Rover 75 Connoisseur SE 2.0 V6

I HAVE A ROVER 75 2.5 V6 Connoisseur Auto.It is a pleasure to drive I also have a company car which is a Citroen Picasso1.6HDI 110bhp the Rover is still

better than this.

Bought the TD version automatic (BMW engine) in August 2007 for my husband as I thought it would be nice for him to have a 'classy' car at a price I could afford. Sourced it on ebay which led me to the garage that sold it new originally so have the history - our other car was a Scenic Monaco! Until today that is. Now our other car is a Toyota Corolla Verso Automatic for the local running around. Now it seems, my husband would prefer to change the Rover which has upset me somewhat as few cars can have such a pedigree.

I don't normally like cars, they are an instrument only. Why do I love the Rover 75? It just seems so civilised. Why fight with other drivers for the road? The 75 belongs there.

I bought the car a V6 SE, July 2001 new and have not regretted it.

It has everything more or less but it would have been an advantage if it had a rear windscreen wiper. I will keep the car for a long time.

Nice looking car inside and drives well, you could fall asleep at wheel, as it is so smooth to drive. I've got the 2lt v6 manual and for 2 grand I think it's a bargain for a car that looks posh and runs like a 20 grand car.

Fantastic car, I'd rather drive this than new Jag. I would give it 20 points out of 10 for value for money if I could.

Overall I'm not at all happy with the Rover 75 Connoisseur SE 2.0 V6 reliability so many items failing after only 55K miles. After spending £2K on repairs I suppose I shall have to keep running the car to get my money's worth, but as I'm doing 25K miles per year I suppose in 2 more years and 105K miles on the clock the time to sell it will be then, lets hope that nothing else fails in the meanwhile.

The performance is acceptable but for such a large heavy car the engine is under powered specially on LPG, maybe the diesel engine with more torque would be an improvement.

I'd had my share of sports cars and decided I should settle for a normal car, I'd always fancied the Rover 75 Connoisseur SE having only seen the interior, when one became available on the local forecourt I had a look, a little out my price range I walked away, then Rover went into crisis and 100's began to fall and it became available so I bought it.....

First thing I noticed was the clutch, the biting point was very high and took a while to get used to smooth gear changing, secondly it wasn't as responsive as I'd liked, but once on a motorway was happy enough, then thirdly was the fuel consumption - even on motorway driving I was getting 350 miles to a tank!!!! then came the little bits, awkward to change the indicator bulbs at the front (this is an art) then came a headlamp change, all seems straight forward until you realize there's a pipe in your way, then in the winter (especially in frosty conditions) it plays havoc with your central locking, the car seemed to think a door was open when it wasn't, then the back doors wouldn't open! Then as it got warmer they did!! (deep breath), a few month later I noticed pools of water in the back this turned out to be blocked drain holes (of which you cant see from the top and need to go under the car to free) but it has got a very good security system, I'd opened the boot without the doors and looked my keys in the boot (not the cars fault) and when I finally found someone who could get in the car as soon as I pressed the boot release my car DEADLOCKED (great!!). I ended up buying a new keyfob which took an age to arrive, this then needed coding so I could put the keys into the ignition to unlock the cars deadlocking system, in the end I was traveling 70 miles a day and it was costing me more to run the car then to feed and clothe my family, maybe if I bought the car from new and had it 3 yrs then passed it on this review could have been so different, but as it is I would never buy anything solely British again.

If I knew that Rover was going to stop building these cars, I would have never bought the 75 Connoisseur SE! BIG MISTAKE. Resell value is now only £2500,-!!!

After the first time I sat in a Rover 75 Connoisseur SE I knew I just had to have one, all that leather, wood veneer and chrome - now I have, the 2.0lt V6 petrol model.

Over the years I have owned lots of Rovers, P4, P5, P5b, P6 and the more recent 214SEi - (this one is more Honda than Rover in my opinion) but the 75 feels like the old Rovers felt to drive and ride in.

The leather heated electric memory seats can be adjusted to any position, as can the steering wheel, giving a perfect driving position.

All the toys you could ask for are fitted, mine has electric rear blind, cruise control, self dimming mirror, wiper sensors, 6 cd changer and reversing sensors - all work perfectly on my 5 year old car.

Driving it is a joy, although I have never stalled a car so much as the engine is so quiet from inside the car so you don't know how many revs your giving it without looking at the rev counter!

The car has high mileage - 100k but the only give-away is a slight slackness in the transmission (although this could be due to a worn suspension bush or something - I haven't checked yet)

On board computer is showing fuel consumption at 28.8mpg around town which is good given the size of the car and I live in a hilly area.

All my family absolutely love this car and I am honestly only considering another 75 when this one is due for replacement - I can't think of higher praise than that.

In short, if you are thinking of buying one of these - do it, go for the highest spec you can afford and practice your best royal wave at all the people you drive by!