Discussion
I'm going to be looking at Chims in the Spring after years of Westfield ownership. I was wondering if any of you do your own servicing as I have always done the servicing on my cars myself and if any thing needs to be done that is outside my modest mechanical skills I have two or three excellent professional spanner weilding mates that can do jobs for me. j understand that a specialist TVR garage will be able to spot things immediately and have the knowledge to deal with any problems I just like tinkering and getting oily so don't like the thought of paying someone else to do jobs I can do myself.
The only real issue would be if I bought a car that had an existing immaculate TVR service history, I do have a 'stamp' of my own
but I tell people that I have serviced my cars myself and it has never really stopped me selling cars. Also, when buying cars serving is obviously important as far as dates and invoices are concerned but if the buyer is a home mechanic and passionate and the car looks perfect then I trust my own instincts. I haven't made any monster mistake buying cars....yet!
The only real issue would be if I bought a car that had an existing immaculate TVR service history, I do have a 'stamp' of my own
but I tell people that I have serviced my cars myself and it has never really stopped me selling cars. Also, when buying cars serving is obviously important as far as dates and invoices are concerned but if the buyer is a home mechanic and passionate and the car looks perfect then I trust my own instincts. I haven't made any monster mistake buying cars....yet!As you say trust your instincts Lordbenny.
I have a respected Tvr man tell me what's wrong,,, I make an assessment ,,,,,,, then he usually fixes it,,, hahaha.
Once you know these cars 90% of the work is pretty straight forward really.
Keep receipts etc and if you know what your doing it's a doddle.
The biggest issues arise when good cars stand still to long,,,, not driven.
If you buy a car that's barely done miles in years you'll be replacing allsorts and fault diagnosis can be annoying rather than impossible.
These pages are the real reason most of us own a Tvr with success,,,,
I new absolutely now't about my Car,,,,
Now I know more than I want to,,, I worry about stuff just cos I've read about it.
Nah,,, it's like I've bought a car and learnt top notch mechanics as a go!!!
That's real motoring.
My advice is to look and have a go in as many as possible,,,,
Buy one,,, get a good Tvr man around it and go from there.
Working on a Tvr yourself is often lots of fun,,
Goodluck in your search.
The remark about buying from someone who does the work themselves is a good point,
How many garages do this to em.
Simple polishing but I did remove exhausts ( via Pistonheads) advice from boys on here.
Merry x mas and enjoy your search.
Please excuse the air pipe it had split,,,
I have a respected Tvr man tell me what's wrong,,, I make an assessment ,,,,,,, then he usually fixes it,,, hahaha.
Once you know these cars 90% of the work is pretty straight forward really.
Keep receipts etc and if you know what your doing it's a doddle.
The biggest issues arise when good cars stand still to long,,,, not driven.
If you buy a car that's barely done miles in years you'll be replacing allsorts and fault diagnosis can be annoying rather than impossible.
These pages are the real reason most of us own a Tvr with success,,,,
I new absolutely now't about my Car,,,,
Now I know more than I want to,,, I worry about stuff just cos I've read about it.
Nah,,, it's like I've bought a car and learnt top notch mechanics as a go!!!
That's real motoring.
My advice is to look and have a go in as many as possible,,,,
Buy one,,, get a good Tvr man around it and go from there.
Working on a Tvr yourself is often lots of fun,,
Goodluck in your search.
The remark about buying from someone who does the work themselves is a good point,
How many garages do this to em.
Simple polishing but I did remove exhausts ( via Pistonheads) advice from boys on here.
Merry x mas and enjoy your search.
Please excuse the air pipe it had split,,,
Servicing and spanner work sounds like a doddle for you. Just the chassis is the main issue with these cars. I saw a T350 on Christmas eve so a modern TVR and it had crash damage so body was lifted and the power coat was flaking off and rust was prevalent everywhere once the waxoil had been wiped away. So be wary of adverts or selling stating that chassis is regularly wax oiled as this is no guarantee of a solid car.!!!!
Mark
Mark
Edited by portzi on Friday 26th December 11:27
At the end of the day, it is a Rover V8, so these engines are fairly straight forward to maintain. Having a service stamp or even a receipt isn't a guarantee that all the work required was carried out. Fluids, brakes, treating rust, spark plugs and ignition components could all be done by the average home mechanic (even me!). Most of these cars are nuts and bolts, however, it isn't so easy convincing a first time tivver when you come to sell again.
Chances are, that if you're doing it yourself, you'll spot and repair more and take the 'as I'm in here' type attitude, that normally sees a quick job turn into a mini project!
Chances are, that if you're doing it yourself, you'll spot and repair more and take the 'as I'm in here' type attitude, that normally sees a quick job turn into a mini project!
I go on my instincts too, dealer stamps mean virtually nothing to people who know how to actually look after a car. Doing it all yourself could possibly hurt resale value, but the sort of people who buy chims aren't normally the type of people who would get everything done by a garage. The alarm bells normally start ringing for me when someones owned a car for a few years and there are receipts for the basics like engine oil and filters, but none for gearbox/dif oil, bushes, disks/pads ect. Shows that they're probably doing it themselves just to cut costs, rather than because they can.
Ive had mine a few weeks now and will carry out all servicing and mods myself, i find them quite easy to work on. Access to certain areas can be the only problem on some items as they are in some fiddly places!
I come from an engineering and kit car builder background so nothing really scares me, im quite surprised how good the build quality of the car actually is. I just wonder why a bit more time wasnt spent tidying up certain areas of the wiring etc at the factory.
Just keep all receipts and a little book of whats been done with dates and mileages.
I come from an engineering and kit car builder background so nothing really scares me, im quite surprised how good the build quality of the car actually is. I just wonder why a bit more time wasnt spent tidying up certain areas of the wiring etc at the factory.
Just keep all receipts and a little book of whats been done with dates and mileages.
My 500 came with full service history by various 'specialists'. The last 5 were by a 'specialist' that clearly wasn't!!! It means very little except big bills and no cheap parts as far as I can see. I do everything on my 500 and my wife's 430. None of it is rocket science by any stretch of the imagination and you sound more than capable. (sorry I do not mean to sound patronising).
I wouldn't worry about it. You are obviously happy assessing your own purchases and when you come to sell it, if you can bring yourself to do so (I can't), it should be obvious to a future prospective buyer that the car will have been well maintained.
Don't forget that even the newest Chimaera is now 12 years old, and buyers won't necessarily be looking for dealer servicing. If they were to ask on here, I am sure that the advice given to any potential buyer would be 'buy on condition', not just 'stamps'.
Don't forget that even the newest Chimaera is now 12 years old, and buyers won't necessarily be looking for dealer servicing. If they were to ask on here, I am sure that the advice given to any potential buyer would be 'buy on condition', not just 'stamps'.
semaj said:
My 500 came with full service history by various 'specialists'. The last 5 were by a 'specialist' that clearly wasn't!!! It means very little except big bills and no cheap parts as far as I can see. I do everything on my 500 and my wife's 430. None of it is rocket science by any stretch of the imagination and you sound more than capable. (sorry I do not mean to sound patronising).
Its a shame there are some specialists out there that are still like this. It only takes afew bad ones to ruin anyone's reputation. 
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