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LOL James thanks for the mention and I do apologise for putting us both through that!! It certainly was the worst challenge I've ever taken on with the 75ZT's I specialise in. One reason it was here for a year is that every job on it took twice as long as normal because of the previous bodge monkeys, so it ended up being worked on between all the other projects here and inbetween the day jobs owners travel here for which I do while they wait. I suspect I saw it through rose tinted specs initially and the MOT items didn’t seem that bad. A lot of things had been bodged like for example a brand new ABS sensor on the rear had been fitted. Great I thought and then began to waste another hour or so tracing a ABS line fault according to T4 diagnostics. I then decided to remove said new sensor only to find the new sensor bit in the hub had been hacksawn off because the bodger couldn't get the old piece out he though it would cure the fault just by sticking the lead through the hole ........I kid you not 😅 What a racket on the way to the MOT. 3 wheel bearings were very loud ⚠️ But we got it through with a clean sheet except for an orange bulb which wasn't orange enough (a pet hate of my tester 🙄) Then because we were 30% into the project it was kind of a point of no return then and I would then send 5 jobs a week to James which needed attention (prices given) and Jayem kept saying Go Ahead !! And the list got longer & longer until I ran out of steam ! I said to Jayem just come and fetch it, use it and see if you want phase 2 next year. Entertaining vid and channel BTW keep up the good work. Jules

Congratulations James if your wearing that shirt for a bet ,you've won mate.

Sorry to hear abour your experience James. It is rather unfortunate this sort of people ruin the Facebook owner groups hopefully the car proves to be better thereafter.

75 owner checking in - thanks for saving another one. So many of these get scrapped for apparently small issues. Jules is a legend in the 75/ZT world, so you are fortunate to have him fixing it.

Bad story, but I had worse. I had a BMW Z4 "J4 UKP" (private plate too). Let a "friend" of mine look after it. I went away on holiday. Came back to find the car had been put in a garage in Hull, sold to somebody. He said he knew nothing about it. I reported to police and DVLA. They said they can't help. Tried to trace the location of the car. Nobody could do anything as the V5 was left in the glove box by me. To this day I have never been able to resolve the issue. Lost 10,000 quid. Pissed off is not even close.

The line "I have saved this car from being scrapped" is used quite liberally among automotive KZfaqrs, but James has genuinely saved this car. From the photos and damage, someone has been absolutely ragging on this thing, basically beating it to death and then conning someone out of some money for it. Most people would have just cut their losses and scrapped it, so James has actually saved it and kept it on the road. It was never my favourite MG, but it is such a rare sight today. Presumably James if now looking for a TF in the classified to get the MG Full House... I initially thought this was going to be an update on the ZS, it's been a very long time since it was even mentioned.

Embarrassed by the car yet not by that shirt? James, you're a true enigma! Love your channel - keep up the great work.

Definitely a punishment from God; one cannot have this many MG Rover products!

Just wanted to mention: there was one step you missed which could have saved you some of the surprises which you encountered: I also bought a car a few years back sight unseen, whilst sitting on a beach in Dubai. Home is London for me and the car was in Wales. The car was a MK3 Golf GTI 16v Anniversary edition, the rare of the rare of UK supplied Mk3 golf’s, and this one was purportedly fully restored and in amazing condition. The step you missed was to arrange a mobile vehicle PPI, which I got done for little over £150, and I got a full report sent to me via email the next day. It wasn’t as comprehensive as taking to a specialist for a complete review, but it did take a few hours and included a test drive and photos. They confirmed to me that this was the best Mk3 golf they had ever seen and the seller was being honest with his description. In your case they would have mentioned the battery situation, possibly the rust, and many other items which were a bit iffy. So there is that little step which is the next best thing to viewing the car yourself, get a mobile pre purchase inspection done! Hope this helps

Sorry Facebook marketplace lived up to it's reputation for you, it's truly awful what scams and dishonesty people try to get away with. But with that being said I am absolutely delighted that you've bought a 75/ZT to complete your collection and have pulled one back from the brink! These are such good cars, criminally underrated and overlooked! I'm living my dream of owning and restoring Rovers vicariously through you. The exotica is great, but it's this side of the channel that I truly adore and look forward to the most. I hope your bond for this car continues to grow and the old hector gets some more love to really make it shine like the flagship it is. Thanks James, this made my day.

