Not all dealers have survived, but companies such as Warranty Direct ( www.warrantydirect. co.uk) are willing to offer owners full protection. MG Rover buyers are protected under sale-of-goods legislation and should expect that their cars are of satisfactory quality - and responsibility in relation to these rights rests with the dealer. Warranties were the major concern of many, because cars up to three years old were, suddenly, unprotected. MG Rover values have not collapsed to the point where you can buy them for 10p. PWC released cars gradually and there has been a constant demand for product, and a nationwide support network has sprung up to service, support and provide warranties. A 25 is a useful shopping trolley, dated but efficient - and, in MG ZS form, fun to punt around.
The 45 is rather pointless, but it does have a large boot and the depreciation is horrendous (I recently found a 2000 example for £1,000, which is brilliant value if you just need a second car for the commute or station run). If you need a comfortable, though not particularly spacious, car with an olde worlde charm, the 75 is brilliant. Go for the one with the BMW diesel engine and you are laughing, with almost 50mpg and great acceleration. The Tourer estate looks great and, with MG ZT go-faster looks, nothing else seems meaner. Indeed, you can make a decent case for buying just about all of the late models, apart from the CityRover and 45. So if you always promised yourself an MG Rover, they are still out there. Just because the factory making MG Rovers has ceased to be, this does not mean that the cars stop working.
They still have 1,500 in stock, which will be sold over the coming months to large dealer groups, car supermarkets and auctions. Although their manufacturer has ceased to be (for the time being, anyway), 35,000 cars have been left behind, so what exactly has happened to them? According to the liquidators, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the majority of those on contract-hire and lease agreements had to go back to their ultimate owners So 24,000 went to Capital Bank and 3,000 to Lloyds Bank That left around 8,000 new and used MG Rovers. In fact, it has been an utterly catastrophic one for the thousands of workers who lost their jobs. Recently, I heard an idiot radio presenter say, without any hint of irony, that it had been a bad year for MG Rover.
