Cerb tempted....

[cheapaschim]

I fairly new to TVR so ruled out the awesome cerb as way tooo risky but I've come across this at only £8995

British racing green yehhh

1997 4.2 42,900 engine rebuild at 38k

Can some of you expert types take a look over these pics

Big thank you.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/jamesdening/SalePics...

[tvrfan007]

There's a few things missing!

[y282]

saw this ad myself the other day. dunno, but something just doesnt sit right about it instinctively.

of course i may be wrong, the heroin impairs my judgement.

[Gray_101]

It probably needs a few K spending on it,

engine bay panel missing above steering rack
requires some paint around boot lid

not major problems, but the price reflects that.

it may be worth a punt, if the engine and chassis are ok

Edited by Gray_101 on Tuesday 28th September 21:31

[cheapaschim]

hey please be serious this is my life savings

[cheapaschim]

Gray_101 said:

It probley needs a few K spending on it,

Can you give me a worst sceanio

[Mr M]

It looks a little rusty from the engine bay pics. 44k on the clock. Could end up spending quite a bit on it. Good luck :-) . If it were me I'd find another 4k and look elsewhere but you never know they might be open to offers.

Edited by Mr M on Tuesday 28th September 21:35

[Gazzab]

cheapaschim said:

Gray_101 said:

It probley needs a few K spending on it,

Can you give me a worst sceanio

How longs a piece of string. You can reduce the likelihood of a big bill by a) inspecting the car with knowledge of what to look for and b) being able to do any work needed yourself. A cerb in that condition (it looks a little unloved to me) could need minimum of say £2K spending on it to make it ok. Maybe £5K to make it great. If you were really unlucky or bought it without a) and b) above then the numbers could go sky high. IMHO

[cheapaschim]

okay thats me priced out

[Gray_101]

cheapaschim said:

Gray_101 said:

It probably needs a few K spending on it,

Can you give me a worst sceanio

if the chassis and engine are ok and you want to bring it up to sratch, you ll need to

get a replacement engine panel and painted to match
address the paint work round the boot
Have the rubber fuel lines checked and replaced as nec ( they are prone to cracking and then leak fuel)
6K service

thats about 1 - 2 K unless you do the work yourself, then you could half that amount

[mikeinsheffield]

Get it inspected by a reputable TVR specialist on a RAMP so that they can check the condition of the car underneath. If you are new to TVRs - remember that as they are fibreglass they don't rust on the bodywork, the real horrors could lie in the condition of the chassis.

As Gazzab states - could be a moneypit, think fuel lines, brake condition, shocks, tyres just for a start, that's before other "perishable" items coudl need replacing.

On the other hand, if the seller has a huge sheaf of bills from the rebuild and it's done properly, then perhaps a previous owner has spent on some of the big ticket items and you then can spend a few grand getting it tidy.

Main advice, if you don't know what you are looking for - spend some money with someone who does. Might sound like spending money on a car you might not buy, but MUCH better than buying the car then spending a fortune you hadn't anticipated......

[.Mark]

cheapaschim said:

okay thats me priced out

No disrespect meant so forgive me if I word this incorrectly.

Looking at your post on the Chimaera forum, I'd stick there if I were you. For what you have to spend (mentioned in the other thread) you'll have a far more enjoyable TVR experience with a Chimaera.

These guys know loads and getting a cheap Cerb is a different kettle of fish to getting a cheap Chimaera. I'd say stick at the Chimaera route, get a good 'un, enjoy it, love it, then go for the Cerbera.

Hope that came across OK.

[gruffalo]

Spent about £6K on my 4.5 since I brought it last year, that is about what I expected and I have more to spend on interior and trim and such.

What I have got so far though is a car that starts first time every time, that make me grin insanely every time I get in it and has allowed me to get to know some of the great people on here.

was it money well spent.............even my wife thinks so!!!!!!!

A Cerb is not a cheap super car, it is just a super car that is worth every penny you spend on it.

If the one you saw listed is a little rich for you at the moment wait till it isn't, it is worth it, it really is.

[Cooky]

gruffalo said:

sense.

cerbism

[SimonKD]

Pic 19 - tells me the car has been standing for long periods of time outside and water pooling has caused this paint damage.

Pic 21 - some of the chassis tubes below where the front panel should be look quite badly corroded, this could mean the outriggers are much, much worse. A proper underbody inspection on a ramp would be required.

What at first seems like a bargain can soon bite you in the wallet, they're not named after a dog for nothing.

Good luck in your hunt for a nice one, they are out there.

Regards
Simon

[900T-R]

.Mark said:

cheapaschim said:

okay thats me priced out

No disrespect meant so forgive me if I word this incorrectly.

Looking at your post on the Chimaera forum, I'd stick there if I were you. For what you have to spend (mentioned in the other thread) you'll have a far more enjoyable TVR experience with a Chimaera.

These guys know loads and getting a cheap Cerb is a different kettle of fish to getting a cheap Chimaera. I'd say stick at the Chimaera route, get a good 'un, enjoy it, love it, then go for the Cerbera.

Hope that came across OK.

^^^^This. No such thing as a cheap Cerbera, and rightly so. Even ignoring the roof-off thrills that may or may not be a factor for you, you're far, far better off running a Chimaera properly than try and run a Cerb on a shoestring.

[Royster]

I ran a Chim for a couple of years which just needed general maintenance to keep in rude health (clutch and PS pump aside). Assumed a Cerb would be pretty much the same. I spent 10k on my Cerb, could have spent a bit more, but looked like a bargain. I had it inspected before purchase, and come service time it still cost me £2.5k in repairs. Will need another £1500 at least spending on it before the end of the year....

Luckily I can forgive it anything

Edited by Royster on Wednesday 29th September 08:26

[jammy_basturd]

As others have said, if you're looking at a 9k Cerb and can't afford to spend 1-2k on it then you probably need to keep saving a bit longer.

That Cerbera looks very very similar to mine, same age, same colour, same engine, roughly same condition (though mine isn't missing anything). I've spend over £2k on mine, and so far that has just bought me new fuel lines, new cams, new suspension bushes, Nitrons on the front and suspension and brake rebuild. I've done all the work myself and I'm still planning on doing a body off rebuild to sort out the chassis probably next winter now.

I would suspect on that car you'll need to rebuild the suspension (bushes will probably be gone), fuel lines (as others have said these WILL be perishing now if original), and possibly some of the oil/PAS hoses too. The paint and interior work only needs doing if you were bothered by it.

There have been better examples of £9k Cerbs on PH before, and undoubtedly will appear again over winter!

[cheapaschim]

.Mark said:

cheapaschim said:

okay thats me priced out

No disrespect meant so forgive me if I word this incorrectly.

Looking at your post on the Chimaera forum, I'd stick there if I were you. For what you have to spend (mentioned in the other thread) you'll have a far more enjoyable TVR experience with a Chimaera.

These guys know loads and getting a cheap Cerb is a different kettle of fish to getting a cheap Chimaera. I'd say stick at the Chimaera route, get a good 'un, enjoy it, love it, then go for the Cerbera.

Hope that came across OK.

No disrespect at all, in fact respect!!!!

You guys scare me with your 1 -2k, 2.5k and 5k figures I'm off back to the relative safety of the chimp classifieds, maybe in a few years with a bigger bank balnce I'll part exchange to someone unable to cope with the annual costs

[Mr Cerbera]

cheapaschim said:

.Mark said:

cheapaschim said:

okay thats me priced out

No disrespect meant so forgive me if I word this incorrectly.

Looking at your post on the Chimaera forum, I'd stick there if I were you. For what you have to spend (mentioned in the other thread) you'll have a far more enjoyable TVR experience with a Chimaera.

These guys know loads and getting a cheap Cerb is a different kettle of fish to getting a cheap Chimaera. I'd say stick at the Chimaera route, get a good 'un, enjoy it, love it, then go for the Cerbera.

Hope that came across OK.

No disrespect at all, in fact respect!!!!

You guys scare me with your 1 -2k, 2.5k and 5k figures I'm off back to the relative safety of the chimp classifieds, maybe in a few years with a bigger bank balnce I'll part exchange to someone unable to cope with the annual costs

... and above all, you're far too sensible to be a Cerb owner.

Good luck