Private Purchase - Top 5

[V41LEY]

Well it's only been about 5 years since I first visited this great site (www.petrolheads in those days !!) so taken the plunge to join as desire for Chim can no longer be suppressed. Will go for private purchase to save a bit but what are the top 5 things to ensure/check to minimise future problems from your experiences ?

[shpub]

Buyer's guide with about 20 things to check out on www.tvrbooks.co.uk

[nano2nd]

well worth reading steves buyers guide, i even printed it off and took it with me for the first few viewings.

TBH 5 things to check won't to it! check everything!

5 bits of advice though:

1. look at & drive as many cars as possible
2. look at & drive as many cars as possible
3. look at & drive as many cars as possible
4. look at & drive as many cars as possible
5. look at & drive as many cars as possible

[Li'l pugs]

nano2nd said:

well worth reading steves buyers guide, i even printed it off and took it with me for the first few viewings. TBH 5 things to check won't to it! check everything! 5 bits of advice though: 1. look at & drive as many cars as possible 2. look at & drive as many cars as possible 3. look at & drive as many cars as possible 4. look at & drive as many cars as possible 5. look at & drive as many cars as possible

Correct, and

6. Buy the best car you can find for the money irrespective of engine size/ colour/ age.

[daftlad]

Not sure about part of the last advice - irrespective of colour????

[Gatso]

daftlad said:

Not sure about part of the last advice - irrespective of colour????

yea thats poo, Chim in shocking pink anyone?

[the jiffle king]

shpub said:

Buyer's guide with about 20 things to check out on www.tvrbooks.co.uk

I'd like to know how many times you've posted this? I think you have it set up as a standard response to all posts and just edit as necessary?

T-J-K

[bullshit]

Hello

I recently brought a Chimaera privately and viewed/drove about 8 in the process. From my experience I would suggest the followwing areas to home in on:

1). Chassis rust - suprisingly didn't seem to make much difference on age/mileage - some were fine with just a few patches of surface rust (like the car I brought) some however were in critical condition with welding required as they had perforated - I know that sanding/repainting is a relatively easy job but what a horrible one !

2). Engine starting/running - some cars were a bit smokey on start up which didn't bother me that much as they hadn't been run for a few days, but I noticed that the pre-serp cars were lumpier than the later ones and also ran hotter - maybe this is just my experience though. You should let the car tick over and see the fans cutting in etc.

3). Don't worry about mileage - the worst one I saw had 17k, the best (which I brought) had 48k.

4). The dashboard - on 5 of the 8 cars the wood had cracked - do look carefully as you may not notice and only spot it after buying - a useful bargaining tool though....

All the best - they are truly fantastic cars

[M@H]

condition, condition and condition..

If you have a poke around the thread histories you will find that we cover this subject at least monthly in different guises.

eg:

www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=8&h=&t=104543

also.. drive as many as you can.

Cheers
Matt

[Li'l pugs]

daftlad said:

Not sure about part of the last advice - irrespective of colour????

Yes irrespective of colour......I thought it was already known, that TVRs are all OK as long as they are blue !

What I actually meant was to be a little more open to colour rather than dismiss a car just because it wouldn't be your normal colour choice. As for shocking pink.......you never know, it might be to someone's liking !! Does Dale Winton drive a TVR ?