Thorny Old Chestnuts: Reliability
Discussion
I've got a modified 1998 Chevy Camaro Z28. It's perfectly fast enough thanks very much and can sprint with the best of them and handle with 95% of them in so far as it's ever going to matter.
The only car that has ever destroyed me is a Cerbera. Although his back end seemed to be a little erratic on what I would consider an easy corner, I'll put that down to poor throttle control with a Camaro up his chuff. But when he hit the straight, I thought he had a jet fighter tucked under his bonnet. OK, so frontal styling 10/10, rear Fiesta lights 0/10 and overall styling 6/10. Sure, he nearly took out a Fiesta that pulled out in front of him at the extreme velocity he was travelling but they avoided the collision.
However much I think I might like a Cerbera, I can't get round that "money pit" aura they exude. The number of TVR's for sale scares me and tends to underline the possibility that there are a lot of owners out there who have maybe had enough. Bear in mind that the competition comes from an ultra-reliable Corvette C5 which just never go wrong and are dirt cheap to insure.
I'm thinking of a max of 18k. What is the concensus here? Ups? Downs? If selling, why are you selling. I have come close before but a previous owner of a Cerbera underlined the unreliability of his and said the rear seats were also useless. Anyone had a good one?
The only car that has ever destroyed me is a Cerbera. Although his back end seemed to be a little erratic on what I would consider an easy corner, I'll put that down to poor throttle control with a Camaro up his chuff. But when he hit the straight, I thought he had a jet fighter tucked under his bonnet. OK, so frontal styling 10/10, rear Fiesta lights 0/10 and overall styling 6/10. Sure, he nearly took out a Fiesta that pulled out in front of him at the extreme velocity he was travelling but they avoided the collision.
However much I think I might like a Cerbera, I can't get round that "money pit" aura they exude. The number of TVR's for sale scares me and tends to underline the possibility that there are a lot of owners out there who have maybe had enough. Bear in mind that the competition comes from an ultra-reliable Corvette C5 which just never go wrong and are dirt cheap to insure.
I'm thinking of a max of 18k. What is the concensus here? Ups? Downs? If selling, why are you selling. I have come close before but a previous owner of a Cerbera underlined the unreliability of his and said the rear seats were also useless. Anyone had a good one?
Lusifer you seem confused. The Cerbera "destroyed" you but you criticise its handling whilst looking at it pull into the distance 
The Cerbera is well documented on these forums and having read all the horror stories I still fully intend to own one. Having had a Griff 500 and driven a few Cerbs I am familiar with the TVR family and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it over ANYTHING for a similar price. There can be no comparison as you point out in your account
Also, I find that alot of genuine TVR owners (I wouldn't recommend buying off anyone else) only ever sell a TVR to either buy another TVR or to raise cash. I can think of very few people who walk away from the brand, if any.
>> Edited by JamesK on Wednesday 12th November 15:27
The Cerbera is well documented on these forums and having read all the horror stories I still fully intend to own one. Having had a Griff 500 and driven a few Cerbs I am familiar with the TVR family and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it over ANYTHING for a similar price. There can be no comparison as you point out in your account
Also, I find that alot of genuine TVR owners (I wouldn't recommend buying off anyone else) only ever sell a TVR to either buy another TVR or to raise cash. I can think of very few people who walk away from the brand, if any.
>> Edited by JamesK on Wednesday 12th November 15:27
No, no. You misunderstand. Going onto a motorway, he turned left onto the slip road and began to accelerate and the back end twitched out and had to be caught at quite a modest speed. The "destruction" came on the straight bit, once up the slip road and twice in the outside lane, effectively a rolling drag race from about 40 and from about (a bit higher...cough) and not an exercise in handling.
Perhaps handling is perhaps less appropriate a word than "grip".
Obviously, the whole point of this question is to canvass the reliability point. My experience is limited to someone (on an Ameruican car forum actually)who has walked away from the brand because he was fed up with walking away from the car. LOL.
There's no arguing that the Cerbera is unchallenged in terms of straight line performance at this price
Perhaps handling is perhaps less appropriate a word than "grip".
Obviously, the whole point of this question is to canvass the reliability point. My experience is limited to someone (on an Ameruican car forum actually)who has walked away from the brand because he was fed up with walking away from the car. LOL.
