Seeing TVR T350T Tomorrow - Last Minute Advice

[ShiDevil]

Hi Chaps,

Seeing this tomorrow. My mate can't make it now, who own's a Cerbera, thought he would have an idea on what to ask, as i'm a noob.

http://www.tvrpowersbodyshop.com/classifieds/car/t...

Have printed off the FAQ on TVR T350T, any other thoughts?

Thanks,

Steve

[Laser Sag]

Haven't read the FAQs but as they should have the ability to get the car in the air have a good look at the chassis, check for any obvious water leaks and have a good listen to the engine.
Would be very suprised if this is not a good car as Dom @ TVR Power is happy to offer the engine warranty he does on it according to his ad for the same car on Powers main site.
Give Dom a call, he calls a spade a spade and has always been very honest in my dealings with him over many years.
Whether you go for that one or not would be good to see you at St Neots on Sunday, I notice from your other thread that Flying has confirmed he will be there with his Chameleon Green T and his and Trevors bumble bee are definitely good ones to look over.

[ShiDevil]

Yeah hoping to get there Sunday, was planning to look at this, look at their cars compare and see how i feel/make an offer.

[PIW19]

Would agree with the comments on Power, not many more qualified to sell a good quality example and if selling through the shop would expect a warranty few could match.

Dom is a straight talking guy with genuine respect for the TVR brand.

[jrb43]

As everyone has said - Dom is a TVR legend with tremendous integrity. Of course you should see the chassis, for your own peace of mind but from my experience, there is no engine nuance that you'll hear that Dom hasn't heard, diagnosed and sorted! Does it have Gaz Golds at one end only? Ad difficult to interpret. You're looking at a very rare car, it's hard to see how you could go wrong.

[ShiDevil]

Indeed it looks like that. Will ring don on the way there and hopefully chat with him while there etc. chassis def looking at, got a list of things from pistonheads and cosmetic stuff to check from experience in my z4 when bought it I forgot to check etc :/

[shorts!]

ShiDevil said:

Indeed it looks like that. Will ring don on the way there and hopefully chat with him while there etc. chassis def looking at, got a list of things from pistonheads and cosmetic stuff to check from experience in my z4 when bought it I forgot to check etc :/

The guys at Stourbridge know what they are doing with TVRs so if you have any questions about the car you should just ask, anything you are not happy with I'd be pretty confident they can sort for you. And obviously the connection with TVR Power is pretty strong,so between them i'd expect that to be a sorted car.

[Zippee]

Looks a nice car, though personally I'm not a fan of the colour or interior. Good price as well, don't be put off by the mileage as if Doms selling I'm sure he knows the engine is good and will put a warranty on it for you.
A couple of other things to look for;
It NEEDS air con IMHO, on a muggy but wet day these things produce a lot of cabin heat and personally I wouldn't touch one without.
Looks to have full hide which is a plus.
Get Dom to try and sort the banana shaped glovebox lid - common problem but looks daft.
Check when the clutch and slave were last done, £1200 for replacements.
An uprated Ally rad is always a good thing.
These cars chip easily so don't be put off by stonechips if you actually plan to drive it.
Check all electrics and ensure the car warms through properly, all readings working accurately (as far as you can tell). Once fully warmed oil should settle around 70deg in this weather and water 88-92deg.
If you buy get Dom to fit one of his exhausts to it!

Above all - go in with an open mind and not your rose tinted specs and enjoy....

[shorts!]

Zippee said:

Looks a nice car, though personally I'm not a fan of the colour or interior. Good price as well, don't be put off by the mileage as if Doms selling I'm sure he knows the engine is good and will put a warranty on it for you.
A couple of other things to look for;
It NEEDS air con IMHO, on a muggy but wet day these things produce a lot of cabin heat and personally I wouldn't touch one without.
Looks to have full hide which is a plus.
Get Dom to try and sort the banana shaped glovebox lid - common problem but looks daft.
Check when the clutch and slave were last done, £1200 for replacements.
An uprated Ally rad is always a good thing.
These cars chip easily so don't be put off by stonechips if you actually plan to drive it.
Check all electrics and ensure the car warms through properly, all readings working accurately (as far as you can tell). Once fully warmed oil should settle around 70deg in this weather and water 88-92deg.
If you buy get Dom to fit one of his exhausts to it!

Above all - go in with an open mind and not your rose tinted specs and enjoy....

Definitely don't be put off by mileage, these cars can cope well with being used.
IMHO Air con is not essential, but then I've never had a car with it, so it may depend what you are used to. If it's really that hot I will usually have the roof off and/or the windows open. The only time it could get too hot is Zippee's muggy but wet day but you would need to be stuck in traffic for this really to be a problem, again IMO. In mine the vent to the left of the steering wheel only ever blows/vents unheated air so if I'm moving there is always relatively cool air coming my way.
If there are any stone chips Adrian and the boys at Stourbridge are the guys to sort them out for you as they have for me in the past. As for the temps don't get massively stressed if tey are not exactly what Zippee expects as the sensors are often far from perfect. once it is up to normal running temps though I would stop driving but leave the engine running to ensure that as the temp rises that the the fans cut in (first one, then both if it gets hot enough).
There are only about 100 T350t cars left in the UK and no two are identical so what I say about them based on my experience of mine or anyone else says based on their's may not apply to yours (or what might become yours). So as Zippee says, keep an open mind though it is hard not to wear the specs he mentioned

[Getsis]

Any car being sold from a "Body shop" you should Check for bad blending in and colour match of the paint.

