Found one!

[Chris71]

Haven't strictly bought it yet, but after a few months searching I've agreed a deal on a 1991 S3.

There's a bit of confusion about the mileage, but it looks the car has only covered 21,000 miles and underneath it looks like it - you could eat your dinner off the chassis! Drives very well and mechanically quiet too.

Can't wait for Saturday and the chance to collect it.....

Edited by Chris71 on Monday 11th February 15:48

[Barkychoc]

Hooray about time too!

[Road2Ruin]

'Theres a bit of confusion about the mileage?!?!?!?!?!?!' That doesnt sound good. Do they know what the mileage is or dont they? Cant be hard to sort out, especially if it has only done a few miles. If they have replaced the speedo surely there must be an invoice to say when that was done.

[ketvrin]

Sounds great but I cant see the pic

K

edited to say I can see it on your profile Chris... looks nice, and I'm sure you'll sort the mileage issue out... I wish mine LOOKED like it has only done 21k
get some pics posted as soon as you can

Edited by ketvrin on Monday 11th February 15:30

[coolcatmaz]

Road2Ruin said:

'Theres a bit of confusion about the mileage?!?!?!?!?!?!' That doesnt sound good. Do they know what the mileage is or dont they? Cant be hard to sort out, especially if it has only done a few miles. If they have replaced the speedo surely there must be an invoice to say when that was done.

exactly, there must be MOT certificates to confirm the mileage, or as you say, a receipt to say if the speedo has been replaced, and why doesn't the owner know the answer???????? for all anyone knows it might actually be on its 2nd lap round the clock

sounds a bit dodgy to me.

[Chris71]

Road2Ruin said:

'Theres a bit of confusion about the mileage?!?!?!?!?!?!' That doesnt sound good. Do they know what the mileage is or dont they? Cant be hard to sort out, especially if it has only done a few miles. If they have replaced the speedo surely there must be an invoice to say when that was done.

There are... every MOT since new and the service stamps.

Basically, the owner thought the speedo had been replaced and that it wasn't the original mileage and hence estimated the correct figure, but looking again at the documents the figure on the milometer seems to check out. Certainly looks mint - I'd eat my dinner off its chassis, which hasn't been the case for all the cars I've seen. If it has been twice round the clock and remained in that condition so be it, but I think it was a genuine mistake on the ad.

Anyway, see if these work better than the last shot, excuse the mucky lens it was taken on a phone!

edit: Doh! Can't find any webhosting PH likes! If you're interested try clicking on the following:

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2893208560102...
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2146010930102...

Edited by Chris71 on Monday 11th February 15:50

[Barkychoc]

Personally I wouldn't give a monkeys about the mileage if the condition is right.
I'd rather have a mint chassis and mega miles than low mileage and a chassis that's made of cheese.

[Longers]

Looks very tidy and with an appropriate reg plate

If it were me I'd fit a smart Leven handbrake handle and change the handbrake & gear stick gaiters for something more "subtle". I got some for my last car from Mr Gaiter on ebay which were pretty cheap and great quality.

All you need to do now is add your name to the S Club calendar

Longers

[Chris71]

Longers said:

Looks very tidy and with an appropriate reg plate

If it were me I'd fit a smart Leven handbrake handle and change the handbrake & gear stick gaiters for something more "subtle". I got some for my last car from Mr Gaiter on ebay which were pretty cheap and great quality.

All you need to do now is add your name to the S Club calendar

Longers

Thanks.

Yeah - they're not quite to my tastes either, but I'm sure something else can be sourced.

I don't suppose you have a link for the bits you mentioned? How much of the handle do you replace? Can't imagine it's much of a job to replace the whole thing, but it looks like the current part is the original lever, plus an aftermarket trim. There are a few other cosmetic things, like the rear window could do with being replaced due to a slit, but all the significant bits looked like they've just left the factory.

I'll check out S Club - I have Glasto and a wedding pencilled in for June already, but should be ok.

Edited by Chris71 on Monday 11th February 17:35

[Barkychoc]

Chris71 said:

I'll check out S Club - I have Glasto and a wedding pencilled in for June already, but should be ok.

I think we need to establish some priorities here!

Edited by Barkychoc on Monday 11th February 17:41

[Chris71]

Barkychoc said:

Chris71 said:

I'll check out S Club - I have Glasto and a wedding pencilled in for June already, but should be ok.

I think we need to establish some priorities here!

Edited by Barkychoc on Monday 11th February 17:41

Haha - well the wedding I can maybe ignore (only know the bride from an occurence that isn't suitable to recount on her wedding day!) Not sure even the tiv could keep me away from Glastonbury though, plus my misus might be playing so it would be a little rude not to!

Why isn't it Saturday yet! That said, I just know it's going to bloody rain!

