General Ownership Costs
Discussion
Can anyone give me a general "feel" for how much I should set aside as a contingency for owning a Cerb? I've been telling myself for 5 years I'm going to buy one, and everything's come together at long last so I can go out and start looking. I'm selling a 2.8 Z3, then I'm going to buy one, but I'm thinking about things like servicing and any little common glitches that happen - how much do you guys keep for things like this, if anyting?
Cheers!
Cheers!
My Cerbs had new front discs & pads & fitting at the factory (£600)along with full 12K service (£800) and odds & sods & a new radiator - (£600).Nothing else done and its fine , but use another car as a runabout or you can spend £5K per year if you do average milage of 12K.
BUT
on a performance per £ basis, the cheap purchase price offsets the total overall cost, and nothing this side of £100K spent will really worry it. Kids will ask you about it, and everyone looks at one (try that in your Porsche) You pays your money & makes your choice
BUT
on a performance per £ basis, the cheap purchase price offsets the total overall cost, and nothing this side of £100K spent will really worry it. Kids will ask you about it, and everyone looks at one (try that in your Porsche) You pays your money & makes your choice
Wilder said:
My Cerbs had new front discs & pads & fitting at the factory (£600)along with full 12K service (£800) and odds & sods & a new radiator - (£600).Nothing else done and its fine , but use another car as a runabout or you can spend £5K per year if you do average milage of 12K.
Yup, I have a fiendishly rapid Fiesta 1.8 Diesel to use for my daily commute/backup. I would post a pic, but haven't got round to taking any yet...
BUT
Wilder said:
on a performance per £ basis, the cheap purchase price offsets the total overall cost, and nothing this side of £100K spent will really worry it. Kids will ask you about it, and everyone looks at one (try that in your Porsche) You pays your money & makes your choice
Oh yes! Precisely why I WILL have one of these! Absolute dream car, I just want to make sure I'm doing the whole "eyes wide open" thing and don't go overboard on the purchase price so I have some left in reserve, without having to pound the credit card. I've spent £900 on the Z3 over the past year, so from your experience I should hopefully be able to keep the bills around £1.5k a year. If I find a good one...
Does anyone know any good TVR experts in the North West (Cheshire) who might be inclined to come along to view a couple of Cerbs with me? All expenses paid of course!
fathead said:
Does anyone know any good TVR experts in the North West (Cheshire) who might be inclined to come along to view a couple of Cerbs with me? All expenses paid of course!
Rob Ingleby will travel pretty much nationwide. www.findasportscar.co.uk 99% of people are happy with his service. I`m one of them.
On my last cerb I spent £6.5K pa (ie 13k over 2 yrs) on repairs and servicing.
On current one I have probably spent £4.5K pa (but I havent bothered to count it up).
I tend to drive about 6k pa in cerbs.
£3K is prob a good avg. There will be one or two who will say they have spent only hundreds. Those cars have probably got big bills just round the corner.
You wont get away with less than £1.5K in any one year.
On current one I have probably spent £4.5K pa (but I havent bothered to count it up).
I tend to drive about 6k pa in cerbs.
£3K is prob a good avg. There will be one or two who will say they have spent only hundreds. Those cars have probably got big bills just round the corner.
You wont get away with less than £1.5K in any one year.
What's the typical worse bills.
£4-5k for an engine rebuild? What sort of mileage is this roughly expected at?
£700 for a complete Clever Trevor clutch (clutch, master & slave cylinder) so with fitting approx £1200? expected every 25K miles - ish
6K mile service is about £600, 12K service about £800
Brake pads are £150 rear, £180 front - not sure how long they last
Oil - I pay £45 for 4.5 litres and top the car up every so often. I've used about 2 litres in 4K miles so far.
I believe the spark plug leads break down every so often - so about £60 for them
As with everything I suppose it all comes down to how you drive it - how well it's been looked after etc.
£4-5k for an engine rebuild? What sort of mileage is this roughly expected at?
