TVR Unreliable - rubbish
Discussion
Same for us, we had 18 Tivs (Chimaeras, Griffs, Tuscans, Cerbs & a T350) and not one of them missed a beat whether it was stop start in boiling hot traffic jams or making "progress rapide" at 1** mph.
The only 2 broken downs we saw were 2 Porkers, both Boxsters I think - although I guess they may not have broken down and might just have been setting up roadside hairdressing salons ?
The only 2 broken downs we saw were 2 Porkers, both Boxsters I think - although I guess they may not have broken down and might just have been setting up roadside hairdressing salons ?
11 years with same Griff. Only thing needed fixing to date was an alternater last year which was getting a little tired.
Pretty impressive eh?
The BMW, Daimler and previous mass built cars i've owned have all had regular problems.
The Griff is by far the cheapest car I've ever run.
Costs less on insurance, less on tyres and brakes, less on fuel, less on servicing and less on repairs.
Regularly need to use the Griff while the BM is in the garage. On most overseas trips friends Alfas, Porsches, etc have all had problems. My view has always been that Griffs are so mechanically simple and use parts which have been stress tested by a thousand house wives (Ford parts etc) that there is no excuse for poor reliability.
>> Edited by Horse_Apple on Thursday 17th June 11:24
Pretty impressive eh?
The BMW, Daimler and previous mass built cars i've owned have all had regular problems.
The Griff is by far the cheapest car I've ever run.
Costs less on insurance, less on tyres and brakes, less on fuel, less on servicing and less on repairs.
Regularly need to use the Griff while the BM is in the garage. On most overseas trips friends Alfas, Porsches, etc have all had problems. My view has always been that Griffs are so mechanically simple and use parts which have been stress tested by a thousand house wives (Ford parts etc) that there is no excuse for poor reliability.
>> Edited by Horse_Apple on Thursday 17th June 11:24
I have worked for Land Rover, Alfa Romeo, Honda, and Citroen and they were all unreliable and rubbish exept Honda, But they were boring. Beleive me people payed 60k plus for Range Rover for me to see it back 3-4 times in a week for new engines, gearboxes, windscreens and other varios things, Cars are machines therefore by defintion will break, Its just that porkers tend to be driven by hairdressers and therefore not that hard so less likely to go wrong ie Honda is driven by retired people who barely go above 3000rpm. This is how manufacturers get reputations.
bennno said:
whats so good about 1,400 miles without a fault??
this just shows how unreliable the cars must be to provoke this type of comment
Bennno
Flawed logic there benno. I think you'll find that people are pushing back against those people who grossly exagerate TVRs reliability problems, to the point where anyone reading their comments who didn't know any better would find it surprising that TVRs are fine for Le Mans-style trips.
Horse_Apple said:
11 years with same Griff. Only thing needed fixing to date was an alternater last year which was getting a little tired.
I find that a little amazing
I've had my Chimaera about six years, I've only waved goodbye to it on a low loader once (and I'm still waiting for it to come back, but it should be soon
) but I'm lucky to go 3 months with out something mildly annoying falling off, stopping working, etc, etc. Starter motors last about 2 years, alternators seem to last about the same, your saying in 11 years you've never turned the key and been met with silence
You must have the worlds thinest TVR invoice folder 
I get flat batteries if I leave it for a couple of weeks but it sits in a garage on charge if I know I'm not going to use it.
I was wrong about the alternator, it was the starter motor which began to pack up and was replaced.
I've done 70K miles and had little niggles like the wiper arms shearing and lamps being broken, manifolds blowing, but I've not had a mecahnical problem caused by build quality etc.
Dropped it into first by accident and locked the back wheels but car was fine. Dropped a new engine in the other year and they snagged the loom down the back and casued the fuel pump to short out, but that was their mechanic's fault.
To put it simply, I've always driven big expensive, quality wagons and they have all cost far more to run that the Griff. It's an old car and I often think about upgrading it but everytime I speak to someone with a more technologically advanced TVR they have a lot of issues with the electrics etc and if I had a car like that I would just get rid of it.
I am in the middle of a re-vamp program with the car which started with the engine and will see the suspension re-done, probably some new wishbones as they look like they have rusted a bit and a re-furb on the interior.
Obviously I have been lucky with regard to the electrics as no British car manufacturer has ever been able to create a reliable loom for some reason and a few little breakages of the bolt on goodies but nothing that Halfords couldn't replace but mechanically, there just isn't anything that should cause any problems, all the kit is well proven in other cars and easily able to cope with the extra stresses.
It's a very simple piece of kit. Agricultural as some people call it.
I was wrong about the alternator, it was the starter motor which began to pack up and was replaced.
I've done 70K miles and had little niggles like the wiper arms shearing and lamps being broken, manifolds blowing, but I've not had a mecahnical problem caused by build quality etc.
Dropped it into first by accident and locked the back wheels but car was fine. Dropped a new engine in the other year and they snagged the loom down the back and casued the fuel pump to short out, but that was their mechanic's fault.
To put it simply, I've always driven big expensive, quality wagons and they have all cost far more to run that the Griff. It's an old car and I often think about upgrading it but everytime I speak to someone with a more technologically advanced TVR they have a lot of issues with the electrics etc and if I had a car like that I would just get rid of it.
I am in the middle of a re-vamp program with the car which started with the engine and will see the suspension re-done, probably some new wishbones as they look like they have rusted a bit and a re-furb on the interior.
Obviously I have been lucky with regard to the electrics as no British car manufacturer has ever been able to create a reliable loom for some reason and a few little breakages of the bolt on goodies but nothing that Halfords couldn't replace but mechanically, there just isn't anything that should cause any problems, all the kit is well proven in other cars and easily able to cope with the extra stresses.
It's a very simple piece of kit. Agricultural as some people call it.
snorky said:
no I'm fighting the arses who promote the unreliability thing - like the speed six rumours - BMW recalled my mates M3 3 times....but their rep seems undamaged.
I traded my first tuscan for a brand new m3 e46, was worried about the mileage i was doing, ended up that the m3 went back to the dealer 5 times, some major, some minor, but this was only in the first 2 months!! they ended up replacing it as auto express were going to run an article about it!
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