ROVER STREETWISE 1.4 SE 5dr [103PS] (2003)

Rover Streetwise - Fun like an off roader but much cheaper to run :)

My hubby wanted a big silly off road car or land rover or whatever, but it's ridiculous because the closest he gets to off road is our pebble driveway. Anyway I think he just didn't like the idea of silly girly cars or boring family saloons, so we gave the Streetwise a look and he took to it. Meanwhile I certainly appreciated the running cost, at least on paper - which has worked out very well. We got it second hand at 3 years old and 24 thousand miles, so fairly fresh still, and it's been extremely reliable for us ever since. I hope it stays reliable as they've gone out of business now and it might be hard to get hold of parts.

Inside the Rover Streetwise is quite handy. The driver seat is very adjustable. It's supportive too. That's good for me and hubby as he's quite a bit taller. What I really like is the parking beepers which help you into your space and let you know when there's something behind that you haven't seen. That was fitted when we got it, not sure if it was an optional extra to begin with. Anyway it's certainly saved me from banging into bollards I don't mind admitting.

Our Rover Streetwise has only got four seats with a little space between the back seats for keeping stuff. We did see another used one with five seats but that cost more and we didn't bother. I think if we had the chance again we might go for the five seater as it would be useful sometimes, but having said that, I get the feeling that the two seats with the separation between them cuts down in kids fighting! It's also worth mentioning that when my parents have been in the back, my mum always has to go behind my hubby because the leg room isn't that great.

The boot in the Streetwise is fine for most things, we used to get two buggies in there fine, plus shopping etc. The only trouble is that the wheel arches sort of poke into the boot space quite a bit, which can be annoying. It just seems a bit of a pointless waste of the space.

We'll probably be keeping it for some time to come, although I think we'll have to sell before it needs any big repairs (not sure how we'll predict that!) because parts are supposed to be hard to come by these days.