[Targarama]

shorts! said:

There are only about 100 T350t cars left in the UK and no two are identical so what I say about them based on my experience of mine or anyone else says based on their's may not apply to yours (or what might become yours). So as Zippee says, keep an open mind though it is hard not to wear the specs he mentioned

I think there were actually only around 70 targas made in total. Quite a few have left these shores too. They are becoming very rare cars.

[slimtater]

Getsis said:

Any car being sold from a "Body shop" you should Check for bad blending in and colour match of the paint.

I think that is a bit of a generalisation and although not to be dismissed, is probably not as relevent in the case of this car and vendor?

[Sevenman]

From my limited understanding, the TVR Power Bodyshop is also Central TVR , and a TVR garage in its own right that happens to get any body work from TVR Power.

When I visited there a couple of weeks ago, they said they did plenty of TVR mechanical work, but it was the bodyshop side where they were particularly busy.

As such, I am not sure if the car has any relation to TVR Power.

[Getsis]

slimtater said:

Getsis said:

Any car being sold from a "Body shop" you should Check for bad blending in and colour match of the paint.

I think that is a bit of a generalisation and although not to be dismissed, is probably not as relevent in the case of this car and vendor?

It is relevent.

[slimtater]

Getsis said:

It is relevent.

Lightbulb moment! Apologies.

[Laser Sag]

Sevenman said:

From my limited understanding, the TVR Power Bodyshop is also Central TVR , and a TVR garage in its own right that happens to get any body work from TVR Power.

When I visited there a couple of weeks ago, they said they did plenty of TVR mechanical work, but it was the bodyshop side where they were particularly busy.

As such, I am not sure if the car has any relation to TVR Power.

The same car is up for sale on TVR Powers web site with engine warranty available on request so I think its safe to assume a relationship exists.

No idea on whether it has had a need for any bodywork major or otherwise though.

[ShiDevil]

Eeek loads to take in! Driving there! It has aircon.

[shorts!]

Targarama said:

shorts! said:

There are only about 100 T350t cars left in the UK and no two are identical so what I say about them based on my experience of mine or anyone else says based on their's may not apply to yours (or what might become yours). So as Zippee says, keep an open mind though it is hard not to wear the specs he mentioned

I think there were actually only around 70 targas made in total. Quite a few have left these shores too. They are becoming very rare cars.

According to howmanyleft.co.uk you are spot on with 70 though there were a few more than that made if their previous figures are to be believed too.

Hope it goes well ShiDevil.

[ShiDevil]

Hi,

Checked the car out. Initial thoughts, it's not like my BMW, but Raw Which grew on me very quickly. Test drive, albeit i wasn't driving, was exactly what expected, lots of looks, lots of noise and quite brutish

Adrian from the site was knowledgeable, and i felt reassured by comments.

Went through the checklist and comments from yourselves.

Owner, from new...last year only did 100 miles, not used at all, the car was completely stock, other than the new cylinder head etc.

Exterior: Bodywork is perfect, no marks etc. No cracks... Colour is a green/blue, looked quite funky Didn't make me go oh yeah come here baby, but I haven't seen many like it, reminded me of the changing colours of the ocean, which I think was a good thing. Alloys perfect, discs and pads fine etc, underside of chassis no issues, knocks, scrapes etc

Interior: Not bad, little mark on drivers seat, gear stick gater cracked, but cheap to fix. Seat belt stuck a little on passenger, put a smile on face. No Air conditioning, which might be an issue for me...have to think about this. I don't like being cooked in the summer stuck in a traffic jam...It was nice to stick the hood up in le mans in the bmw and blast the aircon with 30 degree heat outside.

Tyres, coupled needed replacing as close to illegal

There was also a comment on the MOT (Twice for two years), of misting and starting to leak, although was told this wasn't an issue and not to worry. These were on the front.

This might be an issue, maybe replacement front shocks?

I think i will check out the TVr's on Sunday and might go to TVR Power on saturday with a mate, as he needs some stuff for his cerbera.

Do you tall chaps, get close to the roll bar on the right side of your head? Was a little close, i'm 6"2, i think closer than in Z4.

Steve

[shorts!]

I'm not as tall as you but I do have a fat head and the roll bar is close. In normal day to day driving it's not a problem but with a helmet on I do knock it a fair bit, but I guess that's cos my head is even fatter on track. Targarama will be along soon to tell you the tall perspective I'm sure.
I actually used to hit the side of my head more in my wife's old Z4 though.