I had the Rover 800 Sterling as a company car for a very short while, to test suitability for the company fleet, as I was one of the higher mileage drivers. Great car, nice interior, quality of fitting and finish not so great, it finished up being written off whilst parked outside my house. Apparently the steel is so thin on them, a well known scum bag trick was to put your knee up below the door lock and pull the window frame back, (do it with just your fingers) and bend the top of the door frame outwards so you can then get your hand down inside to release the door catch.

I must have been one of the lucky ones and got an absolute beginner, when they bent the front passenger door out, it triggered the alarm system as they released the door catch and they ran away. To add to my luck it was raining and the leather interior as well as a door and part of the passenger side B pillar was buggered up. So the car was written off, which didn't go down well with the Group Insurance Manager as he had taken us into 'self insurance' policies, basic RTA and we stood the cost of the write off.........Rover had very little comfort to offer, they were aware of the problem of the forced doors and the quite ineffective alarm system

Needless to say the company didn't include the Rover 800 in its fleet following that incident, anyways not as nice a car as the Rover SDI were, also crap BL build quality and poor storage facility handling.

Always like the Rover brand one of my Uncles had a succession of them from P4 Rover 75 upto the P5 3Lr and 3.5 coupe, always gave the impression of rich wood and leather one would find in a Gentlemen's' Club.

Last edited by JohnHarris; 13/04/26 08:05 AM.
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