Possibly new TVR owner

Possibly new TVR owner

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adsvx220

Original Poster:

705 posts

182 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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Tomorrow I may have sold my Caterham. Which will allow me to possibly go into TVR Tuscan ownership.

Looking through the classifieds I see there are different types one of which is the red rose edition what's diffrent from this to a standard S for example??

Also there seems to be quite a few with engine re-builds. Are the engines really that bad?? I'm no rich man so are these cars to stay away from??

Prices also seem to be spread out. I've seen Tuscans for £17kish all the way up to £30k plus.

Any info will be great for a first time TVR buyer.

Adam

Willtl

135 posts

108 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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Hi Adam. I'm also new to TVR and will be picking up my first next week. Have a search for my topic "My TVR dream" in the general TVR folder, some of your questions are answered there.

You are going to need some spare cash for a Tuscan though.

Speed 3

4,485 posts

118 months

Monday 25th May 2015
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Some of these should help:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...


You need to carefully consider condition and build spec - hence the wide range of prices. Basically the early Tuscans had chocolate valvetrain components courtesy of Mr Wheeler (great design leader but should have had a double barreled surname with "-Dealer"). It is extremely rare for one of these early engines not to need or have been rebuilt. The early ones done under warranty often used the same duff components from India so a car could have more than one rebuild (one of the prime reasons TVR went bust). The good news now is that several specialists offer rebuilds with long warranties (irrespective of original miles) for £6-7k upwards or you can do the rebuild yourself with the right spec bits if you have the time, skill & equipment. Resale value does factor this in but you probably wouldn't get full recompense in the near term so usual wisdom is to go for one that someone else had rebuilt. As with all things TVR its hard to pin down a date when a production line change came in but approx. 2003 is felt to be when they started to get the engines right (around the time the Tamora and then T350 appeared and they don't generally have problems). Mine is a 2004 with 55k on it, going strong with no rebuild required. They also revised the suspension around this time to mitigate a certain twitchiness. That said, a well-fettled early car will drive better than a neglected later one. Spend money on revised dampers and a Geo set up for best handling.

You will get some debate from people with fairly subtly different opinions but on the whole its

1. Go for a later car if you want a greater chance of reliability out of the box, live with the colour combo
2. Go for a cheaper early car that doesn't have chassis issues (not particularly common on Tuscan) and budget for rebuild/retrim/paint to whatever your budget is.

Red Rose was a factory spec that gave you a few more horses but they don't really command too much of a premium. The S gave better power than the RR and had enhanced brakes & aero kit. mytuscan gives you the various basic specs and other ownership advice.

Depending on where you are, the best thing is to hook up with a few owners through a PH or TVRCC meet and chat to us. The ownership experience is friendly in that respect.

Tuscans are dramatic - outside, inside & aurally. If you can afford one go for it. It would be a very different experience to the Caterham, its very much a GT car as opposed to a track specialist.


Edited by Speed 3 on Monday 25th May 09:09

Englishman

2,215 posts

209 months

Monday 25th May 2015
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I've just bought a 2001 Tuscan and yes, I did look for one with an engine rebuild, but finally bought one without with a Powers Performance warranty paid for by the dealer. I didn't know Power offered this, but they take the top off, look for wear on the finger followers, camshaft etc. do a leak down test and a lot more I'm sure, before putting their own 12 month warranty on the engine if in good condition. Time will tell if I need it!

adsvx220

Original Poster:

705 posts

182 months

Monday 25th May 2015
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Cheers for the reply's guys!!

I think I will have to do a bit more homework and checking my finances.

Cheers

Adam

travelbug63

98 posts

116 months

Monday 25th May 2015
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Very short response from me as Speed 3 has pretty much covered everything above ( he was also very helpful when I bought mine last year, inviting me round for a chat, drive and a cuppa).
My suggestion is to read all you can, meet and talk to as many people as you can, and be prepared to travel to view. I looked at about half a dozen before I bought mine, believe me there are a few poorly looked after ones out there.
Good luck !

Walford

2,259 posts

165 months

Wednesday 27th May 2015
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travelbug63 said:
believe me there are a few poorly looked after ones out there.
Yes I have lost count of how many times people have told me, I,m a bad owner

Billiam

135 posts

121 months

Tuesday 2nd June 2015
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Some good advice out there.. Just thought id share my buying experience after a good year of ownership. I cannot say do not buy the first you see as i kinda did but only when i went to see a second and it made me realise how good the first actually was ! But so long as the big bits are done as said, you will be fine.. Do try and get out and see some even if not to buy again as mentioned, meet some owners etc find a local TVR meet even.

Personally my list of must haves was short and you can 'live' with certain things you can tinker down the line such as interior or colour. But again as mentioned, do expect to travel ! All i wanted was a mk1 tuscan with good history ie engine rebuild, receipts for previous work done etc thats the important stuff. I decided to buy a 'well used' car rather than a show pony but got a mk 1 S with great history and even met a specialist who had worked on the car for last 7 years.. (Thanks again to Steve at SD Autotec) and so bought it at a good price and had change to spend on it wink its a raw, pure driving machine, i love it to bits.. but it does take some control to drive fast and you must respect it at all times !!

One final point i will mention, you will always have niggles etc with these kind of cars, a garage whilst not a must have, i do recommended ! These cars like to be used so be sure you can drive it but and its a big but.. when the car is going and going well, it truly is something quite special ! Mine has spent near 10 weeks in garage trying to fix a current problem but theres not a moment i think to myself, i should have bought something more reliable, but then.. my 'reliable' car, is an Alfa Romeo haha