New member and a couple of questions...
Discussion
Good morning All,
New member here - thought id say hello and, if its OK with you guys, ask a few questions….first of all though please allow me to set the scene of where I am in buying a TVR…
I owned a TVR about 10-years ago; a lovely Silver Chimaera. I had her for just about a year and used her every day to go to and from work; she never let me down and I only ever had one small problem with her when the fuse went on the immobiliser. Other than that she was just brilliant.
Then I got divorced and, with having two young children, a two seater sports car became untenable. I honestly can say that it’s the closest I’ve ever come to crying over a car the day that I had to sell her.
Jump forward to last weekend – I’m at Le Mans for the MotoGP. I travelled down there on my trusty Honda VFR and met up with 6 other guys; one of them is a member on this site and we’d never met before but quickly hit it off. We got chatting about cars and, up till now, he’s been a big Jaguar fan but went on to say that he’d just bought a Chimaera. We chatted and chatted and then yesterday he sent me a link to this site…
Well, what can I say…??!! I spent at least and hour yesterday trawling through Chimaera adverts on the net!!
My current company car is a boring Merc 220d; don’t get me wrong – it’s a great bit of kit for getting from A-to-B and for motorway cruising – but it has no ‘soul’. It’s on a short-term lease and goes back in July. Recently my colleague at work bought a new Nissan 350Z which is a real nice piece of kit; it’s got a great engine and the body looks great – though I’m not taken with the interior and, to be honest, well it just doesn’t grab me.
Looking around at other cars – quite like the new TT and the Alpha Spider; but I do a heck of a lot of miles and leasing one of these would cost at least c£1000 p/month. Even then, if I’m totally honest, I still wouldn’t look at these two cars and ‘desire’ them the way I used to want my Chimaera.
So. There’s a plan hatching in my mind that, instead of getting a new company car, I might take a car allowance and but a Chimaera instead….
Now at this point I need to start looking at the plan with my head (rather than my heart!) and ask a few questions (stuff i've forgotten about)….so can anyone help with the following as this will help me put everything straight before leaping in at the deep-end as I usually do…
• Fuel consumption – what does a TVR Chimaera do to the gallon..??
• How often does a Chimaera need a service..??
• How much is a typical service…??
• Tyres – how long does a set of tyres last on average on a Chimaera..??
• I live in Bristol but work in Cheltenham – can anyone recommend a good and reputable place in either location for future servicing/problem resolution…??
Any advice on buying gratefully received…
Mikey
p.s. great site!!
New member here - thought id say hello and, if its OK with you guys, ask a few questions….first of all though please allow me to set the scene of where I am in buying a TVR…
I owned a TVR about 10-years ago; a lovely Silver Chimaera. I had her for just about a year and used her every day to go to and from work; she never let me down and I only ever had one small problem with her when the fuse went on the immobiliser. Other than that she was just brilliant.
Then I got divorced and, with having two young children, a two seater sports car became untenable. I honestly can say that it’s the closest I’ve ever come to crying over a car the day that I had to sell her.
Jump forward to last weekend – I’m at Le Mans for the MotoGP. I travelled down there on my trusty Honda VFR and met up with 6 other guys; one of them is a member on this site and we’d never met before but quickly hit it off. We got chatting about cars and, up till now, he’s been a big Jaguar fan but went on to say that he’d just bought a Chimaera. We chatted and chatted and then yesterday he sent me a link to this site…
Well, what can I say…??!! I spent at least and hour yesterday trawling through Chimaera adverts on the net!!
My current company car is a boring Merc 220d; don’t get me wrong – it’s a great bit of kit for getting from A-to-B and for motorway cruising – but it has no ‘soul’. It’s on a short-term lease and goes back in July. Recently my colleague at work bought a new Nissan 350Z which is a real nice piece of kit; it’s got a great engine and the body looks great – though I’m not taken with the interior and, to be honest, well it just doesn’t grab me.
Looking around at other cars – quite like the new TT and the Alpha Spider; but I do a heck of a lot of miles and leasing one of these would cost at least c£1000 p/month. Even then, if I’m totally honest, I still wouldn’t look at these two cars and ‘desire’ them the way I used to want my Chimaera.
So. There’s a plan hatching in my mind that, instead of getting a new company car, I might take a car allowance and but a Chimaera instead….
Now at this point I need to start looking at the plan with my head (rather than my heart!) and ask a few questions (stuff i've forgotten about)….so can anyone help with the following as this will help me put everything straight before leaping in at the deep-end as I usually do…
• Fuel consumption – what does a TVR Chimaera do to the gallon..??
• How often does a Chimaera need a service..??
• How much is a typical service…??
• Tyres – how long does a set of tyres last on average on a Chimaera..??
• I live in Bristol but work in Cheltenham – can anyone recommend a good and reputable place in either location for future servicing/problem resolution…??
Any advice on buying gratefully received…
Mikey
p.s. great site!!
Hi and welcome to the site - I'm a reasonably recent member myself and have found this place invaluable when I've had questions. You should try using the search facility too - most people have asked questions about most things before so it's useful to be able to trawl the archives.
Regarding your questions, I can answer the first 3:
• Fuel consumption – what does a TVR Chimaera do to the gallon..??
It does about 20mpg depending on how much you use the loud pedal - about a 200 range on a tank.
• How often does a Chimaera need a service..??
Every year or 6000 miles - whichever is first
• How much is a typical service…??
Seems to be about £350(ish) though this does vary.
You can get even more advice and discounts by joining the TVR Car Club - well worth it if you are seriously considering picking one up...
Thanks
JD
Regarding your questions, I can answer the first 3:
• Fuel consumption – what does a TVR Chimaera do to the gallon..??
It does about 20mpg depending on how much you use the loud pedal - about a 200 range on a tank.
• How often does a Chimaera need a service..??
Every year or 6000 miles - whichever is first
• How much is a typical service…??
Seems to be about £350(ish) though this does vary.
You can get even more advice and discounts by joining the TVR Car Club - well worth it if you are seriously considering picking one up...
Thanks
JD
Osh said:
• I live in Bristol but work in Cheltenham – can anyone recommend a good and reputable place in either location for future servicing/problem resolution…??
Hi Mike, and welcome to PH 
You might like to take a look at the TVR Car Club site, where you'll find links for the Bristol and Cotswold Three Counties Regions. I'm sure that Sharon and Bob (the respective Regional Organisers) will be able to suggest somewhere.
Paul
Osh said:
Hi Guys,
I think that the only thing that's going to put me off this idea is the fact that I do around 30,000 miles a year - so that's 5 services which will cost the best part of £2k!!!!
Just doing some figures now to see how this would all work...
Mikey
The 6,000 mile service and the 12,000 mile service are different. The 12,000 mile service is more comprehensive and as a result more expensive look here to see what should be done on each service.I think that the only thing that's going to put me off this idea is the fact that I do around 30,000 miles a year - so that's 5 services which will cost the best part of £2k!!!!
Just doing some figures now to see how this would all work...
Mikey
http://www.thegriffithpages.com/tvr-service-schedu...
IMO 30,000 mile p/a is too much for a Chimaera. I'd stick to the company car and buy the Chim for the weekend or nice work days with the roof down in the Chimaera.
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