Am i crazy to sell my sorted tuscan for a t350
Discussion
I have had a tuscan red rose since april this year. Initially i had a problem with the engine which was sorted by power under warrenty. I now have a fully rebuilt including new bottom end tuscan.
The car is awesome, its been 100% reliable, even on two occasions having to use it instead of another 'reliable' car we own played up.
Its sat it 30deg heat in solid london traffic. Its done a trackday and has not caused one problem in the 3500 miles since april.I have thoroughly enjoyed every mile and by far its been the best car i have ever owned- i never thought i would say it but i am actually satisfied with the performance.
I have had the geometry done,steering rack raised, gaz gold pros' all round, spacers, yoko ad08;s and let me say this car handles VERY well! On the trackday i did nothing apart from racecars went past me with the highlight being a gt2 porsche letting me past
A good feeling!
However the car is not totally mint, it has the classic stone chipped front end and it has a couple of scratches and chips. In a picture it looks mint. It would also benefit from changing the carpets as they are pretty crap and the drivers seat needs fixing. It has 59k on the clock too. I am a polished as well as a driver and its sort of depressing seeing marks i know i cant get sorted unless i spend big.
When i got the car i wasn't in a position to think about buying one for 20k, however i think early next year i might be able to.
I'm worried that if i keep using the car as much as i do then in 3 years by the end of the power warrenty it could have perhaps 80k on the clock and no warrenty. The bodywork is only going to get more chipped too.
I don't believe its financially worth it to spend big money having the car painted,carpets changed etc.By the time i did that it would have cost me the same as a 20k minter but still has the chassis miles.
When i got the car i was worried about mechanics and not cosmetics. I got what i wanted with my limited budget but things change, i want a low miler sorted car which i could keep for 5 years or so without it having too many miles on the clock.
I dont worry too much about chassis miles but sadly others do- they miss the part about new rebuild including a fully recon block!
So do i sell my well sorted tuscan and find myself a mint t350? or even another tuscan. My worry is i might get one which is cosmetically perfect but with loads of potential problems because the car has low miles and hasn't been used.
The t350 also worried me that it may be slower? I would love a proper s with the box and diff maybe.
Any opinions? Anyone else been here before?
The car is awesome, its been 100% reliable, even on two occasions having to use it instead of another 'reliable' car we own played up.
Its sat it 30deg heat in solid london traffic. Its done a trackday and has not caused one problem in the 3500 miles since april.I have thoroughly enjoyed every mile and by far its been the best car i have ever owned- i never thought i would say it but i am actually satisfied with the performance.
I have had the geometry done,steering rack raised, gaz gold pros' all round, spacers, yoko ad08;s and let me say this car handles VERY well! On the trackday i did nothing apart from racecars went past me with the highlight being a gt2 porsche letting me past
A good feeling! However the car is not totally mint, it has the classic stone chipped front end and it has a couple of scratches and chips. In a picture it looks mint. It would also benefit from changing the carpets as they are pretty crap and the drivers seat needs fixing. It has 59k on the clock too. I am a polished as well as a driver and its sort of depressing seeing marks i know i cant get sorted unless i spend big.
When i got the car i wasn't in a position to think about buying one for 20k, however i think early next year i might be able to.
I'm worried that if i keep using the car as much as i do then in 3 years by the end of the power warrenty it could have perhaps 80k on the clock and no warrenty. The bodywork is only going to get more chipped too.
I don't believe its financially worth it to spend big money having the car painted,carpets changed etc.By the time i did that it would have cost me the same as a 20k minter but still has the chassis miles.
When i got the car i was worried about mechanics and not cosmetics. I got what i wanted with my limited budget but things change, i want a low miler sorted car which i could keep for 5 years or so without it having too many miles on the clock.
I dont worry too much about chassis miles but sadly others do- they miss the part about new rebuild including a fully recon block!
So do i sell my well sorted tuscan and find myself a mint t350? or even another tuscan. My worry is i might get one which is cosmetically perfect but with loads of potential problems because the car has low miles and hasn't been used.
The t350 also worried me that it may be slower? I would love a proper s with the box and diff maybe.
Any opinions? Anyone else been here before?
The problem with Tivs is that it's quite easy to retrim and paint and make a pile of b
ks look amazing.
If you have your car the other way around then I would chill and enjoy it. Work out what new colour and trim combo you want and in a few years treat yourself to a wonderful tart up.
ks look amazing. If you have your car the other way around then I would chill and enjoy it. Work out what new colour and trim combo you want and in a few years treat yourself to a wonderful tart up.
Leather and paint are cheap compared to sorting issues with the oily bits... and unlike those bits you get to choose if and when you do the work. Like the previous poster said, unless you really think a T car is going to give a lot more pleasure, I'd personally stay with what you got.
