Could i run a TVR on a hot hatch budget
Discussion
an overwhelming 'no' then from the PH massive.
I just can't justify the kind of figures..
that also demonstrates to me that if logic is playing a part in my choices, the TVR wasn't really for me - i guess it's a car for the heart rather than the head.
Imagine the conversation with the OH...
"Hey hun, i have an idea, why don't well sell the VXR that's costing us £80-100 a month in repairs and averages 25.6mpg and replace it with something that will cost easily £300 per month and averages 13mpg...' ?
Think ill start looking at 'sensible' performance cars... Audi TTRS auto maybe.
thank you all for your input.
I just can't justify the kind of figures..
that also demonstrates to me that if logic is playing a part in my choices, the TVR wasn't really for me - i guess it's a car for the heart rather than the head.
Imagine the conversation with the OH...
"Hey hun, i have an idea, why don't well sell the VXR that's costing us £80-100 a month in repairs and averages 25.6mpg and replace it with something that will cost easily £300 per month and averages 13mpg...' ?
Think ill start looking at 'sensible' performance cars... Audi TTRS auto maybe.
thank you all for your input.
I run a TVR wedge on a small budget.....Mine is an early 280i so "only" a ford V6 but still a fun car.
I get on average 25mpg (less with heavy right foot use) and despite it failing the mot on some chassis rust this year, the repair bill including the MOT was under £500, and that was with them replacing 2 sections of the chassis completely as a preventative measure.
Its all about finding the right TVR for you.
I get on average 25mpg (less with heavy right foot use) and despite it failing the mot on some chassis rust this year, the repair bill including the MOT was under £500, and that was with them replacing 2 sections of the chassis completely as a preventative measure.
Its all about finding the right TVR for you.
It's pretty much the servicing that will hit you depending on the mileage you're going to be doing. I get 25-28mpg on a long run and 22-25 normally and 18-20 when pressing on and trackdays. The almost complete lack of depreciation makes up for the increased servicing costs and more frequent intervals. Tyres and other consumables are the same I'd imagine.
Mattt said:
As above, if you look at genuine cost of ownership then yes you can easily run a TVR for less than a hot hatch as the lack of depreciation more than makes up for running cost.
If you look at cost per month excluding depreciation then it seems expensive.
Depreciation doesn't hit the pocket on a monthly basis though. If you look at cost per month excluding depreciation then it seems expensive.
As a life cost, I agree depreciation needs to be considered - but I've seen it time and time again with TVRs. People buy them as a comparitively cheap performance car and then compromise on servicing and consumables and end up losing money as a good car turns into a shed.
Podie said:
Mattt said:
As above, if you look at genuine cost of ownership then yes you can easily run a TVR for less than a hot hatch as the lack of depreciation more than makes up for running cost.
If you look at cost per month excluding depreciation then it seems expensive.
Depreciation doesn't hit the pocket on a monthly basis though. If you look at cost per month excluding depreciation then it seems expensive.
As a life cost, I agree depreciation needs to be considered - but I've seen it time and time again with TVRs. People buy them as a comparitively cheap performance car and then compromise on servicing and consumables and end up losing money as a good car turns into a shed.
Based on my expenditure so far on a Cerbera, which is similar in running costs to a Tuscan, you can't afford it. It's plenty liquid cash you need, and the later cars with the fabulous TVR designed engines (which are incredible) need owners who can find several thousand quid at short notice. You also need to be able to save up for chassis work, retrims and resprays during your ownership to keep the car special and avoid knackering it - as above.
If you can afford it, then I recommend it highly. If you can't, then for your own sake I'd recommend you didn't because the car will own you.
jamieduff1981 said:
Yes, this is bad - rare and special cars which all need a healthy flow of cash and time on preventative and corrective maintenance.
Based on my expenditure so far on a Cerbera, which is similar in running costs to a Tuscan, you can't afford it. It's plenty liquid cash you need, and the later cars with the fabulous TVR designed engines (which are incredible) need owners who can find several thousand quid at short notice. You also need to be able to save up for chassis work, retrims and resprays during your ownership to keep the car special and avoid knackering it - as above.
If you can afford it, then I recommend it highly. If you can't, then for your own sake I'd recommend you didn't because the car will own you.
really good post, thank you.Based on my expenditure so far on a Cerbera, which is similar in running costs to a Tuscan, you can't afford it. It's plenty liquid cash you need, and the later cars with the fabulous TVR designed engines (which are incredible) need owners who can find several thousand quid at short notice. You also need to be able to save up for chassis work, retrims and resprays during your ownership to keep the car special and avoid knackering it - as above.
If you can afford it, then I recommend it highly. If you can't, then for your own sake I'd recommend you didn't because the car will own you.
