Sunday Times "supercar"
Discussion
Did anybody read the article in the Sunday Times this week entitled "A supercar at a super -low price"? A guy with £25k to spend on a car "that looks stunning and goes like the clappers" dismissed the idea of a Cerbera because he "had read too many horror stories in the magazines and heard too many tales of TVRs breaking down to chance this kind of money on one". He was recommended by the author to buy instead a Lotus Esprit GT3. How many sales has this lost TVR, I wonder? They need some seriously good publicity to address this reliability issue.
Until memories of the horror stories about lunched engines and poor build quality have faded, the general public’s perception of TVR will most probably remain as "outrageously fast but always breaking down". I doubt good publicity will make a great deal of difference. It is amazing how many people have a friend or a friend of a friend who has had a serious problem with his TVR (maybe its the same bloke 
).
Before buying my Griffith, I was warned of the perils of TVR ownership by a friend - he was not being a tosser, but was genuinely concerned that I did not make a serious financial mistake (he’s a bank manager BTW!). He is keen on cars but not an enthusiast. An enthusiast will get past the warnings of doom but many others may not. This is indeed a problem but the only way to resolve it is to get the cars right and when mistakes are made, to look after the customer like royalty - not as a pain in the ar$e.
Having said all of the above, my business partner went from a "never buy one ‘cos it’s too unreliable" to "bl**dy hell - that is f-king awesome - I want one!" after he drove mine. This is the reason people buy them.
). Before buying my Griffith, I was warned of the perils of TVR ownership by a friend - he was not being a tosser, but was genuinely concerned that I did not make a serious financial mistake (he’s a bank manager BTW!). He is keen on cars but not an enthusiast. An enthusiast will get past the warnings of doom but many others may not. This is indeed a problem but the only way to resolve it is to get the cars right and when mistakes are made, to look after the customer like royalty - not as a pain in the ar$e.
Having said all of the above, my business partner went from a "never buy one ‘cos it’s too unreliable" to "bl**dy hell - that is f-king awesome - I want one!" after he drove mine. This is the reason people buy them.
TVR make cars that look great 
sound better and have the most stylised and unique interiors available in any car manufactured, but..........................
having driven a Cerbera, Tuscan, Tuscan S and a Tamora TVR do need to improve the build quality, the under dash tray on the Tuscan, with the machined ends, was nearly falling off on both Tuscan's while the upholstry was all over the place, if companies like Lotus and Nobel can screw things together properly then TVR must be able to get it right, they have everthing else done, just get that right and the good PR will come rolling or just get a magazine like EVO, CAR, Autocar etc. to have one on long term test, if it's screwed together properly then they'll rave about it and save TVR's marketing team a job
Don't get me wrong i do love TVR's
and am a member of the TVRCC but still think they could do the build quality thing better !!
sound better and have the most stylised and unique interiors available in any car manufactured, but.......................... having driven a Cerbera, Tuscan, Tuscan S and a Tamora TVR do need to improve the build quality, the under dash tray on the Tuscan, with the machined ends, was nearly falling off on both Tuscan's while the upholstry was all over the place, if companies like Lotus and Nobel can screw things together properly then TVR must be able to get it right, they have everthing else done, just get that right and the good PR will come rolling or just get a magazine like EVO, CAR, Autocar etc. to have one on long term test, if it's screwed together properly then they'll rave about it and save TVR's marketing team a job
Don't get me wrong i do love TVR's
and am a member of the TVRCC but still think they could do the build quality thing better !! 
Its great to be passionate about TVR's - but the Cerbera is not a cheap car to run is it? There's a chap on the Cerbera thread who has spent £8k on his Cerb in 6 months (forgive me if I don't get the facts completely right). Other Cerbera owners comment that it costs a fortune to run a Cerb (new cam shafts, clutch housings etc etc). So maybe the Sunday Times article wasn't too far from the truth?
The reason you don't know about Cerberas that have cost less to run is because the owners don't post about them. When you are dissatisfied with something, you tend to make a lot of noise...when you're not, it's not an issue that's brought up, is it?
I am on my second Cerbera. Both have been 100% reliable mechanically, except poorly built exhausts. That costs less than 200 quid to fix. They have been very cheap to run, except for petrol. For a supercar, even the fuel consumption is acceptable.
