Empty-handed....
Discussion
(in a Mastercard advert stylee)
HPI Check ..£40
Insurance Increase ..£108
Hotel Bills ..£250
Bankers Draft ..£12
Petrol ..£90
..driving an 800 mile round trip on a bank holiday to find the "superb" Chimaera had rusty outriggers, knackered wishbones, and an accident repaired frontend..
..priceless
HPI Check ..£40
Insurance Increase ..£108
Hotel Bills ..£250
Bankers Draft ..£12
Petrol ..£90
..driving an 800 mile round trip on a bank holiday to find the "superb" Chimaera had rusty outriggers, knackered wishbones, and an accident repaired frontend..
..priceless
..not mentioned in the advert, and not mentioned by the seller during the extensive questioning I did by telephone before going to get the car. It seems that he really know sod all about TVR's and accordingly was assuming that all was ok with the car and when saying "yes its fine" should have been saying "I really don't know"
I asked him by phone what the outriggers were like and was told that all thw white coating was in place, barring some rust at the weld seams. On jacking the car up and discovering that they had not seen a jot of rust protection since leaving the factory and were rusting away quite happily, he said to me "I never really looked under there".. it seems he looked at the central spine of the chassis and either didn't know what the outriggers were, or assumed they would be in the same condition as the main chassis.
Seme goes for the Wishbones.. these were really corroded, when I said, "your wishbones are knackered" I got an "..are they ?" to which I pointed out all the rust on them.
Regarding the front, the guy didn't know Chimaera's well enough (it seems) to realise that all the mesh grille was missing and that the splits in the fiberglass should not be there... Also it seems that he was not able to spot the different paint textures on the front or indeed the overspray on the washerbottle, repaired bonnet hinges and stress marks inside on the bonnet itself.
I think basically he bought the car on trust from a Sportscar dealer, takes it there whenever there is a slight problem with it, and other than that they tell him that its a great car with nothing wrong with it.
I actually spoke to the sportscar dealer about the car before making the journey, and he failed to mention the repaired accident damage on asking either..
I asked him by phone what the outriggers were like and was told that all thw white coating was in place, barring some rust at the weld seams. On jacking the car up and discovering that they had not seen a jot of rust protection since leaving the factory and were rusting away quite happily, he said to me "I never really looked under there".. it seems he looked at the central spine of the chassis and either didn't know what the outriggers were, or assumed they would be in the same condition as the main chassis.
Seme goes for the Wishbones.. these were really corroded, when I said, "your wishbones are knackered" I got an "..are they ?" to which I pointed out all the rust on them.
Regarding the front, the guy didn't know Chimaera's well enough (it seems) to realise that all the mesh grille was missing and that the splits in the fiberglass should not be there... Also it seems that he was not able to spot the different paint textures on the front or indeed the overspray on the washerbottle, repaired bonnet hinges and stress marks inside on the bonnet itself.
I think basically he bought the car on trust from a Sportscar dealer, takes it there whenever there is a slight problem with it, and other than that they tell him that its a great car with nothing wrong with it.
I actually spoke to the sportscar dealer about the car before making the journey, and he failed to mention the repaired accident damage on asking either..
Despite my tongue in cheek comments, you really have my sympathy. I'm back in the buying market now and I'm dreading it. In addition to the normal expenses I'll need to pay for an AA/RAC type inspection as I don't know enough to buy a car unaided. I'm sure there will be a few hundred pounds wasted in my quest to find something half decent.
M@H said:
well let me knowe if there's anything up my way you want a hand looking at 
Thanks Matt.
However, I'm not going to down the TVR route at the moment, probably going to get a 'winter' car and then come back to the fold early next year. BTW, what are you looking for? I may know about a lovely Chimaera that the owner is thinking about selling. If it fits what you're looking for it may give him the impetus to put an advert together.
disco bob said:
The place where he brought it from have had is pants down by the looks of it.
who knows... if I was in his shoes I'd have been on the phone to them shortly after I'd left though..
..if nothing else to get it booked in for some urgent waxoyl treatment
FYI:
www.pistonheads.com/sales/detail.asp?i=27504&sc=IAOU
chim_girl said:
BTW, what are you looking for?
A good well maintained car in a darker colour (blues/greens etc (no reds/yellows)) at a reasonable price - budget 12k max (but that's max not target price). Age fairly unimportant although 95 onwards would be nicer, price to reflect age/condition I suppose, engine: not really fussy, 4.0 to 4.5 although would consider a 5.0 at a push if the rest of the car was good. Mileage.. not the moon and back, but 50,000 doesnt scare me.
Any good..?
Cheers,
Matt
>> Edited by M@H on Tuesday 31st August 09:00
BugattiQueen said:
Matt symapthy with the wasted journey but I am sure you have an exression in your country "If it looks too good to be true it probably is". Would have been nice though if it was superb for that price though
Yeah, thanks.. I always had a nagging doubt in my mind that it was going to go wrong... pricewise, if you compare it to these:
www.pistonheads.com/sales/detail.asp?i=26847&s=1
www.pistonheads.com/sales/detail.asp?i=20755&s=1
..it didn't seem far adrift.
Cheers
Matt
M@H said:
FYI:
www.pistonheads.com/sales/detail.asp?i=27504&sc=IAOU
Regarding the front, the guy didn't know Chimaera's well enough (it seems) to realise that all the mesh grille was missing
But if it was the one above (1998) model, then it wouldn't have had a mesh grill to begin with.
? Is there no mesh at all.. i thought there was some in the lower "bits" below the indicators..? Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff