TVR Daily.. madness?
Discussion
Good afternoon ladies and Gents.
At the risk of sounding completely unoriginal, is it a good idea to use a TVR as a daily?
Now I know thats like asking how long is a peice of string, so ill give a little more info.
In a few months ill be 23, and I want to treat my self. I have been looking at Jaguar 4.2 XKRs 2006 onwards, untill today when I saw a stunning Tuscan on ebay, 2000 model.
I will admit now, I have only heard bad things about TVRs.. engine rebuilds every 30 yards, bad on fuel, wired up by chimps etc.. but im not one for listening to gossip.
anywho, In a bad month I do 1000 miles, but on average its closer to 600, a mix of town driving and motorway blasts..
Insurance isnt too bad, £1100 a year, however if its possible to get that down itll help.
I plan on spending around £16500 on the car give or take a grand, looking on ebay/autotrader I can get a 4 litre Tuscan
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2002-TVR-Tuscan-4-0-380-...
example
I dont want a Chim or Cerb, i prefer the newer cars.. Tuscan, t350, etc
any other info will really help
Just a note, I have used the search function, but its not working for me
Thanks everyone
At the risk of sounding completely unoriginal, is it a good idea to use a TVR as a daily?
Now I know thats like asking how long is a peice of string, so ill give a little more info.
In a few months ill be 23, and I want to treat my self. I have been looking at Jaguar 4.2 XKRs 2006 onwards, untill today when I saw a stunning Tuscan on ebay, 2000 model.
I will admit now, I have only heard bad things about TVRs.. engine rebuilds every 30 yards, bad on fuel, wired up by chimps etc.. but im not one for listening to gossip.
anywho, In a bad month I do 1000 miles, but on average its closer to 600, a mix of town driving and motorway blasts..
Insurance isnt too bad, £1100 a year, however if its possible to get that down itll help.
I plan on spending around £16500 on the car give or take a grand, looking on ebay/autotrader I can get a 4 litre Tuscan
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2002-TVR-Tuscan-4-0-380-...
example
I dont want a Chim or Cerb, i prefer the newer cars.. Tuscan, t350, etc
any other info will really help
Just a note, I have used the search function, but its not working for me
Thanks everyone
Edited by Scoticus on Saturday 23 March 15:57
Edited by Scoticus on Saturday 23 March 16:19
I ran a modified Chimaera 450 for just over 2 years and 32,500 miles.
Services get expensive, as does fuel, but if you can afford it, the cars are generally more solid than the average punter gives them credit.
On good days, they're great. Nothing beats coming out of the office for a roof down blat home. Most people love it, kids stop and point and in a bizarre way you become a minor celeb and known as the local nutter with the noisy Sportscar.
However, in the winter it's hard work. Watching out for idiots in crap weather, who look over the car as they're half asleep, on sloppy roundabouts, it can get tiresome. If you feel crap, full of flu or have a headache a noisy car is a real pain in the neck. You worry about parking it anywhere (at never goes) and even if you park miles from the shop, some a
hole will park millimetres from your door. Every fking time.
I feel out of love with mine in the end. I'm glad I did it, but I wouldn't do it again.
Services get expensive, as does fuel, but if you can afford it, the cars are generally more solid than the average punter gives them credit.
On good days, they're great. Nothing beats coming out of the office for a roof down blat home. Most people love it, kids stop and point and in a bizarre way you become a minor celeb and known as the local nutter with the noisy Sportscar.
However, in the winter it's hard work. Watching out for idiots in crap weather, who look over the car as they're half asleep, on sloppy roundabouts, it can get tiresome. If you feel crap, full of flu or have a headache a noisy car is a real pain in the neck. You worry about parking it anywhere (at never goes) and even if you park miles from the shop, some a
hole will park millimetres from your door. Every fking time. I feel out of love with mine in the end. I'm glad I did it, but I wouldn't do it again.
A900ss said:
Scoticus said:
Insurance isnt too bad, £1100 a month, however if its possible to get that down itll help.
Thanks everyone
£1,100 a month?????Thanks everyone
AT 23 you could struggle with insuring anything fast and powerful, especially if you crash it.