I suppose it was exactly the point i was trying to make, without me realising it.
I 'could' run one, but it would end up like a shed due to the lack of available funds.
I don't want to do that to a TVR
Presumably you've ruled out a Chim or Griff then? Aside from an expensive chassis refurb mine has cost me a £500 service every year and I usually pick a £500-£1000 item to refresh or renew - last year was a new roof and windscreen, year before that was a bit of retrimming. £100 a month pretty much covers the maintenance and there has been zero depreciation in the 4 and a bit years I've had it.
As others have said though, it could easily throw a big bill at me and no doubt will do one day. Then again, I know people who have forked out a couple of grand to fix a mundane modern diesel and I had a £1000 bill when the cambelt snapped on a three year old Ford Cougar.
As others have said though, it could easily throw a big bill at me and no doubt will do one day. Then again, I know people who have forked out a couple of grand to fix a mundane modern diesel and I had a £1000 bill when the cambelt snapped on a three year old Ford Cougar.
The answer to the OP's original question would on average be a 'no'. However, as with any car it all depends on the example you purchase, how well it has been maintained and how much work you're prepared to do yourself. ANY car that hasn't been properly maintained will potentially cost you a lot of money. Go and check out the price of a high pressure pump and couple of injectors for a 530d and some of the Chim/ Griff can appear prices seem cheap. There are common issues you need to look out for, but the RV8 TVR cars are awesome to drive. Riceburner, GM barge or TVR. No contest.
My S has cost me around £400 for 12 months of pleasure, not including petrol.
It'll do mid 20s MPG easily, and I've even managed mid 30s. I service it myself (it's a Ford V6 so it's easy), but than again so is the RV8.
It hasn't needed tyres yet, but I just put a reasonable pair on my Chim for £135 so that's fine. I bought a pair of new Bendix calipers for it for £46 the pair, brand new.
TBH it is significantly cheaper to run than my wife's TT225 Roadster (and more reliable). I did choose VERY carefully when buying and it has paid off.
It's up for sale on eBay at the moment as redundency is looming and I need to reduce the fleet.
TBH even doing 500 miles in my Chim since I bought it in October has only cost me the price of a pair of tyres and the fuel.. Plus some oil, filter and plugs..
Keep on top of the maintenance and you should be able to run an RV8 or V6 on a reasonably tight budget.
It's the upgrades that kill you!
It'll do mid 20s MPG easily, and I've even managed mid 30s. I service it myself (it's a Ford V6 so it's easy), but than again so is the RV8.
It hasn't needed tyres yet, but I just put a reasonable pair on my Chim for £135 so that's fine. I bought a pair of new Bendix calipers for it for £46 the pair, brand new.
TBH it is significantly cheaper to run than my wife's TT225 Roadster (and more reliable). I did choose VERY carefully when buying and it has paid off.
It's up for sale on eBay at the moment as redundency is looming and I need to reduce the fleet.
TBH even doing 500 miles in my Chim since I bought it in October has only cost me the price of a pair of tyres and the fuel.. Plus some oil, filter and plugs..
Keep on top of the maintenance and you should be able to run an RV8 or V6 on a reasonably tight budget.
It's the upgrades that kill you!
It's really the AJP8 and Speed Six engines which introduce a lot of cost through regular and involved servicing and the increased wear and tear associated with the step-up in performance those engines brought.
If you can sell on the VXR, and get yourself into the position to buy a Ford or Rover engined TVR with cash rather than bank loans or whatever, then you've already mitigated the depreciation issue of the VXR and pretty much any other newish mass-produced car and you'll be in a position to run it on usual TVR S or Chim/Griff budgets.
I wouldn't want a Cerbera or Tuscan as my only car, but as you describe occassional/weekend use then a TVR could still work for you - probably not a T-car without financial anxiety though.
If you can sell on the VXR, and get yourself into the position to buy a Ford or Rover engined TVR with cash rather than bank loans or whatever, then you've already mitigated the depreciation issue of the VXR and pretty much any other newish mass-produced car and you'll be in a position to run it on usual TVR S or Chim/Griff budgets.
I wouldn't want a Cerbera or Tuscan as my only car, but as you describe occassional/weekend use then a TVR could still work for you - probably not a T-car without financial anxiety though.
OP, I'm going to say something controversial which I'm sure a lot of the masses may not agree with, but you could feasibly get a Tuscan just for the summer season, without having too much expenditure. If you look for a recently serviced Tuscan and buy in winter, you could feasibly do the whole summer (guessing 5k miles on a limited mileage policy) without needing to shell out too much. This would be assuming nothing too catastrophic went wrong.
I recon you could sell towards the end of summer and not lose out too much. The risk is that the car does not sell quickly, or at all. Don't be fooled, the Tuscan market is relatively slow for all but the prime examples, and several tvr fans I have spoken to have had a reluctance to buy private, prefering a guarantee of the big indies/dealers. If you we're prepared to take this high risk strategy, you could try a dream car for 6 months without the long term bills. All imo of course!
I recon you could sell towards the end of summer and not lose out too much. The risk is that the car does not sell quickly, or at all. Don't be fooled, the Tuscan market is relatively slow for all but the prime examples, and several tvr fans I have spoken to have had a reluctance to buy private, prefering a guarantee of the big indies/dealers. If you we're prepared to take this high risk strategy, you could try a dream car for 6 months without the long term bills. All imo of course!
rb5er said:
Pixelpeep said:
Think ill start looking at 'sensible' performance cars... Audi TTRS auto maybe.
Do the maths on the depreciation of one of those over a couple of years or so. Probably much more expensive than the TVR again.I was thinking Astra money, but if you can afford to waste so much on an Audi then running a Tuscan is very feasible. Just bank what you don't waste on finance and depreciation on a stupid overweight easter egg and you'll have no trouble with the Tuscan's bills.
Audis really aren't all that reliability wise, and they're absolutely awful to drive too. I mean criminally dull. They're performance cars for people too inept to drive a proper car basically. Completely reliant on AWD and electronics to stop them cocking up and nice numb steering because feedback just reminds them that they have no idea what they're doing. They are about as involving and engaging to drive as receiving a post card from a TVR owner who is on a driving holiday saying "haha loser".
Apart from that I love Audi and their drivers.
So, to summarise, don't buy an Audi unless you want to admit you can't drive and you want to pour a fortune down the drain. Buy a Tuscan if you want to demonstrate your balls of steel instead. You even get let out of junctions in a TVR.
jamieduff1981 said:
Audis really aren't all that reliability wise, and they're absolutely awful to drive too. I mean criminally dull. They're performance cars for people too inept to drive a proper car basically. Completely reliant on AWD and electronics to stop them cocking up and nice numb steering because feedback just reminds them that they have no idea what they're doing. They are about as involving and engaging to drive as receiving a post card from a TVR owner who is on a driving holiday saying "haha loser".
Apart from that I love Audi and their drivers.
Hmmm... my A6 3.0TDI was extremely reliable. I kept it serviced and I never replaced anything other than consumables and glow plugs. Remapped it was 268BHP with 550nm. Living in the sticks in winter with winter tyres, the AWD was fantastic. Although I agree, the steering is numb. As far as barges go, my 5 series BMW was far more engaging to drive. However, if you think they're numb, I now have a Mundano as my run around. Great on fuel, but it has nothing about it and its FWD Apart from that I love Audi and their drivers.
Could be worse - you could have bought an Insignia!
Not all Audis break. That would be silly to suggest. They do break just as often as anything else in my experience though (my experience being pals and colleagues turning up with broken cars trying to buy my services with bottles of booze - to be fair it works). Not bad cars like a Lada Riva or Skoda Estelle, but way overhyped and overpriced. I wouldn't knock them so much if everyone didn't try to ram them down your throat as the best thing since sliced bread.
Not all Audis break. That would be silly to suggest. They do break just as often as anything else in my experience though (my experience being pals and colleagues turning up with broken cars trying to buy my services with bottles of booze - to be fair it works). Not bad cars like a Lada Riva or Skoda Estelle, but way overhyped and overpriced. I wouldn't knock them so much if everyone didn't try to ram them down your throat as the best thing since sliced bread.
I am kind of doing this.. I started looking for a daily driver with a bit of power, starting with the Clip 200 et al, and ended up with a 4.0 Chimaera.
Clutch went immediately - that was £600. Running costs - 20 mpg mixed use, 30 mpg on a run. Servicing can be reasonable if you know where to look. Parts are quite cheap and easy to get hold of. I dread an engine or gearbox rebuild, or diff issues. I keep cash aside to cover it though. There is the threat of big bills, but how much is a new turbo on a VXR? Buy right to start with and you should be OK.
The biggest sacrifice is time. There is always something you want to fiddle with / improve.
I say do it. You obviously want one, and they may be out of reach price wise in a few years.
Clutch went immediately - that was £600. Running costs - 20 mpg mixed use, 30 mpg on a run. Servicing can be reasonable if you know where to look. Parts are quite cheap and easy to get hold of. I dread an engine or gearbox rebuild, or diff issues. I keep cash aside to cover it though. There is the threat of big bills, but how much is a new turbo on a VXR? Buy right to start with and you should be OK.
The biggest sacrifice is time. There is always something you want to fiddle with / improve.
I say do it. You obviously want one, and they may be out of reach price wise in a few years.
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