STOP THE KNOCKING.
Discussion
AS the Sales Manager of a TVR Dealership based in the Northwest, I am often asked by a buyer new to TVR can we find him a Used Chimaera, Griffith, early model Tuscan etc. This is followed up by "Why are they so Unreliable,are they always Going Wrong & Breaking Down?
They have looked on PistonHeads & they would not Buy
one there because the owners seem to be Knocking the Cars & they seem to have the Kiss of Death from other Posters of Information.
Can I Ask, WHY DO IT? It is your investment in a Life-Style, Its you that will LOOSE MONEY in the end!. I can't think of any other British Car that has the following that TVR has gained throughout the years (ask any Car Club Member)
Please STOP trying to Kill the Marque with your Negative Postings, go Positive with your Comments, Look After your Investment. Protect the product & welcome First Time Buyers onto the Bottom Rung of the TVR Ownership Ladder, they may wish to BUY your Car
TVR Cars Ltd have done a Superb job in the last year or so, all New cars sold since March have a 3Yr/ 36000 Mile Warranty. A TVR Approved Used Car Warranty
package has been launched this week with a Wear & Tear option available to owners of Cars upto 5 Years old.
The Build Quality going from strength to strength.Over 40 New Cars have been ordered at our Dealership this year,more than half are new to the TVR Range. It goes without saying that we have lots of
BIG SMILES in the N/W
They have looked on PistonHeads & they would not Buy
one there because the owners seem to be Knocking the Cars & they seem to have the Kiss of Death from other Posters of Information.
Can I Ask, WHY DO IT? It is your investment in a Life-Style, Its you that will LOOSE MONEY in the end!. I can't think of any other British Car that has the following that TVR has gained throughout the years (ask any Car Club Member)
Please STOP trying to Kill the Marque with your Negative Postings, go Positive with your Comments, Look After your Investment. Protect the product & welcome First Time Buyers onto the Bottom Rung of the TVR Ownership Ladder, they may wish to BUY your Car
TVR Cars Ltd have done a Superb job in the last year or so, all New cars sold since March have a 3Yr/ 36000 Mile Warranty. A TVR Approved Used Car Warranty
package has been launched this week with a Wear & Tear option available to owners of Cars upto 5 Years old.
The Build Quality going from strength to strength.Over 40 New Cars have been ordered at our Dealership this year,more than half are new to the TVR Range. It goes without saying that we have lots of
BIG SMILES in the N/W
Mike
I totally agree with your comments, however we are not all put off by what we read on Pistonheads. We have just bought a new Tamora and as part of the decision making process I looked to Pistonheads.
Despite the negative comments from a minority of individuals (I find you very quickly discover who the negative ones are) we have chosen to buy a TVR. I find that whatever the forum you will find there are horror stories.
If you visit porsche forums there are the horror stories of the Boxster/996 and even 997 engines suffering from Rear Main Seal (RMS) failure. On M3 forums there are stories of engines blowing.
Our dealer has also told me about the many improvements that are on the way (including the Approved Used Warranty) and these can only help the marque.
We are looking forward to doing 20K miles a year in the Tamora.
>> Edited by alloypearltam on Sunday 11th September 15:21
>> Edited by alloypearltam on Sunday 11th September 15:24
I totally agree with your comments, however we are not all put off by what we read on Pistonheads. We have just bought a new Tamora and as part of the decision making process I looked to Pistonheads.
Despite the negative comments from a minority of individuals (I find you very quickly discover who the negative ones are) we have chosen to buy a TVR. I find that whatever the forum you will find there are horror stories.
If you visit porsche forums there are the horror stories of the Boxster/996 and even 997 engines suffering from Rear Main Seal (RMS) failure. On M3 forums there are stories of engines blowing.
Our dealer has also told me about the many improvements that are on the way (including the Approved Used Warranty) and these can only help the marque.
We are looking forward to doing 20K miles a year in the Tamora.
>> Edited by alloypearltam on Sunday 11th September 15:21
>> Edited by alloypearltam on Sunday 11th September 15:24
I'm sure it's very frustrating for you and we all want to see TVR do well, but sticking our heads in the sand isn't going to help matters. You simply cannot get away from the fact that TVRs have had some serious reliability issues and no amount of wishful thinking is going to make that go away, and I speak as someone who has just sold his scrupulously maintained 2003 Tuscan after the engine went pop 2 months out of warranty. I had to fight the factory for an acceptable rebuild price. The factory's appaling attitude more than anything, is what will stop me coming back to TVR, not the cars themselves.
