1996 cerbera
1996 cerbera
Author
Discussion

cossiemetro

Original Poster:

1,092 posts

269 months

Tuesday 28th February 2006
quotequote all
50k on the clock FSH, is it worth buying anything around the corner waiting to bite me
the temp gauge does not work, is it easy fix or an underlying problem
i don't know much about cerbera's as i thought i could'nt really afford one (i know running one is different lol)any info would be great

easto

205 posts

267 months

Tuesday 28th February 2006
quotequote all
I would try and get some decent history on the car mate.
50k on the clock who knows.....nothing may go wrong.
Mines got 30k on and had new suspension, new clutch,new front discs, 3 starter motors. Thats just whilst ive owned it in last 20 months.

Could be alot worse but then again you may have trouble free driving for years to come.

History, preferrably of the previous owners by word of mouth. Even get it checked over if unsure.

garethgtt

430 posts

263 months

Tuesday 28th February 2006
quotequote all
I would have thought the temp gauge is second only to the Oil Pressure gauge in important things to be looking at on the Cerb, just make sure its actually broken and not been `disconnected` to hide a problem.

SGirl

7,924 posts

290 months

Tuesday 28th February 2006
quotequote all
Ours has 51k on the clock and is pretty reliable. I'm not going to say any more than that, otherwise Tam Lin will tell me off for tempting fate.

forthright mc

8,362 posts

312 months

Tuesday 28th February 2006
quotequote all
may also be worth doing a vehicle history check on the AA website if you are in two minds about the car.
it sounds ok to me, make sure to give it a thorough check through to make sure everything works properly.
FMC

trooperiziz

9,457 posts

281 months

Tuesday 28th February 2006
quotequote all
My 96 has 47k on the clock and is running perfectly...


... but then i've just spent £8.5k on a full engine rebuild, new clutch, new gearbox, new radiator, etc...


TT Tim

4,168 posts

276 months

Tuesday 28th February 2006
quotequote all
trooperiziz said:
My 96 has 47k on the clock and is running perfectly...


... but then i've just spent £8.5k on a full engine rebuild, new clutch, new gearbox, new radiator, etc...




Sounds like Grandfather's axe time... it's had 2 handles and a new head, but it's still Grandfather's axe.

Tim

cossiemetro

Original Poster:

1,092 posts

269 months

Tuesday 28th February 2006
quotequote all
cheers for that there have been a few on e-bay recently and look very tempting
compared to a chim i'm still debating what to go for ??? as my first TVR
OBVIOUSLY A CERB FOR PERFORMANCE but a chim for reliabilty ????

Tyre Smoke

23,018 posts

290 months

Tuesday 28th February 2006
quotequote all
Depends if you have experience of a high powered car?

First TVR/RWD car? I'd go for a Chimaera. Right time of year to buy a rag top and loads about at sensible money. Cost far less than a Cerb to run.

Go for any of them 4.0/4.5/5.0 whatever is in the best colour/condition/price combo for you.

A Cerb is not a good car to introduce you to Tiv ownership, especially an older one off Ebay.

My 2p worth.

gazzab

21,635 posts

311 months

Tuesday 28th February 2006
quotequote all
If you cant afford £3k pa running costs PLUS Ins and fuel then walk.

froggie

896 posts

271 months

Tuesday 28th February 2006
quotequote all
97 with 50k, must be cheap, ive just sold a well sorted 97 with 31k full history,nitrons,18s light upgrades boath ends,sport exhorsts etc etc,
full tvr history , £10,0oo . never cast mutch to run,less than 1k per year.
now im ing gutted,
but will have another after recovering from a 355 purchase.

shnozz

30,635 posts

300 months

Tuesday 28th February 2006
quotequote all
froggie said:
ive just sold a well sorted 97 with 31k full history,nitrons,18s light upgrades boath ends,sport exhorsts etc etc,
full tvr history , £10,0oo .


cossiemetro

Original Poster:

1,092 posts

269 months

Tuesday 28th February 2006
quotequote all
£10,000 noooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!your really gutted

HarryW

16,026 posts

298 months

Tuesday 28th February 2006
quotequote all
shnozz said:
froggie said:
ive just sold a well sorted 97 with 31k full history,nitrons,18s light upgrades boath ends,sport exhorsts etc etc,
full tvr history , £10,0oo .



to make it worse I've know of cheaper, not necessarily better condition/history though. If you want rid, then its like any car, you take the best price you can get in the time frame you want/need to sell it in.
There are a few cerbs particulary the 4.5's that are probably dearer now than they were 2 years ago, supply and demand.

Extra 300 Driver

5,282 posts

275 months

Tuesday 28th February 2006
quotequote all
Mine is a 1996 4.2 with 68000 on the clock, going for a major service on Saturday, fingers crossed.

Oh and its for sale

spartacus

2,878 posts

299 months

Tuesday 28th February 2006
quotequote all
Mine is a 96 4.2 and only has currently 25k miles on the clock, I think it may even still be on original clutch!
No major probs so far apart from teething problems as I suspect she was not used much during the first 9 years of her life.
Only had her 9 months myself and put just over a couple of thousand on her in that time, however I bought from a dealer with a years warranty and had her checked by Andy of AMP as part of the deal, so didn't take many chances there. I also have have a second car for daily traffic jam that is the drive to work.

If you buy privately and are new to TVRs, especialy Cerberas would be very careful, get a good independent to check her over thoroughly.

With cerbera ownership it pays to be a fairly competent home mechanic and patient with tracking down niggly problems, (most electrical) you will save yourself a heap of cash.

I have a fairly long to do list of things ranging from "Will be fairly important before long if left unattended" to "nice to have tweaks" like sorting the aircon out, getting the indicator beeper working again, getting the redline beeper working, sorting out the wind screech at
80mph + round the door seals, etc. etc.

Not trying to put you off, just giving you my experience so far.



>> Edited by spartacus on Tuesday 28th February 21:04

purpleheadedcerb

1,143 posts

251 months

Tuesday 28th February 2006
quotequote all
98, 4.2 here with nearly 59k. Had 55k when we bought it 4 months ago. New diff bracket and bushes which was about £600, blow cushioned by the AA insurance so only £150 or so will go from my pocket. Ours was in the 14k region. Its not the tidiest paint wise but has had important component replacements in the not so distant past.

RUSSELLM

6,002 posts

276 months

Wednesday 1st March 2006
quotequote all
What's the story behind the temp guage not working ?

I would have thought most people would have got that fixed.

cossiemetro

Original Poster:

1,092 posts

269 months

Wednesday 1st March 2006
quotequote all
the parts were not in when it was being serviced ???? anybody know how expensive it is for a replacement, could it be just the engine sensor as they can't be that expensive or are the gauges expensive
anybody got a list of what to check for when i go and view it please

cossiemetro

Original Poster:

1,092 posts

269 months

Wednesday 1st March 2006
quotequote all
the parts were not in when it was being serviced ???? anybody know how expensive it is for a replacement, could it be just the engine sensor as they can't be that expensive or are the gauges expensive
anybody got a list of what to check for when i go and view it please