MGF parts availability?

[JamesH]

Hi

A girl in my office wants an MGF. Does anyone know what the parrts situation is like?

cheers

[loanrangie]

strongly advise her not to even look at one, they are lemon waiting to happen, engines drop their innards and parts would be hard to get due to the factory closing down.

[JamesH]

Thanks for that. I sort of expected as much.

[5teve]

they are actually a great car.. yes they have the issue with head gaskets (what alloy engine doesnt now) and the vvc engine is wickedly quick.. they handle bloody well too.. but are a bit of a hairdressers car..

i'd jump at one at the right price.. and parts wise.. well i guess from the UK they are easily got.. and im sure there are places over here that do them (engine wise probably a few bit shared with the freeeloader)

quite a few over here in perth... and apparently will be back in production soon.. definitly better than the mazda MX5

Thanks

Steve

forgot to say parts are dealt with by catterpillar i beleive... they have the spares line and distro agreements last i heard..

[Lucus]

Thanks

Steve

forgot to say parts are dealt with by catterpillar i beleive... they have the spares line and distro agreements last i heard..

Where did you hear that one? I work for the cat dealer here in Perth, im not sayings it wrong just havent heard anything about it...

[Grizzly_Adams]

Jump on to MG Cars Enthusiasts' Club and go to the Bulletin Board and ask your question there...

It's the equivalent of AULRO in the UK but for MG's (oh and it's got members from all around the world on it - just like AULRO ).

I had a MG TF for a few years and she was a beast, as mentioned that K-Series engine has an awesome note to it.

Before you go bashing them too much the K-series is the same as the one used in the original Freelander's - ask Reads90 how much fun they were at high revs

The suspension is beautiful on the MG-F (I think it's hydraulic? Certainly something fancy about it anyway) but on the MG-TF they went back to coils...

The reason they went back to coils on the MG-TF was that when the MG-F was getting worked hard the suspension would work beautifully up to critical point then give up completely so you wouldn't see it coming.... having said that, most people would never experience the issue as it was mainly noticed on the track...

EDIT: Oh also they're opening the plant in Longbridge again - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/e...ds/7389350.stm - suppose to be 4 new models by September...

In answer to your original questions - I wouldn't worry about parts.

[5teve]

Where did you hear that one? I work for the cat dealer here in Perth, im not sayings it wrong just havent heard anything about it...

i meant catterpillar in the UK they have a spares arm, that i believe deals with may brands but also rover and MG, the only reason i found out was when in the UK i was waiting for a driveshaft seal that was just being remade as the tooling had been made and the new version was causing too many issues..

and yes the K series (for its head faults) is one of the best engines for its size, i had it in 1.4l guise.. (metro gti) 8000rpm was the limiter (which it lived near as mentioned power comes in above 3000rpm) and the car would do 99mph in 3rd! and would wheelspin in 1st second and 3rd, it also gave 50+ mpg back at around 65mph and 35+mpg at 90+mph i had it up to 135mph and got worried cause it felt like the front wheels werent doing much ahhh... i'd kill for one of those again..

the 1.8 is a little more refined but i really would be looking for a vvc engine.. more complex but easy to get 160 horses from.. and in something that weighs nothing its fun

the suspension was hydrolastic i beleive.. on the earlier ones.. they borrowed the rear subframe from the rover metro and the suspension too no doubt.. coils gave a much more predictable ride in its rear wheel drive guise.. but hydrolastic worked well on front wheel drives..

if there is a downside to the f/tf its the access to the engine being mid engined.. oh and trying to prise the grin off your face.. rover and MG alwasy had a habit of turning not many horses into performance that few manufacturers could match

Thanks

Steve

[loanrangie]

Cat logistics used to handle the import and distribution of landy spares but no longer do. The cat warehouse in Tullamarine used to operate the landy spares at one end and cat spares/complete at the other as well as another huge shed.

And the K series engine is exactly the reason i wouldnt touch one with a barge pole ! tarring with the same brush as a freo is no selling point.

[mcrover]

Where did you hear that one? I work for the cat dealer here in Perth, im not sayings it wrong just havent heard anything about it...

CAT does the logistics through their warehouse in Melbourne thats where the connection ends.

I know people who know people how know people if you know what I mean.

I wouldnt touch one as I know of 2 people who have them sitting in their driveways, one with a gearbox issue (that if MG were still about would have been a warrenty issue) that he cant find anyone to look at it, and so he asked me........when I stopped laughing I told him a resounding NO as it would have just ended up transfered from his drive to mine and in mine it would be in peices until It left on a scrap truck.

The other one is of course a stuffed motor from a minor overheat from a leaking radiator hose.

Liners wont seal, and was rebuilt twice and both times they pulled it apart again suspecting a faulty head gasket and eventually found the block had lost it's temper and not sealing the liners.

It would scare the hell out of me buying a modern car that has no parts backup.

I would be warning her off them very strongly.

[SmokyBear]

My girlfriend had a 1997 MGF that we have only recently sold.

The car really was a blast to drive. Very nimble and stuck to the road like glue.

Unfortunately it also cost a lot to maintain in the last 18 months of ownership. The water pump failed (not a big problem in itself), but the big Perth based Rover dealer that repaired it did not bleed the cooling system properly. This led to repeated episodes of overheating and was returned to the dealer each time. Eventually the head gasket failed, costing many $$$. Dealer accepted no responsibility, but did finally figure out how to bleed air out.

Hydrolastic suspension also needs servicing every 12 months if you don't want it to sag & chop out your front tyres.

Most parts were easy enough to get, and there is a great variety of accessories and aftermarket parts available ex UK. Main parts problem according to mechanic is hydrolastic suspension spheres if they fail, because they are not being made any more.

If you can find a good MGF and don't mind tinkering or have someone that will maintain it for you, I'd say go ahead and buy one. They are cheap, still look extremely sexy, are economical and (when well maintained) are a heap of fun to drive.

Be warned, you will also spend most of your time in it driving 30kph over the limit (at least my girlfriend did!)