£700 for a complete Clever Trevor clutch (clutch, master & slave cylinder) so with fitting approx £1200? expected every 25K miles - ish
6K mile service is about £600, 12K service about £800
Brake pads are £150 rear, £180 front - not sure how long they last
Oil - I pay £45 for 4.5 litres and top the car up every so often. I've used about 2 litres in 4K miles so far.
I believe the spark plug leads break down every so often - so about £60 for them
As with everything I suppose it all comes down to how you drive it - how well it's been looked after etc.
They are nowhere near as bad as the uninitiated make them out to be, but tt's a car that always needs something doing to it, and will often have minor niggling faults. If your not into tinkering with cars, and expect Honda like reliability - or even BMW reliability - then it's not the car for you. It's cheaper to buy an old runaround as a second car for your normal day to day to day stuff, and the Cerb is for you to enjoy. I mean you wouldnt wear your best suit for decorating the house would you 
£3k is a good figure to go on, if you cant afford that £3k then you'll be in trouble!
Buy a Porsche for £30k and spend £1k a year on it, no one will take a blind bit of notice of you, Buy a Cerb for half the amount, but spend more on running it, and you'll own a REAL car.
£3k is a good figure to go on, if you cant afford that £3k then you'll be in trouble!
Buy a Porsche for £30k and spend £1k a year on it, no one will take a blind bit of notice of you, Buy a Cerb for half the amount, but spend more on running it, and you'll own a REAL car.
It soon adds up. I use mine every day, currently it's got another leak in the drivers door, the main beam stopped working yesterday, it's using a lot of oil and needs a rebuild soon, I had trouble getting first this morning, perhaps another clutch component, hopefully not another clutch as it's had two in two years. The passenger door button is working intermittently, the drivers door is sticking unless the car is warm.
Bearing in mind, I warm it up gently and don't do loads of miles.
This might give you an idea.
www.pistonheads.com/members/showServiceHistory.asp?carId=25001
£3k pa is definitely right, I'm slightly over that for my 3 1/2 years ownership.
Bearing in mind, I warm it up gently and don't do loads of miles.
This might give you an idea.
www.pistonheads.com/members/showServiceHistory.asp?carId=25001
£3k pa is definitely right, I'm slightly over that for my 3 1/2 years ownership.
I've had mine almost a year, done 8k miles & its cost roughly:
tyres - 400
rad - 120 (warranty)
aircon condenser - x (warranty)
knackered pipes to/from oil cooler - 150
12k service + tappets + cam timing change - 1k ish
clutch master - 150
then clutch died so clutch + kit (slave etc) - 1500
diff poly bushes - 500
so around 4k + tax, insurance & fuel
take from that what you will - if things need replacing then it can cost. But if not, then you're looking at maybe a grand for good maintenance + the vitals.
They are amazing machines though & I have no problem justiying spending the money. They cost what they cost.
Hope that helps & hope you join us
tyres - 400
rad - 120 (warranty)
aircon condenser - x (warranty)
knackered pipes to/from oil cooler - 150
12k service + tappets + cam timing change - 1k ish
clutch master - 150
then clutch died so clutch + kit (slave etc) - 1500
diff poly bushes - 500
so around 4k + tax, insurance & fuel
take from that what you will - if things need replacing then it can cost. But if not, then you're looking at maybe a grand for good maintenance + the vitals.
They are amazing machines though & I have no problem justiying spending the money. They cost what they cost.
Hope that helps & hope you join us
fathead said:
Nice one, thanks for the advice guys.
How often realistically will the major things like clutch, head gasket, engine rebuild, etc need doing? Surely not every year at 5k miles a year..?
RUSSELLM said:
Think Discs, clutch, head gaskets, engine rebuild, leaks, stone chips, tyres.
How often realistically will the major things like clutch, head gasket, engine rebuild, etc need doing? Surely not every year at 5k miles a year..?
Clutches perhaps every 20k or so. not sure about master/slave seals though...
