Just when you think it can’t get worse…..
Discussion
It does. Sometimes I wonder why I bothered buying this bloody car. I’ve had it since June and have done just over 2000 miles in it (mostly long trips of 100 miles plus each). Can anybody comment on whether the following is a normal experience with a 2000 4.5 LW Cerbera 20K miles? Since I’ve had it I’ve experienced the following:
Back to garage for:
Window Adjustment
Back to garage for:
New top bush for diff mount
Back to garage for:
Nitron upgrade due to fact that the cars handling scared me over 80mph
New TVR Power ECU Chip
Back to garage for:
Return to have ride height adjusted as more that 1 person in the car resulted in the rear arches eating the rear tyres.
And this week I’ve experienced the following:
Nasty resonance / vibration when cold, sounds like exhaust / manifold
Sometimes the fans can’t keep the temp down when the aircon is on. The diff mount bushes are on the move again……nooooooo!
Each time is goes back to the garage it stays there for the week as I can only get off work to pick it / drop it off at weekends. So as you can imagine, I’ve not seen too much of it during the last 8 weeks, except for weekends. It’s like having 2 day a week paternity rights for a car! Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with the garage, I just want to know if this is what I can expect for the long term as it’s going to get very painful when the warranty (or my patience) runs out.
Cheers,
Rob
>>> Edited by rjben on Thursday 4th November 17:01
Back to garage for:
Window Adjustment
Back to garage for:
New top bush for diff mount
Back to garage for:
Nitron upgrade due to fact that the cars handling scared me over 80mph
New TVR Power ECU Chip
Back to garage for:
Return to have ride height adjusted as more that 1 person in the car resulted in the rear arches eating the rear tyres.
And this week I’ve experienced the following:
Nasty resonance / vibration when cold, sounds like exhaust / manifold
Sometimes the fans can’t keep the temp down when the aircon is on. The diff mount bushes are on the move again……nooooooo!
Each time is goes back to the garage it stays there for the week as I can only get off work to pick it / drop it off at weekends. So as you can imagine, I’ve not seen too much of it during the last 8 weeks, except for weekends. It’s like having 2 day a week paternity rights for a car! Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with the garage, I just want to know if this is what I can expect for the long term as it’s going to get very painful when the warranty (or my patience) runs out.
Cheers,
Rob
>>> Edited by rjben on Thursday 4th November 17:01
Everyone has their own opinion.
I like to take things with a direct approach and a sledgehammer, no beating round the bush.
My opinion:
"These things will continue happening until every niggly little fault shows its face and is eradicated, but if your garage aint doing a good job catching them before they get more painful (costly) then change your mech, some are lucky, some aint, if you're unlucky, just change, might make all the difference."
Eventually your clutch will go, 1K+ gone
Then your cats go, 1K+ gone
Brake discs get warped, 500+ gone
Tyres wear too quick on the inner circle, 300+ gone
Major water leak hits the footwell, investigation and new carpets required, 300+ gone
Someone comes along eventually and keys your P&J down the side, normal paint 600+ gone, exotic paint 1000+ gone.
Accelerator cable snaps, 60+ gone.
Accelerator cable snaps again, 50+ gone. (you might get a discount second time round)
Accelerator pedal snaps! 100+ gone.
Fuel pump fails, 200+ gone.
Throttle pots go, anything from 50 to 100+ gone.
She catches fire due to overheating and expansion leading to burst fuel line, now shes gone!
Most the figures above include labour....
TVR ownership, when they're fine, its heaven, when they're pissed, its hell! A typical 21st century love & hate scenario....
I like to take things with a direct approach and a sledgehammer, no beating round the bush.
My opinion:
"These things will continue happening until every niggly little fault shows its face and is eradicated, but if your garage aint doing a good job catching them before they get more painful (costly) then change your mech, some are lucky, some aint, if you're unlucky, just change, might make all the difference."
Eventually your clutch will go, 1K+ gone
Then your cats go, 1K+ gone
Brake discs get warped, 500+ gone
Tyres wear too quick on the inner circle, 300+ gone
Major water leak hits the footwell, investigation and new carpets required, 300+ gone
Someone comes along eventually and keys your P&J down the side, normal paint 600+ gone, exotic paint 1000+ gone.
Accelerator cable snaps, 60+ gone.
Accelerator cable snaps again, 50+ gone. (you might get a discount second time round)
Accelerator pedal snaps! 100+ gone.
Fuel pump fails, 200+ gone.
Throttle pots go, anything from 50 to 100+ gone.
She catches fire due to overheating and expansion leading to burst fuel line, now shes gone!
Most the figures above include labour....
TVR ownership, when they're fine, its heaven, when they're pissed, its hell! A typical 21st century love & hate scenario....
Hang on mate, two of your trips back were for upgrades that you chose to do - you can't count them. 
And I can adjust the platform (ride height) on my car myself in about 15 mins with a trolley jack, or about 5 mins if someone can be talked in to letting me use their ramp (and I'm a girl!). Did your garage not show you how when they fitted it?
There will always be something that either needs doing, or that you know is on its way out and will need doing in the future. If the pain of this is worse than the love of the car, best you part company sooner rather than later to be honest; it will only drive you mad otherwise.
And I can adjust the platform (ride height) on my car myself in about 15 mins with a trolley jack, or about 5 mins if someone can be talked in to letting me use their ramp (and I'm a girl!). Did your garage not show you how when they fitted it?
There will always be something that either needs doing, or that you know is on its way out and will need doing in the future. If the pain of this is worse than the love of the car, best you part company sooner rather than later to be honest; it will only drive you mad otherwise.
joospeed said:
yup, all sounds about right to me.
why not sell it and buy something more suitable?
Are your referring to the mileage Joospeed? I must admit that I’ve been using it quite allot as I’ve just got it. Normally I hope to keep the mileage down to 1000 a month. Is this too much?
Believe it or not, I went through all of this (apart from the fire) and a lot more with the first one I had, but the current one is looked after by Joospeed, and there aint no messing about, the only thing that has failed has been the starter motor, but "they all do that sir".....
find the right garage, you can trust, and who will take the extra care and attention to notice typical things that do go wrong... you'll still get billed for the work, but hopefully a lot less than if something had failed and led to a nightmare...
Just for the record, I've had two major engine failures, a cerbera timing chain ripped apart the whole engine fell apart literally.... an M3's bottome end cracked open! and a piston shot out the side!....
If only I had invested all that dosh into a fast food enterprise, damn it, I'm starving, now wheres that menu gone.........
find the right garage, you can trust, and who will take the extra care and attention to notice typical things that do go wrong... you'll still get billed for the work, but hopefully a lot less than if something had failed and led to a nightmare...
Just for the record, I've had two major engine failures, a cerbera timing chain ripped apart the whole engine fell apart literally.... an M3's bottome end cracked open! and a piston shot out the side!....
If only I had invested all that dosh into a fast food enterprise, damn it, I'm starving, now wheres that menu gone.........
rude girl said:
Hang on mate, two of your trips back were for upgrades that you chose to do - you can't count them.
And I can adjust the platform (ride height) on my car myself in about 15 mins with a trolley jack, or about 5 mins if someone can be talked in to letting me use their ramp (and I'm a girl!). Did your garage not show you how when they fitted it?
There will always be something that either needs doing, or that you know is on its way out and will need doing in the future. If the pain of this is worse than the love of the car, best you part company sooner rather than later to be honest; it will only drive you mad otherwise.
Hang on there mate, just 1 of the trips was back for an upgrade. I'm just giving you a complete picture of what has been happening to the car. Thanks for the comment though.
Just to give you a little more info. I have no mechanical knowledge and don't really want to work on my car. It's also the 3rd TVR I've had, which goes some way of proving my love of the marque, but my love does not cloud my judgment or allow me to forgive it for everthing and anything.
Just trying to understand other peoples experiences.
>> Edited by rjben on Sunday 1st August 19:49
>> Edited by rjben on Sunday 1st August 19:50
I'll let you know when i drive mine!!
ive owned it since...well 25th June..and done 50 miles...clutch had finger trouble on pick up of the car - not nice! (we all know about the parts issues!!)oh and the starter motors fooked.....
bet you dont feel tooooo bad now!!!
Hopefully it wont be too much longer! im just glad ive got the 2.016v 136ps Mondeo estate to keep me buzzin' along.....right-o!!!
ive owned it since...well 25th June..and done 50 miles...clutch had finger trouble on pick up of the car - not nice! (we all know about the parts issues!!)oh and the starter motors fooked.....
bet you dont feel tooooo bad now!!!
Hopefully it wont be too much longer! im just glad ive got the 2.016v 136ps Mondeo estate to keep me buzzin' along.....right-o!!!
Cheers SXS,
I'm expecting clutch / tyres / breaks and other wear and tear items. I guess the thing that’s wound me up is that fact that it's going back so often and the garage is at least an hour away plus a train ride back. I've booked the car in next week at Tower View as they seem to have a good rep and their allot closer. I don't mind the cost, it’s just the frequency that hurts.
I'm expecting clutch / tyres / breaks and other wear and tear items. I guess the thing that’s wound me up is that fact that it's going back so often and the garage is at least an hour away plus a train ride back. I've booked the car in next week at Tower View as they seem to have a good rep and their allot closer. I don't mind the cost, it’s just the frequency that hurts.
rjben said:
I don't mind the cost, it’s just the frequency that hurts.
I'm with you on that, hence, a good mech will keep you on the road longer....
Without kissing too much of someones rear
Joo comes HIGHLY recommended....
edited...
And I travel 200 odd miles to get to him too!
and then another 200 odd to get back home....
>> Edited by SXS on Sunday 1st August 20:06
I do a thousand miles a month in my Cerb and yes, your experience is the same as mine. No point in having rose tinted glasses, a Cerb will spend a fair amount of time in the garage and it will be costly to fix each time.
There are a few Cerbs out there that seems to never go wrong, but I haven't got one of those and it doesn't sound like you have either.
There are a few Cerbs out there that seems to never go wrong, but I haven't got one of those and it doesn't sound like you have either.
rjben said:
yup, all sounds about right to me.
why not sell it and buy something more suitable?
Are your referring to the mileage Joospeed? I must admit that I’ve been using it quite allot as I’ve just got it. Normally I hope to keep the mileage down to 1000 a month. Is this too much?
Nothing to do with the mileage .. all those things are typical TVR nd sespecially Cerbera jobs to do, you'll need them sooner or later.
Yup Rude one, I had a customer who did 1k miles per week in his 4.5 .. only trouble was a clutch and steering rack which needed replacing at about 55k miles i think .. car was later written off by a lorry on the m6, but until that point was running strong with minimal faults ..bu that car was quite exceptional in the mileage/use it got and the lack of problems .. the owner used to book his next service in when he collected the car each time ..
I'm just relieved that its not just my car then! Thanks for the response ladies and gents, all very informative.
I'd love to use Joospeed for my work but it's just too far. With the frequency of problems I'm experiencing I need somebody close to hand (but good).
As I've said, it's going to Tower View next week so if anybody has any comments / recomendations re Towwr View or other garages local to London Waterloo, please post them here, or keep Ted happy and mail me offline!
Cheers,
Rob
I'd love to use Joospeed for my work but it's just too far. With the frequency of problems I'm experiencing I need somebody close to hand (but good).
As I've said, it's going to Tower View next week so if anybody has any comments / recomendations re Towwr View or other garages local to London Waterloo, please post them here, or keep Ted happy and mail me offline!
Cheers,
Rob
Yes, thats the one. The reason I had it booked in with tower view is purely down to distance. I just can't keep taking it back for Fernie's for every little problem - it was driving me insane and I think it was having the same effect on them!
Anyway, as it goes it's gone back to Fernie's as I don't have to drive it there. It would appear that it's not the starter, apparently the battery is not charging. So either the main fuse or the alternator belt I guess......
Cehers,
Rob
Anyway, as it goes it's gone back to Fernie's as I don't have to drive it there. It would appear that it's not the starter, apparently the battery is not charging. So either the main fuse or the alternator belt I guess......
Cehers,
Rob
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