Your registration plate says it all😬

Embarrassing story? Probably. But embarrassing car? Absolutely not! I love the ZT and I think it's a great car regardless of the price. It looks superb, both as a saloon and estate, and as mk1 and mk2. It's a shame that they were treated so badly for so long, that there's very few truly good examples left on the roads now, but I'm happy this one was saved from certain death.

There’s a lot to be said for owning a car that you can happily lend to anyone and not worry about it….. I used to own a Hyundai Lantra estate which was my tip car, dog wagon, hay bale carrier and I never had to worry about it….. it cost me £250, I used it for three years, it sailed through its MOT each year and I sold it again for £250 👍

This mirrors my experience with my £1,200 Rover 75 Tourer CDTI purchase. Trip to Jules for a look over resulting in about another £1,200 in essential repairs. Last summer put another £2.5k or so into it and fully rebuilt the suspension, sill rust repair, new brake pipes and a load of other parts replacements at home on the driveway. People will wince but a German car of similar vintage (these are almost literally FWD E46) will likely be just as near death and won’t provide the driving experience that these almost uniquely offer. Keep up the MG Rover content, it’s great to get these cars some exposure and unravel the pub bore myths!

Usually not a fan of JayEmm, but this piece on his MG really changed my opinion on his channel. Great subject, well delivered and concise.

We had a Fiesta ST150 where the former keeper has filled the space over the error lights with black silicone. This was over the EML and ABS lights, what fun it was correcting all that...

Lesson learned there James. In my experience when a seller says they’ve been offered such and such scrap value, it generally means the cars scrap.

Love your attitude focusing on the fact that you brought this nice little motor back from the brink of scrapdom, well done JayEmm.

Nice to see another old car being saved from the scrapheap. I had 2 x ZR's as first and second cars, a 105 and a 120 and despite everything either not working in the first place, or breaking soon after, I really enjoyed my time with them. Unfortunately, seem to be chalked up as a 'modern classic' now so can't be found for that sort of money anymore but will never forget the fun I had with them!

I love the story. I'm impressed with how you stayed calm with an unscrupulous seller, it will come back to bite him, I'm sure I'm new to your KZfaq sight, but I'm hooked. Great job

I ran a 75 saloon with the BMW diesel engine. Used it as a commuter into Canary Wharf car until someone idiot rear ended me. Absolutely fabulous car, it had a webastro diesel heater with a timer so I could set it to come on in the Winter before I climbed aboard and it was already defrosted and toasty warm and that was a lot nicer than a windscreen heater. Always thought the design was nicer than the Jag S or X class of same era. Very underrated, shame BMW didn't keep going with the brand as it could have got interesting.

This is the reason why I did a long winded check on my MG ZR 160 that I bought in November as the Facebook ad for it was too good to be true mentioning how it had a so called exhaust and gearbox, and many other things. After the visit I found that: It had only 6 months of service history (an ex-wife lost all of it a few years ago) The bonnet, side mirrors and rear spoiler needed respraying The rear wiper was missing (fell off during a road trip to Teignmouth apparently) and has been removed entirely The internal clock was dead The battery clamp was missing Needed a good cleanup And various other things. But considering I was allowed to experience a quick drive, it had a recent service and MOT along with the seller bringing the price down from £1750 to £1550, I went ahead with the purchase. It needs a few bits to get it back to its full glory but I been loving it. Love the XPower exhaust, diesel gearbox and its orange colour. Sucks to hear about your MG but glad you are giving it some appreciation despite the incident...

The number plate alone is worth 500£ 😅. Love it ... But yes, that guy should be in prison for fraud...

Anyone else finding the number plate hilarious given the context? 🤣

A fantastic few years for outright random and outrageous car launches...Rover/MG certainly went down swinging!