Rgds,
Faisal.
I am on my second Cerbera. Both have been 100% reliable mechanically, except poorly built exhausts. That costs less than 200 quid to fix. They have been very cheap to run, except for petrol. For a supercar, even the fuel consumption is acceptable.
Rgds,
Faisal.
quote:
Its great to be passionate about TVR's - but the Cerbera is not a cheap car to run is it? There's a chap on the Cerbera thread who has spent £8k on his Cerb in 6 months (forgive me if I don't get the facts completely right). Other Cerbera owners comment that it costs a fortune to run a Cerb (new cam shafts, clutch housings etc etc). So maybe the Sunday Times article wasn't too far from the truth?
Not cheap to run..... well lets face it you pay nearly 50k for a new one, running costs are really an issue, getting one previously owned is a different ball game. Speaking 8k in 6 months is far too steep, though I think that is the exception rather than the rule. Owning a bespoke car, with a race tuned engine is never going to be anything other than a labour of love, though TVR could go a long way to helping
I am surprised a Lotus was suggested as a reliable alternative to a TVR. I used to work for a guy who had 3 Esprits one after another, and they all gave him trouble. The last one, a V8 was constantly going wrong! I was once told that Lotus stands for Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious! But I guess they are the same as TVR, you get good ones and not so good ones, it just depends who you talk to.
quote:
getting one previously owned is a different ball game. Spending 8k in 6 months is far too steep, though I think that is the exception rather than the rule.
This sounds like me
. However I am more honest than most it seems, as I have included every penny including oil, tax, insurance, rain-ex, polish etc. When I have taken out expected expenses (tyres/regular service costs) and also taken out items that have been my fault (cracking sump on large roack in road) I am left with having spent about £4000. I bought the car privatley and cheaply, expecting some work needing to be done. So the total cost is about £23000 to get the car sorted plus expected running costs.
However if I had bought from a dealer I would have paid about £24-£25,000 and may still have had to have lots of work done. I am glad that I didn't buy from a dealer. I am scertainly no worse off, and probably better in that I know everything is sorted !
I don't think TVR's are much more expensive to run than any car with equivalent performance and equivalent new list price !
Ok, so I was in a bad mood when I wrote the above statement. So appologies for caveman verbal antics.
But part of the reason I wrote what I did write, is that I hope TVR don't become a large volume manufacturer like all the other ones we see on our roads. Amongst many of the things I love about TVR is the individuality.
Its great when you pull up at the lights and people who you've never met before ask what it is, and how fantastic it sounds, etc, etc. Its not every day you see a TVR on the road, and thats part of the attraction.
And as for the reliability/build quality thing. I too hope TVR improve on this area, but I won't loose any sleep on it if they don't.
Also, am I wrong for thinking that TVR have gone from strength to strength since Mr Wheeler too over the helm? Sales figures??
But part of the reason I wrote what I did write, is that I hope TVR don't become a large volume manufacturer like all the other ones we see on our roads. Amongst many of the things I love about TVR is the individuality.
Its great when you pull up at the lights and people who you've never met before ask what it is, and how fantastic it sounds, etc, etc. Its not every day you see a TVR on the road, and thats part of the attraction.
And as for the reliability/build quality thing. I too hope TVR improve on this area, but I won't loose any sleep on it if they don't.
Also, am I wrong for thinking that TVR have gone from strength to strength since Mr Wheeler too over the helm? Sales figures??
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Also, am I wrong for thinking that TVR have gone from strength to strength since Mr Wheeler too over the helm? Sales figures??
98 may have been a record year but you ar ecorrect in that since PW took over TVR have indeed gone from strength to strength. I don't have the 70's production numbers to hand but I expect they are 25% or less than the pak of 2000 cars per year. And, as the Tamora starts to make an impact I'm believe production will rise again.
Rich...I think that TVR will always be a low volume car maker and so will remain a relatively rare sight on the road. The cars are for a niche market, after all. However, this doesn't mean that the company can ignore build quality, and I'm sure they are trying. It would be nice to see some evidence of it though. I love the cars and want to see a healthy future for TVR - if only for selfish reasons! Hence my concerns. I think the idea of a (well sorted) loan car(s) to the automags is a good one.
Reading these pages you get the impression that TVR customers care more about the company than the company cares about its customers.
