I seem to have a bit of a problem with my Rover 416SLi. It’s not winning me over!

I have a reputation for quickly getting bored with cars – there has been quite a turnover this year, even though I promised myself (yet again) that I’d be more restrained. On the face of it, the Rover seemed the ideal car for settling down with. It’s brisk, not too horrendous on fuel (albeit pretty poor for a 1.6), is in good condition and eats up miles readily.

Lovely scenery and a car that’s hard to love

But already, it’s a car I don’t really want to drive. Yes, the steering is delightful. Yes, the new Uniroyal tyres are stupendously grippy. Yes, it starts first turn of the key, every time. But the ride is jiggly. There are some annoying trim rattles. The brakes judder terribly. The gearchange is unpleasantly notchy. The clutch hurts my foot. All is not well. I don’t really understand why the clutch is hurting my foot. It is nicely light. Mind you, I had issues with a later ‘bubble’ Rover 400 we owned a few years ago too. It was absolutely horrific to drive in traffic. Perhaps the long pedal travel is the problem.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s not a bad car to drive by any means. I’m just finding that while it’s an easy car to like, it’s a hard car to love. So, why isn’t it already advertised for sale? Well, two reasons. Firstly, the DVLA have not yet issued me with a new V5C, so selling it is problematic. Secondly, having just had it shod with a set of Uniroyal Rain Sport 3 tyres, I really feel the need to give them more of a test. I’m very interested to see what the wear rate it.

There is also the problem of having just taxed the car, though if I sold it after 1st October, that would automatically be refunded anyway. Perhaps I should offer it up for sale as an increasingly rare opportunity to buy a car with vehicle tax! In just a few weeks, it will no longer be possible. In the meantime, I’ll chase up the DVLA. Where’s my logbook?