Should I stay or should I go?!
Discussion
As some of you kno, I only ever bought the Cerbie on a bit of a whim and because I had always had a vague desire to own one but was put off by mny Griff experiance (good cars but I think I had a bit of a dog). Rather unexpectedly I am loving the Cerbie so I am trying to decide if I should sell and buy either another in my very long run of Esprits, or throw a few quid at the Cerbie - zorst, see what I can do to get a tad more power and a little more high speed stability and a halfway decent MP3 player, get the leather fully restored etc.
So before I decide one key point is what is the market like for Cerbs right now? She is a 96 in wicked condition having had something like 14.5k spent on her by the PO last year to get her into perfect condition.
And if I do sell, do I spend the moeny on a newer cerb or does it make more sense to keep mine, which I am totally happy with and modify it a bit? Car is pretty much standard I think except it has the new style headlights and the antracite spider wheels.
If I sell her, it will either be an Esprit or a Cerb - Esprit is better handling, Cerbie makes me feel like a driving hero and looks and sounds so damn good!
So before I decide one key point is what is the market like for Cerbs right now? She is a 96 in wicked condition having had something like 14.5k spent on her by the PO last year to get her into perfect condition.
And if I do sell, do I spend the moeny on a newer cerb or does it make more sense to keep mine, which I am totally happy with and modify it a bit? Car is pretty much standard I think except it has the new style headlights and the antracite spider wheels.
If I sell her, it will either be an Esprit or a Cerb - Esprit is better handling, Cerbie makes me feel like a driving hero and looks and sounds so damn good!
Hi Adam,
Personally I think your car looks great and if you have been lucky to get a good one I would hang onto it and spend some money on it. If you sell and buy another you could easily be buying into a dog (even ironically if you are adding a chunk more cash) even with an inspection you take a risk. Did you have a sports exhaust on yours already, if not then do that immediately as well as decat if not already done - throw a nice head unit in and sort the interior if it needs it. The only downside is that as a 4.2, as I understand it, there will not be that much that you can do for tuning, get it on a rolling road though and double check it is making the right sort of power.
Don't go back to a Lotus, a Cerb is just more
Personally I think your car looks great and if you have been lucky to get a good one I would hang onto it and spend some money on it. If you sell and buy another you could easily be buying into a dog (even ironically if you are adding a chunk more cash) even with an inspection you take a risk. Did you have a sports exhaust on yours already, if not then do that immediately as well as decat if not already done - throw a nice head unit in and sort the interior if it needs it. The only downside is that as a 4.2, as I understand it, there will not be that much that you can do for tuning, get it on a rolling road though and double check it is making the right sort of power.
Don't go back to a Lotus, a Cerb is just more
If I keep her the list is -
Zorst (something to pi$$ of my neighbours)
Leather needs a bit of work. In pretty good nick but the drivers seat cvould use reconalising.
Head unit that I can plug an MP3 player into
Maybe do the suspension at some stage.
Beyond that there is nothing on the car to do cos the PO replaced pretty much everything. I seem to have been very lucky with this cerbie, other than an occasional issue with the windows she has been faultless.
Really want an Esprit as well as a Cerbie but no garage space for 2 cars so can't do it yet.
Zorst (something to pi$$ of my neighbours)
Leather needs a bit of work. In pretty good nick but the drivers seat cvould use reconalising.
Head unit that I can plug an MP3 player into
Maybe do the suspension at some stage.
Beyond that there is nothing on the car to do cos the PO replaced pretty much everything. I seem to have been very lucky with this cerbie, other than an occasional issue with the windows she has been faultless.
Really want an Esprit as well as a Cerbie but no garage space for 2 cars so can't do it yet.
adam g said:
If I keep her the list is -
Zorst (something to pi$$ of my neighbours)
Try The ACT (0870 7070110) big bore kit (minus the extra tail silencers, plus cat bypass pipes)
Leather needs a bit of work. In pretty good nick but the drivers seat cvould use reconalising.
Tower View (020 8452 6922)have a trimmer that they use, see if they can do it for you?
Head unit that I can plug an MP3 player into
Get yourself over to Impulse (01923 231358)in Watford (next to Milcars BMW on St Albans Rd) and get a decent headunit and an ipod kit)
Maybe do the suspension at some stage.
Speak to Absolutely shocks over in Welwyn Garden City, I have heard nothing but good reports of them
Zorst (something to pi$$ of my neighbours)
Try The ACT (0870 7070110) big bore kit (minus the extra tail silencers, plus cat bypass pipes)
Leather needs a bit of work. In pretty good nick but the drivers seat cvould use reconalising.
Tower View (020 8452 6922)have a trimmer that they use, see if they can do it for you?
Head unit that I can plug an MP3 player into
Get yourself over to Impulse (01923 231358)in Watford (next to Milcars BMW on St Albans Rd) and get a decent headunit and an ipod kit)
Maybe do the suspension at some stage.
Speak to Absolutely shocks over in Welwyn Garden City, I have heard nothing but good reports of them
Adam,
You could also get the 'hessian' trim/headlining replaced and fit the newer style Tuscan seats if you wanted to? Or how about getting an upgrade to 4.5 spec by Austec or TVR Power? Depends what you want to spend? You have a good car there and I would recomend you keep it, but I have said that to you before! Join the run up to Mid Essex TVRCC meet on Sunday for some inspiration?
