Are rovers reliable

How do you know they are Rovers from that far up.LOL Alternatively how do you know they are unsold! They may be waiting for repairs.

Honda PG1! The PG1 is a Rover gearbox, designed in-house at Longbridge with no Honda design input. The design was so good that subsequent Honda gearboxes were based on a similar design, but they share no components.

Sorry but this is a silly generalisation and is not necessarily true at all. I should know because I have had literally dozens of "continental" cars and I am yet to have to go to any "specialist" garage for anything.

As for parts it depends on what you buy. Parts for many European cars like Fiat, VW, Audi, Skoda, Mercedes are quite plentiful in NZ, prices are good and there are several third party genuine parts importers. Volvo parts are plentiful but are one of the few where some parts can be a bit pricey. However the likes of the S40 is so reliable its rare to need anything other than the usually well priced basic service items.

You should research and assess each car on its merits. Unfortunately you will find many in NZ that have been blinded by nonsense and half truths car dealers have been spewing forth for decades in an effort to sell their often over priced and under featured Japanese imports.

The "popular" Japanese cars in your price range OP will generally be old high km, abused examples with poor safety ratings. Doing some research and getting a nice example of something outside the box that is still a good reliable car will likely yield you a much much better vehicle.

I have bought many vehicles under 2K in my time, most recently my 1999 Fiat Marea with 120K on the clock in lovely condition that even came with a new set of tyres. Its has 2 airbags, abs, pre-tensioners, climate air cond and is a lovely vehicle to drive while still being well built and reliable. Parts are easy to get and cheap. That's the sort of thing to look for IMO.

youve had dozens of continental cars havent you found a good one yet nek minit you will be telling her to buy a lada

Not NECESSARILY true, but frequently it is.

My dad had a 1986 Rover SD1 V8 when it was about 10 years old.

he took it to the local Rover / BMW agent to figure out why it was dying when left to idle while cold.

They proceeded to plug their exhaust gas analyser onto the tail pipe, and twiddled the cold idle screw of ONE of the two carbs until the O2 reading was "about right".

Needless to say this didn't really fix the problem, and having one bank of the V8 running rich and one running very lean at idle was not a very satisfactory state of affairs, IIRC dad had to get a Haynes manual and sort it out himself in the end.

Moral of the story: If you drive an oddball european car, especially an OLD oddball european car, many garages simply don't know what to do, (even authorised marque service agents) but this won't stop them taking you for a ride. Proceed with caution.

The idea of re-powering a Honda Tomcat with a Honda DOHC VTEC engine appeals to me for some reason. would be like owning a Type R Integra except with leather seats and a much cooler interior.

You really are clutching at straws with that example! LOL

Somehow something that happened 16 years ago to a now 26 year old car is proof of an event that apparently frequently happens today!

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llllllllll There's a bunch more straws for you, I don't think you are clutching at enough with that one!

BTW, the vehicles I have suggested I am basing on current first hand experience. Those 1.6 and 1.8 Fiats in particular are really reliable and parts are easy to get and cheap. I should know, I have just personally clocked up 120'000km in a vehicle running the same 1.6 running gear I am suggesting. That vehicle has been super reliable and still runs beautiful clean oil and plugs with 215'000km on the clock.

If the poster comes back for more info as suggested I will be happy to provide some proper first hand advice on what to look for and what to avoid with what I have suggested. They can then go ahead properly informed of the pro's and con's. I wouldn't suggest something I have not had an excellent run out of myself.

You really are clutching at straws with that example! LOL

Somehow something that happened 16 years ago to a now 26 year old car is proof of an event that apparently frequently happens today!

llllllllllllllllllllllllllllll-
llllllllll There's a bunch more straws for you, I don't think you are clutching at enough with that one!

BTW, the vehicles I have suggested I am basing on current first hand experience. Those 1.6 and 1.8 Fiats in particular are really reliable and parts are easy to get and cheap. I should know, I have just personally clocked up 120'000km in a vehicle running the same 1.6 running gear I am suggesting. That vehicle has been super reliable and still runs beautiful clean oil and plugs with 215'000km on the clock. You can even buy vehicles new with that same running gear today.

If the poster comes back for more info as suggested I will be happy to provide some proper first hand advice on what to look for and what to avoid with what I have suggested. They can then go ahead properly informed of the pro's and con's. I wouldn't suggest something I have not had an excellent run out of myself.

BTW, to make myself perfectly clear. I am not saying all European cars are ideal candidates for the OP. What I am saying is there are some good "hidden gems" that are excellent vehicles, but are overlooked by many (like some in this thread) who are so brainwashed they think that the Japanese posess some sort of magical beans that make all their cars more reliable than everyone else's.

Cars are cars, some are good some are bad, sometimes good manufacturers make bad cars, sometimes the opposite happens. You should always assess every car on its merits.