There's no arguing that the Cerbera is unchallenged in terms of straight line performance at this price
Mr Cipher
A Cerbera is not bad round the twisty bits, maybe he jumped on the throttle at a silly moment. Anyway for about £1k you can upgrade the suspension which will utterly transform the car.
It is never going to be as reliable as a Yank Tank but then I bet it will make up for it in grins.
Not sure I take your point about lots for sale, I bet there are not that many in the country and they are a special bit of kit with a reputation (unfounded IMHO) for being unreliable. Buyers market I'd say.
Go on you know it makes sense.
D.
A Cerbera is not bad round the twisty bits, maybe he jumped on the throttle at a silly moment. Anyway for about £1k you can upgrade the suspension which will utterly transform the car.
It is never going to be as reliable as a Yank Tank but then I bet it will make up for it in grins.
Not sure I take your point about lots for sale, I bet there are not that many in the country and they are a special bit of kit with a reputation (unfounded IMHO) for being unreliable. Buyers market I'd say.
Go on you know it makes sense.
D.
Reliability :yawn:
They're not perfect, they're not mass-produced but they're fantastic performance for money.
Go into it expecting problems, budgeting for them and realising how none of this matters once you're behind the wheel.
It's been discussed on hear a million times before. Everyone posts threads about problems they've had because there isn't much to be discussed about "had another faultless drive today".
They're not perfect, they're not mass-produced but they're fantastic performance for money.
Go into it expecting problems, budgeting for them and realising how none of this matters once you're behind the wheel.
It's been discussed on hear a million times before. Everyone posts threads about problems they've had because there isn't much to be discussed about "had another faultless drive today".
I owned a 1999 V6 Camaro from new and while it was not
a Z28, It had a good turn of speed.
It however could not hold any kind of comparison to the Cerbera.
It was heavy and acceleration and braking were slow.
I understand you concern about reliability.
The Camaro will win there, it's a production run, but
another reason I parted with mine was the potential
cost of parts as most dealers in the UK have plans to
drop the Camaro, so the import prices for parts will rocket.
It is possible to find a sorted Cerbera for 18k, but be
very careful when looking and have it checked from
top to bottom.
I like others, did have good inspections, but still ended
up parting with anywhere between 2 - 5k for a
number of reason ( not always down to the
Cerbera either! ) so take your time.
It's the right move to make, trust me!
Go create some weather...
It's a road legal Concorde!
Graham
TCR The Cerbera Register
www.TVR-Cerbera.com
a Z28, It had a good turn of speed.
It however could not hold any kind of comparison to the Cerbera.
It was heavy and acceleration and braking were slow.
I understand you concern about reliability.
The Camaro will win there, it's a production run, but
another reason I parted with mine was the potential
cost of parts as most dealers in the UK have plans to
drop the Camaro, so the import prices for parts will rocket.
It is possible to find a sorted Cerbera for 18k, but be
very careful when looking and have it checked from
top to bottom.
I like others, did have good inspections, but still ended
up parting with anywhere between 2 - 5k for a
number of reason ( not always down to the
Cerbera either! ) so take your time.
It's the right move to make, trust me!
Go create some weather...
It's a road legal Concorde!
Graham
TCR The Cerbera Register
www.TVR-Cerbera.com
spslward said:
I had another faultless drive today.
Like it. In the approaching 12,000 miles I've done in approx 8 months, I've only had my baby not move twice and with the warranty and dealer support I have, it has only cost me one service, two tyres and fuel which all motors require. OK, there are a few niggles but they're nothing and cost peanuts if supported by the dealer and/or warranty.
For what these machines cost to buy, nothing can compare to what you get pound for pound.
T.
Lucifer,
I recently lost a freind, because he did not
fully understand respect these cars capabilities.
The fact of the matter is these cars are
insanely fast ! , I could not bring myself to sell mine,even though It was advertized .
Do NOT buy a Cerbera unless you are prepared
to take the rough with the smooth . Words like
reliability have little or no consequnce.
Most of the people on this list, and I would imagine
that I speak for most, probably still get jelly
legs , when the opputunity arrises for some welly.
Then there is the shape!! ..what can you say?
I am not dis-respecting your car , but you
must understand were talking a diffrent pack of cards here. This is a road car which you take to Santa pod
and run mid 12's @118 . Could you imagine putting
Hoosier racing slicks on? Well don't, a freind of mine
actually ran 11.6 @123 on slicks. ......
I recently lost a freind, because he did not
fully understand respect these cars capabilities.
The fact of the matter is these cars are
insanely fast ! , I could not bring myself to sell mine,even though It was advertized .
Do NOT buy a Cerbera unless you are prepared
to take the rough with the smooth . Words like
reliability have little or no consequnce.
Most of the people on this list, and I would imagine
that I speak for most, probably still get jelly
legs , when the opputunity arrises for some welly.
Then there is the shape!! ..what can you say?
I am not dis-respecting your car , but you
must understand were talking a diffrent pack of cards here. This is a road car which you take to Santa pod
and run mid 12's @118 . Could you imagine putting
Hoosier racing slicks on? Well don't, a freind of mine
actually ran 11.6 @123 on slicks. ......
....//P//I like to consider all the options and I know that TVR owners have a fierce loyalty to their cars so there is obviously something good that outweighs anything bad. I like that in a car. However, I'm trying to get an objective view of ownership and not simply the obvious "Yeehar" factor.
I'm not out to dismiss or challenge your choice of car because they are very desirable pieces of kit but I do find it laughable when someone can summarily dismiss spending £5k on a car after they've bought it as though it were pocket money. I seem to recall Colin Chapman used to have a philosophy of letting the customer do the testing. I also find it bemusing that owners happily talk about replacing vast amounts of the car as consumable items.
I know they're fast, that's not in issue, but a stock Corvette Z06 will run 12's @ 113mph on street tyres and with a little fettling, quicker again. But you've spotted the flaw in the argument there as they're still 39k on the used market and the TVR is half that.
As you will note by my presence in this section, however, I don't think all TVR's are as fast as they like to think they are. I went to a run what you brung at Avon Park two years ago and listened to a Griffith owner talking about 20k worth of mods. He ran 14's, I ran 13's, first time out. The Chimaera, however, is clearly a very fast car.
A 6/10 is pretty good - Fiesta rear lights - urgh. I like to be objective about cars and am a long way from finding a single car that comes close to being perfect. I'm afraid to say that, in a schoolboy sort of way, a Countach is 10/10, irrespective of how bad it is to drive. I may also be one of the few people in this world who test drove a Lotus Elise S2 135 and came away thinking it was a cheap and nasty pile of junk made by Lego and that my Camaro was a far better and faster car. But the two are different types of car and mine is nearer in concept to a TVR than any Lotus. Not that I am against light frothy cars. A friend has just purchased a VX220 Turbo and that's a remarkably pleasant car with the prodigious power the Lotus lacked.
Test drive? Ah, it's so easy to be seduced by a test drive and to hell with the consequences. If I did that, I could end up with any car from a Skyline to a Lamborghini Espada. Buying with the head is a harder thing to do.
I'm not out to dismiss or challenge your choice of car because they are very desirable pieces of kit but I do find it laughable when someone can summarily dismiss spending £5k on a car after they've bought it as though it were pocket money. I seem to recall Colin Chapman used to have a philosophy of letting the customer do the testing. I also find it bemusing that owners happily talk about replacing vast amounts of the car as consumable items.
I know they're fast, that's not in issue, but a stock Corvette Z06 will run 12's @ 113mph on street tyres and with a little fettling, quicker again. But you've spotted the flaw in the argument there as they're still 39k on the used market and the TVR is half that.
As you will note by my presence in this section, however, I don't think all TVR's are as fast as they like to think they are. I went to a run what you brung at Avon Park two years ago and listened to a Griffith owner talking about 20k worth of mods. He ran 14's, I ran 13's, first time out. The Chimaera, however, is clearly a very fast car.
A 6/10 is pretty good - Fiesta rear lights - urgh. I like to be objective about cars and am a long way from finding a single car that comes close to being perfect. I'm afraid to say that, in a schoolboy sort of way, a Countach is 10/10, irrespective of how bad it is to drive. I may also be one of the few people in this world who test drove a Lotus Elise S2 135 and came away thinking it was a cheap and nasty pile of junk made by Lego and that my Camaro was a far better and faster car. But the two are different types of car and mine is nearer in concept to a TVR than any Lotus. Not that I am against light frothy cars. A friend has just purchased a VX220 Turbo and that's a remarkably pleasant car with the prodigious power the Lotus lacked.
Test drive? Ah, it's so easy to be seduced by a test drive and to hell with the consequences. If I did that, I could end up with any car from a Skyline to a Lamborghini Espada. Buying with the head is a harder thing to do.
Lus1fer,
I know this going to sound off-hand but I wouldn't recommend you buy a Cerbera. Things will go wrong, it will cost you money and from what you're saying it sounds like you would get pretty p*ssed off.
This is the first TVR I've owned and it was definitely a purchase with the heart and my head didn't have a clue what was going on.
I know this going to sound off-hand but I wouldn't recommend you buy a Cerbera. Things will go wrong, it will cost you money and from what you're saying it sounds like you would get pretty p*ssed off.
This is the first TVR I've owned and it was definitely a purchase with the heart and my head didn't have a clue what was going on.
LuS1fer said:
I went to a run what you brung at Avon Park two years ago and listened to a Griffith owner talking about 20k worth of mods. He ran 14's, I ran 13's, first time out. The Chimaera, however, is clearly a very fast car.
A modern Griff or a 60s one? A Griff and Chimaera are the same car under the skin, (the Chimaera having a wider choice of engines in later years) so if a Chimaera is clearly a fast car so is a Griff.
LuS1fer said:
A 6/10 is pretty good - Fiesta rear lights - urgh.
Looking at your profile you must have spent a few quid on your current car (did it need that to make it go properly) so stretching to a couple of hundred for afterburners should be no issue.
LuS1fer said:
I may also be one of the few people in this world who test drove a Lotus Elise S2 135 and came away thinking it was a cheap and nasty pile of junk made by Lego and that my Camaro was a far better and faster car. But the two are different types of car and mine is nearer in concept to a TVR than any Lotus.
I always find Lotus Elises tricky, I love the concept, and I like the cars. The build is no better than a TVR and I could not live with one day to day but on a twisty back road they will annihilate my Cerbera or your Camaro.
LuS1fer said:
Buying with the head is a harder thing to do.
I'd agree there..
One other thing to bear in mind, a stock cerbera is 300kg or so lighter than your car which will help.
D.
>> Edited by davidd on Friday 14th November 09:13
How anyone who buys a string of American muscle cars can say they want to buy "with their head" is beyond me. TVR owners dont like spending lots of money keeping their cars tip top. They do accept it however, not just because they are blindly loyal to the brand, but because the performance you get from a standard TVR crushes anything for the SAME MONEY. You say yourself a corvette whatever it is cost alot more second had (almost double what a 97-98 Cerb would be) and yet it is still slower in every department. Its the saving you make on the purchase price that pays for the upkeep of what is essentially a supercar.
Pound for pound even including a high running cost, these cars are STILL cheaper than a half decent alternative. Not for you though I fancy.
Pound for pound even including a high running cost, these cars are STILL cheaper than a half decent alternative. Not for you though I fancy.
Yes, that's what I'd like to think too but I'm not put off that easily.
But on the American muscle car point, I have to say that when you're used to nil depreciation and Toyota Corolla running costs, anything is expensive by comparison. A stock 97-98 C5, for example, is also 20k and may be slower than a TVR but the difference in the real world is negligible and pound for pound INCLUDING running costs, the Vette is streets ahead of the TVR.
But I'm not here to convert anyone or even defend a car I haven't got. What do you think of this?
2000 TVR CERBERA SPEED SIX, 2000
X firemist blue pearl, full pale grey leather, factory options include air con, Pioneer CD changer, leather s/wheel, alloy dash, new 18 alloy wheels, factory security system etc, just one former keeper, 44,000 miles with full TVR service history and much recent expenditure, shattering performance, sensibly priced £22995.
But on the American muscle car point, I have to say that when you're used to nil depreciation and Toyota Corolla running costs, anything is expensive by comparison. A stock 97-98 C5, for example, is also 20k and may be slower than a TVR but the difference in the real world is negligible and pound for pound INCLUDING running costs, the Vette is streets ahead of the TVR.
But I'm not here to convert anyone or even defend a car I haven't got. What do you think of this?
2000 TVR CERBERA SPEED SIX, 2000
X firemist blue pearl, full pale grey leather, factory options include air con, Pioneer CD changer, leather s/wheel, alloy dash, new 18 alloy wheels, factory security system etc, just one former keeper, 44,000 miles with full TVR service history and much recent expenditure, shattering performance, sensibly priced £22995.
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