How unreliable are Cerberas?
Discussion
I've always fancied one and need to change my car soon, so I am seriously thinking about getting.a Cerb.
Can they be run as a daily, notching up around 15 - 20k / year, or is it just a plain stupid idea. Fuel costs are not a worry.
We have a Touareg for family duties, so I only need 4 seats for shortish journeys. For me, this means the Cerb would be ideal.
Am I out of my mind even thinking about it?
Can they be run as a daily, notching up around 15 - 20k / year, or is it just a plain stupid idea. Fuel costs are not a worry.
We have a Touareg for family duties, so I only need 4 seats for shortish journeys. For me, this means the Cerb would be ideal.
Am I out of my mind even thinking about it?
I haven't owned a Cerb, but I know a few people that have.
I dont agree with just using Tiv's on the weekend - they don't like being sat about. My wife's Chim was a daily driver and never missed a beat.
Having said that, I wouldn't stick 15k+ on a Cerb, it will cost you a fortune in maintenance. IIRC the general consensus is £5k a year in service and maintenance to run a Cerb, and that is on weekend mileage...
I dont agree with just using Tiv's on the weekend - they don't like being sat about. My wife's Chim was a daily driver and never missed a beat.
Having said that, I wouldn't stick 15k+ on a Cerb, it will cost you a fortune in maintenance. IIRC the general consensus is £5k a year in service and maintenance to run a Cerb, and that is on weekend mileage...
I've had a Cerb for 4 months and it was my daily driver until recently. The problem is that I work 3 miles from home so the engine never warms up on the journey to work and back, this can't be good for the engine so I decided to get a cheap run around for commuting, the Cerb however does get used for everything else regardless of weather. Cerbs do not like to be left sitting around, they like to be driven, if you leave them sitting around damp gets in and starts causing problems.
In the 4 months I've only done a couple of thousand miles and so far all shes cost me is a set of rear tyres as one developed a bulge in the side wall and a pair of Lambda sensors as these failed on the way home from buying her. I also took her to Taylor TVR in Kent to get her checked over qand the throttles adjusted after chaging the Lambda sensors.
Costs so far:
Lambda sensors: £120 pair
Fitting Lambda sensors: £100
Taylor TVR: £90
Tyres, Toyo T1-Sport £260 pair
TOTAL SPENT: £570
However my Cerb had quite a bit of money spent on it last February, new suspension, new clutch, new coil packs, new HT leads, 12k service, new brake pads.
The best thing to do is have a look at the Cerbera saection of the forum.
In the 4 months I've only done a couple of thousand miles and so far all shes cost me is a set of rear tyres as one developed a bulge in the side wall and a pair of Lambda sensors as these failed on the way home from buying her. I also took her to Taylor TVR in Kent to get her checked over qand the throttles adjusted after chaging the Lambda sensors.
Costs so far:
Lambda sensors: £120 pair
Fitting Lambda sensors: £100
Taylor TVR: £90
Tyres, Toyo T1-Sport £260 pair
TOTAL SPENT: £570
However my Cerb had quite a bit of money spent on it last February, new suspension, new clutch, new coil packs, new HT leads, 12k service, new brake pads.
The best thing to do is have a look at the Cerbera saection of the forum.
Edited by tonywilliams on Thursday 12th January 23:07
redgriff500 said:
schmalex said:
What are costly bits of Cerb maintenance?
Everything.Simply take a look at the for sale ads and speak to the owners about what they've spent.
20,000 miles a year is a lot though. If you where doing 8-12k then maybe, but I think that you might struggle a tad. For this sort of annual mileage I suspect you'd be better off with something like a Mustang or Trans Am with some choice mods.
Another thing to remember you have be totally on the ball when driving these things. When they bite youive no abs or tc to help you. Cost wise id say 10k max a year over that and the cost would be very high...2 services, 4 rear tyres at least, clutch every other year if your lucky !!!
I've been driving TVR's as my daily since the mid 90's.
They were and are all very reliable with the exception of my first Tuscan which needed a rebuild but evan that was great after it had had the necessary attention.