Cerby4.5
Planning on coming on Sunday. Should be at S mimms but if I end up having a late one then I may well just meet you down there later. Deffo coming though as the Lean Green Speed Machine is in dire need of a hoon!
Going to try and do the leather myself and not going for an ipod per-se but a head unit with an AUX input I guess to allow me to use any MP3 player. Allows me to use my pda as sat nav, mp3 and in-car email/ internet. Pointless of course but I do like my toys!
Thanks forthe advice - keep it coming please.
Going to try and do the leather myself and not going for an ipod per-se but a head unit with an AUX input I guess to allow me to use any MP3 player. Allows me to use my pda as sat nav, mp3 and in-car email/ internet. Pointless of course but I do like my toys!
Thanks forthe advice - keep it coming please.
Re the head unit, I have done just that (although not got around to getting an Mp3 player yet!!!). I got one of these clicky
And then got one of these clicky
This converts the cd changer socket into an aux in. This means you can have a neat cable dropping down into the large cubby void and have your mp3 in there. Much neater than the units with a socket on the front as you don't have loose cables trailing all over, and at just over £100 all in I reckon it was a bargain. Stereo looks really good (IMO) as well as it has the silver front to match the bit around the window buttons.
Oh and did I say.............
KEEP IT
And then got one of these clicky
This converts the cd changer socket into an aux in. This means you can have a neat cable dropping down into the large cubby void and have your mp3 in there. Much neater than the units with a socket on the front as you don't have loose cables trailing all over, and at just over £100 all in I reckon it was a bargain. Stereo looks really good (IMO) as well as it has the silver front to match the bit around the window buttons.
Oh and did I say.............
KEEP IT MP3 aux thing is a great idea. The CD player in the car is a Kenwood I think - I'll have to find out if it has a changer port on it but I suspect not somehow. Don't think the PO was much into his music!
Ideally I would have both cars but when I asked my neighbour if they would mind eiher having their house demolished or simply letting me park the car in their living room to solve my garaging issue they seemed most un-helpful about the whole thing. How rude! Although if anyone here wants to donate me a double garage and move it to my back garden I would be happy to make them a nice cup of tea to say thanks...
Ideally I would have both cars but when I asked my neighbour if they would mind eiher having their house demolished or simply letting me park the car in their living room to solve my garaging issue they seemed most un-helpful about the whole thing. How rude! Although if anyone here wants to donate me a double garage and move it to my back garden I would be happy to make them a nice cup of tea to say thanks...
Edited by adam g on Wednesday 7th June 14:09
Headlining sorted!
S4 is a great car but the real pick for me is either the S4s, a late V8 gt or get a V8 as standard and fettle it a bit!
TBH, very happy with the Cerbie, far more impressed than I expected to be when I first got her. I have been offered a V8 Esprit (had one before) at a seriously good price so I am strongly considering it. If my Cerbie does not go for the right money rapidly then I will loose the deal on the Esprit, chuck a few quid at a nice loud zorst and a decent stereo and stick with the Cerbie for at least another year or two. If I do sell then I will simply wait until I locate another garage or move house, save my pennies a bit and buy another Cerbie so i have noth at some stage.
Truth is I never expected to keep the cerbie as I bought it on a bot of a whim, expected to get annoyed with the unreliability and handling, get it out of my system and sell it. However, she has been faultless, the handling, while clearly not the best in the world, is far, far better than I expected and I have pretty much fallen in love with her. If I get the Esprit, I will be a very happy boy, and if I don't, I will still be a very happy boy as I wont have to say fairwell to the Cerbie!
S4 is a great car but the real pick for me is either the S4s, a late V8 gt or get a V8 as standard and fettle it a bit!
TBH, very happy with the Cerbie, far more impressed than I expected to be when I first got her. I have been offered a V8 Esprit (had one before) at a seriously good price so I am strongly considering it. If my Cerbie does not go for the right money rapidly then I will loose the deal on the Esprit, chuck a few quid at a nice loud zorst and a decent stereo and stick with the Cerbie for at least another year or two. If I do sell then I will simply wait until I locate another garage or move house, save my pennies a bit and buy another Cerbie so i have noth at some stage.
Truth is I never expected to keep the cerbie as I bought it on a bot of a whim, expected to get annoyed with the unreliability and handling, get it out of my system and sell it. However, she has been faultless, the handling, while clearly not the best in the world, is far, far better than I expected and I have pretty much fallen in love with her. If I get the Esprit, I will be a very happy boy, and if I don't, I will still be a very happy boy as I wont have to say fairwell to the Cerbie!
Worth considering. I had a nice chat about selling the car last night. Also got to mates who are interested in it. I am in a win-win situation as both cars are utterly awesome and each has their own strong points.
Just have to see how things pan out.
One thing I will say though is that the Cerbie forum does seem to be a particularly friendly place to be and I love tyhe fact that there always seem to be things going on - even if I don't get to make mny of them.
Just have to see how things pan out.
One thing I will say though is that the Cerbie forum does seem to be a particularly friendly place to be and I love tyhe fact that there always seem to be things going on - even if I don't get to make mny of them.
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