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ChimpofDarkness
Original Poster
3,230 posts
48 months
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bobfather
9,072 posts
124 months
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Lots of people who have never had one
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spongy
2,123 posts
30 months
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Everyone i tell i have one,  im not bothered cos so far its been great 
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Whiplash
297 posts
81 months
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Looks fantastic. What was the reaction from the locals in the smaller towns you visited?
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gerradiuk
1,381 posts
64 months
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Looks as though you had a good time, what's that a vacuum gauge?
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Derek Smith
16,027 posts
117 months
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I've just sold my Chim after 7 years of ownership. I gave the purchaser a full list of items that I had bought for the car in that time to replace items that had broken:
Two rear calipers (the first was the wrong side so really just the one), and
A boot strut.
The odd thing is that I thought I had bought more for the car. I wanted to show that I had kept on top of all troubles. Just the two items made me look like a bit of a skinflint and that was too near the truth.
A woman two doors along from me bought a Honda 2000 at the same time I bought my Chim. She asked me if I was worried as to how much it might cost me. She sold her car less than two years later and bought a 2.8 'Dallas' SL. When I asked her why, she said it was the costs.
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potato muncher
530 posts
84 months
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Had my Chim for nearly 2 years now and the only problem I have had is a hose above the coil made a wire come loose.
My Chim has done 140,000 miles. Drives like a new one.
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Derek Smith
16,027 posts
117 months
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potato muncher said: Had my Chim for nearly 2 years now and the only problem I have had is a hose above the coil made a wire come loose.
My Chim has done 140,000 miles. Drives like a new one. I'm off to buy an auto SLK in a couple of weeks. I've got a certain budget and have knocked £2000 off it to put away for repairs 'in case'. I will expect a year's guarantee but after that I'm on my own. My wife saw an SLK right at the top end of (a little over actually) the full budget, £15k less pennies, and I mentioned the £2k and she was a bit bemused, saying that we'd bought nothing for the TVR for over 4 years. I had to explain that I did not expect the Merc to be as reliable and if a starter motor blew then it would cost a fortune. She was doubtful, as only a wife can be when a car in a colour she liked is refused, and I bet a few others who don't know TVRs would be as well. There is a certain irony. It would be delicious had I not had to get rid of the Chim.
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Ozmira
1,063 posts
58 months
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potato muncher said: Had my Chim for nearly 2 years now and the only problem I have had is a hose above the coil made a wire come loose.
My Chim has done 140,000 miles. Drives like a new one. how much have you changed on the car in 140k miles? shocks, springs ect... or just simple things like hoses?
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shorts!
512 posts
123 months
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Ozmira said: potato muncher said: Had my Chim for nearly 2 years now and the only problem I have had is a hose above the coil made a wire come loose.
My Chim has done 140,000 miles. Drives like a new one. how much have you changed on the car in 140k miles? shocks, springs ect... or just simple things like hoses? I'm going to guess he's not done all of those 140,000 miles in the 2 years he's had it. 
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Chris71
19,980 posts
111 months
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I've had a rather more interesting experience with the current one, but my previous TVR was one of the most reliable cars I've owned.
At that stage the two least reliable cars I'd owned were a 205 hatchback and a BMW 320i saloon. Both mainstream cars from major manufacturers. One of them wasn't even French.
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htuomola
3 posts
115 months
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OK. I rarely read forums and hardly ever write but now I just have to.
I got a 1996 Chimaera 400. I just returned home from my summer trip with it. I took a ferry from Finland to Sweden. Drove across Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Belgium to France. Took a ferry across the Channel, drove to Poole, took a ferry to Guernsey and Jersey and to St Malo. Then drove across France, Germany and Poland to Kaliningrad (the little piece of Russia by the Baltic Sea). And from there across Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to Tallinn, where I took a ferry back to Finland.
The whole thing was over 4000 miles with hideous roads (and rain) in Kaliningrad but no problems with the car whatsoever. This was the first time I took it to Russia but I have driven four times across Europe and reliability has been 100%. So indeed people who talk about TVR unreliability are those who have never had one.
Harri
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Simon says
9,282 posts
90 months
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htuomola said: OK. I rarely read forums and hardly ever write but now I just have to.
I got a 1996 Chimaera 400. I just returned home from my summer trip with it. I took a ferry from Finland to Sweden. Drove across Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Belgium to France. Took a ferry across the Channel, drove to Poole, took a ferry to Guernsey and Jersey and to St Malo. Then drove across France, Germany and Poland to Kaliningrad (the little piece of Russia by the Baltic Sea). And from there across Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to Tallinn, where I took a ferry back to Finland.
The whole thing was over 4000 miles with hideous roads (and rain) in Kaliningrad but no problems with the car whatsoever. This was the first time I took it to Russia but I have driven four times across Europe and reliability has been 100%. So indeed people who talk about TVR unreliability are those who have never had one.
Harri ETA Or don't store them properly or use them often enough 
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heebeegeetee
19,527 posts
117 months
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bobfather said: Lots of people who have never had one Plus lots of people who did.
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grumbledoak
15,710 posts
102 months
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I had a similar comment from a Merc owner in Dover at the start of our (similar) European trip. We saw him again at the top of Stelvio, but he wasn't in his car... 
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S2Mike
2,066 posts
19 months
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I have only been a TVR owner for 10 months, bought an S2 to fettle, but as I had not finished my previous project it sat in a garage with only occasional blasts, sometimes it stretched to 5 weeks without being looked at, but every time I went to take her out started first time. After a check over took for a blast before parking back in the garage for another few weeks.
I heard all the reliability comments, but now I have her out almost every day and still no problems, so I dont know where they find the bad ones.
I have probably jinxed it now, but had to mention my experience.
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Tuscan Wil
257 posts
55 months
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ChimpofDarkness said: Dave How the devil are you? I hope no one dented your door this time round. Fantastic photos. Been planning my own with a couple of mates at the moment, going away in September. We should compare notes afterwards. Hope you and Angela are well. Speak soon!
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TOV!E
1,388 posts
103 months
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Over 150'000 miles in 5 tvr,s never been stranded, only had to issue
1, 100amp fuse
2, gas gold failure
Not bad for unreliable cars....
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BrightYellowTVR
837 posts
136 months
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10.5 years of ownership and no breakdowns (touch wood), I upgrade stuff when it needs doing (including outriggers) with the same or better and just smile when I hear the "unreliable" comments. Depreciation is the lowest of any car I have owned, but this ones a keeper! Cheers Jon 
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ChimpofDarkness
Original Poster
3,230 posts
48 months
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Thanks for all your comments, my 2800 mile dash around mainland Europe continues UPDATE: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.391710450...Some fun with another Chimaera in the foothills of the Pyrénées mountains. 300 miles yesterday from my mate's little car museum in Castelnaudary to La Flotte on the Ile de Re. And my TVR continues to run faultlessly. Just the small matter of 582 miles from La Flotte to Watford tomorrow. It's going to be a killer 
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