911 to Cerb, a wise move?

[911man]

I thinking of swapping my 911 for a Cerbera 4.2/4.5.
Reading all the stuff on this forum has left me somewhat uncomfortable with this idea, all I see are tales of blown engines and other nasties. Are Cerb's really this unreliable or does the same incident get reported many times? (bad news travels fast)!
I see there are many and varied electrical maladies but this doesn't bother me as I'm a Elec' Eng.
Reading through many of the posts implies that the average running costs are 3K/year. Is this the cost of servicing or the fixing of those elec' problems?

Please help,
what are Nitrons, Red Rose, MIL light, emerald?
Does the chassis rot through in 6 years?
If de-cats are removing the catalytic converters how would you pass the MOT?

I think of £25K what should I go for, milage etc?

thanks
Disillusioned 911 owner

[jesfirth]

the chassis are pretty good so long as you look after them.

yes they do go wrong but most problems are relatively minor annoyances as does most serious exotica. Bear in mind that most people only put up posts when they need help-it is rare for people to simply post to say mine ran perfectly today

the v8 engine is pretty robust-mine was 70000 miles before needing a rebuild which for a car of this type is pretty good-and there are plenty of others out there with high mileage original engines. there was a thread about a month ago on this site where people have noted their mileages and works to the engines.

cerbs have character and are fickle hand built cars but once you drive one you may find the porsche a little sterile. £3000 pa is plenty to maintain one properly in my experience.

they also have rarity value as they are no longer made.

My advice just buy one-they are great. I cant think of a better car for the money

[gazzab]

911man said:

I thinking of swapping my 911 for a Cerbera 4.2/4.5. Reading all the stuff on this forum has left me somewhat uncomfortable with this idea, all I see are tales of blown engines and other nasties. Are Cerb's really this unreliable or does the same incident get reported many times? (bad news travels fast)! I see there are many and varied electrical maladies but this doesn't bother me as I'm a Elec' Eng. Reading through many of the posts implies that the average running costs are 3K/year. Is this the cost of servicing or the fixing of those elec' problems? Please help, what are Nitrons, Red Rose, MIL light, emerald? Does the chassis rot through in 6 years? If de-cats are removing the catalytic converters how would you pass the MOT? I think of £25K what should I go for, milage etc? thanks Disillusioned 911 owner

If you are coming from a 993 or later then you will find a cerb has a lot more character than you are used to. It will have a lot moore power as well.
If it is for an everyday car then I would advise giving this v careful consideration!
£25K will get you a 2000 or later lightweight (ie different lights and seats) model. Buy private with the car recommended by an indie servicer.
Go for a 4.5 at that price range. Maybe drop down to 20K and get a 99/00 pre facelift mdoel and keep cash for breakdowns etc...
£3K pa covers tyres, servicing and repairs.
Could be more or less - this is jsust a prudent budget.
Blown up 4.5s are rare.
go for a car that has done 5 - 7 k miles pa.
Less or more is more likely to be grief.
Nitrons = the most desirable suspension upgrade. The standard is pooh.
Red Rose = engine upgrade - rare and on later models only. Gives another 50bhp. Standard 4.5 is really about 360 ish (not 420 per TVR). But an EMERALD (or other) rolling road re-chip will lift it to Red Rose or higher.
You pass an MOT by keeping the CATS in the boot.
The chassis CAN rot quickly but this isnt common BUT a lot of Cerbs were made in the 98 / 99 period so could yet be a prob ???

[J.P]

Hi 911man,

You may wanna check out the search facility on this site, as there is a wealth of info that can answer all your questions - but here's a summary

Nitrons - These are Suspension

Red-Rose - This is an upgrade you can have done to the car, generally makes things faster

MIL - This is the general "somethings up light" and can give bogus alerts but generally should be take notice of

Emerald - This is a type of engine management unit, that give you some different maps - there is some discussion on this on the forums

And finally - I think De-catting your car, dependant on age of the vehicle will affect the MOT i.e newer cars may not pass, but I think engine mapping can get around this.

General consensus is buy as new as you can with FULL history / bills etc

I don't own a TVR yet but this was all gained from checking the forum out - plus I wanted to get off rung 0 for posts

Hope this helps.

James..

[woolfie]

by asking is it wise, is asking for much subjective debate. By spending a day over the weekend, re-reading the previous threads will give you enough views about the power & the glory versus the weaknesses & the disappointments.

As you are a petrolhead concentrate on the reasons why you want to buy a cerbera and assess whethe you have the time & resources to do "the ownership" thing. Its not a passive purchase. I have gone the other way round cerb to porkers and then on to other marques.

But dont let this thread sway you by "take one out on a test drive.....and then you'll know". Do your research beforehand, which is also answering the question as to why you want one. Then focus in on elements of that to get responses from people here, as your initial question is a bit too wide, to make it a truly useful debate for you.

[s,one]

I went from 4.2 Cerb to Griff 500 to 911 (930 turbo) back to Cerb 4.5 -says it all really.Porker was the most expensive so far to maintain,but a lot of that is down to luck or bad luck as it were!.

[tvrolet]

I had 3 Porsches over a period of 12 years (last being a 911 Carrera 3.2) before I bought a Cerb.

I lament ever selling the Cerb. I don't lose any sleep over the loss of the Porsches.

I'd buy another Cerb tomorrow if I had the cash. I'd even spend £15K to get an old one just to get another if I could stretch to it. I'd never buy a Porsche again.

Although the Cerb had niggles, it was by any measure more reliable than the Porsches. Over 12 years, the Porsches had to be recovered by the AA/RAC once every year, and failed to get me to my destination on average another once per year. In 4 years, the Cerb only let me down once...and it still actually got me to my destination allbeit slowly! And the Cerb had a far harder life with many many track days. The Porsches were treated with kid gloves by comparison, but still broke down....

Put it this way - a 911 is just another sports car; a Cerbera is a TVR!

WB

god I wish I still had the Cerbera

[paul.a]

Had mine 2 yrs. 2 new starters, always fiddling with exhaust,plenty little niggly things to fix but nothing serious. but always get out of the car with a big grin on my face. The advice and help you can get from people on this forum is second to none. Go get one and enjoy!!

[tiger]

In a Cerb you can participate in the well known sport of "Porsche Killing"

I sadly can't do this, but I do look good with the roof off :-)

[MOD500]

For your budget there is no better option than a Cerb


Martyn.