This sort of story really annoys me. There are many people who are financially struggling, living paycheck-to-paycheck and desperately need cheap transport (we've all been there). A £500 runaround, especially an estate, would be perfect for those folks. However, imagine then finding out that your £500 car is actually a £3000 car, else it won't pass the MOT and you can't take your kids to school, or take your mum to the shops, or help a friend move house. It's such a shame.

I remember my Mum having a Silver 2002 ZR 160, I loved that thing when I was younger, got written off in a crash over a decade ago, still would like to experience one again.

Bravo James on saving this old thing! There’s something about taking a total piece of smeg and saving it by spending far too much money on it (far more than it’s worth infact) and ending up with something that is still a bit of a smegger but very much usable! This is exactly what’s happened to me and my £350 Golf Estate that I am now over £3500 into and I’ve stopped counting the figures on now! Don’t regret a thing though.

I worked at Longbridge from 1990 until the very end, lots of happy memories here… I remember shipping the 75 line up to Birmingham after ripping the R50 mini line out. Thanks for the great video…

The one that set the record at Bonneville is one of my favorite cars ever.

Congrats on the much more relatable car purchase. I'd love to see more content such as road trips on this cheap, fun, and practical little thing!

Cowboys are still everywhere in the used car market, what a surprise hey James.

You made me laugh about your sister declining the offer to borrow it James 😂

There are currently 2 Steven Jones in the 75 sales/swap/wanted group on Facebook, not sure one of them is the one who ripped you off.

Some of us knew you had this for a while. We just didn’t want to embarrass you by letting everyone else know. Well, the cats out the bag now. 😂

Deception on so many levels, name and shame away. Do love the colouring though :D

I owned a ZT-T. Absolutely loved it. It was the best car I've ever owned. I loved it so much I ran it for 12 years, and the only reason I sold it was because it was becoming increasingly difficult to get parts. It was a petrol 2.5 V6 190+, fully loaded with options (apart from the traction control option). I bought it when it was 3 years old and it turned out I was the second owner, the first owner being an MG Rover director. Anyway, they were fantastic cars and I hope you appreciate yours as much as I did.

No issues here, move along please…..lovely thing once sorted.Good on you JM and God help you! 😮

Possibly the most sensible car you’ve bought for a while! 😉🤣 Well done for taking it on and getting it up to snuff!

In 2008(ISH) when I was a mere 28 year old I bought the ZS180 hatch in anthracite....I only owned it for 2-3 years, but to this day it's still my favourite car that I owned. It was so good in fact that my older brother bought at the same time the ZT-T 160 in the exact same colour as your one. I remember that one fondly as I went with him to buy it and had the pleasure of driving it back some 150ish miles. Lovely cars.... Criminally underrated by the ignorant and badge snobs.

Greetings from Memexico! Yeah, Facebook’s marketplace is a meme among car enthusiasts here and in the USA as well. Most people selling don’t know what they have or are out of their minds on pricing.

Brilliant cars. Had a 24 hour test drive back in 2002, I got 50m in a straight line before I knew nothing else would compare. The handling utterly brilliant. They will even oversteer without crazy provoking the chassis is that well balanced. I'd have another in a flash, a 190 though. Prefer this 1st gen rather than the face lift, and Trophy blue ❤

I Related and felt to this video so much, Jay you keep buying shit know one likes to make your self happy and only you haha. This video is what being an enthusiast is truly about and I feel like this video hits you right in the feels as it basically explains what passion really is. love the channel keep up the good work.

Good to see these old, broken & unloved cars beeing saved. Did the same with my 300 euro Saab 9000 cse and 500 euro Saab 9-5. Both really needed some tlc (and parts), but been daily driving both of them for over 3 years now. 😄

I really liked the green one you tested. Looked kinda classy. Of course, this is a nice one too, just think I'd prefer it with silver wheels instead of the grey/black ones it's currently on...😏

If it's any consolation, when I pulled up to deliver some food to you the other day the first thing I said to myself was that's a cool MG

I love that you named and shamed. Keep up the great work.

Your sister is the smart one Jay, loved the story of the purchase!