The dealers have a responsibility to make sure the factory understand just how much this is hurting TVR's reputation and sales.
The dealers have a responsibility to make sure the factory understand just how much this is hurting TVR's reputation and sales.
GKP said:
When I saw the thread title I had an inkling this would be about TVR. But instead of it being an owner wanting to "Stop the Knocking" of his engine/gearbox/suspension etc (delete as appropriate!) it's just a dealer wanting to sell more cars.
Pish...
Can I ask do you have a TVR?
Thank goodness you don't have a financial interest in this.
If the new TVR's are any good, the market will discover this for themselves and new buyers will advertise the fact. Meanwhile, don't kid people into believing a product is great and reliable when it clearly hasn't been. How many people have fallen into a financial abyss by buying one of your cars in the past? Sure, it's a dream, it's a lifestyle, but make a choice based on facts not wishful thinking.
If the new TVR's are any good, the market will discover this for themselves and new buyers will advertise the fact. Meanwhile, don't kid people into believing a product is great and reliable when it clearly hasn't been. How many people have fallen into a financial abyss by buying one of your cars in the past? Sure, it's a dream, it's a lifestyle, but make a choice based on facts not wishful thinking.
I think it would be easy to get a biassed view about TVR reliability from Pistonheads because people with problems tend to be more vocal than people without, but maybe this helps to offset the natural tendancy of sellers and dealers to flatter the cars they're selling. Prospective owners should be encouraged that there are so many people here willing to share their knowledge and experience to help resolve problems.
>> Edited by GreenV8S on Sunday 11th September 16:20
>> Edited by GreenV8S on Sunday 11th September 16:20
I looked at Pistonheads when I was thinking about buying a TVR and they gave good points as well as the bad. BUT I still purchased one, I mainly parted with it because I needed something bigger (ie more doors). Yes it was a non stop money machine but I think you will agree that most cars on the edge of performance need constant work and lets face it mine was a 9 year old car.
I expect if I had a Lotus, Porsche, Ferrari or wheezy Escort of that age I would expect work to be needed.
and I do miss it!
Sometimes I wonder if I made the correct decision..I will be back! Next time with a TVR Wedge, so once driven never forgotten!!
>> Edited by scared but happy on Sunday 11th September 16:20
I expect if I had a Lotus, Porsche, Ferrari or wheezy Escort of that age I would expect work to be needed.
and I do miss it!
Sometimes I wonder if I made the correct decision..I will be back! Next time with a TVR Wedge, so once driven never forgotten!!
>> Edited by scared but happy on Sunday 11th September 16:20
I bought my Cerbera based largely on what I read on PH. I was given a fairly honest opinion of the costs involved and what could go wrong but was also told how great they were. To consider that when I started thinking about getting a TVR I only wanted an S-series.
As a result of the advice given on here I went in with my eyes wide open about what I was getting into. In general I've only had small issues but maybe I've been lucky.
Sometimes dealers don't help matters. I won't elaborate but some of you don't exactly enhance the experience.
It's the nature of a forum that you always hear about the problems. I posted once about how great the car was and it didn't even receive a reply
Although that was at a time when half the cerbera forum was looking for clutches.
As a result of the advice given on here I went in with my eyes wide open about what I was getting into. In general I've only had small issues but maybe I've been lucky.
Sometimes dealers don't help matters. I won't elaborate but some of you don't exactly enhance the experience.
It's the nature of a forum that you always hear about the problems. I posted once about how great the car was and it didn't even receive a reply
Although that was at a time when half the cerbera forum was looking for clutches. Frik said:
Sorry for killing Rover too.
Seriously though, as others have said, people often only come onto forums to ask about problems they are having - would you want to read mountains of "TVR started first time today, took me to work and back, no problems" type posts? Boring!
If these people have been put off by PH then that's a good thing for you. If they bought one expecting German levels of refinement and reliability they would be in every other day with "there's a rattle here" or "that bit's fallen off".
You should thank us for performing quality control on your customers for you!
billynomates said:
When I saw the thread title I had an inkling this would be about TVR. But instead of it being an owner wanting to "Stop the Knocking" of his engine/gearbox/suspension etc (delete as appropriate!) it's just a dealer wanting to sell more cars.
Pish...
Can I ask do you have a TVR?
Can I ask if it makes a difference?
Is it knocking for knocking sake or just sharing one's experience ? I think in the vast majority of cases itreally is a case of the latter.
