Discussion
I shall be looking to purchase my first tvr later this year and I have decided it has to be an s series, being 6 foot 4 I think it shall have to be an s3 due to the extra door length. Could you please let me know what sort of budget I should be looking for, I don't want to purchase a basket case but a good reliable runner that I can tinker with and improve. Is it better to purchase from a dealer or from a private seller.
Clearly chassis condition is everything. Prices do vary but appear to be on tbe up. Would have thought £5.5 - 8k would get you a pretty decent one S2 or S3 10k+ for a V8 and S4 most likely. Prices do very dependant on the work thats been invested. Im sure others will be along to validate or challenge.
You will not find that many S models at a dealer, but do not let that put you off.
There are never many for sale compared to something like a Chimaera, and the majority of the S owners are from the home spannering brigade and do a lot of the work themselves, and often sell them privately to get as much as possible for them personally.
Based on recent prices somewhere in the region of £6000 to £7000 should get you a reasonable or good S3. If you can find one that has already had a body off chassis refurb expect to pay around £8000 and beyond, as it is very likely to need doing in the next few years if it has not been done yet and that will cost you about £2000 to £3000 or more to sort out by the time you add in all the other jobs while the body is off. You will never get your money back on doing a good body off refurb on the S while the prices are so low, but I hope that changes or the S series will just rot away with only a few dedicated owners keeping their cars in good condition.
The S series chassis does seem to have aged much better than the later Chimaeras in general, and there will be some well looked after models that have a sound and original chassis.
There are always some cheaper cars coming up for sale through the year that need a bit more doing to them to get them in good condition, which is a very subjective thing anyway. Do bear in mind though that some of the apparently smaller cosmetic jobs like carpets, roof and trim can be the most expensive to sort out. Engines and mechanicals on the S are relatively cheap with most bits being Ford Sierra or Granada.
The S owners are a great bunch. I sold mine last for year and 'upgraded' to a Chimaera 500 as I had a V8 itch that needed scratching, but I really miss the S3.
If you can wait, pop along to the S Club Heaven weekend at the start of May, or the TVR Car Club event at Burghley in April and you can see more S model in one place than perhaps any other event.
Happy hunting...
There are never many for sale compared to something like a Chimaera, and the majority of the S owners are from the home spannering brigade and do a lot of the work themselves, and often sell them privately to get as much as possible for them personally.
Based on recent prices somewhere in the region of £6000 to £7000 should get you a reasonable or good S3. If you can find one that has already had a body off chassis refurb expect to pay around £8000 and beyond, as it is very likely to need doing in the next few years if it has not been done yet and that will cost you about £2000 to £3000 or more to sort out by the time you add in all the other jobs while the body is off. You will never get your money back on doing a good body off refurb on the S while the prices are so low, but I hope that changes or the S series will just rot away with only a few dedicated owners keeping their cars in good condition.
The S series chassis does seem to have aged much better than the later Chimaeras in general, and there will be some well looked after models that have a sound and original chassis.
There are always some cheaper cars coming up for sale through the year that need a bit more doing to them to get them in good condition, which is a very subjective thing anyway. Do bear in mind though that some of the apparently smaller cosmetic jobs like carpets, roof and trim can be the most expensive to sort out. Engines and mechanicals on the S are relatively cheap with most bits being Ford Sierra or Granada.
The S owners are a great bunch. I sold mine last for year and 'upgraded' to a Chimaera 500 as I had a V8 itch that needed scratching, but I really miss the S3.
If you can wait, pop along to the S Club Heaven weekend at the start of May, or the TVR Car Club event at Burghley in April and you can see more S model in one place than perhaps any other event.
Happy hunting...
Prices have been strong for good cars. The S3 in the classifieds seems to be a good price.
For an S your money will go further on a private sale.
There is an S Owners group on Facebook which will be worth joining and posting there when you are ready to buy. There is also a Buy and Sell Anything TVR group.
As for cars, well chassis is the primary check. If the car is a keeper then a chassis refurb is inevitable.
Next is the engine. 2.9 Cologne V6 is pretty solid and plenty of advice on what to look for.
Interior is pretty hard wearing but the seats are TVR specific and refurbing the structure is costly in labour.
Other than that, the electrics are whatever they fancied that day.
They are great cars, fun to tinker with and the biggest TVR tour - S Club Tour thread can be found in the forum.
For an S your money will go further on a private sale.
