Maestro Montego Club

[Austin-Rover]

For the majority of Maestro and Montego owners, I think it is the case that the 'cheap motoring' part of the equation will figure quite near the top of the list. This being your main criteria for owning one doesn’t mean you are not a 100% dedicated enthusiast. In that case, I can see why very very few people would entertain £3,000 for a bodyshell!

The enthusiast movement for these cars at the moment is still quite young, its only 12 years since the last ones were made. It will more than likely be the case that demand for these items, like new bodyshells will increase when the cars become older, and there are no immaculate examples out there still to be found, which the case is currently. At the moment, it is still going to be easier to wait a few months to find the best example of whatever model you want than to reshell a rougher example spending several thousands of pounds. Perhaps now is not the time to be working towards such a sizeable and expensive item like new bodyshells? This will probably be more productive in a number of years time.

[Guest]

My current Maestro and two Montegos are, to me, cheap motoring. End of.
...........a year's MoT, at worst, will cost me about 6 weeks of payments on a new car - and then the rest of the year is 'free'?

Exactly! I'm glad I'm not the only one.

My maestro was acquired because it was a cheap - actually free - automatic when I needed one. The fact that I found it surprisingly good to drive was a bonus, joining the club was simply a sensible idea as the owner of a car no longer in production, and that has proved to be another bonus as I've had some fun and met some nice folks!

When the car failed the MOT recently needing welding etc, my first thought was how much it was going to cost - rapidly followed by the thought that whatever it cost would be less than buying something else, and anyway I'm rather attached to little Doris now!

[Guest]

My current Maestro and two Montegos are, to me, cheap motoring. End of.

To you as an enthusiast yes, but lets face it how many average people after a cheap run about are going to think Montego or Maestro or even Metro ? Not many ...

I certainly dont see any of mine as cheap run abouts, they cost more to keep on the road than my every day drive :laugh: But I have mine to restore and keep as near to new condition as I can. I like them to drive also , but faced with a 340 mile drive to Aberdeen for work its my Peugeot Van or ZTT everytime

I've had no problems with service items at all, but agree body panels for major renovation are a major issue

The average service parts are readily available and will be for a good many years, but as for many mechanical and bodywork parts they are already hard to source. Most exhaust manufacturers have deleted the common Montego and Maestro systems. engine mounts, oil pumps, suspension mounts etc all NLA. I spend lots of time tracking down and buying up old stock in the hunt for parts to restore my cars. 75% of parts I query on dealers are NLA.
10-20 year old cars cant be kept running with an oil change and new spark plugs indefinatley, the cars suffer with terminal rust problems and like to disolve in the rain. Finding a sound one that wont need bodywork repairs is getting very difficult.

[Guest]

For the majority of Maestro and Montego owners, I think it is the case that the 'cheap motoring' part of the equation will figure quite near the top of the list. This being your main criteria for owning one doesn’t mean you are not a 100% dedicated enthusiast. In that case, I can see why very very few people would entertain £3,000 for a bodyshell!

The enthusiast movement for these cars at the moment is still quite young, its only 12 years since the last ones were made. It will more than likely be the case that demand for these items, like new bodyshells will increase when the cars become older, and there are no immaculate examples out there still to be found, which the case is currently. At the moment, it is still going to be easier to wait a few months to find the best example of whatever model you want than to reshell a rougher example spending several thousands of pounds. Perhaps now is not the time to be working towards such a sizeable and expensive item like new bodyshells? This will probably be more productive in a number of years time.

I dont dispute that people are not 100% dedicated enthusiasts. But sadly if you see it as a cheap every day car it will come a time when it meets the great crusher in the sky. To have a Montego or Maestro in excellent condition 10 years from now will take more than viewing it as a cheap car.

I would gladly pay 3K if I had it to get a new shell for one of my Maestro Turbos, I have one that has been badly repaired and used as a cheap fast drive, now its not safe to be used on the road and I have to strip it and await for a good shell to come my way so I can rebuild it. If people didnt do that there wouldnt be hardly any left in a few years.

In a number of years time the option of new bodyshells wont exist, Estong wont make them forever and once they finish making them the tooling will be destroyed. British Heritage are not going to suddenly knock a batch of shells up as people decide they want a nice shiny new ones.
The Mini and MGB remanufactured shells are a great success as owners with those cars will pay the money to restore them. The same will never happen for the Triple-M cars as people will never pay the money.
The recent offers by X part on the bulk sale of quarter panels etc was a total flop as people didnt want to pay the price .. If people were serious about keeping the cars running they would take up oportunities like this. People need to be a bit more proactive. Or if they dont, dont be shocked in a couple of years when you cant get a panel to repair your pride and joy.
Forward thinking is the only thing that will give the cars a good future.