Servicing costs on an XKR or similar £60k car can be expensive if you hit a major service. Or if it borks down. But there are some great deals to be done, and they can be cheap tp run specially if you only do say 9000 miles a year - fuel costs are less of a factor, and if you buy something that has just had a major service you could have up to two years of service cost free motoring.....if it doesn't break.
TVRs are similarly expensive, especially if they bork down, as being older cars they do tend to suffer with long term maintenance problems.
Get an expert along to help with the buying process and choose a good one, whatever you buy.
Whatever you do, if you fancy a speed six engined TVR it could be wise to choose one that has already had the engine rebuild that so many seem to need, and make sure that you (and your other half if you have one) can live with the noise and the floor hinged pedals/heavy clutch. The Tuscan is a great car, and will get you noticed far more than almost anything else, and will get you membership to this fantastic unofficial TVR fan club, but owning it won't be cheap. And you will probably be reluctant to use it as a daily driver in the pouring rain in December. To be honest, most see them as a fun car/weekend car. I have driven mine every week this winter, but the main business miles and long journeys have been done in the Audi.
Other halves tend not to like to passenger in noisy uncomfortable cars IMHO. My wife is a prime example. Despite being young at heart, slim and profoundly deaf, she much prefers the comfort and smooth ride of our Audi A8, to the point where she refuses to come on almost any journey of more than 10 miles in the Chimaera. At least the Jag will give your partner, or any prospective crumpet, comfort and electric heated seats to relax in. And make you look a lot more mature and reliable than the other guys your age with loud exhausts on their pimped up hot hatches.
Servicing costs on an XKR or similar £60k car can be expensive if you hit a major service. Or if it borks down. But there are some great deals to be done, and they can be cheap tp run specially if you only do say 9000 miles a year - fuel costs are less of a factor, and if you buy something that has just had a major service you could have up to two years of service cost free motoring.....if it doesn't break.
TVRs are similarly expensive, especially if they bork down, as being older cars they do tend to suffer with long term maintenance problems.
Get an expert along to help with the buying process and choose a good one, whatever you buy.
Whatever you do, if you fancy a speed six engined TVR it could be wise to choose one that has already had the engine rebuild that so many seem to need, and make sure that you (and your other half if you have one) can live with the noise and the floor hinged pedals/heavy clutch. The Tuscan is a great car, and will get you noticed far more than almost anything else, and will get you membership to this fantastic unofficial TVR fan club, but owning it won't be cheap. And you will probably be reluctant to use it as a daily driver in the pouring rain in December. To be honest, most see them as a fun car/weekend car. I have driven mine every week this winter, but the main business miles and long journeys have been done in the Audi.
Other halves tend not to like to passenger in noisy uncomfortable cars IMHO. My wife is a prime example. Despite being young at heart, slim and profoundly deaf, she much prefers the comfort and smooth ride of our Audi A8, to the point where she refuses to come on almost any journey of more than 10 miles in the Chimaera. At least the Jag will give your partner, or any prospective crumpet, comfort and electric heated seats to relax in. And make you look a lot more mature and reliable than the other guys your age with loud exhausts on their pimped up hot hatches.
Just avoid the M6 in bad weather......... if you see what I mean
QBee said:
Just avoid the M6 in bad weather......... if you see what I mean
I was unlucky and that's my first incident in nearly 7 years of ownership and daily driving. I'll still use the Griffith when I get it back and I agree with the post above that suggests they get better with use.Have to agree, I'm firmly in the camp of using TVR's year round, it avoids all of the niggles, and worse, caused by lack of use. All TVR's need a bit more TLC to keep them in top condition than mass produced cars, but most of us enjoy that part.
I do try to avoid salty roads and ensure they are hosed underneath on exposure to salt though to minimise any corrosion.
I do try to avoid salty roads and ensure they are hosed underneath on exposure to salt though to minimise any corrosion.
I've used a Wedge 280i, 2 Chimaera's and 2 Tuscans as dailys and enjoyed all of them.
I agree with the 1'more they get used the better' point.
Several of the Indy workshops have introduced improvements in the engines and so rebuilt engines are brilliant.
You have to be careful when conditions dictate. I wrote of my first Tuscan becuase I was more interested in listening to the noise......