Hi James; well that gave me cause to smile. It has to be said that you took it all far better than I would have.

Loved my old zt. Mine was a base 115hp diesel but I recall driving back from St Austell after buying it thinking it had way more punch. Found out later it had been superchipped to about 160hp which was a real bonus. They also handle much better than you think. If a decent example turned up I'd definitely have another.

At your expense , sorry, but I really enjoyed that. Thanks for bravely sharing!!!

Hi Jay, I really enjoyed this video. Although the whole Rover thing was a financial disaster for UK taxpayers, this particular model was, for me, the pick of the bunch. A very attractive (and uniquely English-looking) car I think. Thank you.

James you must be the only person in the world that owns a few ferrari"s and a Rover

I had a ZTT diesel from nearly new. Unfortunately it was the low power version, but great fun and super comfortable. What it lacked in outright pace, it made up for with really really nice handling....

I hate bodgery , we have all been deceived at one point or another , when buying a car . I'm glad you got it back up to a good standard and saved it though 👍👍👍👍. Buckled wheels on a long car journey can drive you to insanity lol.

'My name's James, and I have a problem...' (I don't mean it - I love your videos on cheaper cars, especially ones you own. I do notice that your 3rd MG has WTF on it's reg. plate, however.)

I will never get over the UKs throwaway car culture. I like to watch High Peak Autos. And with him and you I cant help but see how much the UK as a society loves to waste cars. They get scrapped when they still have life in them. But the biggest thing is how little value cars hold! Your story just made me think how much more expensive a car like this would be here in the US. Cars worth only a few grand there are almost 10k here in the US. Even after adjusting the currency to dollars. My mind is just always blown away with how affordable yalls cars are. I guess you have more sneaky costs though.

Jules is a good egg so at the very least you can trust the work he has done is bob-on. The luke-warm heater is probably down the to the thermostat on its last legs, it is a bit of a pain to replace. Steering vibration could be anything from rear engine mount, shonky tyres or one (or both!) of the driveshafts, seeing as you've got new boots and a mount then you can guess what you will be looking at next. And join the owners club, it's free.

Sorry about your experience, James, however, your pain is our gain in this case as I found this video incredibly funny and entertaining. Cheers!

Mate, your shirt should be a closely guarded secret, or did it come with the car?

Love your videos Jay. The plate says it all 🙈

Not as embarrassing as that shirt 😮 Surely you can find the previous owner from the V5C?

Great James! Then you can hang out with Jack from nr.27 with his 75! And I absolutely don’t find this embarrassing at all. What’s wrong with a proud MG Rover product? I have a car you might find interesting, only I am Dutch and the car is therefore in The Netherlands. It’s the Rover 200 BRM, the forerunner of the ZR cars. With all red leather glory and turned aluminum glitter! Mine is one of the 350 LHD, and one of the 77 original Dutch supplied. In very good condition and I love it! Hope to see more on the progress on the MG’s in your fleet.

Your reconstruction of the dialogue with the seller was hilarious! Glad however another one has been saved as they are a great design.

Just bought a trophy yellow ZR 105 for £520, was reassured by watching your video on one. Not bad to say I'm 16. Although it does need more work than the seller said

I'm convinced you started this channel purely to fund your shirt addiction. So much better than a sweatshirt with a logo on it. 😁

Awesome video 👏🏼 I own 2 MK1 ZS’s & it’s great to see people appreciating them. Love your enthusiasm for them

James I rather like the looks of this car, despite the funky looking grille. Never seen one here in the US. I admit I am partial to wagons (or is is estate or touring cars). Sorry you were had by that FB scalliwag! But nothing to be ashamed of here. Rescuing an otherwise usable car is always worth the effort. Cheers and happy motoring!

my friend has a collection of about 6 - 7 rovers, including a prototype 75. very cool.

Seems like a great tip run car to me, wouldn't mind a ZT myself (though I much prefer the looks of the ZS).