Never had a Cerb but as mentioned I know mine like to be driven regularly.
My latest is a Mk2 Tuscan which has been great for the last 2 years but over the last few months I've been travelling a lot and so she is now letting me know with a little problem of a sticking throttle. IT will sort itself out with use but its the kind of problem that crops up with these cars if you dont use them enough.
The other thing is that you could try it and if its not working out just sell. The prices hardly move now.
In fact my Tuscan is worth about 5k more than I paid for it in 2009.
(Selling is easier said than done. Once they are under your skin its almost impossible to part with them).
You may get more advise on daily use from the TVR Cerbera forum.
They were and are all very reliable with the exception of my first Tuscan which needed a rebuild but evan that was great after it had had the necessary attention.
Never had a Cerb but as mentioned I know mine like to be driven regularly.
My latest is a Mk2 Tuscan which has been great for the last 2 years but over the last few months I've been travelling a lot and so she is now letting me know with a little problem of a sticking throttle. IT will sort itself out with use but its the kind of problem that crops up with these cars if you dont use them enough.
The other thing is that you could try it and if its not working out just sell. The prices hardly move now.
In fact my Tuscan is worth about 5k more than I paid for it in 2009.
(Selling is easier said than done. Once they are under your skin its almost impossible to part with them).
You may get more advise on daily use from the TVR Cerbera forum.
crisisjez said:
For a little more money you can get yourself into a 996 turbo, even the running costs are lower than the Cerb and its deffo a daily driver.
No where near as much as an event to drive for my money though.I'd dearly love to own a Cerb but am similarly wary of crippling running costs. Fortunately I'm in no position to have to make that decision currently!
John D. said:
crisisjez said:
For a little more money you can get yourself into a 996 turbo, even the running costs are lower than the Cerb and its deffo a daily driver.
No where near as much as an event to drive for my money though.I'd dearly love to own a Cerb but am similarly wary of crippling running costs. Fortunately I'm in no position to have to make that decision currently!
The Porsche was a nice car but I felt the interior plastics felt very cheap and let it down a bit (the interior was updated i 2004 I think and feels much better but still not as special as a Cerbera). The Porsche was nice to drive, very easy to drive quick with all of the driver aids to assist you, it's by far the better daily driver. The Cerbera however with no driver aids and feeling much more antiquated and agricultural isn’t as relaxing to drive and demands your full attention all of the time, but it will reward you for getting it right and bite your arm off for getting it wrong, being names after a 3 headed dog is pretty fitting as this car has a nasty bite, mines been sideways at 60mph and 90mph. When you get to put your foot down the only words I can find to describe it are terrifying and fast. After driving the 996 and loving it I drove the Cerbera and as soon as I put my foot down my thoughts were something along the lines of ‘F*** me this is fast, holy s*** this is terrifying, where did that bend come from, I’m going to die but at least it will be in a nice car, wow these brakes are good, did I really get up to 130mph and back down to 30mph that quick, I’m in love with a car, I’ve gotta get me one of these’, or something to that effect.
The Porsche will be the better daily driver, everything will work better, the wipers are good, it has driver aids. The TVR will feel much more special, will probably try to kill you every time you drive it, but it will leave you grinning like the Cheshire cat every time you drive it.
My Cerbera gets used all weathers for all driving except the 3 mile work commute and will probably cover around 12k miles this year.
At the end of the day the Cerbera is a car you buy with your heart.
If you're local to Essex I'd be hapy to take you for a spin in my Cerbera so you can see what they are like.
People who dont own or never have owned a cerb aren't well placed to comment.
The owner before me of my first cerb did 20'k pa over 3 years (or something like that). The dealer reckoned he spent £100k in 3 yrs with them (running, depreciation, servicing etc plus the costs of a chim at same time).
The owner before me of my first cerb did 20'k pa over 3 years (or something like that). The dealer reckoned he spent £100k in 3 yrs with them (running, depreciation, servicing etc plus the costs of a chim at same time).
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