Common problems

Rover 75 common problems

What MOT testers find on the Rover 75: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 33,751 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 20 years, the most tested age

Suspension fails per 100 MOTs (n=7,100)24.1

All cars at 20 years (n=1,845,952)16.5

Suspension advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=7,100)38.6

All cars, same age (n=1,845,952)35.2

What stands out

Suspension fails show up on 24.1 of every 100 MOTs of a Rover 75 at 20 years old (n=7,100), against 16.5 for all cars of that age (n=1,845,952).
Lights and electrics fails are less common: 17.1 per 100 MOTs against 21.2 for all cars at the same age.
The fail item testers record most often at 20 years: component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength, on 7.4 per 100 MOTs (all cars 2.9).
The most common advisory or minor defect: rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material, on 22.5 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 20 years

How many of every 100 MOTs found a fail, or an advisory or minor defect, in each area. A test with faults in two areas counts in both.

Rover 75 at 20 years (n=7,100) against all cars at 20 years (n=1,845,952). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Suspension	24.1	16.5	38.6	35.2
Lights and electrics	17.1	21.2	18.5	17.4
Brakes	13.6	13.5	35.7	33.7
Body and structure	8.6	9.2	11.2	15.6
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	6.7	7.6	4.6	6.4
Seat belts and airbags	5.8	3.1	1.2	1.5
Tyres	5.5	6.4	25.3	26.1
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	4.5	7.0	5.4	15.6
Steering	4.4	4.2	8.2	6.5
Road wheels	0.6	0.4	1.3	1.1
Number plates and VIN	0.5	0.7	5.1	6.3

What testers fail most on the 75 at 20 years

Fail items on the Rover 75 at 20 years (n=7,100), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=1,845,952).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength	Suspension	7.4	2.9
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect	Lights and electrics	5.2	4.0	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Suspension arm bush worn	Suspension	4.7	2.1	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)
Handbrake too weak	Brakes	4.7	2.8
Airbag (SRS) warning light on	Seat belts and airbags	4.0	1.4	diagnosis from £39 (rough guide)
Coil spring broken	Suspension	3.9	2.6	£64 to £236 per spring (rough guide)
Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded	Brakes	3.8	2.5	£137 to £392 per car (rough guide)
Linkage ball joint dust cover: ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt	Suspension	3.2	1.4	£33 to £102 per link (rough guide)
Suspension ball joint worn	Suspension	2.9	2.3	£75 to £237 per side (rough guide)
Steering track rod end: ball joint play	Steering	2.9	2.0	£54 to £128 per side (rough guide)

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 20 years

Advisories and minor defects are recorded, but the car still passes. Across all cars, a part with an advisory or minor defect failed at the next MOT 5.5 times in 100 (n=88,666,940 pairs of consecutive MOTs), against 0.3 times in 100 when the same part had none (n=12,936,860,350).

Advisories and minor defects on the Rover 75 at 20 years (n=7,100), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=1,845,952).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material	Brakes	22.5	15.2	£137 to £392 per car (rough guide)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	16.0	15.7	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	12.0	10.7	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Suspension arm: corroded but not seriously weakened	Suspension	11.0	3.0	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	9.3	10.2	£88 to £145 per tyre
Suspension arm pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement	Suspension	8.4	7.7	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)
Sub-frame: corroded but not seriously weakened	Suspension	7.1	4.8
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources	Lights and electrics	6.6	5.4
Component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive	Suspension	6.3	3.4
Coil spring: corroded	Suspension	5.6	8.0

Repair estimates are a guide for an independent garage: labour at the national median local garage rate (median £78 an hour from 65 garages, ONS price quotes) times estimated labour hours, plus a parts band. Labour hours and most parts bands are estimates, not quotes, and prices vary by model, engine and region. A warning light fault shows the cost of the diagnosis only.

How problems change with age

Fails per 100 MOTs in the three most common areas at 20 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Suspension	Lights and electrics	Brakes
17 years	1,717	23.0	15.8	12.6
18 years	4,615	24.7	16.6	14.6
19 years	6,446	23.3	16.9	13.7
20 years	7,100	24.1	17.1	13.6
21 years	6,126	23.8	15.8	13.3
22 years	4,153	23.1	15.3	13.0
23 years	2,417	22.8	14.9	12.6
24 years	1,177	19.5	14.3	11.1

Mileage

At 20 years, Rover 75 cars showing 60,000 to 90,000 miles failed 40.7% of MOTs (n=1,744); the band that failed most, over 150,000 miles, failed 50.5% (n=1,186). For pass and fail rates by age, see Rover 75 MOT fail rates.

What to check on a viewing

On the Rover 75, testers most often record component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength; headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect; suspension arm bush worn. Look at these first, then the areas below.

Suspension

Listen for knocks or clonks over speed bumps and rough roads on the test drive.
Push down hard on each corner: the car should settle at once rather than keep bouncing.
Look behind the wheels for broken or heavily rusted coil springs and split rubber bushes.
Check that the car sits level and that no tyre is worn on one edge only.

Lights and electrics

With someone outside, try every light: dipped and main beam, indicators, brake lights, fog lights and number plate lamps.
Check that the warning lights come on with the ignition and go out once the engine runs.
Look for misted, cracked or yellowed headlamp lenses.

Brakes

On the test drive the car should stop in a straight line without pulling, juddering or grinding.
Look at the discs through the wheels for a deep lip, heavy rust or scoring.
Check that the handbrake or electronic parking brake holds the car on a slope.
Ask when the pads, discs and brake fluid were last changed, and for the receipts.

Ask for the car's MOT history and service record: advisories that repeat from one year to the next show what has been left. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the most common problems on the Rover 75?

At 20 years, the age with the most MOT tests (7,100), the fail items testers record most often on the Rover 75 are component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (7.4 per 100 MOTs), headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect (5.2 per 100 MOTs), suspension arm bush worn (4.7 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material (22.5) and tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (16.0).

Which parts of the Rover 75 fail more often than on other cars?

At 20 years: suspension (24.1 per 100 MOTs against 16.5 for all cars); seat belts and airbags (5.8 per 100 MOTs against 3.1 for all cars). Compared with 1,845,952 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Rover 75 problems by area

Other Rover models

All Rover models · Common problems by make

Read this with care. A fail rate is not a measure of build quality. How far cars are driven, how they are used and how well owners maintain them all change it, and wear items such as tyres and brake pads are common fails. Compare a model only with cars of the same age. Methodology and limits.

The all cars figures cover all class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans) tested at the same age.

Looking at a Rover 75?

These figures describe the model, not the car in front of you. Found one you might buy? See what the VetTheCar Buying Report covers, or use the tools that work without a registration.

See a sample report Car tools · MOT fail rates by model · Compare models by MOT record

Repair estimates: ONS consumer price quotes for local garage labour (09/2025 to 08/2026), the MOT inspection manual for defect wording, and estimated labour hours and parts bands. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ONS.

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal MOT tests, 2022 to 2025. MOT data updated 28 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources