TVR as "everyday" car

[rfn]

Hi all - first time in this section!

I'm hunting around for new cars, and the Tamora Tuscan have grabbed my eye. I've got just under £15k to spend which, looking in the classifieds, seems to get some reasonable examples.

I only use my current car (MX-5) occasionally (walk to work), but do between 300 and 500 miles each weekend - should a TVR be okay this sort of use over time - it'd be garaged throughout the week.

I'll be 22 when I consider the change, with 4years NCB so I think insurance should be reasonable, and having driven a Tamora before (Though it was a couple of years ago) I really liked it.

Any thoughts would be great

Cheers!

[TVRWazzock]

If you are doing between 300-500 miles each weekend, that could probably mean about 3-4 services a year, which would be quite expensive.

Sure a TVR would be happy with that kind of usage, but you have to consider the running costs of owning one. A 6000/12000 mile service is not cheap.

Certainly 15K might get you an early speed 6 (2002 - 2003) that might require a rebuild, but I would be looking at spending around £20,000 for a good one.

I purchased a 2002 Tamora in 2005 for £22,000. I had the engine rebuilt and upgraded to 4.0L in 2007, Nitrons fitted, alloy radiator, and ACT air box fitted. I limit the usage to 6000 miles a year, which is one service a year. This is a good balance for my budget.

Hope this helps.

[Zippee]

A better option for day to day with that sort of mileage and your limited budget would be a Griff or Chim IMHO. The RV8 is a strong engine and is also cheaper to service. That and you'll get one of the best for 15k rather than one from the bottom end of the price spectrum with a Tam or Tusc.

[crimbo]

rfn said:

I'll be 22 when I consider the change, with 4years NCB so I think insurance should be reasonable, and having driven a Tamora before (Though it was a couple of years ago) I really liked it.

Any thoughts would be great

Cheers!

4NCB and 22, If you do go through with this i'd love to here just what sort of quotes you get?

[madbadger]

I had an MX5 as an only car and got a 2002 Tamora as an only car 6 years ago. I was doing 12000ish miles a year. It is entirely possible and an excellent idea with one BUT.

But it is expensive with 6000 mile service intervals and you need to budget for clutches etc.

I lasted three years and now run an old knacker as well. For most of the mundane stuff it is just as suitable and at 50mpg and minimal running costs it is cheaper to run both cars. However if you don't use a car everyday it may be less of an issue.

The big advantage of running a crap car too is the TVR feels much more special and it avoids sitting in traffic in it. Make the miles count.

[justin220]

crimbo said:

rfn said:

I'll be 22 when I consider the change, with 4years NCB so I think insurance should be reasonable, and having driven a Tamora before (Though it was a couple of years ago) I really liked it.

Any thoughts would be great

Cheers!

4NCB and 22, If you do go through with this i'd love to here just what sort of quotes you get?

I had a T350 when I was 21 and paid £800 through MSM, it was my only car aswell.

[Targarama]

Get out there and get one bought - they are great cars will love the longer trips each weekend. Just make sure you attend to any minor problems right away and carry out preventative servicing and it won't let you down (assuming you buy well!). The government will find a way to ban these cars soon.

Don't forget they are PLG so road tax is only £190 or so!

[SonicHedgeHog]

justin220 said:

crimbo said:

rfn said:

I'll be 22 when I consider the change, with 4years NCB so I think insurance should be reasonable, and having driven a Tamora before (Though it was a couple of years ago) I really liked it.

Any thoughts would be great

Cheers!

4NCB and 22, If you do go through with this i'd love to here just what sort of quotes you get?

I had a T350 when I was 21 and paid £800 through MSM, it was my only car aswell.

There must be more to that quote than meets the eye. I'm 34 with a gezillion years NCB and my classic car, limited mileage policy on the Griff is £500. I think the OP should be looking at something over £1000 although it sounds to me like he really doesn't have enough cash to make a SP6 car a sensible purchase. I would however buy him an outstanding Chimaera or a solid Griffith.

[crimbo]

justin220 said:

I had a T350 when I was 21 and paid £800 through MSM, it was my only car aswell.

Thats crazy I'm 24 at the mo and was waiting till i'm 25 to get insured with my dad, we would love to do the longer trips/events together and share the driving etc but thought the quote would be nearer to 2k

At 21 it was costing me more than that to insure an E36 BMW 328is haha, this year at 24 I only had 2 quotes under £800, thats with 4NCB and 3points (sp30). I wont tell you how much it cost my friend to insure his EP3 civic type R. ( and we even searched for weeks for the best quotes)

[justin220]

SonicHedgeHog said:

There must be more to that quote than meets the eye. I'm 34 with a gezillion years NCB and my classic car, limited mileage policy on the Griff is £500. I think the OP should be looking at something over £1000 although it sounds to me like he really doesn't have enough cash to make a SP6 car a sensible purchase. I would however buy him an outstanding Chimaera or a solid Griffith.

Not at all. Good postcode, garaged. 6000 miles a year.

Annoyingly, MSM have now put up their minimum age to 25.. Frustrating when I'm bank in the TVR market

[orange_dodo]

justin220 said:

Annoyingly, MSM have now put up their minimum age to 25..

WHAT!!!

Thats really gonna screw me over come August

[justin220]

orange_dodo said:

justin220 said:

Annoyingly, MSM have now put up their minimum age to 25..

WHAT!!!

Thats really gonna screw me over come August

I know, don't quote me but they wouldn't cover me now and said they would when I turn 25.

[Tuscain]

crimbo said:

rfn said:

I'll be 22 when I consider the change, with 4years NCB so I think insurance should be reasonable, and having driven a Tamora before (Though it was a couple of years ago) I really liked it.

Any thoughts would be great

Cheers!

4NCB and 22, If you do go through with this i'd love to here just what sort of quotes you get?

Im 23 as we speak, and with very little NCB worth mentioning im paying marginalyl over 2k a year on my Tuscan

[orange_dodo]

I pay £600 for my S but the insurance runs out in August and I turn 25 in October. Also planning on a little Euro trip with a load of other S's in September but no insurance would put a little bit of a damper on that idea!

I'll give them a ring tomorrow and find out.

Tuscain, may I ask who your insured with? Hopefully an S would be less than a Tuscan to insure!

[RWA28]

crimbo said:

justin220 said:

I had a T350 when I was 21 and paid £800 through MSM, it was my only car aswell.

Thats crazy I'm 24 at the mo and was waiting till i'm 25 to get insured with my dad, we would love to do the longer trips/events together and share the driving etc but thought the quote would be nearer to 2k

At 21 it was costing me more than that to insure an E36 BMW 328is hahaa, this year at 24 I only had 2 quotes under £800, thats with 4NCB and 3points (sp30). I wont tell you how much it cost my friend to insure his EP3 civic type R. ( and we even searched for weeks for the best quotes)

At 22 I had a Chim 400.
0 points, 4yrs NCB, limited it to 5k per anum, garaged, it cost me just over £600. That was 8years ago mind. My Tamora last year cost me £470 at the age of 29.
The big help with these quotes must be my postcode, it's a small village with zero crime!

[Tuscain]

orange_dodo said:

I pay £600 for my S but the insurance runs out in August and I turn 25 in October. Also planning on a little Euro trip with a load of other S's in September but no insurance would put a little bit of a damper on that idea!

I'll give them a ring tomorrow and find out.

Tuscain, may I ask who your insured with? Hopefully an S would be less than a Tuscan to insure!

Il check on the paperwork in the morning, had a lot of stuff going on recently so dont really remember TBH ! Also worth mentioning ive onyl had a UK license for several months becasue i stayed on my california license for a while after coming back from studying out there to avoid fines

[orange_dodo]

Just to clear matters up I called MSM. The classic car policy has a limit of 25 (or 30 for some cars) but the Kit car policy (which I have) has a minimum age of 21.

Should probably have mentioned that I have a kit car policy before!

[450Nick]

I'm also with MSM and I'm pretty sure that the biggest factor in the quotes is experience. I'm 24 and just renewed my insurance on my supercharged 450 Chim with god knows how many modifications on apart from the obvious (wheels, brakes, shocks, ECU, interior, induction, exhaust, cam, etc etc) and it came in at £600 on the nose. Pretty good I thought with 4yr NCB!

Thought about getting a Tuscan/Cerb/T350 and I think the insurance was a fair bit cheaper than I'm paying due to the mods. Got a Tuscan racecar instead though...

At any rate of course you can run one every day. Just depends how deep your pockets are! I've had my Chim 4 years now thought and done 40/50k miles and never paid for a service. I prefer to do it myself - sod the resale value

[rfn]

Thanks for all the replies so far - any more are most welcomed!

I do like the Chim as well, though haven't driven one of those. I'm really after a convertible, as after having 2 MX-5's I still love the feeling of roof down motoring!

What are people's thoughts on this Tuscan: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1349298.htm

[Del 203]

rfn said:

I do like the Chim as well, though haven't driven one of those. I'm really after a convertible

May i suggest a Griff then


HTH