found out i will be able to buy a TVR early in the new year
Discussion
hi, ive found out im going to be able to buy a TVR in the new year as i will be getting a company car and hav no need for the CLK so thought a weekend toy would be worth investing in, i was originally going to buy a Griffith 500 but looking on autotrader im really tempted by a Cerbera 4.2 as there seem to be a fair few around my budget of £15k, my question was really about the engine in the 4.2, is it quite a reliable engine like the Griffs V8 or does it need rebuilds like the Speed 6? also how much roughly is servicing for them as oposed to the Griff?, i know the Cerbera is the faster of the 2 but is it on the whole ok to live with in terms of reliability?,obviously i know no TVR is built like a BMW etc and they do have thier faults but was curious as to the Cerberas main weaknesses, thanks for any help in advance.
Reliable 
less so than the griff, in my opinion much more so than the spd 6. Buy a speed 6 (again in my opinion) and a rebuild is guaranteed. Its not a case of if, its when... The AJP is solid, pretty reliable, but warm it up first. It'll pop and bang like no other engine on the planet, and decatted with sports pipes its like shotguns going off at times 
Massivly fun! Get one, and you will never look back 
Reliable... debatable. Many owners have no problems for years. I know one chap whose cerb cost him £1k a month for the first 8 months. That is an absolute worst case scenario. A great deal of people put £1500 into their car yearly, some less, some almost nothing but the rule of thumb is £3k per year.
Its not the engine which is unreliable, and no the cars are not all especially unreliable, its the niggles that arise which can be stressful and whether you get them is pick of the draw. Starter motor, electrics, clutch, seals, wiper motor, etc. Another rule of thumb is never to buy a TVR which has not been driven much. I did that twice, everything went wrong, but eventually they were both sorted.
The bottom line is that if you decide to buy one, you will never look back! Except when (proverbially speaking) using the rear view mirror, to keep an eye on the world
Only buy one if you can afford £3k per year and dont just hope that problems wont arise. Its the most fun TVR in my opinion, and as for the power... its massive Its satan on wheels, and will give you a grin factor to match.
>> Edited by UKBob on Monday 19th December 21:00
less so than the griff, in my opinion much more so than the spd 6. Buy a speed 6 (again in my opinion) and a rebuild is guaranteed. Its not a case of if, its when... The AJP is solid, pretty reliable, but warm it up first. It'll pop and bang like no other engine on the planet, and decatted with sports pipes its like shotguns going off at times Massivly fun! Get one, and you will never look back Reliable... debatable. Many owners have no problems for years. I know one chap whose cerb cost him £1k a month for the first 8 months. That is an absolute worst case scenario. A great deal of people put £1500 into their car yearly, some less, some almost nothing but the rule of thumb is £3k per year.
Its not the engine which is unreliable, and no the cars are not all especially unreliable, its the niggles that arise which can be stressful and whether you get them is pick of the draw. Starter motor, electrics, clutch, seals, wiper motor, etc. Another rule of thumb is never to buy a TVR which has not been driven much. I did that twice, everything went wrong, but eventually they were both sorted.
The bottom line is that if you decide to buy one, you will never look back! Except when (proverbially speaking) using the rear view mirror, to keep an eye on the world
Only buy one if you can afford £3k per year and dont just hope that problems wont arise. Its the most fun TVR in my opinion, and as for the power... its massive Its satan on wheels, and will give you a grin factor to match. >> Edited by UKBob on Monday 19th December 21:00
Well, I'm a first time TVR owner and we have had our 98' 4.2 for about 10 weeks. Its a 55k mile car and we have done around 2500 miles since purchase. The engine has been perfect. Apart from topping up the oil every 500 miles (although recently it hasn't needed much possibly due to less revs and colder oil temps??), checking the coolant and other fluids it hasn't needed anything else.
The wipers stopped working last week and that turned out to be a loose/dirty connector and judging by other comments, most electrical issues are due to the same thing. Oh, the only other problem is the mileometer sticking when it turn the 1000 mark. Picked up a handy tip on here to free it and has worked both times it became stuck.
I had it on Surrey Rolling Road and it gave 338bhp. Apparently, pretty healthy for a 4.2 and more than a couple of 4.5's that were there that day. There are more tuning goodies for the 4.5 to give bigger power gains but obviously that costs £££ and that's after you have paid a premium for the 4.5 car.