The speedd six engine is good for both town and motorway driving. I get about 28 mpg depending on tuning and weight of right foot
I agree with the 1'more they get used the better' point.
Several of the Indy workshops have introduced improvements in the engines and so rebuilt engines are brilliant.
You have to be careful when conditions dictate. I wrote of my first Tuscan becuase I was more interested in listening to the noise......
The speedd six engine is good for both town and motorway driving. I get about 28 mpg depending on tuning and weight of right foot
Thanks everyone for your help.
Looking into it a little further, if I get one itll have to be a Tuscan as I cannot get a sensible insurance quote on the T350, at the moment the cheapest its coming back at is north of £1800..
As said, the Tuscan (380) is £1100 a year.
Reading what you have put, it sounds like they would be an amazing daily ride.. the noise, looks etc is exactly what I want.. and why not at 23
Happily I am single so I dont have to worry about a moaning OH to make happy and to be honest, im not fond of other people in my car anyway.. few days back I had my pug filled with mates and it got to the point I dropped them all off and went home, just drove me mad..
The only thing that really scares me is the reliability, and having a look through the forum, they arent anywhere near as bad as people make out..
The again, asking TVR owners how good their car is, is asking religious folks if God is a goody or a bady..
I guess it comes with the terratory.. buy a "hand built british sports car" and spend the rest of time rebuilding the bloody thing. Which I dont mind doing.. But if im going to be doing every weekend Ill go for the Jag..
Sorry, im rambling..
What do I need to look out for on the tuscans? everything and anything that comes to mind
Also, all of the ones iv seen have the gold gaz shocks.. I see there is a warning about them, how do I check these?
Thanks everyone
Looking into it a little further, if I get one itll have to be a Tuscan as I cannot get a sensible insurance quote on the T350, at the moment the cheapest its coming back at is north of £1800..
As said, the Tuscan (380) is £1100 a year.
Reading what you have put, it sounds like they would be an amazing daily ride.. the noise, looks etc is exactly what I want.. and why not at 23
Happily I am single so I dont have to worry about a moaning OH to make happy and to be honest, im not fond of other people in my car anyway.. few days back I had my pug filled with mates and it got to the point I dropped them all off and went home, just drove me mad..
The only thing that really scares me is the reliability, and having a look through the forum, they arent anywhere near as bad as people make out..
The again, asking TVR owners how good their car is, is asking religious folks if God is a goody or a bady..
I guess it comes with the terratory.. buy a "hand built british sports car" and spend the rest of time rebuilding the bloody thing. Which I dont mind doing.. But if im going to be doing every weekend Ill go for the Jag..
Sorry, im rambling..
What do I need to look out for on the tuscans? everything and anything that comes to mind
Also, all of the ones iv seen have the gold gaz shocks.. I see there is a warning about them, how do I check these?
Thanks everyone
They are all speed six. An ideal one has had a TVR Power engne rebuild last week, so the engine has a three year warranty, and a body off chassis refurb the week before. Not as daft as it sounds - I know of an immaculate T350 4.3 that had the rebuild in the last six months and the car is now for sale.
One that hasn't ever had an engine rebuild might require you to do one any time soon. The speed six engine is a flawed design. The rebuild may be as much as half the cost of the car. A red rose has more power. A Tuscan 2 will cost you more than a cheese grater Tuscan. They all look jaw droppingly great. Chassis condition is another potential problem area. Buy from a dealer or take a TVR expert along with you when buying.
One that hasn't ever had an engine rebuild might require you to do one any time soon. The speed six engine is a flawed design. The rebuild may be as much as half the cost of the car. A red rose has more power. A Tuscan 2 will cost you more than a cheese grater Tuscan. They all look jaw droppingly great. Chassis condition is another potential problem area. Buy from a dealer or take a TVR expert along with you when buying.
Try MSM for insurance mate, normally good for young drivers like yourself though it maybe a little more with the higher mileage. If you are worried about reliability get one with a rebuild by tvr power but otherwise just get it checked over by them or someone similar. Should do mid 20's mpg taking it steady. Will need a service every 6k that will add up if your doing high mileage each year.If I was you I would just get a cheap daily driver too just to keep the costs down and so you have something to use when there is salt on the roads/snow etc
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