Keep it, you know that it will keep giving you pleasure, my Tuscan has 62k on the clock with only a head rebuild at 14k. The paintwork has the usual stone chips and also a few scraches but when the sun is out and the roof is off then there is no better feeling. I also have the faded carpets, scuffed seat bolster but they can always get sorted a lot cheaper than the mechanical bits of which you have had done. Enjoy 
I'd look at it this way:
What would be the delta between the price you got for the sale versus the price paid for the "new" car?
I'd hazard that you'd be talking about £5K, possibly (certainly?) more.
So - what would £5K minimum, buy you in terms of refurb of interior and say, a front end re-spray?
IMHO, I'd say you'd come out ahead, particularly if you did some of the work yourself. (Current thread on Tuscan forum regarding carpet re-trim for 160 quid.)
As others have said, you know the mechanicals are strong, so better the devil you know??!!
Nick
What would be the delta between the price you got for the sale versus the price paid for the "new" car?
I'd hazard that you'd be talking about £5K, possibly (certainly?) more.
So - what would £5K minimum, buy you in terms of refurb of interior and say, a front end re-spray?
IMHO, I'd say you'd come out ahead, particularly if you did some of the work yourself. (Current thread on Tuscan forum regarding carpet re-trim for 160 quid.)
As others have said, you know the mechanicals are strong, so better the devil you know??!!
Nick
I see what your all saying.
If i did this i don't think i could scrape more than 20k and i think unless i got lucky it could perhaps turn messy ending up sitting there while i save up for repairs which isn't any good.
I'll have a look at that carpet thread, just doing that alone would really tidy the inside up.
Do high miles on the car regardless of engine build really matter that much?
If i did this i don't think i could scrape more than 20k and i think unless i got lucky it could perhaps turn messy ending up sitting there while i save up for repairs which isn't any good.
I'll have a look at that carpet thread, just doing that alone would really tidy the inside up.
Do high miles on the car regardless of engine build really matter that much?
m3jappa said:
Do high miles on the car regardless of engine build really matter that much?
Not to the owner but regardless of what some will say, mileage is important to the average buyer. A high mileage car will be expected to be cheaper than a much lower one regardless of the state of mechanicals. If you're gping to end up with a high miler just make sure you enjoy each of those miles
Did you buy the car for yourself or the next owner ? Yourself I presume !
There are many on here who will always advise buyers to look for a super condition low miler - which comes at a premium price - and, in my experience, might mean you spend a lot of time and money to fix many things.
IMHO, drive the car, enjoy it, and make improvements that make you happy and increase your enjoyment, as you say you don't have the deepest pockets so why change it when you obviously enjoy it so much today.
I've been very lucky to find and afford a lovely Sag, for which I paid a premium when you compare to a T350, but so far it appears to need little to spend on it so I'm going to drive it, and keep improving things along the way. It might be worth more than I paid for it one day, but more than likely it won't. I've never made a penny profit out of car ownership, and never thought I would, so I drive them, look after them, and enjoy them. Do the same.
There are many on here who will always advise buyers to look for a super condition low miler - which comes at a premium price - and, in my experience, might mean you spend a lot of time and money to fix many things.
IMHO, drive the car, enjoy it, and make improvements that make you happy and increase your enjoyment, as you say you don't have the deepest pockets so why change it when you obviously enjoy it so much today.
I've been very lucky to find and afford a lovely Sag, for which I paid a premium when you compare to a T350, but so far it appears to need little to spend on it so I'm going to drive it, and keep improving things along the way. It might be worth more than I paid for it one day, but more than likely it won't. I've never made a penny profit out of car ownership, and never thought I would, so I drive them, look after them, and enjoy them. Do the same.
I think the thing is every car i have ever owned has cost me too much money. Depreciation has been the killer. Running costs and repairs i accept, i actually think the tuscan is quite cheap to run (obviously i may feel different when faced with a bill for an engine rebuild,discs,pads,fluids etc etc all in one hit).
Maybe when i got the car i could have found the extra money needed fora minter but my life has different priorites now, like a nice house, holiday etc. The car though its important isn't as important as a house any more.
When i got the car one reason for buying a tvr was that they don't lose loads of money, especially (hopefully) the one i bought, like mentioned paint and interior is showing age but the mechanicals are so so strong.
I really enjoy the car, don't listen to what they say about evo's and the like they are bland even with fair power and rs diff's compared to a tvr.
Maybe when i got the car i could have found the extra money needed fora minter but my life has different priorites now, like a nice house, holiday etc. The car though its important isn't as important as a house any more.
When i got the car one reason for buying a tvr was that they don't lose loads of money, especially (hopefully) the one i bought, like mentioned paint and interior is showing age but the mechanicals are so so strong.
I really enjoy the car, don't listen to what they say about evo's and the like they are bland even with fair power and rs diff's compared to a tvr.
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