New Belgian owner of MG ZT-T 260 LHD #533 - presentation

[Alx]

Hi,
I am the - happy - new owner of the MG ZT-T 260 LHD #533 in Goodwood green with black leather/grey alcantara upholstery, probably a MKII non SE but with loads of options such as a.o. electric sunroof, full screen nav and xenon headlights. I bought it last summer from its previous Finnish owner, and drove it back together with my 2 boys to Brussels where we live. It was a memorable trip through Scandinavia, visiting Finland, Sweden and Denmark, despite the airco compressor showing signs of tiredness as soon as 3 days after I took delivery of the car in Finland :-( Anyway the good girl behaved herself and got us troublessly to Brussels, where the issue was immediately sorted by my mechanics.
I have been told by the vendor ("Jake", former member of this group) that #533 is supposed been used as press car in Germany and subsequently in Finland, hence its current personalized Finnish registration plate "MGV-8" that I have been happy to keep. The odometer will soon reach 55.000km believed genuine despite a patchy service history. I do hope I will learn more about this car, definitely a keeper despite the huge road tax here in Brussels...
Best regards,
Alx

[Nich]

Welcome along Alx, lots of info on here to read up on when your full membership comes through. Looks like a lovely car, did your boys enjoy the drive back?

Nich.

[David]

Welcome Alex from this neighbour in S. Holland. #533 is known to be a nice car; congratulations!
If you do get any more problems withe the A/C (and almost everyone does, sooner or later), there's a lot of info here as how to really fix it (from Nick at Austin Garage), or bypass the problem and always get cold air on demand anyway. All will be revealed when your full membership comes through!

P.S. I pay Euro 1044 (about £950) per annum road-tax for my Rover 75 V8 here in Holland, with bit less kerb-weight (1680kg) than your ZT-T (1770kg), if weight is a factor in Belgium as it is here.

David

[scoubix]

Bienvenue Alexandre, moi c'est Nicolas ;-)

[colintf]

Welcome Alx :) lovely ZTT260 you have there!

[Alx]

Hi, thanks for your welcoming messages!
Unfortunately the Belgian road tax is not linked to the weight but to the "fiscal power", so should be around 2500€ per year for any Rover/MG V8 :-(
So for the time being I will keep the Finnish registration number and drive it occasionnally with a temporary insurance.
I would love to know more about #533, though I already got a full spec sheet from Scoubix (thanks again!), I am curious about David's quote "#533 is known to be a nice car".
I will of course start by browsing this huge forum!
Best regards,
Alx

[colintf]

Alx, if you know the previous owners were on hear, and their names on here then you can find them in the members listing and find all treads started by them for example :)

[Alx]

Hi guys, I am back here as a result of the unexpected sale of my daily driver (Honda Civic EG10 1.5 sport) which results in putting the MG in temporary daily use until I find a suitable replacement for the Civic (heavy road taxes here in Belgium prevent me from keeping the MG officially registered more than a few months). I therefore need to find a 260 specialist to "prepare" #533 and make it as reliable as possible (I am no mechanic at all) so any recommandations of "good" addresses will be welcomed, in Belgium and neighbouring countries (France, Netherlands, Germany). I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks beforehand. Alx

[David]

Hi guys, I am back here as a result of the unexpected sale of my daily driver (Honda Civic EG10 1.5 sport) which results in putting the MG in temporary daily use until I find a suitable replacement for the Civic (heavy road taxes here in Belgium prevent me from keeping the MG officially registered more than a few months). I therefore need to find a 260 specialist to "prepare" #533 and make it as reliable as possible (I am no mechanic at all) so any recommandations of "good" addresses will be welcomed, in Belgium and neighbouring countries (France, Netherlands, Germany). I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks beforehand. Alx
Difficult, Alx. For plannable work I drive to Austin Garages in England. Normal servicing like oil changes, brake pads/disks etc. I entrust to a local garage here in NL since there is no 260-mystique about those things.

David

[Alx]

Difficult, Alx. For plannable work I drive to Austin Garages in England. Normal servicing like oil changes, brake pads/disks etc. I entrust to a local garage here in NL since there is no 260-mystique about those things.

David

OK thanks David

[scoubix]

In France, close to the belgian border, I would suggest you contact former MGR dealer Falvo Automobiles in Tourcoing, they still have a garage where they service MGR cars among other things and he owns a ZT 260.
Further south near Paris, the "Garage de Sir Lucas" in Le-Plessis-Bouchard is highly recommended...