Rover 213S - Worth saving?

[undernutter]

So, having owned a honda engined 400 saloon for three months now I appear to have caught the rover bug. Whilst rifling through old sheds on Ebay I found this.

I'd be giving it some thought if it was more local. These are like poor quality wobbly children's play pony curse word now and the S model is particularly scarce. Its somewhat unorthodox, granted, but I very much doubt he'll want an awful lot of money for it...

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rover-213-Left-Behind-42k-Starts-Drives-a-Bit-Tax-6-Mnths-Mot-Honda-Engine/171268041679?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222003%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3D5458469696287460867%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D20140122125356%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D161245777898&rt=nc#viTabs_0

Original listing:
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROVER-213S-HONDA-ENGINE-42K-HAS-MOT-RUNS-RARE-CAR-NOW-/221390392646?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item338be54d46&nma=true&si=S%252B6mEazY%252F%252FaiPitWtYiMVVLMEIY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

[chrisdcapri]

I've got a 213s, albeit in needing a lot of work. They were much maligned for their unrivalled ability to rust to nothing within minutes of leaving the factory but the engines are brilliant. I had a base model 213 as my first car, never serviced it and totally abused it, did many thousands of miles on it and it was still running sweet as a nut until it finally failed the MOT on terminal rust. If it's got an MOT then worth saving in my opinion, they do crop up from time to time and as you say, fetch very little money. It would be great if this could be saved, sadly it's a bit far for me and my stables are currently full.

[dbizzle]

VDP plate is a nice touch...

[retroturbo]

If it's dirt cheap and kosher, why not.

Got a brand new Haynes in cellophane for one of these for when you fix that fuel pump. Yours for nowt if you get the car.

[chairchild]

reading the listing, you actually feel bad for the guy selling it!

If it was closer, I'd give it a bid

[vonthrash]

Mar 13, 2014 16:11:40 GMT chrisdcapri said:

. . . . . the engines are brilliant. I had a base model 213 as my first car, never serviced it and totally abused it, did many thousands of miles on it and it was still running sweet as a nut until it finally failed the MOT on terminal rust.

Ditto.

My first car was a 213SX, Metallic british racing green, red rubbing strip, rev counter, . . . in my 18 year old head, I was practically driving a full on racing car. And treated it as such. The engine and gearbox much have been made of kryptonite or something - absolutely indestructable.

Buy it.

[metroman]

I've bid!

[Granadamk2]

Good luck with the bid, these are great cars! My parents bought a 1989 red 213s from my uncle who bought it new. We kept it for years until it practically fell apart. Great memories. This could be an excellent purchase!

[allanwales]

Guys....it's my car. Bought it yesterday after travelling 300 miles for it. Guy called tim (I found out after talking to him he runs a recovery business) can I bad - mouth him? He must have knew about this fault, told me not to go on Motorway straight away, etc. Had experience of driving at 30mph and less for hour and a half yesterday. So, £64 for train down, £77 for tax, £30 for fuel, £25 for day insurance and breakdown (not worth anything), £42 for travelodge, and finally £65 for train back up. Less than happy but you should see by my feedback I'm at least genuine. Currently own a 84 accord and this was supposed to be a replacement that was near the same and had that wee-er engine I know is great. Ask as many questions as you can!

[chrisdcapri]

Gutted to hear of your bad luck, I really hope it finds a good home with someone from here.

[allanwales]

So it went for £180ish, minus ebay fees and posting key off, I've lost £500 because of Tim at Db solutions in rushden, Northamptonshire ..who I found out has recovered this vehicle and sold it the way it is, without informing me of it's issue.
His mobile number on Google lights up like an xmas tree of dodgyness, is there anything I can do about this guy?!

[ksry]

Trading Standards? Surely if he sold it knowing there was a fault (previous onwer should be able to confirm this), then he's liable for some sort of pay back? I know it's difficult with it being sold as seen etc, but as he is a company, he surely has rules to play by

[stealthstylz]

When did the fault develop? Did it happen on the test drive?

[1900sr]

Maybe the seller has been less than honest, however the original listing for the car did say "Please bare in mind it has just sat since last June so a service etc is needed before use don’t just drive away needs tailoring away and the cam belt hasn’t been done".

[montythemole]

Sounds a bummer of a story there, hope it's gone to someone who will save it. Only seen one of these on the road in last 10 years and sentimental as was my first car as well (seems a few of us on here had them as first cars).

[AB car pix]

Harsh, but this is where having all the options ticked on your recovery pays off!
I learned the expensive way about this too many years ago!

Basic breakdown is utterly useless if you never leave the vicinity in which you live!

[matbrojoe]

Mar 14, 2014 21:30:14 GMT 1900sr said:

Maybe the seller has been less than honest, however the original listing for the car did say "Please bare in mind it has just sat since last June so a service etc is needed before use don’t just drive away needs tailoring away and the cam belt hasn’t been done".

Assuming allanwales bought the car directly from the first listing, that listing does say, as you point out, that the car is not suitable to be driven away. With that in mind i don't think the seller ripped allan off in any way, he was honest about the car's condition, the buyer made the decision to ignore the advice in the listing and drive the car 300 miles home. The actual fault that stopped it was a very minor issue with the fuel pump, had he sought out a local mechanic surely it could have been fixed for not much more than the cost of the train ticket home. Alan has my sympathies for the bad luck he's suffered, butI'm afraid he's putting the blame on the wrong person.