Would you?

[MarkGolf]

This is within my budget..

Is the car known on here?

www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/150738.htm

Really want a Cerbera but I'm scared of it going wrong and having to fork out ££££'S to keep it going!!

[tvr_Edd]

If your worried about it costing you ££££ then don't even bother buying one

I bought a 2003 model with low miles hoping to have minimal problems, it's recently cost me almost £3k+ with a service and a problem out of my control
I can comfortably afford it so i'm not bothered and i always knew things go wrong

you need to have £3k at least in the bank set aside for problems every year

[Tangoed]

You pays your money and takes your chances, But! Be prepared you never no what lady luck will throw at you.

[david smith]

I say go for it ...

I got my 4.2 for 16k coming up 3years ago with 52k on the clock
I now have 63k on the clock and did a great 375mile trip yesterday
and am loving every minute of it ...

I am now doing most of the bits and bobs myself

Continual fettling is a must ... and Pistnheads is a great resource!

If you handy with a spanner and know a few others who are
then you will be fine ..

I have paid over the odds for stuff (on other cars as well)
so keep some in your pocket for stuff you cant do .. but tinker away and you
will get the reward of a great car!

I would go for a cheaper 10- 12k car pocket 4-5k in reserve and enjoy!!

DAS

[MarkGolf]

Will have to have a think, £3k spread out is fine but in one lump, not good!

Might go with the E46 M3...

[byker28i]

Tell you what though - that does look a great car. I would have bene very tempted before I bought mine.

BMW M3 is OK, but noone will let you out and you're just another knob in a BMW. Honestly the Cerbera is something special.

[TVRWhoa]

I'm always a bit sceptical about these claims of 3K a year to be put aside, as I think its putting newbies off.

Whilst its fair to say that you need to set money aside, if you get a good independent and keep on top of little niggling things then in my opinion the 3K a year is not going to be used. Whilst its true to say that if something big goes wrong then you'll spend the dosh, but all of this 3K a year just seems too much and puts off prospective buyers.

My experience in running a cerb for over two years and 25000 miles in 27 months, this is on a 99 T Cerb 4.5,which is probably higher than most (as most people seem to budget for 6K miles a year).

All servicing at Torque RVT and warranty with AA - £65 a year and 5 claims of £500 each.

1st year and a bit.

First service £550 - service and bits and bobs sorted - leaks repaired, new battery.
Second service £400 - nothing else needed doing.
New tyres - £85 quid per tyre - Richmond tyres. So 1st year all in approx. £1400.

2nd year - Service £450 - nothing else needed doing- will need brake pads next service.
- Windscreen motor replaced £300 - paid for by the AA.

So in two years and just coming up to 42K service now, I've paid approx. £2000, so if I'd saved the 6K I'd be sitting on 4000 quid, which would be great.

Now I have put decat pipes on, new suspension, afterburners, HID lights etc etc but these are things that I wanted to put on and not for the running of the car.

So it goes to show the other side of things which is that you can run them on around 1.5K a year and budget for something bigger if you feel you need to.

That's not to say that they're infallible mine is currently having an engine out as I have water in the sump, so yes this year is going to be a bigger bill than that before and the average may work out in the end to be the 3K a year, but by my reckoning that would be 9K over three years which at this stage would still leave me £7K to play with for the engine work, which Torque RVT are carrying out and I know will be a fair price (I haven't got it yet so I can't tell you what it will be)

So my advice is go and get one, get an AA warranty (mechanical break down insurance with AA membership) and that will cover you for the niggly stuff, get a good independent and form a good relationship with them, get to know your car and with their help, sort it out properly.

In days not too far in the future it will be politically and environmentally incorrect to have owned or even dare to own one of these magnificent beasts - I say 3K a year pah, budget sensisbly (as it sounds like you have) and don't let the doomsayers put you off from owning one of britain's finest motoring icons.

Someone once said to me - ships in harbour are safe, but that's not what ships were built for - have a test drive of a cerbera and blow caution to the wind - once you hear that roar you'll never look back, you won't be able too your head will be stuck to the headrest !!

Good luck and hope to see you soon with a cerbera

Mike

[ridds]

In all honesty give Andy a bell at APM. He'll give you the low down on it.

Looks good for the money, although I would question the harnesses, suggests hard use to me. No real worry as long as it's been looked after and tbh could be in your favour. If it was gonna break, it would have broken on the track.

[jensena]

So the talk of £3k a year running costs might put Newbies off?? Good, they shouldnt be buying one if they're worried about that. If you buy a Cerb, it's going to cost money, be prepared to dig deep or dont buy one.

[ridds]

Maybe?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TVR-Cerbera-4-5

[BCA]

ridds said:

Maybe?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TVR-Cerbera-4-5

Worth a look, its advertised on PH. Nice colour scheme, not too sure of the wheels - but thats easy enough to change. I think a cheaper car like this may be a better option, provided the chassis isnt too bad - this will allow you to put a bit of cash aside just in case and give you a sort of Cerbera safety net.

