I wish I'd thought of posting this here earlier, but my car for the last 12 years (Series two 3500 Vanden Plas auto) has finally got to go. It's on eBay at the moment and the auction ends tonight (Friday 5th October). Below is my eBay listing. There are many parts that go with it and it breaks my heart to have to let her go, but she deserves more time and effort than I can spend on her at the moment.

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I have owned this car for many years and am very sad to finally see it go, but time and money dictate that someone else takes this car on. I originally ran the Rover as my main form of transport, but gradually it became a 'high days and holidays' car. Five years ago, the cost involved in running a car I only drove about two or three times a year stopped me renewing the tax and insurance, I thought that a few months later I would have the spare cash to do some jobs on the car and I'd start using it again... When I stopped driving the car it ran well, but had a temperamental starter solenoid. I have since purchased a brand new solenoid which is waiting to be fitted to the car. More recently I started removing some of the interior for repair (some water damage had made the headlining sag) but never got round to replacing this. The last time I started the engine (last weekend) there was very low oil pressure and a lot of noise from the hydraulic tappets. The oil pressure was fine and the engine ran sweetly a couple of months earlier. (I actually have a recording of the engine that I made at the same time as these pictures were taken) I have heard of V8's mysteriously losing oil pressure when stood for a while and think that the oil pump needs priming to fix this. I have not run the engine since this happened as I do not want to damage it by running without lubrication. As you will have gathered, this car is in far from pristine condition, and really does need some TLC. I would love to think that I will get round to fixing these faults, but I have waited for over four years to get round to doing something about it and the truth is finally dawning on me that it will never happen! As far as I am aware the car has the following faults that you should be aware of: Oil pump? - as mentioned above. If the pump just needs priming then it is quite easily fixed. I don't know what else could stop it working (there is plenty of oil in the sump!) Starter solenoid - as mentioned above. I have the new part to fit. Auto Transmission - the gasket around the gearbox sump has a leak. This can be fixed quite easily. Radiator - one of the mountings on the radiator has broken, the rad does not leak, but it is held in with gaffa tape (sorry!) Central locking - this stopped working about 9 years ago. I think I disconnected it as it would occasionally 'tick' to itself while driving along! Sunroof - the mechanism is sticky and difficult to open. I have not tried to open it in the last few years as I was worried it would get stuck! Headlining trim - this was removed when the material came apart from the card backing (a common fault with these and other BL/Rover cars). I intended to get this re-trimmed and fitted. I still have everything I removed. Cruise control - I don't think this particular car was built with cruise control, however, someone has fitted (at least some of) the components. I have no idea whether this can be fixed or not. Apart from those faults it has the usual sort of things that you would expect from a car that had been sat on a driveway for five years. There is some rust here and there and the paintwork is faded in places. The worst is around the windscreen where there are some holes in the bodywork (pictured). The wheel arches are all a bit rusty. The sunroof is also scabby on the rear edge. The front bumper has become brittle and has some cracks and bits missing. I would expect the handbrake will need attention (it has not been used for five years). The car was given a quick check over a few months ago and I am confident that all of the important things work (steering, service brakes, transmission, suspension) although MOT inspectors will need to see it to assess its true state. Also included in the auction: I have 2 brand new front wings and a new bonnet. I also have a couple of boxes of spare bits and bobs from years of SD1 ownership. Switches, headlights, taillights, some engine bits, that sort of thing. Reason for sale (As if the above list of faults wasn't reason enough...) I am having an extension built on the house and it is going to be just where I currently keep the Rover, therefore the car needs to be moved by the end of next week. I may be able to store it for a couple of days in a friend's garden if you needed time to organise a trailer. Just to clarify, I will not be able to deliver this car, the winning bidder will have to collect it from Wallingford in South Oxfordshire. Thank you for your time and if you are the winning bidder please look after her for me!

I've had a couple of questions asked so far, and the replies give some more information that I forgot to put in the original listing, so here they are:

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Hi Catyoung28, as mentioned in the auction there are two brand new front wings, two brand new oil filters, a brand new bonnet, about four headlight and taillight assemblies and various switches. Also included are: two power steering racks, a radiator, some ancilliaries (power steering pump, alternator, distributor), one air cleaner assembly, two cylinder heads, and various sundry bits and bobs. Importantly, the car is complete. The only bits not fitted to the car (headlining, sun visors) are included. As I cannot add any more information to this auction, I have put some pictures on my website to give an idea what I've got. There is also a heated rear screen although THIS IS FOR A SERIES ONE CAR - IT WILL NOT FIT THE ROVER IN THIS AUCTION! I'm not sure if I can put links in this message, so if there is no link below, please email me and I'll email you a link to the page, which is: Only registered users can see links on this forum! Register or Login on forum! One more thing, is that something has come up which means I will be out of the country just as the auction ends, and will be back on MONDAY 8TH OCTOBER. Thanks for you question, and sorry for such a long reply!

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Hi Gerry - the interior is blue velour with blue dash and trim. Most of it is in good condition - no tears or stains on the cloth (to my recollection!) It has 5 blue seat belts. The seats are pretty clean. The drivers door card is a little dog-eared along one edge, but is serviceable. I will try to get some photos done tomorrow if I have time. As I said before there is no headlining fitted to the car. The car has twin SU carburettors (the engine was originally out of an older model) and there is a manual choke (fitted inside the glovebox - no hole drilled through the dash!) Hope this helps Eamonlaser

Thanks,

Eamonlaser