(The car is over 200 miles away, so I better hope it's watertight if it does!)

[pistolar]

I owned the car some years ago and was one of the best Ss i had ever driven in terms of handling and performance. i am sure the speedo was changed in its early life.

[Chris71]

pistolar said:

I owned the car some years ago and was one of the best Ss i had ever driven in terms of handling and performance. i am sure the speedo was changed in its early life.

Interesting. Might drop you a line to find out a little more about it if that's ok....

Maybe the milometer was adjusted when it was put in? It seems to agree with the quoted mileage on the documents. I went to see it (deposit in hand) based on the original estimate of twice that anyway. Quite happy if it's 200,000 to be honest, it's the fifth car I've seen and I was blown away by it. I'm not easily impressed as a general rule.

[tubbystu]

Chris71 said:

Longers said:

Looks very tidy and with an appropriate reg plate

If it were me I'd fit a smart Leven handbrake handle and change the handbrake & gear stick gaiters for something more "subtle". I got some for my last car from Mr Gaiter on ebay which were pretty cheap and great quality.

All you need to do now is add your name to the S Club calendar

Longers

Thanks.

Yeah - they're not quite to my tastes either, but I'm sure something else can be sourced.

I don't suppose you have a link for the bits you mentioned? How much of the handle do you replace? Can't imagine it's much of a job to replace the whole thing, but it looks like the current part is the original lever, plus an aftermarket trim. There are a few other cosmetic things, like the rear window could do with being replaced due to a slit, but all the significant bits looked like they've just left the factory.

I'll check out S Club - I have Glasto and a wedding pencilled in for June already, but should be ok.

Edited by Chris71 on Monday 11th February 17:35

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TVR-S1-S2-S3-OR-S4-GEAR-HANDBRAKE-GAITER-SHIFT-BOOT_W0QQitemZ230209747981QQihZ013QQcategoryZ72224QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem 

Try here. I can't find an add for those that I bought mine from - who were in New Malden, though the leather from them is "a'hem" how can I say this.......... fairly thin. It does the job but the original I was taking off was a distinctly heavy guage of leather. They are regulars on E-bay.

Those on "your" car are a bit garish to say the least, but the car does look well tidy - well done

[Longers]

Chris71 said:

Longers said:

Looks very tidy and with an appropriate reg plate

If it were me I'd fit a smart Leven handbrake handle and change the handbrake & gear stick gaiters for something more "subtle". I got some for my last car from Mr Gaiter on ebay which were pretty cheap and great quality.

All you need to do now is add your name to the S Club calendar

Longers

Thanks.

Yeah - they're not quite to my tastes either, but I'm sure something else can be sourced.

I don't suppose you have a link for the bits you mentioned? How much of the handle do you replace? Can't imagine it's much of a job to replace the whole thing, but it looks like the current part is the original lever, plus an aftermarket trim. There are a few other cosmetic things, like the rear window could do with being replaced due to a slit, but all the significant bits looked like they've just left the factory.

I'll check out S Club - I have Glasto and a wedding pencilled in for June already, but should be ok.

Edited by Chris71 on Monday 11th February 17:35

Gaiters were from the ebay linky above.
Handbrake handles are from here.... http://www.leventechnology.co.uk/index.htm
Not cheap but very nice!!
Longers

[S2 Giles]

lovely car, nice find. I wouldnt worry about the mileage. Mine has 135k on it but i'd choose it over most of the 50k cars out there. Ive had the chassis sorted & suspensions all new....drives like a dream

[Chris71]

Ok.... Tuesday.... only 4 more days to go.

I figure seems I didn't blow my entire budget on an S4C or something I have a little left over to play with. After a thurough service I think I'd be looking at a new rear window, some new gaitors and a new handbrake handle. At this point things like food, petrol and rent might figure in the equation, but beyond that I think a boost valve and an Austec remap sound quite tempting.

Getting ahead of myself now. Can't wait for Saturday.

[V8S]

This'll be the longest week of your life. It was for me, except I had to wait 3 weeks... oh the humanity!

[Chris71]

Well, that's most of Tuesday done in working terms. Friday will be a half day probably as I'll be travelling up to York to appease the in-laws on the way to collect it near Hull. Thursday I have to divert my attentions to doing something romantic in the evening (into London for dinner I reckon). So that leaves tomorrow as the longest day - nothing apart from work to distract me!

Hmm, trying to think if there's anything I should enquire about or indeed take with me before I collect it. A bottle of rain-X perhaps?

[V8S]

Checklist:

• TomTom with waypoints marked giving a route 200 miles longer than a direct run.
• DeepHeat to soothe aching cheek muscles caused by excessive grinning
• Sunglasses (roof off, poseur mode!)
• A sense of self satisfaction at having chosen the right Tiv

Enjoy!