There is an S Owners group on Facebook which will be worth joining and posting there when you are ready to buy. There is also a Buy and Sell Anything TVR group.
As for cars, well chassis is the primary check. If the car is a keeper then a chassis refurb is inevitable.
Next is the engine. 2.9 Cologne V6 is pretty solid and plenty of advice on what to look for.
Interior is pretty hard wearing but the seats are TVR specific and refurbing the structure is costly in labour.
Other than that, the electrics are whatever they fancied that day.
They are great cars, fun to tinker with and the biggest TVR tour - S Club Tour thread can be found in the forum.
If you find one less than £4k then set aside another £5k (or more) for the inevitable body off chassis refurb.
This was my experience.... However I do now have an absolutely pristine chassis and pretty much everything else that you would change/upgrade done at the same time. I regreted buying cheap when I then found the chassis was holed, but having done the refurb I have to say I'm quite happy with my lot.
This was my experience.... However I do now have an absolutely pristine chassis and pretty much everything else that you would change/upgrade done at the same time. I regreted buying cheap when I then found the chassis was holed, but having done the refurb I have to say I'm quite happy with my lot.
Look forward to seeing you at S Club heaven. You can have a good look round all the cars and you are welcome to sit in my S3 to try for size!
If we organise a Wellesbourne breakfast before then please come along and perhaps have a ride in a car.
Lots of incredibly knowledgeable and friendly people on this forum.
If you see a car local to me I am happy to come and look at it with you, diary permitting.
If we organise a Wellesbourne breakfast before then please come along and perhaps have a ride in a car.
Lots of incredibly knowledgeable and friendly people on this forum.
If you see a car local to me I am happy to come and look at it with you, diary permitting.
In a nutshell:
- Most expensive part of an S to put right (if you do it properly) is the chassis, so that's number one. If it's been done already, you will save money as refurbishing the chassis' doesn't pay off if you pay a company to do it for you. Not at current values, anyway.
- Second-most costly thing to put right; paintwork. That's number two.
- Third-most costly aspect - interior and hood. Finding a car with all three boxes ticked is tricky, and these are the best cars around.
- If it hasn't had a FULL chassis resto, chances are it will need one. Most S' are at this point now, so if they haven't been done, they're going to need doing. Beware Waxoyl - it hides a multitude of sins. A chassis is only properly refurbished if it was nut & bolt stripped, shot blasted and taken from there. Wire brushes, Hammerite, pics of the refurb being carried out while wishbones etc all still attached - that's not a refurb. It doesn't mean run away, but the difference in cost between a proper refurb and a patch-up and paint is massive, so if the seller is asking strong money, ensure a strong job has been done. There are lots that aren't, as it's hard to justify the costs on a V6 S.
- Rust can occur all over the S chassis, but the most likely areas to find it are the outrigger front corners, both inner and outer (and the inner leads to lower chassis rail corrosion), the upper chassis rails in the engine bay, the lower chassis rails around the rear body mount, and the fuel tank cradle. That's not exhaustive, but they're the most common. However, the most important area is the rear beam, where the trailing arms mount. They can be very deceptive and look solid, yet be as thin as a crisp packet. Prod with force! Trailing arms are also known to rot from the inside out (so again, can look great externally) but they are repairable. The saddle mount for the body also comprises one of the seatbelt mounts, and again, these rot pretty badly. To repair all this is the trickiest aspect of the chassis, as you need to fabricate it all from scratch.
- If it's had outriggers 'changed', it's not necessarily game on - some of the repair jobs I've seen are worse than the original chassis, rusted!
- Mechanicals are pretty straight forward. My experience suggests the most likely issue you'll find with a 2.9 is idling/fuelling/ECU issues, and even then I wouldn't call them common. The Cologne's not exactly a fire-cracker, so don't expect speed, but at the same time it's very simple and old-tech, so it's reasonable to expect mechanical reliability.
- Don't fanny about turning cars down because of the colour. If the car is mechanically sound and in good order, that's all you need. Buy on condition, not history, mileage or colour combo.
- S3/4 & V8S is, indeed, much easier to get in and out of (and I'm only 5ft8in!) S1 and S2 cheaper though, so more likely to find a chassis you don't need to tinker with in budget. Sliding the seat back in an S1 does make it easier to get in and out.
- S3/4 & V8S have much better mirrors and generally built a bit better in my experience. Dashboard is different too, though which you prefer is down to personal taste. I prefer the earlier one - it's more wacky!
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