On V8's the engines are solid. many are well over 50k (& 100k) with no major work from what I've heard. Of course, that all depends on how well they're treated so with a used car it can be a bit of a lottery I guess. S6 engines are different - ask on the S6 forum I'd say.
I'd say though, find a car & ensure you have some spare cash for things that need doing in that first year. That was my approach & so far so good.
RUSSELLM said:
It soon adds up. I use mine every day, currently it's got another leak in the drivers door, the main beam stopped working yesterday, it's using a lot of oil and needs a rebuild soon, I had trouble getting first this morning, perhaps another clutch component, hopefully not another clutch as it's had two in two years. The passenger door button is working intermittently, the drivers door is sticking unless the car is warm.
Bearing in mind, I warm it up gently and don't do loads of miles.
This might give you an idea.
www.pistonheads.com/members/showServiceHistory.asp?carId=25001
£3k pa is definitely right, I'm slightly over that for my 3 1/2 years ownership.
Bearing in mind, I warm it up gently and don't do loads of miles.
This might give you an idea.
www.pistonheads.com/members/showServiceHistory.asp?carId=25001
£3k pa is definitely right, I'm slightly over that for my 3 1/2 years ownership.
Agree with Russell approx 3k per annum. I think my ownership experience was fairly typical (see profile)
Good luck with you future purchase
Chris
Edited by chrissy g on Saturday 20th January 13:32
mark r skinner said:
fathead said:
Does anyone know any good TVR experts in the North West (Cheshire) who might be inclined to come along to view a couple of Cerbs with me? All expenses paid of course!
Rob Ingleby will travel pretty much nationwide. www.findasportscar.co.uk 99% of people are happy with his service. I`m one of them.
Or more to the point, you'd be wise to talk to James Agger, I'm one of the 1%.
F**K. I just wrote a long reply then accidentally pressed ESC which deleted it.
Basically, read through this forum. It's a priceless archive. You need to do your research better than simply posting a question like that and expecting all your answers in one go. There's simply tons of info here and it will take you a week of evenings to plough through it. Trust me - I know.
There's a search facility too. Don't spend your hard earned until you know what you're buying. These are not production cars. They are "project" cars and should be treated as such. By all means get the servicing, repairs and upgrades done at a garage but at least find out what experiences other owners have had of that garage first. You never know, you might find the car easier to look after yourself than you thought.
I reckon I will be able to cut the running costs down significantly by doing a lot of the maintenance myself but it's a big car and so there will be times when I simply need a garage just to use the lift. I don't actually know anywhere where I can hire such a lift at a rate that makes it more advantageous than just getting the garage to provide the whole maintenance but you might.
I can't cut down on parts prices. Read through what other people have had to buy and how much they've paid. Read about where you can get parts - there's no factory now so you're going to have to source parts from independent suppliers. I genuinely believe these are just a big kit car - all the parts can be found (except maybe windscreens).
Basically, read through this forum. It's a priceless archive. You need to do your research better than simply posting a question like that and expecting all your answers in one go. There's simply tons of info here and it will take you a week of evenings to plough through it. Trust me - I know.
There's a search facility too. Don't spend your hard earned until you know what you're buying. These are not production cars. They are "project" cars and should be treated as such. By all means get the servicing, repairs and upgrades done at a garage but at least find out what experiences other owners have had of that garage first. You never know, you might find the car easier to look after yourself than you thought.
I reckon I will be able to cut the running costs down significantly by doing a lot of the maintenance myself but it's a big car and so there will be times when I simply need a garage just to use the lift. I don't actually know anywhere where I can hire such a lift at a rate that makes it more advantageous than just getting the garage to provide the whole maintenance but you might.
I can't cut down on parts prices. Read through what other people have had to buy and how much they've paid. Read about where you can get parts - there's no factory now so you're going to have to source parts from independent suppliers. I genuinely believe these are just a big kit car - all the parts can be found (except maybe windscreens).
Edited by mars on Saturday 20th January 22:37
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