I hope this changes.
Reading these pages you get the impression that TVR customers care more about the company than the company cares about its customers.
I hope this changes.Not that I am superstitious, but i know one bloke who is not going to get anywhere near my Tiv. He owns half a computer services company and isn't short of a bob ... which is a good thing given his luck with cars. I only worked for him for a little over a year, but in that time he had a new porker that was never sorted ... spent loads of time back at the workshop. Eventually he got piseed off with the unreliability and crappy service, so he got rid of it and replaced it with an AMG souped up Merc. Again, it was an absolute dog. After mincing around in it until it was broken in, he let it rip and it promptly dumped its transmission fluid ... except no one seemed capable of diagnosing the problem. He rang the dealer who said ... "ah, well, that would be condensation from the air conditioning system". He seems capable of destroying usually reliable cars simply by picking up their keys. (When someone set off a smoke bomb in the AMG as joke just after he had got it back, he didn't even panick, he just looked infinitely depressed ... poor bugger.)
Here we go again! Tvr's are crap, blah, blah, build quality, reliability, mutter, mutter. My Tamora has excellent build quality, feels rock solid, and does exactly what it says on the tin.
TVR are a VERY small car company, with the drive and balls to make all their components for themselves. Lotus and Noble, the cars mentioned previously, have distinctly average looking interiors, with loads of parts bin raids, nasty plastic stalks etc., and the build quality, at least the Lotus, is shameful. Look at a TVR - I took my Tamora to a local dealer, who thought the interior was very much on a par with Aston Martin, in terms of look and use of materials. I love the simplicity and "rightness" of the Tamora's interior, and it really is well finished.
Yet again, the TVR afficionado's website is becoming a spawning ground for old wive's tales and curmudgeonly griping. Do we like TVR's, or is part of the TVR experience, the willingness to slag them off in public? Sell the car if you don't like it, or it's unreliable, or it's too fast. Do what you like, but for ****'s sake, don't start moaning the same old dirge AGAIN!!
TVR are a VERY small car company, with the drive and balls to make all their components for themselves. Lotus and Noble, the cars mentioned previously, have distinctly average looking interiors, with loads of parts bin raids, nasty plastic stalks etc., and the build quality, at least the Lotus, is shameful. Look at a TVR - I took my Tamora to a local dealer, who thought the interior was very much on a par with Aston Martin, in terms of look and use of materials. I love the simplicity and "rightness" of the Tamora's interior, and it really is well finished.
Yet again, the TVR afficionado's website is becoming a spawning ground for old wive's tales and curmudgeonly griping. Do we like TVR's, or is part of the TVR experience, the willingness to slag them off in public? Sell the car if you don't like it, or it's unreliable, or it's too fast. Do what you like, but for ****'s sake, don't start moaning the same old dirge AGAIN!!
nubbin - is it a long drop from your high horse? 
better be careful you don't fall off !! 
Yeah I agree Lotus and Nobel interiors are boring, and I have already said that TVR's have the - and i quote here - "the most stylised and unique interiors available in any car manufactured, but............. " I love the way TRV design their interiors, and take my hat off to the craftsmanship involved in milling things like brass eyeball vents from a solid lump of brass, but you have to be realistic, they could easily improve on the quality of finish. They are a small beskpoke car maker but size doesn't excuse dodgy fittings - think Morgan, for quality - is that analogy better than the Lotus/Nobel one?… Just don't get all humpy, there are some of us who love the cars, would sell their wife and children to own one, but are still able to be rational about things !!! - there you go end of whinge 
better be careful you don't fall off !! Yeah I agree Lotus and Nobel interiors are boring, and I have already said that TVR's have the - and i quote here - "the most stylised and unique interiors available in any car manufactured, but............. " I love the way TRV design their interiors, and take my hat off to the craftsmanship involved in milling things like brass eyeball vents from a solid lump of brass, but you have to be realistic, they could easily improve on the quality of finish. They are a small beskpoke car maker but size doesn't excuse dodgy fittings - think Morgan, for quality - is that analogy better than the Lotus/Nobel one?… Just don't get all humpy, there are some of us who love the cars, would sell their wife and children to own one, but are still able to be rational about things !!! - there you go end of whinge Gassing Station | General TVR Stuff & Gossip | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff