Cerbera reliability

[Toe Knee]

Hi, im new to the forum as im toying with the idea of getting a new car, and the more i look at cerbera's the more im starting to like them!!

The only thing im concerned about is reliability issues as i have heard they have problems. A friend of mine had a brand new tuscan which had 3 rebuilds in the time he had it!!!

So what are cerb's actually like?! and what are running costs etc like, and in the event of needing a rebuild etc what sort of costs are involved?!

They certainly are a lovely car, especialy for the price you can get them for now!!

Thanks for any input

[david smith]

630 mile round trip nothin broke or fell off .. Im saying no more! (touching wood for future!)

DAS

[TON70]

I've been lucky (touches wood, strokes the lucky rabbits foot, crosses his fingers)but if you read the postings you will see some horror stories, but I think that the majority of Cerbera owners allow for that 'major' open wallet surgery just to experience the performance and the BIG SILLY GRIN FACTOR that ONLY a Cerbera can give(IMHO)...take this weekends C.R.E.A.M what a turnout and what a day, I think you would need to budget say up to £2k a year for servicing and repairs with some years being much, much lower and leaving with extra cash to spend on mods!!! Buy one...go create some weather....you will NEVER regret it, I haven't

[gazzab]

I would say budget 3K pa plus petrol and ins.
A good one in a good yr will see you burnt for 1.5K. An avg bad yr is 3K.
A v bad yr is lots more than that! I did £13K in 2 yrs on my last one.
Current one owes me a couple of hundred quid so far some 6 months in and 3.5k miles. Albeit service coming up.

[GarethGTT]

3k a year you say, but what does the Cerb give you when it Toasts everything on the road...PRICELESS

[speed8]

I've spent a lot on the car but most of that is mods, upgrades.
For servicing, repairs, tyres, MOT's mine has averaged about 2k per year. Add on petrol, insurance and any upgrades you want on top of that. It also does about 6000-7000 miles a year so it's not really a garage queen. It was my daily driver and only car for a year so it had to be reliable.

[PetrolTed]

Toe Knee said:

A friend of mine had a brand new tuscan which had 3 rebuilds in the time he had it!!!

Welcome to PH. Bear in mind that the Tuscan uses a straight six engine. Although there are Cerberas out there with this engine, the majority use the AJP V8 engine.

[verminator]

dont tell anyone but the whole tvr realiability thing
is just a mith to keep all porker and BMW drivers away.
ive had mine for two years and apart from a starter motor its hasnt missed a beat. and everything on the car works. the CERBERA is the best kept secret in performance car ownership.

[PetrolTed]

You can get a sense of running costs here:

www.pistonheads.com/members/fleet.asp?m=3&model=Cerbera&s=d&submit=++Show++

[Toe Knee]

Thanks for the welcome and the replies!!!

I currently own a 2wd cossie so running costs are pretty high on that at the momment anyway lol, just wanted to gauge what sort of costs etc first before i start looking around, 2k a yr running costs isnt too bad really!!!

Insurance wise what are they like?! cant see it being anymore than the cossie really.......

Also what sort of age one is best to go for?! Seen some for around the 13k mark which is roughtly what i'd be budgeting for.

Thanks again for your help

Also are there any warrenty companys out there that will touch them?! as i heard there isnt bar the TVR one u get when u buy them new?!

>> Edited by Toe Knee on Monday 26th September 12:20

>> Edited by Toe Knee on Monday 26th September 12:29

[carlb]

Hi Toe Knee, my advice would be to buy the newest one you can afford. I bought my 2003 4.2 AJP Cerb in May and have done 5,000 trouble free miles so far.

The looks and admiration you get are embarassing sometimes. Whether it's a bunch of young lads giving you the thumbs up as you drive past or an old bloke in a car park saying you're very lucky to have one, people love to see these cars in flesh.

Then, when you've warmed it up and it's time to play, life becomes very sunny.

Go for it, get the right one and you won't regret it.

cb

[foxy4200]

In terms of reliability, just look at how many have responded to SXS's thread:

DID EVERYBODY MAKE IT HOME OK?.

Thats not bad to say a lot of us probably did a 500 mile plus round trip at the weekend.

True to say a lot of hours probably went in prepping the cars before CREAM, but I think thats a pretty good result (especially for 100 plus cerbs)

Foxy

[Toe Knee]

Thanks, also what are the differences between the 4.2 and the 4.5 engines?! power wise etc.

Really am a newbie when it comes 2 TVRs so starting from the bottom really lol.

[c3ber]

Tony, as a new owner myself having just bought a cerbera 45 red rose I would suggest whatever car you buy you will love it to bits as I do. Only suggestion I can make is not to go into it with rose tinted glasses.

[marcus1970]

Just one more thing...

Make sure that if you have a wife or a girlfriend that shes a goodun, because if one thing's gonna test her patience its you and your CERBERA - be warned.

All the best MB

[c3ber]

another one more thing... get the wife to love it as well. When i get back from work i will have to fight her for it.

[Ratten]

Buy one.....and get the warranty (650 squids a year). I've just done it and pick her up next weekend....haven't got a clue what i'm doing!

[c3ber]

650 for a wife that's not bad.... am i missing something.

[soapbox]

what does the warranty on the wife cover??

[gazzab]

13K budget = the highest risk cerb marketplace. tread very carefully. You are likely to need the upper end of monies for annual running costs.