Between the lines
▶ I’ve just done something that I once did pretty-much every month, but haven’t done at all for several years;
I’ve bought a Rover 75! It’s a 2004 Connoisseur SE Diesel estate (an early facelift version). At the time of writing/ going to press I haven’t actually seen it – it was an online BCA purchase that will be arriving from Leeds by transporter in the next week. I thought, though, that it might be useful to go through the purchase decision-making process.
First good news was the source; main dealer part-exchange from a very large dealer group; Lookers in this case. It was also a Grade 3 car, and while that would be a fairly middling grade for a two-yearold car, because grading is absolute and takes no account of age, for a 17-year-old it was good – very good in fact! It was also a two-owner car with a ‘last new V5C’ date of 2012, meaning that the last owner had had the car for nine years. The service history indicated 12 services with a last one in 2019 – so probably due one now but 12 in 17 years so far is pretty good, especially on a car with 15,000-mile mileage intervals. The listing also confirmed two keys. Besides being a practical advantage (especially when dealing with a manufacturer that no longer exists) this is further indication of careful ownership.
Then there’s the spec. As this is a facelift 75, the Connoisseur SE isn’t the range-topper, but this one had a nice level of kit including a sunroof (rare on 75s but handy as it adds a bit of extra front seat headroom), and leather trim which were listed, and the cruise control, heated front seats and onboard computer I could see in the photos.
I also spotted, in the dash with engine running photo, that the temperature gauge was spot-on half-way. That’s good, as 75 diesel thermostats sometimes stick open leading to cold running and an ineffective heater, and changing one is an absolute nightmare of a job.
And finally, a little but possibly significant thing: Though the car is now 17-years-old, the MOT expiry is still on the anniversary of its date of first registration! This seems to suggest that the car hasn’t passed through the trade or been off the road for any length of time. In fact, this, coupled with the way
“I also spotted, in the dash with engine running photo, that the temperature gauge was spot-on half-way. That’s good, as 75 diesel thermostats sometimes stick open leading to cold running and an ineffective heater, and changing one is an absolute nightmare of a job.”
in which everything else seems to stack up so well, has given me a trader’s sixth sense feeling that this might even be two owner in name only car – demo plus one, husband then wife or similar perhaps?
As I say, I don’t have the car yet, but
I’ll tell you next month how correct my reading of and between the lines actually was. One other thing – with cars like this you can totally ignore ‘book’ prices; look instead at what similar cars are actually selling for and work back from that. Currently, 75s that are as nice overall as this one seems to be are knocking on £3k’s door.
My purchase price? Not for public knowledge, but I will say that it was a lot, lot, lot more than the £790 CAP ‘Clean’ figure…