Is the Cerbera really more expensive to maintain....

[Willtl]

than other TVRs? ....and if so, why?

I've received a couple of comments that the Cerbera is more expensive to maintain than other TVRs. Can some of you be kind enough to summarise your maintenance experiences? I'm curious to know whether this model is even more unreliable than other models, just has more costly parts (but the same problems) or if they just seem more unreliable but like any other cars, there are good and bad examples out there.

I'm fairly familiar with the reputation certain cars can get and have also seen when things always aren't as they appear. I had an Alfa 156 from new in 2000 and other than the timing belt tensioner giving way when the car was 9 months old (putting the car out of action for 3 weeks whilst Alfa internally agreed it would be covered under warranty), it was basically bullet proof - the only parts replaced over its 13 year and 80k life were the battery, starting motor, wiper blades and a few light bulbs.

[Willtl]

gruffalo said:

A rule of thumb is to put away £250 a month into the car fund and that will cover you for your Cerbera related costs.

Is this on top of insurance, tax, petrol and consumables (such as tyres)? I was thinking (hoping!) £100 per month on top of the four items I listed, but guess I'm living in dream world. What is the average life of a gearbox and clutch and how much do they cost? My driving style is pretty clutch friendly and the only clutch I've ever had changed was on my old Ford Capri (but given that engine, gearbox, clutch and pretty much every important part needed replacing I don't put that on me).

[Willtl]

Gazzab said:

What this thread misses is the skimping... There are tons of cerbs that are run with problems ignored/left/unnoticed by owners. Many Tvr garages these days have to waste tons of time trying to help customers decide what they aren going to fix or how to bodge it.
Same with lots of marques. I sold my D2 today. I think the buyer got a bargain as chassis perfect, engine replaced, suspension air bags replaced and all small niggles attended to (and hardly a scratch on the bodywork). Most of the comparable d2's out there are all pending money pits. I've already spent the money, lucky new owner.

Interesting. Another thought that has crossed my mind, are those of you with the bigger bills driving/pushing the cars quite hard? For me, it will be more of a "trophy" car that will get quite an easy life in my hands that although I tend to use fairly frequently (probably 2 days per week) will not be asked to break out a sweat and mostly will be used for short 5-10 mile journeys, with maybe one or two 150 mile round trips per month. TBH, the costs mentioned in this thread have put me off as I'd really hoped 1-1.5k per year would be enough. I can stretch to more, but it seems selfish to spend so much on a hobby that could be used for family treats.

I'm going to scrutinise the service records of the 2 cars I'm going to see tomorrow to see what their average cost per year works out to and also get a better idea of what I'll need to budget for outside of the 2 year warranty I'm being offered. Sadly my excitement of becoming a TVR owner is quickly being replaced with the fear of being stuck with a car I know will require constant expenditure, a kind of buyer's remorse before I even buy it!

Edited by Willtl on Friday 10th April 23:26

[Willtl]

True, but I'll be able to see when brakes, clutch etc were last replaced and how often.

[Willtl]

LooneyTunes said:

BTW: have you checked the cost of insurance? If you're adding a TVR as an additional car (and don't have the NCB to deploy) then it can be expensive...

Yes, without NCB it will cost me about £680. If I use my one year NCB from my BMW it will drop to about £380. If today goes well and I decide to buy I'll be part exchanging my BMW so I'll take the NCB from that until my insurance comes up for renewal around October. I'll then do some jiggling as I have an A6 taking all my NCB (more than 10 years) and I'll swap it over with the TVR if it will give me a saving over all.

[Willtl]

In the end, ended up driving a Griffith as well. I preferred the Cerbera slightly, but the Griff will be significantly cheaper to run. Also going against the Griff was the seat, pushed into my upper back. Dealer said they could do something about it though. Driving back though showed me how much more comfortable and smoother the BMW is (and I'd have to sell this to fund any TVR). Think I'll put the BMW up for sale on Gumtree and see if any interest.

[Willtl]

jamieduff1981 said:

Who's that with? My insurance costs £400 with NCD mirrored against one of my daily driver policies through ManningUK.

This is with Aviva, I currently have a multi car policy with them.

jamieduff1981 said:

Don't get mixed up between maintenance and upgraditis either. This thread has a lot of confusion in it.

I had a good look through the paperwork for the Cerbera I saw today. On the whole it was about £500 per year for interim services and around £1K for the full service. The only other costs was a clutch at about 22K (car is currently on 35k), some front brakes and some work done on the exhaust (but exhaust wasn't replaced). The dealer reckoned £200 per month would be enough for maintenance and insurance and based on the paperwork, this seemed reasonable.