If people ask me (as they frequently do) "are TVRs really as unreliable as everybody says ?", I tell the truth as far as MY experiences are concerned.
If I was thinking of buying a particular marque & asked owners of their experiences, I would hope they would also tell the truth, to help me reach a judgement. Just because a few Porsche owners tell me they have had problems with ceramic brakes wouldn't put me off buying a GT3 for instance. I just feel I would be better informed to make my decision.
To try & pretend that TVRs don't have problems is burying one's head in the sand & realistically isn't actually going to encourage the factory to sit up & take note/make improvements etc.
I understand from PH & the like that TVR build quality etc has much improved under Smolenski & if that's true, I'm delighted. It's probably exactly BECAUSE of all the claims about poor reliability that the factory has taken steps to improve quality control in order to boost what might otherwise have been flagging sales.
However stories of bonnets flying off brand new £55,000 cars & recent picturs taken at the factory, suggest that MAYBE not much has changed.
I realise that when you're an owner of anything, you don't like to be told that your asset is known to be unreliable etc, but at the end of the day, you have to be a) realistic in life & b) honest. With yourself & others.
I've had (have) a massive amount of fun in my TVRs & would have been a natural to order a Sagaris. I haven't though. I'm still not convinced that a new TVR won't give me a load of grief. Please sort it out TVR. It shouldn't be that difficult.
If people ask me (as they frequently do) "are TVRs really as unreliable as everybody says ?", I tell the truth as far as MY experiences are concerned.
If I was thinking of buying a particular marque & asked owners of their experiences, I would hope they would also tell the truth, to help me reach a judgement. Just because a few Porsche owners tell me they have had problems with ceramic brakes wouldn't put me off buying a GT3 for instance. I just feel I would be better informed to make my decision.
To try & pretend that TVRs don't have problems is burying one's head in the sand & realistically isn't actually going to encourage the factory to sit up & take note/make improvements etc.
I understand from PH & the like that TVR build quality etc has much improved under Smolenski & if that's true, I'm delighted. It's probably exactly BECAUSE of all the claims about poor reliability that the factory has taken steps to improve quality control in order to boost what might otherwise have been flagging sales.
However stories of bonnets flying off brand new £55,000 cars & recent picturs taken at the factory, suggest that MAYBE not much has changed.
I realise that when you're an owner of anything, you don't like to be told that your asset is known to be unreliable etc, but at the end of the day, you have to be a) realistic in life & b) honest. With yourself & others.
I've had (have) a massive amount of fun in my TVRs & would have been a natural to order a Sagaris. I haven't though. I'm still not convinced that a new TVR won't give me a load of grief. Please sort it out TVR. It shouldn't be that difficult.
To the original author:
I currently have a few cars in the fleet. I have a 10 year old Chimaera which I know the history of for about 3 years now. It has been completely reliable and has never let anyone down.
There is a scoob imprezza (7 years old) which has been fairly well behaved, though sometimes makes strange, unexplained worrying noises.
And I have a Lupo Gti which is a year and a half old. I've had it under two months and within two weeks of getting it it had to go back to the garage for four days with an engine warning light.
My point - I wouldnt knock a TVR for being unreliable. It's probably the most reliable car I have.
I currently have a few cars in the fleet. I have a 10 year old Chimaera which I know the history of for about 3 years now. It has been completely reliable and has never let anyone down.
There is a scoob imprezza (7 years old) which has been fairly well behaved, though sometimes makes strange, unexplained worrying noises.
And I have a Lupo Gti which is a year and a half old. I've had it under two months and within two weeks of getting it it had to go back to the garage for four days with an engine warning light.
My point - I wouldnt knock a TVR for being unreliable. It's probably the most reliable car I have.
I guess the dealers do play a very big part when it comes to customer satisfaction. My very first experiece of a TVR dealership was quite poor. I had made an appointment for a test drive, yet when I arrived not only was the owner rude and unhelpful, but the salesman had to ask his permission for a test drive.
The 2nd nearest dealer had recently lost/terminated it's franchise and I didn't really know where to look next.
It was with the help of Pistonheads that I came across the dealer whom I am now purchasing from, so Pistonheads does play a positive part in the buying process.
>> Edited by alloypearltam on Sunday 11th September 19:20
The 2nd nearest dealer had recently lost/terminated it's franchise and I didn't really know where to look next.
It was with the help of Pistonheads that I came across the dealer whom I am now purchasing from, so Pistonheads does play a positive part in the buying process.
>> Edited by alloypearltam on Sunday 11th September 19:20
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