1989 Sterling 827 SLi | Retro Review

The Sterling 827 was a quirky luxury car if there ever was one... Looks like a Saab and an Alfa had a baby, yet I must have one!
Show 847 | Original Airdate 08-18-1989
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[@williamegler8771]

Ònly the British could take a Honda and make it unreliable.

[@agy234]

Did they give it Lucas electrics?

[@Peterkragger]

@@agy234 Yes

[@johnmiller4973]

And to think Rover also built the Legend at Longbridge for the UK market....and built them so badly that Honda ended up building the European Legend in Japan

[@r2rlvj684]

😂😂😂 A comment for the ages right here 😂😂

[@DrCharlesMontague]

I had a 1989 827 SLi with 180k miles and it was very reliable and everything worked. I guess they weren’t all turds.

[@starkparker16]

I almost forgot about Sterling. Thanks MotorWeek

[@Kuessemir]

I had a matchbox car Sterling when I was little...I LOVED that thing...took it everywhere. I got it at the mall and I took it everywhere for years until I finally lost it. It was very reliable too.

[@DrCharlesMontague]

@@Kuessemir was yours silver? I had a Matchbox one too 🤩

[@Kuessemir]

@@DrCharlesMontague Mine was burgundy colored.

[@johnmiller4973]

@@Kuessemir Probably the only reliable Sterling in America 😂

[@VDPEFi]

I've still got my matchbox sterling, silver over blue

[@wp8022]

​@@KuessemirI have exactly the same. Burgundy and bronze tinted windows.

[@tresgriffin8242]

Well, at least it has gauges for volts and oil pressure.

[@bmstylee]

Small victories I guess.

[@dukeallen432]

It was a good car. Better than All the rubbish sold today.

[@jaex9617]

I see someone knows John Davis. 😅

[@winstongsd4273]

Dad had an 825. It drove very nicely and the engine had great sound. Electronics and everything else electric were atrocious. Repairs were outrageously expensive.

[@moose64]

$30000 in 1989 is $76000 in 2024. No thank you.

[@tkewrestler2662]

What could go wrong, Japanese engines paired with Lucas electrics and British build quality…..whoops!

[@stanmarcusgtv]

the engines were superlative

[@DrCharlesMontague]

My 827 had over 180k miles before I sold it, and everything worked properly.

[@dukeallen432]

Chuck: correct. Too many couch jokers have no clue. This was a Honda. Plain and simple.

[@tkewrestler2662]

@@dukeallen432 my Father’s law partner had a first year Sterling in British Racing Green with tan leather interior and it was nothing but problems. The engine was in fact Honda, but ancillary electrics were Lucas. His seat heaters went out after three months and the car had four recalls.

[@tkewrestler2662]

@@DrCharlesMontague The first year Sterlings were not at all reliable. My Father’s law partner had a first year model in British Racing Green with tan leather interior. His car was subject to four recalls and the seat heaters broke at the three month mark. Yes the engine was Honda, but electrical was Lucas and problematic. Plus the English build quality was simply not the same.

[@DRayL_]

We used to drive things like this, and actually liked them. Hindsight is 20/20. Having said that, yes, I'm sure many would rather having this over anything we have today. That's perfectly fine! At times, I wish I had my 1989 Honda Accord LX-i still.

[@ericharrison619]

Ah yes, This will look great broken and sitting next to my Laforza SUV.

[@iEnofadov]

The Rover 800 Series didn't fare any better in Australia either, where it was outsold by all the other Euro and Japanese competition. In Australia, the Acura Legend was sold as the Honda Legend, Acura has never been sold in Australia as a brand and sold in much better numbers. The 800 was a handsome looking vehicle, especially as a sedan, it's just a shame it didn't have the build quality and reliability the Honda/Acura was blessed with.

[@mattdavenport533]

acura is north america only

[@iEnofadov]

@@mattdavenport533 Yes, they're sold in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Panam and Kuwait. They were also sold for a period of time in China and Russia. Sales were meant to begin in Japan in 2007, but they were cancelled. While Acura as a brand has never been sold in Australia, we did get a number of Acura's that were badged as Honda's over the years. We had the Honda NSX, Honda Legend, Honda Integra, Honda MDX (1st gen Acura MDX) and the Honda Accord Euro (1st gen Acura TSX), just to name a few. :)

[@eddieg6436]

I remember a neighbor had a bright RED Sterling 825 sedan in 1988. Pretty car! It’s funny to think how EXPENSIVE ($16,750) my 1989 Toyota MR-2 t-bar roof was at the time!! 😂🤷🏼‍♂️

[@bghoody5665]

A Japanese car modified in the UK to be sold in the US. What a world.

[@kevinbarry71]

Not exactly, the body was their own. With all the fun associated with English cars of the time

[@Birmingham_racing]

It's British not Japanese

[@arcata31]

And SOOOO much was lost in translation. You know, quality and reliability. Still, I wanted one back in the day.

[@richardmerino2142]

There are German cars made in Mexican and sold here. :)

[@bruceyung70]

It’s not Japanese car. It’s British company.

[@jeremyanderson1139]

There are many reasons why the Sterling failed. Mainly because it's actually a Rover, and Americans knew how bad British Leyland was as a company

[@johnmiller4973]

By the time Sterling was launched here British Leyland or what was left had passed into the hands of British Aerospace and was called the Rover Group

[@sickheadache9903]

Hey did u not listen to what he said..it is a Honda!

[@jeremyanderson1139]

@@sickheadache9903 It was based on the Acura Legend, yet Rover built it in the UK

[@jeremyanderson1139]

@@johnmiller4973 British Aerospace would later sell Rover to BMW in 1994, and then it was owned by the Phoenix Consortium from 2000 until its collapse in 2005

[@yasmingallardo9644]

Americans saw all the jaguars in repair shops and knew that british engineers skipped their lessons on electrical systems.

[@landonbenford8369]

Here in Chicago, I've heard MANY Stories about how our extreme summers and Dangerously cold winters wreak havoc with Rovers' electronics and electrical systems that are built for the English climates. My neighbor's purchased-new Discovery was in the shop for literally half of the 5 years she owned it. She SWORE she'd NEVER buy another Rover!!!

[@gabrielemastrapasqua6001]

That wonderful car it was Rover 827. I had a 213 from 1989, very beautiful, I miss it

[@bluerazor7049]

Saw a few over the years as a kid and even now as a teen and I find them to be elegant and despite their issues, they are really classy looking cars made by Rover. Tasty Classics recently made a video about one, a 5-door like this one.

[@palebeachbum]

I like the Euro look of this car, but the Acura Legend looked a bit more modern and it was a more reliable car for the same money.

[@rego007]

Handsome cars that had so much potential.

[@TheSimonhammond]

Tony Pond laped the Isle Of Man TT circuit in 22 minutes in a Rover 827 Vitesse.

[@MrThatnativeguy]

What an obscure automobile, I knew of sterling trucks but never knew they made cars.

[@sutherlandA1]

Different companies, sterling cars were from rover group where sterling trucks were rebranded ford trucks after Daimler bought it

[@MPMeterman]

@@sutherlandA1- they also sold Rams towards the end.

[@ljmorris6496]

It was a Rover, it was called Sterling in the States but technically related to Land Rover..

[@Rick-S-6063]

@@ljmorris6496 With a Honda powertrain.

[@ensignjimmy3237]

@@Rick-S-6063- thanks, we watched the video.

[@user-unionwrestling]

I had one and was shocked that it felt surprisingly......just like an Acura! 😂🤣

[@carwhiz90]

unfortunately in a much more shittier package when it comes to the reliability part. absolute miserable failures in the states

[@user-unionwrestling]

@@carwhiz90 Yup! I actually had the sedan style and not this ugly liftback style! Reliability wasn't all that bad except for the electronics which was a pain in my backside! Lol

[@dukeallen432]

Was an Acura. Very reliable. Full stop.

[@lordmaster5522]

This Sterling competed with the Merkur Scorpio, trying to take market shares from Toyota’s Cressida, Mazda 929, and the Acura Legend right before the introduction of Lexus and Infiniti.

[@johnmiller4973]

@@lordmaster5522 and then the Sterling and the Legend ran head long into Lexus and Infiniti

[@davidchernack4145]

Love that they kept tue natural background noise in these older reviews. At multiple points you can hear a Bobolink, a type of grassland-dwelling blackbird, singing away.

[@624radicalham]

I was about 16 and my best friend's girlfriend was the daughter of the President of Sterling North America. They had a mansion in Miami by the sea. One night my friend and her came to pick me up at my house. The gorgeous black car was there and I couldn't believe it. She let me drive this car and I was doing 90 on a 4 lane highway without even realizing it. I remember that she said "I think you're going a little too fast" in the sweetest voice. You truly couldn't feel the speed. The silence inside that cabin, ZERO tire roar (unlike today's cars) and the fit and finish and fine quality of all the plastics and leather you touched made this feel exclusively European. No hint at all that this was a Honda. What a beautiful car the 4 door sedan with a trunk that I drove. I never forgot the car, I never forgot the 90mph I reached and I never forgot that girl and her house. What a memory. Americans had no sense or taste back then to have ignored such a fine car. They probably still don't. It was rare and exclusive even in 1989.

[@pieswimmer1]

Awesome story... oh, to go back to those days.

[@cheetahjab]

Yeah , it was lack of taste... Not quality, longevity, it just being a honda with other stuff that worked worse attached to it.. but yeah, no Sense or Taste got it...

[@mavfan1]

I looked at these in 1989 at a dealer and almost every model on the lot had multiple pieces of interior or exterior trim that were loose or falling off. It was poorly made and anyone fawning over it has no taste, for quality. I got a BMW 325i instead.

[@intel2133]

Wonderful Memory !

[@DrCharlesMontague]

I had a 1989 827 SLi exactly like the one in this video, and mine was also a manual. Mine made it to over 180k miles with little to no trouble before selling it to another person who liked weird cars (their garage had a Citroen DS, Alfa Romeo Giulia, and NSU Ro80 back in 2004). Then in 2013 I saw another one in town someone drove daily, and it must have had similar mileage. These cars were offbeat and had their quirks, but they weren’t the flaming turds everyone loves to exaggerate about.

[@AlphanumericCharacters]

People like to run their mouths with zero firsthand knowledge. My mom bought a ‘92 Eagle Premier because it was such a great deal. They couldn’t give the things away. It had a 3.0l PRV engine and a ZF auto. It was the most comfortable car I’ve ever been in. Handled decently and rode smooth. It had a 140k nearly trouble free miles when some clown T-boned it while chasing his girlfriend. Anyway, I must have heard a thousand comments at what a piece of junk it was. Especially when I would take it into the shop I was working at as an oil changer. Oh yeah. It also got great gas mileage. Way better than it was rated at. I guess people just want to feel superior anyway they can. Call it Toyota Owner’s Syndrome

[@bluerazor7049]

Exactly! I see a few, Rovers in my country are uncommon but still driving around, most are 75 or 25's but occasionally you see these in the sedan body style usually.

[@dukeallen432]

Had 240k on my 88 2.7l when I sold it. Still running like Swiss watch and got over 20 mpg.

[@DrCharlesMontague]

@@AlphanumericCharacters they really do love to run their mouths, and often about cars they’ve never owned or dealt with directly. I currently have a 1987 XJ6 (Series 3) as my secondary car, and it is chock full of Lucas electrics that all work quite well and the components are actually much better quality than what you get in a lot of new cars. The biggest enemy of British cars is people’s negative attitudes towards them, and doing half-assed repairs that cause problems down the road. I’ve found lots of little things in my XJ6 that were screwed with by previous owners and shops, and it’s obvious people were simply inept and didn’t care about the details. Fortunately nothing was far gone and I’ve been able to correct and prevent issues!

[@Mark_van_Leeuwenstijn]

@@DrCharlesMontague Well said Sir!!

[@hellkitty1014]

About $77-78K in todays money? Woof!

[@bmstylee]

Sadly that isn't even a high end luxury car like it would have been even a few years ago. Mid range for a lot of manufacturers now.

[@alastairward2774]

Live the efforts the guy puts into testing everything, folding down the back seats to move his single bag closer to the front 😂

[@TaylorMadejdm1975]

I love MotorWeek but God have mercy that must be the most ugliest car I've ever seen in my life LOL 😂

[@TheMileswin]

That is a beautiful car and the Honda 2.7 engine is bulletproof. It just a pity the facelift didn't make it to USA with it's revised body style.

[@sammyt3514]

The quality of the interior plastics was horrid; Fisher Price toys were far superior! I remember thinking how irrelevant that car was when it was introduced and it was indeed shunned by buyers until Rover folded in the US. Can't think of a single reason why anyone would've bought this over an Acura.

[@kevinbarry71]

I am old enough to remember this; and I think the same thing then as I do now. Specifically: To reject the Honda flagship that is assembled in Japan and instead buy this license knockoff assembled in the UK by English workers, demonstrates extremely bad decision-making abilities

[@dukeallen432]

More rubbish. Was Japanese built power train.

[@cameronwood1994]

It was a joint development between Honda and Austin Rover (later Rover Group), as a lot of the Rover range was back in the 1980's to the mid-1990's. Rover also assembled various Honda models for the European market too, not just the Legend but also the Concerto which was also known as the Rover 200/400.

[@2steaksandwiches665]

I haven’t seen one of these on the road in 30 years. I remember them because they were so weird.

[@peterstaykov9670]

Owned one. Sedan. Service was very expensive.

[@sunsetoriginals7320]

Never heard of a sterling. And I thought I was the biggest Honda fan boy ever!!!😂

[@albear972]

Wow! Some more oddball cars of the 80's. Even here in So-Cal I may have seen less than 10 of those Sterlings. I may have seen 4 times more Yugos than these.

[@germineduhon51]

I remember someone traded one of these in while I was working for drivetime. It was still in pristine condition and nice. One of the staff ended up buying it when it couldn’t sell at auction.

[@scott8919]

I'm so glad I can fold down the rear seat backs so I have an awkward place to store my one duffel bag.

[@MSimmonsAZ]

in 1996 I bought a 1988 acura legend with a stick. It worked very well (other than brake master cylinders. That engine was great. Enough power, good top end (too high probably for that car). The back seat was comfortable. It was a good design. How Sterling managed to mess all that up so greatly is hard to imagine.

[@ensignjimmy3237]

Because Honda didn’t build it 🙂

[@dexburwell]

- A 1989 Sterling 827- burgundy(color?) been rotting away in the exact same spot where it broke down- back in 1994 - 20min from my house….still there today- don’t recall anyone ever attempting to show interest innit. 🥴

[@IVR02]

I saw an 827 sedan in my travels today. Was absolutely shocked. I complimented the owner on it and congratulated him for keeping it on the road for 35 years.

[@jackblakesley2103]

As the owner of a manual transmission 1989 Sterling 827 SLi, I can tell you it's possibly the worst car ever made. I love it so much.

[@travlcub]

My folks had a Peugeot 505 STI back in the mid 80s. Was nice!

[@toology55]

Dad's friend had one, the electrical system was junk, windows never worked.

[@jasonmages4323]

Always a pleasure to watch the slow satisfying evolution of automotive technologies over the decades.

[@peter455sd]

30 thousand in 1989 was a lot of money

[@carwhiz90]

add in all the fees with importing one of these plus the MSRP and yeah the buyer was expected to pay this kind of money for British unreliablilty

[@jaex9617]

Large hatchback and the ... leaks, squeaks, and rattles that Sterling built in.

[@Timico1000]

As much as i love the Motorweek Retro Reviews i hate wenn John calls everything that is different from being typically american style "european"...no John, it isn´t.

[@fuosdi64]

So basically take an Acura, make it weigh more, and unreliable?

[@jinpingthebear110]

Every british product should be called Sterling.

[@Topsecret888...]

Even back then, I've never seen one on the road before nor since. Apparently, no one bought it.

[@theKevronHarris]

The Sterling 827 SLi Looks like an Alfa Romeo on the front.

[@Trance88]

Has anyone actually seen one of these in the wild? I know I haven't. I really like it! The luxury hatchback segment is a market that I feel has always been neglected. Pretty much reserved for Saab. The interior looks really nice. It's too bad they didn't sell well.

[@yasmingallardo9644]

People who took a chance regretted it. This car was voted most likely driven into a ditch for insurance fraud.

[@jamiedriscoll9781]

A friend bought one of these in 1996 off a used car lot. We never heard of it. Told her good luck finding parts. Pre internet it spent most of its life outside shops while folks tried finding replacement parts.

[@TheSaturnV]

Reliability issues aside, I really liked these. You didn't see very many driving around so they had their own mysterious aura going on.

[@WSNO]

cool! what a fun a quirky car for the american road. i'd get one to try it and have others see it and know it so they could consider driving one too.

[@adamn7516]

Wonder if any of these still exist in the US. I worked for Acura back in 88 and I remember liking the look of the Sterling sedan more than the Legend but even then knew the Sterling build quality outside of the powertrain was not equal.

[@johnmiller4973]

@@adamn7516 I know of two near where I live in Cleveland Ohio and another one in Chicago

[@624radicalham]

@@johnmiller4973 why not take a pic then and put it in a video editor and make a video and post it on KZbin. With that claim you made I'm sure many people want to see that.

[@bobcoats2708]

@@624radicalhamProbably just you, actually

[@bellevue260]

There's someone out there reminiscing about how this was the best car they ever owned.

[@nolarobert]

I loved my 1991 Acura Legend. It was a well-built, high-quality car. I can't imagine having to deal with the poor-quality electronics and interior of the Rover/Sterling version.

[@freepieanchipsgarage]

I doubt you’re familiar with the R17 then.

[@allentoyokawa9068]

Europe is not a country, so I doubt ALL cars are done the same way

[@Reddsoldier]

WHY didn't they brand it as a Rover in the US? SURELY that would've had SOME brand recognition - capturing the same gluttons for punishment that were eyeing up Land Rovers and Range Rovers? Personally I'd blame that more than anything for the brand's failure. Same with Merkur. Should've just branded them as Mercurys or Fords.

[@SmangItDrums]

I would normally agree with this, but there are two problems: 1️⃣ Rover & Land Rover were seen & marketed as two separate entities, at least here in the US. The connection between the two simply wasn’t there. Add to that, as cool & revolutionary as the Rover SD1 was, it has much of the same build quality, fit-&-finish, and reliability issues as the Sterling. 2️⃣ As for Merkur, the issue with that was both the Sierra-based XR4Ti & the Scorpio had very bespoke parts & pieces to them. Because of that, marketing them would’ve been a challenge considering they were consider upmarket cars & Ford was considered a downmarket brand. It’s not too dissimilar from Volkswagen’s Phaeton & Hyundai’s Equus, though on a smaller scale. Also, the Sierra was never called the Sierra here due to potential trademark infringement with GM.

[@andrewsteele2800]

Rover should have made these rear wheel drive like the sd1 amd put the 4.6 v8 in. Would of been gorgeous

[@성태김-c1w]

Underrated Not Underprivileged

[@sdrape4964]

I love how passive restraints are considered a miss, since they were just awful to begin with and didn't last a decade. And now any car on the road that still has them, they likely no longer work.

[@gilbertopena3374]

Creo que la dama de hierro, Margaret Tacher tuvo un Sterling. Saludos desde Venezuela.

[@markallen2984]

827 SLi? Seriously, Sterling immediately dropped the ball with it's generic naming scheme. It seems obvious that if you are trying to build a brand you want memorable names.

[@baggierols73]

Excellent point

[@ianclaudio777]

Europeans love numbers, see Peugeot, Mercedes, BMW, Airbus....

[@jameshastey3058]

They were nice when brand new, but Sterling's poor quality meant that they quickly fell apart in just a few years. By 2000 you didn't even see them on the road any more.

[@qmto]

One of these sat outside next to my best friends house growing up in the early 2000s. It was the only one I ever saw. Still true to this day.

[@Sanpedranoazul]

Funny how Those rear seat releases are the standard nowadays

[@Stressless2023]

Right 😂 My wife loves the releases in the trunk area, but I could see how this car not having a split folding rear seat could be annoying and impractical even by 1980’s standards.

[@GeeEm1313]

I definitely like the wood in the interior, but the Legend ftw.

[@skipast75]

My neighbor had white sterling sedan when I was in middle school… every single body panel was rusted and you could see through the bottoms of the doors into the interior. I was in middle school in 1992. So the car rusted away in about 5 years which is by far the fastest of any car I can remember.

[@jackwarren3080]

I was born in 1990 and was well aware Rovers did not sell in the US. All very strange and interesting to see this shite bag reviewed. The FORD Granada was better in every way…probably. Thought you lot loved poor quality dashes? And was that an Air Con button I saw? Wow! Rare sight in UK models.

[@ruk2023--]

The irony of Americans complaining about flimsy switchgear in foreign cars 🤣 I'm not saying there was anything robust at all about Rover products of the 1980's but I've seen some pretty poor stuff from GM of the era.

[@rjdavies1982]

I had no idea Rover were a presence in the American market at that time and that they sold cars under the 'Stirling' name. Here in the UK the Stirling was the top trim model in the range. When did they pull out of the states, did you guys get the last gasp of the Rover 75? Quite a good car, well designed and build whilst under BMW ownership.

[@richardprice7763]

Looks a bit like a 6000 SUX...

[@kippaseo8027]

I was a little kid when these came out and I had an uncle who worked for Coral Cadillac in Lighthouse Point FL who sold these as well. He said the salesman would laugh that these rolling piles of garbage made the mediocre Cadillac line look more Lexus. Heaven said some of these would actually break down on the test drives getting people stranded in the middle of federal highway

[@oliverthewonderdog6231]

Odd and confusing gauges? They couldn’t be simpler. People are so stupid.

[@htimsid]

What would be odd and confusing about the dashboard gauges?

[@theKevronHarris]

The gauges were on top of each other and it looks mirrored.

[@kokocostanza2036]

Unreliable, not... No, it was pretty much just unreliable.

[@mikeisaacs2314]

My brother had a 1988 825 in 93 and it was fun had the manual transmission but expensive to maintain and hard to get parts

[@christopherconard2831]

If you are thinking you might as well buy an Acura......buy an Acura.

[@jackson4274]

The most "logical" competitor being the Merkur Scorpio just shows how small the market for either of these cars was

[@pacoseventeen]

It’s cool that Tony Hawk worked there back then 2:49

[@geemanbmw]

That was andre the giant driving at the end

[@johnmiller4973]

The Sterling seats were sterling.... (Sorry. Couldn't resist hehe)

[@Mark_van_Leeuwenstijn]

People here think badly about Rover 800/Sterling. Don't really understand this negativity. It's simply not true. Grew up with these. We had multiple Rover 800's and we drove them all over Europe. I have several even today. Never had any issues with them what so ever. They ARE very reliable, comfortable, with a good ride and lots of space. Do agree that the price over there was a bit high.

[@evo5dave]

I had one of these (well - a Rover) with a 2 litre engine. By far the worst car I ever owned. Everything broke.

[@stanmarcusgtv]

so you didn't get the Honda engine

[@evo5dave]

@@stanmarcusgtv Nope. 4 cylinder Rover engine. Used to coke up constantly causing the valves to stick.

[@dontelindsey5846]

Almost 80k in today's dollars. Hahah they were on dope.

[@nixaeagle141]

Better brakes then several 2024 models recently tested, Crazy,

[@zm321]

Look up 'Tony Pond Rover Vitesse Isle of Man'..

[@TheRasta4ri]

Acura Legend based beauty from Coventry

[@paulqueripel3493]

Surely it was built in Oxford at the Cowley plant (now the Mini factory)?

[@ryanhowell4492]

Cool Car

[@rabit818]

Merica not fond of luxury hatchbacks

[@bmstylee]

Well a pickup can do a lot more than a hatchback can.

[@JamesK7911]

I never heard someone say Citroën like that

[@donaldwilson2620]

The rear profile does have the Rover genes because it looks like the predecessor, the Rover SD1.

[@sharpfalcon6196]

It was the only Rover in the British Leyland era to win Car of the Year.

[@P.Galore]

Not exactly a Fortune Teller on this review.....

[@JSINATRA5580]

Wow, how do you mess up a cousin of the Acura legend👀

[@markeastwood74]

Sterling (Rover) 827, Merkur (Ford) Scorpio, Acura (Honda) Legend? What strange parallel universe is this? 😉👍🇬🇧

[@campingkillen]

You didn´t find "flimsy controls" in a Mercedes, Audi or BMW at the time, they were rock solid. US cars back then were mostly on the flimsy side, and so were the cheaper European cars... The Sterling just happened to be British made, and because of that it of course had some quality problems....🙂

[@16jan1986]

Why not sell it as a rover and with some more wood as a true british car