Cerbera Relability
Discussion
And me, a year or so in. No probs, well ok the clutch seals but never left stranded.
Cream trackday, a good blast or two every week, atleast, probably ten runs at santa pod, and nothingg, far more reliable than my merc jeep, new exhaust, starter motor.......
No probs with the Cerb just drive it. 11,000 miles.
Cream trackday, a good blast or two every week, atleast, probably ten runs at santa pod, and nothingg, far more reliable than my merc jeep, new exhaust, starter motor.......
No probs with the Cerb just drive it. 11,000 miles.
Had mine three years as a daily driver, it was a one owner car with low mileage & well maintained.
It's been recovered for starter motor, head gasket, oil pressure spring, starter motor again, thermostat, starter button, clutch, oil pressure spring again, battery, bacon, sausage, liver, steak, chicken, liver, black pudding, liver.....for all you Max & Paddy fans.
Can't wait to see the back of it, as the various places it lets water in have finally broke my love of it.
It's been recovered for starter motor, head gasket, oil pressure spring, starter motor again, thermostat, starter button, clutch, oil pressure spring again, battery, bacon, sausage, liver, steak, chicken, liver, black pudding, liver.....for all you Max & Paddy fans.
Can't wait to see the back of it, as the various places it lets water in have finally broke my love of it.
Snap (almost):
Had mine three years as a daily driver, it was a one owner car with low mileage & well maintained.
It was never recovered at all. Only once did it break down and that was because I ran the battery flat in a traffic jam and stalled it. Aircon+loud stereo+crap battery I think.
Would love to see the back of it again. What a sexy arse ;-)
Had mine three years as a daily driver, it was a one owner car with low mileage & well maintained.
It was never recovered at all. Only once did it break down and that was because I ran the battery flat in a traffic jam and stalled it. Aircon+loud stereo+crap battery I think.
Would love to see the back of it again. What a sexy arse ;-)
HarryW said:
Who says they are not reliable?!
Just about everybody else?Is that based on personal experience, or just down the pub
Had my 4.5 for 9 months. Spent the first 6 weeks being fixed by the dealer. Did around 2000 miles, but never dared go far from home. Sold it on eBay in February, where it surfaced a couple of weeks ago, having had a new clutch, slave cylinder & various other bits and pieces. I've since been in touch with the guy who had it previous to me, who said that it nearly caused his divorce. So, yes, personal experience.
Recently bought a Vette (as have many other ex-TVR-ers) and have clocked up over 5000 trouble free miles in the last 3 months.
In nine months the cerb has had one new starter a new battery and the PAS sorted when I first bought it. Do I think it's cost me a lot "no do I hell", something to do with the warranty. LOL. In the same time the Voyager has destroyed its engine, some of its bushes and there’s a strange noise now coming from the front right bearing. Oh the joys of motoring as my dad used to say.
Other than the starter saga (which generaly fixed its self if left for half an hour)mines has been great, ive done 8K in the last year although this has dropped considerable in the last few months with the purchase of a daily drive. This is the first TVR I have owned that I would jump in and drive to Italy without a seconds thought. IMHO still the only truly every day TVR yet.
23000 miles in three years between my two Cerbs. Only stranded once when the charging fuse failed which was easily fixed. I managed to get through a clutch, starter motor (both warranty claims)and alternator, that's about it other than the usual wear and tear consumable items. My MPV cost about the same in maintenance over the same period. Seems the more you use them the better they are. I'll really miss mine when the time comes to move on.
Ceejay
Ceejay
Adetuono said:
Who says they are not reliable?!
Just about everybody else?
Had my 4.5 for 9 months. Spent the first 6 weeks being fixed by the dealer. Did around 2000 miles, but never dared go far from home. Sold it on eBay in February, where it surfaced a couple of weeks ago, having had a new clutch, slave cylinder & various other bits and pieces. I've since been in touch with the guy who had it previous to me, who said that it nearly caused his divorce. So, yes, personal experience.
Recently bought a Vette (as have many other ex-TVR-ers) and have clocked up over 5000 trouble free miles in the last 3 months.
Well you can't say it fairer than that can you. Perhaps a 'friday car' syndrom, perhaps not.
Nothing wrong with a vette as an alternative either
.HarryW said:
Nothing wrong with a vette as an alternative either
Indeed - Delighted with my C5 in every department so far.
While it's more mainstream than the Cerbera, it has plenty of fine qualities and suits my
requirements better right at this moment.
When the good times roll and I can have a number of cars at my disposal, I'd have a Cerbera in
that line up in a blink of an eye.
This subject has been done to death many time sbefore on Pistonheads, but I feel like a rant so here goes:
If the question is asked "are cerebra's reliable?" the only answer is compared to what?
Compared to a Nissan Micra probably no.
If you compare them to Porsche or Ferrari I would say pretty good, considering 911s have been manufactured and de-bugged for 40 odd years, Ferraris have, according to one editorial in a motoring magazine, only started to improve in build quality from the 360 onwards. Both those companies have had massive budgets, R&D programs and involvement in motor sport. Oh and lets not forget Lamborghini, only since they have been owned by Audi have they too stared to really excel in the build quality and reliability department.
Then look at TVR, the Cerbera was their first in-house engine, the cars themselves hand build, probably only about 2000 odd ever built, price new a third, or less of the cost of the aforementioned competition.
So in the market sector they compete in, performance wise, not price wise, I would say yes!
The AJP engine is as reliable as any other Hi performance engine depending on how it is looked after. The things that cause people problems are mostly electrical, starter motor, short clutch life which with I'm sure would have improved with a longer production run and a bit more money available for R&D. Its also worth noting the AJP8 was tested for 3 or 4 years in the Tuscan Challenge cars before being put in the road cars, so the area that really shines has had the benefit of a race program.
If the question is asked "are cerebra's reliable?" the only answer is compared to what?
Compared to a Nissan Micra probably no.
If you compare them to Porsche or Ferrari I would say pretty good, considering 911s have been manufactured and de-bugged for 40 odd years, Ferraris have, according to one editorial in a motoring magazine, only started to improve in build quality from the 360 onwards. Both those companies have had massive budgets, R&D programs and involvement in motor sport. Oh and lets not forget Lamborghini, only since they have been owned by Audi have they too stared to really excel in the build quality and reliability department.
Then look at TVR, the Cerbera was their first in-house engine, the cars themselves hand build, probably only about 2000 odd ever built, price new a third, or less of the cost of the aforementioned competition.
So in the market sector they compete in, performance wise, not price wise, I would say yes!
The AJP engine is as reliable as any other Hi performance engine depending on how it is looked after. The things that cause people problems are mostly electrical, starter motor, short clutch life which with I'm sure would have improved with a longer production run and a bit more money available for R&D. Its also worth noting the AJP8 was tested for 3 or 4 years in the Tuscan Challenge cars before being put in the road cars, so the area that really shines has had the benefit of a race program.
Nearly 60k miles of our own in six years... daily driver, trackdays, sprints, hillclimbs.
Been let down a couple of times, from memory; clutch once (Early days, misfitted seal by a dealer) - right hand side driveshaft @ 58k ish on the way to Le Mans (acceptable I guess) and thats about it. Loads of little niggles and other problems that havent stopped us getting somewhere, but who the hell cares? We've had similar from other "reliable" cars that have graced the fleet previously, and its quite satisfying to improve it little by little when things do go wrong.
Like Futie, I love seeing the back of it, the rear 3/4 is the best angle to stare at it
+ the noise - oh god the noise!!!
Been let down a couple of times, from memory; clutch once (Early days, misfitted seal by a dealer) - right hand side driveshaft @ 58k ish on the way to Le Mans (acceptable I guess) and thats about it. Loads of little niggles and other problems that havent stopped us getting somewhere, but who the hell cares? We've had similar from other "reliable" cars that have graced the fleet previously, and its quite satisfying to improve it little by little when things do go wrong.
Like Futie, I love seeing the back of it, the rear 3/4 is the best angle to stare at it
+ the noise - oh god the noise!!!I've had two 4.5's - first one bought at 8000 miles sold at 54 000 miles. Failures - 2 starter motors, 1 windscreen wiper motor, one door button, one clutch, master cylinder seals, slave seals, gearbox rear oil seal, a misfire caused by a bit of loom, the usual leaking shockers and warped front discs
Current one - one year perfect running, then clutch, burnt out throttle pots (7 times)cured by new engine wiring loom and rebushed throttle bodies. Clutch master cylinder seals, slave cylinder (in Spain!!)usual shocks and warped discs. Now it's blown a head gasket. Bought it at 6000 miles and it's done about 38,000. Is it trying to tell me something? When on song a Cerbera is a fantastic car - I just wish mine was on song a bit more....
Current one - one year perfect running, then clutch, burnt out throttle pots (7 times)cured by new engine wiring loom and rebushed throttle bodies. Clutch master cylinder seals, slave cylinder (in Spain!!)usual shocks and warped discs. Now it's blown a head gasket. Bought it at 6000 miles and it's done about 38,000. Is it trying to tell me something? When on song a Cerbera is a fantastic car - I just wish mine was on song a bit more....
Not sure I'm gonna like listing this lot but here goes,
0-6 months: O/S driveshaft, front discs , 4 shocks & Springs, 1 exhaust. 1 gearbox. coilpacks, 2 injectors
6-12 months: Clutch, Bellhousing, Slave cylinder, Flywheel, Gearbox (again)
6-18 months: Snapped Crankshaft. Cracked Exhaust Manifolds, Leaking Rad, Alternator Failure
plus usual niggles of steering wheel ribbon, door switches etc etc.
The warranty was as useful as a chocolate teapot so I dug deep and stuck it out. Ok, so I didn't expect quite this much to need doing in the first 18 months given I did my homework on buying, but nothing else compares when you the wall of torque smacks you round the back of the head and the v8 spits pure evil
0-6 months: O/S driveshaft, front discs , 4 shocks & Springs, 1 exhaust. 1 gearbox. coilpacks, 2 injectors
6-12 months: Clutch, Bellhousing, Slave cylinder, Flywheel, Gearbox (again)
6-18 months: Snapped Crankshaft. Cracked Exhaust Manifolds, Leaking Rad, Alternator Failure
plus usual niggles of steering wheel ribbon, door switches etc etc.
The warranty was as useful as a chocolate teapot so I dug deep and stuck it out. Ok, so I didn't expect quite this much to need doing in the first 18 months given I did my homework on buying, but nothing else compares when you the wall of torque smacks you round the back of the head and the v8 spits pure evil
When the good times roll and I can have a number of cars at my disposal, I'd have a Cerbera in
that line up in a blink of an eye.
[/quote]
Graham
I,ll try to keep her as tidy as pos for when you want her back
She's looking well, Mr Agger gave her some new paint and a lovely wash and brush up.
Just done 250 miles today since picking her up mid-day WHAT A GRIN
Had to come home eventually, my wife called me in for tea
Hope tomorrows fine I've got a long list mates to turn green
Glad your vette is measuring up
Tony
that line up in a blink of an eye.
[/quote] Graham
I,ll try to keep her as tidy as pos for when you want her back
She's looking well, Mr Agger gave her some new paint and a lovely wash and brush up.
Just done 250 miles today since picking her up mid-day WHAT A GRIN
Had to come home eventually, my wife called me in for tea
Hope tomorrows fine I've got a long list mates to turn green
Glad your vette is measuring up
Tony
Cuban said:
When the good times roll and I can have a number of cars at my disposal, I'd have a Cerbera in
that line up in a blink of an eye.
Graham
I,ll try to keep her as tidy as pos for when you want her back
She's looking well, Mr Agger gave her some new paint and a lovely wash and brush up.
Just done 250 miles today since picking her up mid-day WHAT A GRIN
Had to come home eventually, my wife called me in for tea
Hope tomorrows fine I've got a long list mates to turn green
Glad your vette is measuring up
Tony
Shall I collect her back tomorrow - sounds like you might be bored already?
Have fun and take it easy at first.
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