Great video and weirdly quite a cool car. I do enjoy hearing about these quirky odd ball cars being given some love and brought back to life… Genuinely looking forward to videos on the other MGs

Check the boost pressure... I had mine up to 21psi... Factory spec is about 19... Mine had gone down to about 14 psi due to a degraded wastegate spring so I fitted a ball and spring valve. Remapped at 21psi it pulled like a BMW 320... Ie like it should. Great car 😊

I've got a ZT-T diesel with the remap, absolutely love it and wouldn't get rid of it. 190k on the clock. Will go anywhere. Annual trip to Inverness is always a good drive.

Another cracking shirt Jay 👍

Almost skipped this one James .., but was a good watch and a laugh and a reminder of a couple of similar car purchases many years ago 😅

What a great way to fix your dashboard fault lights...just remove them! LOL

The number plate! 😂😂

Love cars with a WTF plate that makes sense lol

The description of the Mos Eisley Cantina in Star Wars is also very appropriate to Facebook marketplace.

What a great idea! Having a “humble” car for all those times people ask to borrow a car lol

Honestly, with all the work you've done, you could probably now sell this for near what you've spent on it in total. But it's not that that matters. It's the fact you've given it a new lease of life😊. I used to love seeing these on the road and now I hardly see any 😢. Thanks for this one, it's been awesome to see I'm not the only one who makes compulsive decisions on buying cars like this 🤣.

you have no idea how happy it makes me to know that you have had , so to speak, the wool pulled over your eyes, but please don't think that I am taking any sadistic pleasure from your experience. The reason that I am pleased is that, it is good to know that even someone with the wealth of knowledge that you have within the "car game" has been taken in by some shifty, unscrupulous turd! The world of FB has become an absolute minefield of dodgy car sales. Any how, another great video and if it is any consolation, I too like the MG of this era...koko...😉

What a story, really well told. I laughed out loud several times! “I will end this with a little humorous story” James all of it was hilarious, great content as ever, best regards, Ben.

LOL! This is a classic video! Loved it! Hope you enjoy the car half as much as I enjoyed watching! Keep up the good work. 👍

WTF on the number plate makes that car

Inevitably, some will describe this as 'a great car for doing the tip run in'. How often do you people go to the tip that you need a car specifically for this?

Great video, very entertaining - thank you ☺

One of your best video's. MG sales here pretty stopped at the MGB. Lol I look forward to seeing more of her. I think Jack at #27 is gonna be jealous.

It can’t be as bad as that shirt

I have a proper soft spot for these. I'd love to get my hands on a 260 and throw four valve heads and a supercharger on there!

Haha awesome stuff! Tbh, I Love content like this, regular, almost forgotten cars, saved from the big scrap yard in the sky! Im really pleased you saved it! It very much reminds me of how my good friend Andy, saved a certain 1984 Cavalier from being scrapped, which a few years on, is now one of my daily drivers! We need people like you saving these cars from their certain doom! Ive got several cars myself which im trying to save too!

Very honest and realistic. Well done and good luck with new purchase

I think if you and Gordon Murray were in the same room together your shirts would explode like an EV. We both need a Bert Kreischer moment in terms of our health judging by your older b roll

Shirt, gesticulation, and banger-related anecdotes all reaching new and seriously impressive levels. Bravo!

The story😂pure gold. Love how you still get enjoyment out of such cars whilst having access to all the heavy hitters!

75 owner here, nice to hear you bought one Jay, need any help give me a shout but you've got the legend himself Jules helping so I might be surplus to requirements!

Perhaps it’s just me but I really enjoyed this vid, bangernomics is right up my street and although your supercar vids are really enjoyable your description of dealing with older vehicles makes me chuckle. Top vid, thank you.😊

Very cool video, loved all the details of the "restoration" and I think you should have left Jule's contact in the description in case others wanted to try a similar experience ;) I remember trying a ZS 180 in 2002 in Montlhéry with a few other cars and it left me a very good impression (1st gen OPC Zafira was also a very good memory from this day). Sad to see so little left in goodish condition. Now you need a ZT V8 :D

I don't think this is embarassing at all. I tested a ZR160 when they came out and absolutely loved it. The looks, the sound it made, the handling. It was unapologetically oldschool and I loved it for it. The other models were great too.