Eigdoog

Hello,


So the focus is gone and i am looking for a cheap car for now.

I have seen a MG ZS+, 1.8, 2003 for £800 with 71k on the clock.

What are they like? I know its just a rover but for 800 notes i dont think its bad. I did hear there an ok car, if driven slowly ish and not racing around am i likely to see 35 mpg?

Thanks for replies!

tommytwotanks

yeah not bad, as long as the head gasket has already been done, and they have a receipt to prove,

Eigdoog

Yeah its been done with cambelt. Is there any kind of chip i can get for this for better mpg?

I have had a quick look on the bay but its just this

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TUNING-CHIP-MG...#ht_3073wt_907

And for £7.95 i cant see it doing sod all, may even mess it up.

arch

I've had a couple of 120's. Also had the MK2 180. Good cars for the money, what else can you get for £800 that's also an 03 plate car. Good on fuel, parts easy to get hold of, decent level of toys as well.

Most people mention h/g, but I never had one go. Fan not working is also common, but an easy fix. I would easily recommend one mate, in fact I may buy myself another.

http://www.themgzs.co.uk/ is a good place to visit.

Eigdoog

Cheers for the reply!

Just rung them as they never picked the phone up for 45 mins and its just sold but looking at one now thats had everything done and only 30 mins up the road, might give them a call.

tabetha

Good cars, the Hg if it does go is easy to fix, not especially quick, depending on what you're used to, last one I drove had done 23,000 miles in 8 years, but was in trophy blue, found the suspension awful though, they'll easily do 35mpg though.
I prefer the std ish 75 1.8T myself, a even more huge amount of car for the money.
My mate has a business breaking, body repair etc etc of nothing but rovers always has at least 20+ on site, so if you need parts advice etc 01953 458000, ask for richard.
tabetha

Eigdoog

I have been reading up and only thing is head gaskets. Well you said the suspension is shit but if there such a aright car the why dont more people have them?

Im picking mine up tomorrow!

Thanks for the number ill give him a call if i need any bits, only thing is with this car is the exhaust pipe looks rusty right on the back and there is the most gayest mg sticker on the front.

Any way to get this off and not have a mg print on the car from the sun.
Also any more on the chips anyone? the one on eBay i might have ago with as i can return it lol

arch

Use a hair dryer to loosen the adhesive on the sticker, then just a good cut should sort out the residue. As to chips, no idea, sorry.

botters

iTrader: (2)

utter utter utter utter shite cars thats my opinion and ive briefly owned one (bought to sell for profit) and worked on plenty
there is the hg problem but so long as this is sorted with the uprated lotus gasket then it wont come back
they have interiors that disintergrate on them the amount of these ive seen the glovebox drop right out of is appaling!
the doorcards also come loose at the edges occasionley moving so much that you cant actually get the door open!
the suspension is excessivley harsh!
they are stupendously slow for something that is promoted as a sporty model

as tabs said above tho the 75 is a really good car if you put them on a ramp side by side with a 3 series bmw apart from the rover being fwd and the bmw being rwd they are actually 99% identical underpinnings as they were designed during the brief stint that bmw owned rover (to steal the desingns of the range rover downhill desent and other trickery for the x5 no doubt lol)
if it was me i would steer well clear mate

Eigdoog

Good old hair dryer!

Too late ive gone for it. Every car has a fault i guess, gotta look on the bright side. I know they're not fast but speed is not really what im after just a cheap car thats ok.

Do you both mean the rover 75? so surly they're the same as the ZS?

botters

iTrader: (2)

yes rover 75 they are in no way the same as a zs completley in a league of thier own they dont even have the same engine as most are 1.8 turbo petrols or v6's

Eigdoog

Never knew bmw owned rover. Also from looking at the 75 and ZS you would think there the same. Even down to the 7 being the Z and the 5 being the S!

The way i see it is if i dont get along with the mg then ill put it up for sale. There cheap enough for others to buy.

botters

iTrader: (2)

hang on mate ive just realised that not only have i had one too many light ales but i have also confused this whole thread by talking about my experiences of owning and working on mg ZR'S!!!!! they are utter shite the ZS and ZT are both decent please disregard all of my previous statements lol!

