MG ZT-T

[stentona]

Anyone have any thoughts on this Estate? I'm thinking of buying one (£3000 - £4500)
Cheers,
Stent

[jbi]

my sister owns one...

utterly shocking build quality and more rattles than a texas desert

but it does drive very nicely for what it is

[stentona]

Which particular model is it?

[piquetuk]

I drove a ZT-T 2.5 V6 190 a few years ago as a replacement car for a week and really enjoyed it, much better than I was expecting actually!

At that budget you're not far off a V8 260 RWD, which I still really like the idea of, a real sleeper

[jbi]

stentona said:

Which particular model is it?

she owns the TD4 diesel saloon.

like I said it's a nice drive and easily mapped for upwards of 150hp, but the damn thing is held together with tape and bailing wire.

[MGJohn]

stentona said:

Anyone have any thoughts on this Estate? I'm thinking of buying one (£3000 - £4500)
Cheers,
Stent

Drive one then decide. The V6 version is a good drive... Find a nice example and you'll be pleased with it. The V8s, particularly the ZT-T are really nice but, rarer than the proverbials and are sought after. A work colleague has one. A V8 ZT-T appeared on a local car lot and as soon as the ad. appeared, I went to view. It was sold by the time I arrived. The sales guy could have sold it ten times soon after apparently ~ the phone did not stop ringing.
.

[Elroy Blue]

I had a 2.5 V ZT for over two years. One of the best cars I've ever owned. Never went wrong, never creaked or rattled and much better than the Passat I had before that.

[P700DEE]

Mate of mine has run a diesel one for the last five years and loves it. Gets around 50mpg even fully loaded. Basically he has found that the mechanicals are pretty much BMW 3 series with Rover labels and very reliable

[miniman]

Just bought one cheapy cheap from a mate. It's a bit tatty outside but it goes well. £1k.

[bazking69]

jbi said:

utterly shocking build quality and more rattles than a texas desert

Strange. All the ones I have been driven have felt well put together. By far the best product to wear the badge in the last 10 years. Not a bad car at all.

They do suffer a whole host of common problems (fuel pumps, tank senders, V6 upper manifolds breaking up, 1.8 is a K-series engine..., breather pipes, lower arm bushes, door actuators etc) but are generally a good car. I'd have one.

Buy wisely though. Lots of dogs about. Make sure you get 2 keys, as spare keys are £200. Also be aware that panelwork and parts availability can be problematic, especially on the facelift stuff. Even the best cars available aren't alot of money, so buy the best you can.

ZT260 is a howler too.

[jbi]

maybe she got a lemon... but absolutely everything in it seems to be coming apart.

Panels squeak when pushed, the door cards are ready to fall out, .the rear seat is warped and wont sit properly (not to mention the only way to get them down is to use the handle from a hacksaw as a lever after the buttons fell apart) the headliner is falling down, the dash panels are falling out, the boot leaks (it's one of the tail lights), drivers electric window switch is playing up, rust is forming under the bonnet, the speakers are rattling and the front control arm bushing are starting to go out.

clutch slave cylinder has started leaking so clutch needs bled constantly... hmm what else

There's more but I can't remember

This is a 2004 model with 60,000 miles on the clock

Edited by jbi on Thursday 15th April 11:19

[kambites]

I think even Rover's good models had more than their spare of Friday-afternoon examples.

[Arese]

jbi said:

maybe she got a lemon... but absolutely everything in it seems to be coming apart.

Panels squeak when pushed, the door cards are ready to fall out, .the rear seat is warped and wont sit properly (not to mention the only way to get them down is to use the handle from a hacksaw as a lever after the buttons fell apart) the headliner is falling down, the dash panels are falling out, the boot leaks (it's one of the tail lights), drivers electric window switch is playing up, rust is forming under the bonnet, the speakers are rattling and the front control arm bushing are starting to go out.

clutch slave cylinder has started leaking so clutch needs bled constantly... hmm what else

There's more but I can't remember

This is a 2004 model with 60,000 miles on the clock

Edited by jbi on Thursday 15th April 11:19

Jeez.

[miniman]

I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with the build quality. All the examples I've ever driven have a bit of a squeak where the driver's seat bolster rubs on the centre tunnel but otherwise they seem well built. If you've owned an E39 5-series you'll spot many identical parts which is the legacy of the BMW era.

[Roman]

My ZT has been great since I bought it in 2004, certainly never any rattles or squeaks. I'd say a CDTI should get around 10-15mpg more than my 190 but will cost quite a lot more to buy. Up until around 5000rpm the V6 160 loses little power to the 190 and is slightly higher geared so maybe 1-2mpg more.

[Jakg]

Depends what you want in a car - I have a 2004 ZT with 82k on the clock and it's great. £4k will get you a 2004 CDTI Estate, but if you can stomach a worse MPG and higher VED then the 190 is by far the way to go.

Reliability wise - every model has an achiles heel - the 1.8 has HGF, 2.5 has the VIS issue, and the CDTI has an expensive clutch - but it's not exactly unreliable.

My advice would be wait for one with as many toys as you can (and hang around the owners clubs as thats where the best ones turn up). No-one really wants a base spec car.

EDIT - Also, in terms of performance CDTI demands by far the highest prices - and performance wise if you add a Synergy 2 box and a few other mods your looking at 150-160 BHP from the 135 model. The 190 will be looking at 200 ish with a new air filter and a remap, and will be much cheaper...

Edited by Jakg on Thursday 15th April 12:18