est. · L Est. · HL Est · 2000 HL Est. · Vanden Plas Estate. · Mg Turbo.
Overall.
If it’s a cheap family run around your after you cant go wrong with the Montego because there so cheap. Watch out for rust and maintenance records. Avoid high milers with little or no service record. It’s a good idea like me to have another spares or repairs. A Montego spares or repairs can be bought for as little as £40 English Pounds. Thanks.
Advantages: Good Vsibility, Nice Ride, Good looks, Economic Disadvantages: Hear it Rust From 100 miles Away, Poor Electrical Connections
I was one of the mugs that bought one of these things new in 1984. The car seemed a dream in the showroom with good looks, nice seats, and great all-round visibility.
The 'Monti' appeared to suit my needs, being large enough for various leisure pursuits, shopping, and taking the kids out. Ideal yeah, but the dream would soon to be shattered. All will become clear in the course of this review.
This car is more than adequate for its purpose and the ... ...well because I used it regularly to tow a caravan to race meetings, loaded up with two motorcycles . There were always at least two of us in the car (often three) and any spare space was filled with gear whilst the reasonably large boot took the enormous tool-box and spares we needed.
Furthermore, the car excelled in two other areas - all round visibility and fuel consumption - the 'Monti' was glazed like The Crystal Palace and the S.U. carb ensured ...
tel1 07.03.2005
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Ciao members have rated this car review on average: very helpful Review of Austin Montego 1.6
Advantages: Great handling,good fuel economy,not bad looking Disadvantages: Rust,rust,rust,and more rust!!!!!
I owned my 'G' plate Montego for almost a year and went through a few thoughts in that time.
I went from thinking it was a great car and wondered why there were so few people owning one, to thinking that it was just destined to be in a scrapyard from day one.
My 'Monty' was the 1.6 LX model which gave a sunroof and electric windows for luxury. Central Locking was also thrown in. Common problems here were that one or more of the doors wouldnt lock/open ... ...rubbers. And the lecky windows would be slower than a week in jail!!!
There is a few major problems with this old classic aswell. Cylinder heads blowing in the engine( I replaced two in the space of 16'000 miles) and water creeping into the boot. Now I can guess what you're thinking. "Water in the boot aint serious" WRONG!!! You see, the water creeps into the boot through the ill fitting rubber seals,rolls along the boot floor and into the passenger ...
hamsters4breakfast 24.06.2006
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Ciao members have rated this car review on average: helpful Review of Austin Montego 1.6