[Austin-Rover]

I dont dispute that people are not 100% dedicated enthusiasts. But sadly if you see it as a cheap every day car it will come a time when it meets the great crusher in the sky. To have a Montego or Maestro in excellent condition 10 years from now will take more than viewing it as a cheap car.

Good points, I can see where you are coming from with it all. My car(s) (19, 21, and 24 years respectively) cost me very little to run, sometimes there is a relatively expensive MOT, but never more than a single monthly payment on a new car on finance, in comparison, to put it in context. Keeping it running involves a lot more time than a newer car, which I don’t mind as I enjoy it, but that time costs very little in terms of parts required. So even with remedial work for MOTs they still cost pretty much peanuts. I fully expect to have to fork out increasing amounts in the future, but at the moment I am happy to enjoy cheap provision of parts and general low costs!

[e692wtt]

I prefer a simpler car - less to go wrong. As for the electronic gubbins on a modern car to control its exhaust emissions, it strikes me as designed-in obsolescence.

Vectra 1.6 V-reg I had dealings with. Its coil pack failed, cost over £100+VAT, but I never heard if this affected the catalytic converter as the car belongs to a now ex :laugh: . Cost for dizzy cap, rotor arm, coil, set of leads for a Monty 1.6? Around £25 from a motor factor... and said Monty 1.6 generally doesn't have a catalyst to trash either.

Some Renault cars have a few issues with Coil Pack Failure (double ended, take out 2 cylinders) - possibility of Catalyst damage ensuing.

Renault DCi engines - if the EGR valve sticks then the Turbo overheats, Turbo oil seals melt, cue uncontrolled flow of engine oil into the engine, so the engine overrevs and blows up. Hmm...

Lots of cars have problems with their EGR valves, they stick due to the nature of their position. The Corsa 'twin port' (and I bet you all thought it said 'twin sport' ) now has 2 EGR valves, to aid exhaust emissions (they say) - I see that as two EGR valves to go wrong .

People at work say "Ooh, need a new car, this one's 2 years old and got 15,000 on the clock so it will be getting unreliable!". I mean, come on! Taking my Monty 1.6 from 75k to 150k has been, frankly, a walk in the park.


Sorry, older car for me anyday . Just start off with a good one with no structural issues other than surface rust (use a hammer) and keep the engine overserviced while driving reasonably and it will be fine. 9 years of regular oil changes and services, with regular checks and remediation of the known rust spots has seen me fine so far .

[Guest]

we are lucky to live in england where there are numerous engineering shops more than capable of recondioning old parts.

dont forget austin rover assembled cars it was outside firms that supplied the parts its them we should be talking to, but if we all unite and bagger the companys into doin ltd production runs "some of them could do with the work " theres a bright future ahead for our cars might cost a little bit more but i recon its worth it

dont fancy driving a bland boring eurobox agan

[Guest]

i agree with you rich and steve especially about the parts its a good point take for example the plastic shroud covering the ignition some has all the tooling for these and possible a load left over from when austin rover went pop and as a club we should source them i have found where you can still by brand new bonnets for maestro at bodicar in sheffield these are still being made and bodi car are supplying some rover agents withn them about hundred pounds
what would that cost for a vauxhall or ford for todays models

[MaestroTurbo]

i agree with you rich and steve especially about the parts its a good point take for example the plastic shroud covering the ignition some has all the tooling for these and possible a load left over from when austin rover went pop and as a club we should source them i have found where you can still by brand new bonnets for maestro at bodicar in sheffield these are still being made and bodi car are supplying some rover agents withn them about hundred pounds
what would that cost for a vauxhall or ford for todays models

The presses used for bodypanels are in China, they will be pattern parts not genuine.

The best hope anyone can have is hope that BMH buys up the tooling from China when Etsong wind down production, with 30k cars left there is a market but no-one knows about it..

[Guest]

If as a group you band together it is surprising what you can do. Businesses out there need orders. I wanted a spare set of lowered springs - only AVO list them as a stock item now but I wanted Puma as I preferred these (they had stood up well since buying a set in 2000). Both are just under a 100 notes with delivery but it was made to special order only now for Puma. So I asked the question 'how many would I need to order for a substantial drop in price... end story is a bunch of TripleM enthusiasts get together and order between them 15 sets and we get them at £59 + vat + deliv. They need the business just like we need the parts. That price is probably the cheapest set of lowered springs on the market for any car and all from just making a phone call.