I was 19 years old when I started to learn to drive and look for that all important first car. I considered all makes and models ranging from vauxhall, ford and peugeot but I never came across anything that really tickled my fancy.
My friend at the time owned a Rover 414i which I knew was cheap on insurance, cheap to run and tax and after having been in his I knew it packed a punch and sounded brilliant! The 400 though for me at the time was just a little too big looking and rather unsporty. However I put Rover into the search on autotrader and came across the 200 and it was love at first site!
I opted for the 1.4 engine rather than the 1.1 because
I heard the 1.4 offered more economy and performance combined. The 1.6 engine fell into the higher tax bracket. I ended up with a gorgeous Tahiti Blue 1998 Rover 214Si 16v 5 door model. Even though the previous owner had somewhat destroyed some of the interior trim with silver paint and the exterior with the same paint I still liked the car and knew I could make it all good again. It had a cd player, electric sunroof, electric windows and remote central locking. She had 75,000 miles on the clock and I picked her up for just £830.
Before I got her on the road I got the oil changed, oil, fuel and air filters replaced, timing belt changed and checked over to see if anything else needed replacing, which it didn't.
The first years insurance was never going to be cheap and at £1645 I felt it was a good price to pay compared to the £2450 I was quoted for a 1995 Vauxhall Astra.
Once I was insured I set about doing wee road trips and exploring out of my own town. The Rover was brilliant on all types of roads. Being young Ill admit to being a bit cocky and making full use of the rev gauge. That engine just loved to rev and rev.
One thing though I was never really happy about was the interior seats which were of a flowery pattern and the door panels which were just lacking a bit of style. The 25 or the sportier MG ZR for example looked much more modern and funkier. This is when the time came for me to start to improve my rover!
I spent a good bit of money on my rover because I loved it so much but it was never on mechanical items etc. It was all on improving the look of the car. I was fancinated to learn there was an MG version which looked the dogs balls and I quickly decided my rover should look like the MG ZR! I replaced the interior trim the owner had painted silver, replaced the exterior parts painted silver for standard ones, fitted nicer alloys from a rover 25, ZR boot spoiler, ZR interior which included the front and rear seats and all door panels with the newer style handles etc and a set of door mirrors the same colour as my car from a 25. I have to say the newer style mirrors really are a brilliant finishing touch and also very practical because you can see alot more in them compared to the standard 200 ones.
By this stage I had the car a year and it was fast approaching 85,000 miles and I had it sitting the way I liked and within my budget. I would have loved to have added side skirts, MG alloys and window tints but all that was more expensive. I did get a few things wrong though along the way such as adding a sunstrip. It stayed on for about 3 months and I just knew it looked wrong with the rest of the car so it had to go. Plus she wouldnt have passed the MOT with it.
Anyways 10,000 miles had passed and so it was time for a service. Got all the filters done and the oil changed. I have to say these are really cheap to service. I saved on labour costs though because my dad is a mechanic and so I bought the items and he replaced them for me. I did hand him over £20 for doing the work. At the same time he checked the car over for MOT and all it needed was the handbrake adjusted and some wee part replaced to do with the handbrake. It cost £5 for a brand new part which was brilliant. MOT day came and she went straight through with no problems.
After having owned her for just over a year and with 87,000 miles on the clock I came across another car in the autotrader. I never really intended on changing the car but the car I had seen really caught my eye and comparing the 2 cars I much prefered the one I had just found. It was a 1998 Rover 216 Coupe SE in British Racing Green with 80,000 miles. One thing led to another and I ended up buying the Coupe and thus the wee 214 was surplus to requirements.
I couldn't at that point though bring myself to sell the wee 214 and I ended up parking her up at my grannies for a further year of never turning a wheel. It used to break my heart to go up and see her look more abandoned and dirtier than ever. The MOT had now expired, tax expired, seats moulded, and spiders nesting in the mirrors. I then decided she would be tidied up, MOT'd and sold as I would rather see it on the road than sitting parked up with noone loving it.
And so thats what happened. The new owner came out to look at her and fell in love. Ended up selling the car with all my upgrades (ZR interior etc) and I got £800 which I was well pleased with but I was more pleased with the fact she went to a good home and was now on the roads again!
Thats the story of my beloved 214Si which to this day I still miss.
Anyways time for more helpful stuff.
To sum up these cars are cheap to buy, reliable, cheap to maintain, cheap to service, cheap to run (35mpg town driving and like I said, I made full use of the rev gauge) and look stunning! I much prefer the look of these to the 25, however I do love the look of the ZR.
I dont have any bad sides to say. Everything was still working fine when I sold the car, it never broke down on me and the only expenses I had with the car was that £5 handbrake part, servicing items and petrol.
A fantastic second hand car for someone not wanting to spend a fortune on a car!
Thankyou for reading and I hope this helps on some level.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Stunning looks, rare to see, fantastic spec, good handling, cheap to buy and maintain Disadvantages: A few niggly faults, the 1.6 k series engine isn't much different to the 1.4
kris214 09.07.2009 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Rover 200 Coupe
Mar 6th, 2009
very helpful by (100%):