FWIW, the E46 BMW M3 isnt comparable. Dad competed against one at the speed trails, on the first run, dad couldnt get third gear (his fault, not the cars) and went across the line at 15.2seconds with an 80ish mph terminal. On returning to the paddock, I spoke to an M3 owner parked next to us, he'd just done a 15.3 and was pretty chuffed... the look of shock on his face when I told him we didnt even get it into third on that run was priceless. Ended up being much much quicker later in the day, really put the M3's straightline pace into perspective.

Life is too short to not buy a Cerb.

Edited by BCA on Saturday 31st March 00:13

[blueflash]

Go for it. I've had mine for 18mths and i love it. Nothing is like it ...nothing goes like it, i've always had big engines n rear wheel drive, but the cerbera is awesome! Even the wife loves it and it scares her silly!!
I had to put a steering rack on(£700 main dealers!),but now have great independent specialist - Service, tune up, Mot and fixed a mixture problem (lazy injector!)£600. If you don't buy - you'll wish you had - every time you see one!!

[tvr_Edd]

jensena said:

So the talk of £3k a year running costs might put Newbies off?? Good, they shouldnt be buying one if they're worried about that. If you buy a Cerb, it's going to cost money, be prepared to dig deep or dont buy one.

Exactly, i've seen it happen before, car prices fall and suddenly it becomes affordable to buy one, but does that mean you can afford to run one?

It's not about putting people off, its making people aware. You are buying supercar performance and you have to (not always) pay supercar maintenance when it goes wrong - especially if you aren't handy with the spanners.

Look at it this way, can you afford to buy the car - yes you can. Can you afford to shell out another £3k the following month if something goes wrong? If answer's no i'd suggest waiting till you can because it would be a shame to see you putting the car up for sale for £8k with lots of work needed doing and you losing out money because you can't afford to fix it.

Likelihood is you may have hassle free motoring with only the price of service and other consumables, worst case it could cost you a forture. There's a thread a few down from this about a guy who has spent £33k on his car fixing it in about 3 years............

So to summarise it could cost you peanuts, it could cost you more than the initial outlay of the car. Is it worth it? Of course it is otherwise we wouldn't all keep them bill after bill.

You pays your money and take your chance

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

[Cyclone1]

tvr_Edd said:

jensena said:

So the talk of £3k a year running costs might put Newbies off?? Good, they shouldnt be buying one if they're worried about that. If you buy a Cerb, it's going to cost money, be prepared to dig deep or dont buy one.

Exactly, i've seen it happen before, car prices fall and suddenly it becomes affordable to buy one, but does that mean you can afford to run one?

It's not about putting people off, its making people aware. You are buying supercar performance and you have to (not always) pay supercar maintenance when it goes wrong - especially if you aren't handy with the spanners.

Look at it this way, can you afford to buy the car - yes you can. Can you afford to shell out another £3k the following month if something goes wrong? If answer's no i'd suggest waiting till you can because it would be a shame to see you putting the car up for sale for £8k with lots of work needed doing and you losing out money because you can't afford to fix it.

Likelihood is you may have hassle free motoring with only the price of service and other consumables, worst case it could cost you a forture. There's a thread a few down from this about a guy who has spent £33k on his car fixing it in about 3 years............

So to summarise it could cost you peanuts, it could cost you more than the initial outlay of the car. Is it worth it? Of course it is otherwise we wouldn't all keep them bill after bill.

You pays your money and take your chance

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

Hmmmm I disagree with you, the likelyhood is that a Cerb WILL cost you money and you would have to be very fortunate if you just get away with basic servicing.

It's all down to how well you buy and even then there will be a risk of catastrophic failure of some sort.

I've said it enough times now and most people who've bought appear to listen.....it's all about condition when buying a Cerb, more importantly mechanical condition followed by cosmetic. Mechanically it needs to tick as many boxes as possible, new/recent....clutch, starter, rad etc etc, if it does this and has a good, solid service history with a reputable Dealer or better still Indie then you are in the best position possible, but even then something can go wrong.......

Newbie rightly need to be aware of this, if they buy with their eyes closed and on a shoe string then they get bitten and off load their Cerb very quickly.....

Jules.

[ridds]

Dunno a good later 4.2 or 4.5 with the suspension already changed, clutch changed recently and well serviced shouldn't cost too much in the long run.

[byker28i]

Supercar performance from a limited run of cars (was it 1996?). Allegedly less than 1000 left now. But with supercar performance can come supercar costs, or not - depends on how you use it.

Realistically if you're lucky you're still going to spend probably £1K per year, assuming a mileage of 6000 miles, so that's a minor service at £600 or a major at £800 each year, plus any additional broken/worn out bits.

Silly things cost money. The oil I use is £45 per 4.5 litres, you've 8 spark plugs, brake pads can cost £150 depending on what's used. The clutch seems to be a known weak point and that's £1200ish. It's not like taking your average car into a dealers for a service.

On the other hand - just walking into the garage and looking at the car and knowing it's yours. Everytime you drive it there's a huge grin on your face, even when I'm in traffic. Oh and everyone looks and admires it - you just don't get that with other sporty cars. I parked at Halfords the other week, next to a maseratti. The was also an Evo 6, a tarted up imprezza and a Lotus Carlton (yup I looked at that one), but the Cerbera got all the attention.

So in summary, a bit like my missus. Can be expensive but worth it