Don't know enough about the speed6 to comment.
Scott
The wipers stopped working last week and that turned out to be a loose/dirty connector and judging by other comments, most electrical issues are due to the same thing. Oh, the only other problem is the mileometer sticking when it turn the 1000 mark. Picked up a handy tip on here to free it and has worked both times it became stuck.
I had it on Surrey Rolling Road and it gave 338bhp. Apparently, pretty healthy for a 4.2 and more than a couple of 4.5's that were there that day. There are more tuning goodies for the 4.5 to give bigger power gains but obviously that costs £££ and that's after you have paid a premium for the 4.5 car.
Don't know enough about the speed6 to comment.
Scott
Agree with all of the above, some cars go ages with nothign wrong..... others are prone to problems, get one that has FSH and has all the bills with it, a car that hasn't needed or has no proof of work being done on it is a time bomb in my honest opinion...... I drive my car when possible, it's a 4.2 with 32K on the clock and has already amassed 17.5K worth of bills in the 9 years it's been alive so I know it has been maintained regardless of the cost (this includes a new AJP lump)!
It WILL go wrong and it WILL cost you some dosh and by god you will get VERY VERY frustrated with it purely because you are gonna have the best, most exciting car you have ever driven sat on your drive.
The 4.5's are the more tuneable car but you will have to pay the extra wedge for the 4.5 and then buy toys on top of that, can be very pricey.
It WILL go wrong and it WILL cost you some dosh and by god you will get VERY VERY frustrated with it purely because you are gonna have the best, most exciting car you have ever driven sat on your drive.
The 4.5's are the more tuneable car but you will have to pay the extra wedge for the 4.5 and then buy toys on top of that, can be very pricey.
With the budget you have I'd go a different route and suggest you go for a Griff initially, with a view to moving to a Cerbera in the future. For that money you can get a well sorted beasty and it won't give you too many troubles, as well as providing a good introduction to the marque, if you've not had too much experience of light, powerful RWD cars with no electrickery in the past.
Servicing will be something like 2/3 of that of a Cerby, as will insurance, so you'll hopefully be able to save some funds for the Cerb and as Griffs have been accumulating over the last few years and at worse will bottom out, so you don't stand to lose too much wedge if you get the right car.
Much as I love the Cerbera, its only worth going for if you've cash to throw at it, and the Griffith is a stunning car, one I wish I'd owned, so makes an excellent way to "dip your toes in" as it were.
Servicing will be something like 2/3 of that of a Cerby, as will insurance, so you'll hopefully be able to save some funds for the Cerb and as Griffs have been accumulating over the last few years and at worse will bottom out, so you don't stand to lose too much wedge if you get the right car.
Much as I love the Cerbera, its only worth going for if you've cash to throw at it, and the Griffith is a stunning car, one I wish I'd owned, so makes an excellent way to "dip your toes in" as it were.
Tripps said:
With the budget you have I'd go a different route and suggest you go for a Griff initially, with a view to moving to a Cerbera in the future. For that money you can get a well sorted beasty and it won't give you too many troubles, as well as providing a good introduction to the marque, if you've not had too much experience of light, powerful RWD cars with no electrickery in the past.
Servicing will be something like 2/3 of that of a Cerby, as will insurance, so you'll hopefully be able to save some funds for the Cerb and as Griffs have been accumulating over the last few years and at worse will bottom out, so you don't stand to lose too much wedge if you get the right car.
Much as I love the Cerbera, its only worth going for if you've cash to throw at it, and the Griffith is a stunning car, one I wish I'd owned, so makes an excellent way to "dip your toes in" as it were.
i see your point and appreciate your opinion but ive kind of got my heart set on a cerb now,ive driven a few RWD cars in my time and have driven a Tuscan briefly before which i found to be quite controlable,also 150 BHP going through 1 wheel on a bike that weighs under 200 kg isnt that easy to manage either, ive had experience of power and speed and as much as i personally like the Griff too i think the Cerb is a better looking and performing car overall, also to add i will only be doing a few thousand miles per year in it, so i wouldnt be worrying about keeping on top of the servicing, if something went wrong with the car( touch wood it doesnt)then i would fix it and pay for it,if it was a big job i would keep the car off the road and save like mad until i had the money to pay for it.
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