Eigdoog

lol no worrys! Everyone has said how good they are lol.

My mate has a ZR and it was and still is utter shit! even the back seats are hard as fuck and the door cards have fell off.

The one im getting has had quite abit of work done so i hope nothing will go wrong! With a mutilayer hg new brakes and pads and other bits i hope not to spend on it.

BM08

How is the ZS better than the ZR? arent they exactly the same car, except bigger? i cant imagine they have a different type of engine,interior/exterior?

nellyscossy

well ive owned a 52 plate zs+ for a year or so, no problems at all, good on fuel,but the ride is stiff as people have said,and on the motorway it needs another gear but it never let us down mind you it was 1 owner and never been chavved up!!! just sold it for 1200 quid 1st buyer brought it no probs.....

on the other hand i have just got a 05 plate zt cdti..much better car drives superb and is quicker than the zs only paid 1800 for it

Madbradz

I have a ZT-T Bmw Diesel lump.. Done 170k now only problem is wear on drivers seat and alternator went! Good car!

Thats since new!

arch

Cor, that's a good price for a cdti mate, how many miles?

tabetha

It would be completely different, the ZS is a completely different car, being based on the medium sized rover 45, the ZT is the one based on the rover 75, the ZR is the one based on the rover 25, seems a lot of confusion here about this.
Of the ZS's that I've driven the suspension was terrible, I found it so uncomfortable and I run coilovers, performance was no good either imo, if I had to have one Rover I would go for a 75 1.8T any day.
tabetha

Etty

what are the zs v6 like, seem good value for money.

jaiscossie

I had a cdti one a few years ago, gave £1800 for it at auction and had it for 2 years, covered around 25k miles all troublefree then px/d it against a mercedes and got my money back for it.Great car.

gazdon

you can have my 2.8 xr4x4 for £800

gazdon

tabetha

Ace, one of my faves, but rare.
the diesels are good using the beemer lump but do have the usual problems, the 75's use 3 pumps just to get the fuel to the engine, excluding the main injection pump, these pumps often go wrong, but do about 45mpg even when thrashed, slow though I think.
tabetha

arch

Excellent cars, go and handle rather well despite what some say. The MK2 180 looks best, but actually the MK1 are slightly better build quality (all in perspective of course).

You can get a very tidy MK1 for around £1000 with the all important cam belts done (has three belts that need changing and it seems it's a rather big job, most folks budget £500 to do it).

Try one, they are rather good.

Eigdoog

Maybe would of drunk to much for me, i wanted to get a xr2i for £650 but no one would let me!

BIGMATT1

ive got a zs 120+ had it for about 6 years now and i never normally keep a car more than 1 year, missus uses it for daily duties alongside the other cars ive got but i probably wont bother ever selling it cause for what its worth i dont think i can find anything better, missus finds its mint on fuel and apart from the head gasket and clutch hydrolics iv never had any trouble with it,and if you do its not mega money to reapair, its the one car ive had where i can just forget ive got it and just drive it, its deffo not the fastest thing out there but if you rev it hard it goes ok, i sold my escort gti years ago to buy this and it was a better car in every way, better on fuel, handled better, not rusting away and it was quicker, and the seats/ interior where better and more comfortable. i would recommend one ive even ended up doing to sprint days in mine at curborugh when the cossy packed up the week before, and (i was banned from taking the focus!) it did a lot better than people thought! and shut a few mates up lol

Eigdoog

Well got it last night and it is nothing like the focus, as in build quality! The focus was just a all round better car BUT the MG is not a bad car for £1200 with a private plate that im going to sell.

The power from the 2 litre focus to his MG i think is unreal as the focus was on tap, as soon as i put my foot on the pedal it was go! But the MG seems like im waiting for a turbo to come in.

The brakes are no way as good as the focus! NO WAY!

But then again it will do me and i dont have anything to really complain about.

Ill get some pictures up after i get the sticker off.

DanW@FastFord

iTrader: (1)

Don't bother with that wanky eBay 'chip'. You'll get just as good a performance gain if you were to sprinkle a bag of oven chips on top of the engine!!