Buying my first TVR......Help Please..........

[Chimp_Girl]

I'm thinking about buying my first TVR. I've test driven a few already and have found one I really like. Its a private sale and the owner has very kindly provided an AA Inspection. (He had a sale fall through so he bought the report from the previous purchaser)

There are a couple of small things like the wiper blades not being aligned and stone chips. The major report findings are as follows :-

1. Anti roll ball joints and rubbers show signs of movement and wear.
2. Clunking sound can be heard from the rear of the car when its in 5th gear.
3. Front tyres show signs of uneven wear.

The car is a 1998 R and has 22,000 miles.

Should I be concerned with any of this?

Thanks

[tvrheart]

They don't sound like major problems so if you like the rest of the car alot then I think it would be worth getting the car to a TVR specialist and getting them to check it over and give an estimate for any work, that way you can bargain for those jobs in the price negotiations. If the seller's genuine they should be happy to cooperate.

I'm not a mechanical wizz so can't give an idea on the costs of those jobs myself but providing you are prepared to do a bit of research then I think buying privately is a great way to get a TVR, especially if the one you have seen is ideal in every other way - if it isn't there will be others. I am biased by the way as 16 months into ownership of mine I haven't had any major problems (similar age + miles to the one you are looking at).

Hope this helps, or at least is some encouragement for you!

Chris

>> Edited by tvrheart on Sunday 15th September 13:27

[heliox]

quote:
There are a couple of small things like the wiper blades not being aligned and stone chips. The major report findings are as follows :-

1. Anti roll ball joints and rubbers show signs of movement and wear.
2. Clunking sound can be heard from the rear of the car when its in 5th gear.
3. Front tyres show signs of uneven wear.

The car is a 1998 R and has 22,000 miles.

Should I be concerned with any of this?

Get the price of what the above faults will cost to be repaired/replaced by a main dealer, subtract this from the sellers asking price and you have a better idea of the cars current value, the anti-roll bar faults arent that expensive to fix ,even with uprated polly ones, but the sorce of the clunking noise needs to be identified as does the uneven tyre wear as these could lead to expensive repair bills.

..if your not 100% about the history/condition etc the best thing is walk away and have a look at some more.

..good luck..heliox

[heliox]

P.S ..I forgot to mention that that AA report probably wasn't carried out by a TVR expert..and you'd be probably well advised to speak to your local TVR dealer or specialist about them having a look over it for you, they will be able to give you a much better idea of the condition and likely faults/cost involved.

Theres probably a Chim/Griff TVR club owner on here thats not too far from you and who im sure(for a pint) would help you out.

heliox

[Chimp_Girl]

Thanks for the prompt reply.

The current owner has offered to take the car to his local TVR garage and get them to look at it an let me know.

The car is in Watford and I'm based in Leeds. Does anyone have any recommendations as to who I could use to get a TVR inspection done?

[gemini]

Joolz at Joospeed used to do them for us at the North Yorkshire TVRCC

[squirrelz]

Yup can definitely recommend Joolz. He's based here in Chesterfield, so less than an hour away from you.

[e-mail]
01246 456660
www.joospeet.net

He will travel to inspect, but needs to be able to get the car on a ramp to inspect properly.

[shpub]

Tower View are at the bottom of the M1 and only a few miles from Watford. They do inspections.

Tyre wear could be a problem or the sign of spririted driving. The clunk could be a knackered diff or simply loose mountsings. The antiroll bar stuff is relatively easy to fix. would I be concerned? No not necessarily but it all depends on what the guy is asking. Risk assessment time!

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk