spudgun

my mates interested in buying a tvr. i was always under the impression they are a bit unreliable and dodgy in the wet. however he still wants one.
so, i said i'd ask on the bbs, i can always rely on you guys for honest opinions , and i'm sure a few people may have owned one at one time or another.
so....
which is the best one to get, he's looking to spend less than 20k. is there a model to avoid? whats the most common problems? whats the good points? u get the idea.
thanks guys for any useful comments

Gastro

As far as I know the Chaemera is *the* one to have with regards to reliability. Steer clear of the Cerbera. Griffith is OK [I think}. The TVR dealer that I talked to said that only people with Chaemera's drive them everday !!!!!!! Hence i bought a P1

Gastro

CraigH

Friend had a Chimaera and a Cerbera. Chimaera had it's problems, but wasn't off the road to often. Was fun in the dry - atrocious in the wt.

Cerbera was a complete pile of cr4p. Off the road over half it's life and lost 55% of it's new value in 18 months.....Fast in a straightline and that's it.

Would have a Chimaera as a 2nd car, but not as a main.

Wouldn't have a Cerbera if you paid me.

106rallye

I am speaking from little experience of driving TVR's unfortunately! but a friend of the family has a 4.2 cerbera. It is quite simply mad! it has the sports exaust and sounds and goes amasingly, the interior is strictly 2 seater but is like a work of art(or a load of c**p according to some!)
As far as reliability goes they have never been supposedly been the best of cars but as far as our mates one goes he has only had one problem. Most of the faults seem to be electrical that I have heard of.

The Cerbera uses TVR's own engines 4.2 and 4.5 v8 and a straight 6,whilst the griffith (just gone out of production i think?) and the Chaemera use breathed on rover v8's.

I have heard before that the 4.3 Chaemera and Griffith are the best? but again I have never driven any so don't listen to me!

As for performance they seem to be a real bargain, watch Jermey Clarksons first video and you will see a 4.2 cerbera beat every other sports car it was up against from a standing start!

I know everyone will say I am mad but if I could afford it I would have a 4.5 cerbera any day of the week (even if it breaks down most of them!!!)

Boost II

iTrader: (1)

A fella down my road has got rid of a Cerbera for an NSX. Asked him why and basically the fuel bills were crippling him and it was too scary trying to keep the thing pointing forwards during the winter months. Someone at work had a Chimera - wheels did not fit into the arches properly and the clutch routinely dropped fluid out on to his foot.

MrData

May get one when I get old.........

IWatkins

There was a TVR rolling road day at Powerstation today.

First, they are loud, especially the Cerbera's, both 4.2 and 4.5. Had to shut the doors at PS for most of the runs because of the noise.

I think only one car of the lot made stock quoted power, many were well down, in some cases, something like 90 bhp down

Even the poorly ones sounded lovely, they look good and the interiors are to die for.

Any good as a car ? No idea.

Cheers

Ian

ScoobySnack

Have owned 3 TVR's in the past and now swapped to a Scooby...........

My last one was a 4.0 Chimaera which I owned since Aug 1998 and did 44K Miles in. They're not unreliable if maintained and driven correctly. Unfortunately this maintainance is the exspensive bit.

I my 2 years I went through:
7 services (£575+ each)
4 sets of tyres
2 windscreens (under warranty)
1 radiator
1 clutch
4 headlamp bulbs
3 sets of brake pads

But it never failed to start or turn heads.....plus it made the noise like no other mortal car could......

Now the bit that hurts, in driving my Scooby for 3 weeks I reckon its a better car than my old TVR. In a straight line race on a dry day my old TVR would crucify the Scooby, but point to point in the real world (twisty and wet roads)the Scooby copes better.

J

CraigH

Hmm,

Those Powerstation figures don't backup "rumours" that all road test TVRs have special engines does it?

TKH

Utter hype !

For

1. great noise
2. the girls like them
3. quick in a straight line

Against

1. Put together with nails bluetack and
sellotape.
2. Hoods leak a la niagra falls.
3. Heaters dont work
4. Wipers skip across screen over 80 mph
5. They overheat in traffic
6. If you are unlucky enough to stuff one you'll be picking bits of glassfibre out of the scenery aswell as bits of yourself.
7. When you want to buy one you'll pay too much when you want to sell it nobody will want to know it ( one of few cars never to get into glass's guide due to closed shop residual protection by the factory and dealers )
8. Just about everything but you will end up having a new friend the AA man.

Hope i helped

Tim

BOB.T

I had a look under a Cerbera once and vowed never to get in one EVER! It looks like they used bendy drinking straws and Marmite to make the chassis!

Bob

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

How much is AA cover?????

Tony

SDB

I've driven heaps of TVRs and have to admit to being pretty much scared to death each time!!

The chassis feels to me like it's made of mechano, the suspension is often way too stiff for the weight of car (meaning NASTY NASTY handling), there is no where near enough steering lock to allow you to catch the evil oversteer almost guaranteed if there is a droplet of moisture on any surface within 200 miles.

On the plus side...
If you can afford to have it as a posing trophie type car, then ...

the SOUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...
as ian says, the interiors are just beautiful, leather everywhere and sculpted cockpit feel.
Stunning looks (IMHO)
Bloody powerful engines
British Sportscar

-------

Saying all of that...
the new tuscan is a totally different car in terms of handling. They've sorted the steering lock and suspension out to make a stunning car on the limit.

Cheers

Simon

WillieF

Hehe I had a Chimera 4.2 for a while. If your mate has driven a scooby he will hate it however prior to having one I had had the usual suspects - Golf GTi, Pug 306 s16 etc etc so it was good fun.

Reliability was good except battery problem.

Interior nice except the carpet that was similar to a toilet carpet. The carpet was of this quality mainly because it was always geting pi$hed on!! (leaking roofs and scottish weather)

Hope your mate + any passengers like traveling [very] sideways!!

I miss the noooiiisssse - people used to pull over to let you by!! the scooby doesn't have the same effect

Oh and the was the one occasion when two drunk lads and one woman approached the car at a set of traffic lights and kissed the bonnet and walked off

spudgun

thanks everyone!
they sound great engine wise, but thats all.
it confirmed what i suspected, but i needed to give him impartial opinions...i.e.. they may sound great, but they are made of poo
thanks again. can anyone suggest a better alternative? 2 seats, and not girly! thanks!!

106rallye

what about an M roadster? dunno how much they are though!

Marcos?

Corvette

Esprit?

Caterham/Westfield?

Unfortunately have never driven any of them!

[This message has been edited by 106rallye (edited 25 March 2001).]

SDB

M Coupe is a staggering car, if you like the image.

Esprit is handling nirvana and a guarantee that EVERYBODY will stop and watch you go by.

Tom Evans

Spudgun,

Just got an e-mail from my mate, whose dad bought a TVR Tuscan around Christmas time. Mate said it was bloody fast, great to look at and sounded brilliant (much the same as most TVRs, I'd have thought). He said, however that it was as reliable as the British weather and kept breaking down for days on end.

I know the Tuscan is probably too much second hand (I don't know!), but the fact is it is a model, which is still very unreliable. I can't help but think that the older models will any more reliable.

By the way, mate's dad has now bought an Audi TT convertible. Not quite the same

Cheers,
Tom

RussP

My mate had a UK Scooby, hacked it in against a Cerbera, pretty much drove the Peugeot Courtesy car for 8 months whilst it repeatedly broke down, then threw the TVR back and bought an Sti which he loves.

Mind you, he said the Peugeot was okay for a shopping car. So my advice is to decide what type of courtesy car you'd like before buying the TVR.

Hope that helps

Russ

Tom Evans

Forgot to say that mate's dad had a TVR Chimera 4.0 before the Tuscan. This was, according to mate also pretty unreliable, although, like the Tuscan it was used everyday. Does this make a difference?

Cheers,
Tom