Why is the market so slow for used chims?
Discussion
I can believe that Griff's are holding prices better than Chim's. Chim's are great cars but, as gemini and others point out, there are a LOT of them.
Also there are a LOT of older Chims. Any older GRP based car will have a LOT of stonechips if its actually been used. Owners will prefer to get rid of the car without paying for a respray so that's why you'd find a lot of cars needing attention.
So what? Buy a bargain car and pay for the respray (in the original colour...) yourself - still cheap and nothing will go like it at the price (save perhaps the right Caterham) and its practical.
Its for this reason that the wife and I have decided to lavish a few grand on getting our Chim immaculate again and just keeping it...its five years old with only 38K on it so there's a lot of life in her yet - one she's got an appearance to match again who needs a Tuscan. (Us probably
)
Also there are a LOT of older Chims. Any older GRP based car will have a LOT of stonechips if its actually been used. Owners will prefer to get rid of the car without paying for a respray so that's why you'd find a lot of cars needing attention.
So what? Buy a bargain car and pay for the respray (in the original colour...) yourself - still cheap and nothing will go like it at the price (save perhaps the right Caterham) and its practical.
Its for this reason that the wife and I have decided to lavish a few grand on getting our Chim immaculate again and just keeping it...its five years old with only 38K on it so there's a lot of life in her yet - one she's got an appearance to match again who needs a Tuscan. (Us probably
)
The dealers like Adrian Blyth seem to be moving the cars very fast. At one point recently they had no stock to sell.
I have decided to keep mine and put some money into vast improvements such as AP brakes and Nitorn shocks. There is still nothing that beats the clasic britt look of a chimaera interior or exterior.
I have decided to keep mine and put some money into vast improvements such as AP brakes and Nitorn shocks. There is still nothing that beats the clasic britt look of a chimaera interior or exterior.
mojorider said:
The dealers like Adrian Blyth seem to be moving the cars very fast. At one point recently they had no stock to sell.
I have decided to keep mine and put some money into vast improvements such as AP brakes and Nitorn shocks. There is still nothing that beats the clasic britt look of a chimaera interior or exterior.
Well said. Have thought about maybe selling mine but it would get lost amongst all the others on the classifieds. Not saying it's any better than others on there but you'd never get mine for 13k I'm afraid ... it's just *too damn good* to giveaway at that price.
I'd rather keep it and enjoy it.
ATG said:
Find it a little hard to believe that the market for Chims is dead while the market for Griffs is on fire given that the cars are virtually identical. Are the dealerships really full of unsold Chims and yet unable to get their hands on a Griff??
Unfortunately that seems to be exactly the case!
Some people think that Griffs are going to be a cult car and therefore are rushing to get a bit of the action.
You can blame Classic Cars for running a very good artical on buying one, and last weeks Sunday Times for agian running a buy a second hand Griff artical.
They stated in both that the Griff is becoming a TVR cult car and that prices are really starting to firm up and may never get any cheaper.
Like the Chim better myself.
You can blame Classic Cars for running a very good artical on buying one, and last weeks Sunday Times for agian running a buy a second hand Griff artical.
They stated in both that the Griff is becoming a TVR cult car and that prices are really starting to firm up and may never get any cheaper.
Like the Chim better myself.
To be honest as a potential TVR owner I would go for a Chim first as it seems the most useable / practical.. I think the other thing is that general punters looking for their first bite of TVR ownership are very very sceptical about reliability, even if a lot of horror stories are not true. I dont know if I am in the minority but I would almost certainly pay £2k more for the same car at a specialist dealer like Adrian Blyth than buying privately just to take away some of the fear of buying a bad example..
I know that is not fair on owners, the vast majority of which no doubt really cherish their cars but buyers new to TVR like myself are always going to be cagey about private sales I think and hence will often pay a little extra for a bit of peace of mind and backup..
I know that is not fair on owners, the vast majority of which no doubt really cherish their cars but buyers new to TVR like myself are always going to be cagey about private sales I think and hence will often pay a little extra for a bit of peace of mind and backup..
Tiggsy said:
"3k more than mine"
lol- yes, but mine is a 450, has only 25k on the clock, brand new seals all round, respraid bonnet so is chipless, refurbed hood and 24 months warranty.
surley worth something?
T
Yes for sure 3k???? i wasn,t trying to sound smug i feel my car is very good however im not getting calls never mind viewings good luck with your sale.What are you getting next?
Don said:
I can believe that Griff's are holding prices better than Chim's. Chim's are great cars but, as gemini and others point out, there are a LOT of them.
Was there some strange capacity capping at TVR, or are there more Chims than Griffs simply because, as new cars, the Chim was far more in demand?
I looked at Griffs originally as they came a year or so older and (at the time) that meant cheaper than Chims. Waited, saved more, got a Chim, very happy with it.
Yeah its not just Tivs that are taking time to sell, my 2002 Boxster S took over 3 months to sell and that was after reducing the price month after month. It was well priced and the same other Boxsters seemed to be in the same trade mags week after week too! The answer is just to wait someone will come along that wants your car!
crimsonchim said:
I can believe that Griff's are holding prices better than Chim's. Chim's are great cars but, as gemini and others point out, there are a LOT of them.
Was there some strange capacity capping at TVR, or are there more Chims than Griffs simply because, as new cars, the Chim was far more in demand?
I looked at Griffs originally as they came a year or so older and (at the time) that meant cheaper than Chims. Waited, saved more, got a Chim, very happy with it.
Last time I checked shpub's book the Chimaera was several times more popular (in terms of numbers ordered) than the Griff IIRC. There was no capping of numbers made of the Griff AFAIK. Its just that when buying new people wanted Chimaeras.
We're very happy with ours too.
Not a new phenomenon I think - The Griff has always held its value a little better due to fewer around. My last Chimaera was a chasm of depreciation because when I came to sell, there was a glut of them around (lots of people upgrading the the then-new Tuscan). Also, there's plenty of choice out there for 15-20K's worth of fun-mobile these days...
I think the Griff will always be a better long term investment (if you can call a TVR any sort of investment) simply because there are less of them around. TVR drew a line under the car by making the last 100 LE models guaranteeing the residuals of late cars and helping earlier ones in the process.
There are very few cars of any sort selling in the trade at the moment, it is not just Chims. Who would have thought that in sunny June a trader could be stuck with two red F360s spiders that won’t sell – that says it all!
Give it a couple of months it will all start again.
Ivan
There are very few cars of any sort selling in the trade at the moment, it is not just Chims. Who would have thought that in sunny June a trader could be stuck with two red F360s spiders that won’t sell – that says it all!
Give it a couple of months it will all start again.
Ivan
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