Can I afford it?

[Legend83]

My head says S3 for £5k, nice relatively cheap running costs, but my heart and ears say Chimaera. Not asking for people to tell me how much they earn but realistically how much does a Chim cost to run on average? Trying to gauge whether my salary in the next 12 months would cover it!

Has anyone bought from Offords? They seem to have really nice 400s on their website for what seems quite cheap for a dealer. Any idea how long their warranties last?

[Nuggs]

I've had my Chim for 2 years. The first year I paid about £3k on repairs. This year it's cost me nothing but petrol and insurance...

Swings & roundabouts, eh?

[theaxe]

Always a tricky one... If it needs no work over the year your budget should be something like:

2xTyres £350 ish
1xService £500 ish
1xWaxOyl Treatment £150 ish
Fuel @ 25mpg
Insurance, mine was about £600 (26, 8 years ncd, 0 points, off-road)

The things that cost money are unexpected problems (I needed exhaust gaskets at £450) and upgrades (in my case sat nav at £950).

[f1fx]

go 4 the chim .. they are lovely. saying that they are all lovely. go with what you want . or you will not be 100 % happy . i have just bought one two weeks ago. and i dont earn much . but then its not MPG .. but MPF miles per fun! dont know about running costs .. too much yet .. but i live 20 miles away from work and it costs me bout 40 per week to drive the chim to work and bout 35 for my MR2 ...

[Legend83]

Nuggs said:

I've had my Chim for 2 years. The first year I paid about £3k on repairs. This year it's cost me nothing but petrol and insurance...

Swings & roundabouts, eh?

£3k! Phew! Think my missus would ban me if she knew that. Cheaper than a Tuscan though I suppose. Is it worth getting an expert to look at a prospective buy - with a view to avoiding unexpected costs?

[Legend83]

Answers to this will probably make me take stock: what am I looking at for a S3 V6 (apart from less speed)?

[Don]

Worst case £3K per year to be fair. Best case about £1500 I reckon. Average near £2K.

Some people seem to manage on less. But its going to depend on the individual car.

[Don]

Oh....just for comparison...my Porsche Boxster S..four year service at an OPC and a renewal of the warranty £1700. Coupled with the new discs and pads at a good independent earlier this year at a round £1K and that's cost me £2700. And absolutely nothing was wrong with it.

So Chimaeras ain't so bad...

[Legend83]

Don said:

Oh....just for comparison...my Porsche Boxster S..four year service at an OPC and a renewal of the warranty £1700. Coupled with the new discs and pads at a good independent earlier this year at a round £1K and that's cost me £2700. And absolutely nothing was wrong with it.

So Chimaeras ain't so bad...

Crikey. Maybe I ought to wait until I am a company director before I start dallying in unreliable British (pan-Italian) sportscars! Or maybe the S3 is more my budget.

[zippee]

Should you get one? Without a doubt. Buy a good one and you can easily get away with just the cost of fuel and routine servicing each year.
Buy a bad one and it can cost you thousands. Mine is now very good but has cost me a LOT over the last 2 years (see breakdown in car profile).
Mine was also 'inspected' by a so called expert who is often recommended on these forums - Bloody idiot cost me a fortune to put right a car he said was excellent.

Salary isn't really the issue either, it's more about what you can afford - as an average a Chim will cost around £1500 a year to run not inc fuel or insurance. As said many are less than this and some are more hence the average cost.
There are some extremely good examples for sale at the moment, not sure of your budget but the 2001 silver facelift Chim that Offords have is absolutely stunning (one with the blue hide interior). I know the previous owner of it (he traded it with Offords for a Tuscan S) and it really is a good car. If in doubt give James Agger a call and he'll either source one for you or inspect one you find.

Edited by zippee on Thursday 26th October 15:58

[M@H]

Legend83 said:

My head says S3 for £5k, nice relatively cheap running costs, but my heart and ears say Chimaera.

They are totally different kinds of car. Have you driven them both.. that may well make the decison for you. To be honest if you're hoping to pick up a "cheap" early chimeara then I would factor in that it may well be less well maintained than your averave PHer car therefore the figures that we come up with could be less than you end up paying.

With the S it really can be a "cheap as chips" car. 30 mpg (normal unleaded), cheap insurance (classic), cheap servicing (DIY if you like), cheap parts, tyres last longer and it will happily sit about for a few months and still fire up fine afterwards. The chimaera on the other hand is 25 mpg (super unleaded), double the insurance, £300-£500 a service (and DIY will not help your resale potential), and everything seems to wear out a bit quicker, oh,that and they don't like being neglected.

If you're on a budget, get the S or you will only end up resenting the money the Chim is costing you. For various reasons I have used the Chimaera for 2 weeks this year, yet still paid £589 for Service and MOT, £170 for tyres, and £489 for insurance, add the petrol in and it was well over £1300 for about 500 miles.

Cheers
Matt
(had 2 of each)

[Legend83]

zippee said:

If in doubt give James Agger a call and he'll either source one for you or inspect one you find.

Edited by zippee on Thursday 26th October 15:58

Would JA be able to give opinions on S3s? Beginning to think it might have to be my entry point. Still, love them!

[Legend83]

M@H said:

Legend83 said:

My head says S3 for £5k, nice relatively cheap running costs, but my heart and ears say Chimaera.

They are totally different kinds of car. Have you driven them both.. that may well make the decison for you.

If you're on a budget, get the S or you will only end up resenting the money the Chim is costing you.

Cheers
Matt
(had 2 of each)

I have not driven either in all honesty. I have driven a Tuscan, which presumably is very different to both Chim and S. All I knew after driving the Tuscan was that I wanted a TVR. But I always like the older models, particularly the V8s.

I agree with your last comment, and I am not the only one who might resent the expense! I don't ever want to be in a position where I resent owning a Chim.

[zippee]

Legend83 said:

zippee said:

If in doubt give James Agger a call and he'll either source one for you or inspect one you find.

Edited by zippee on Thursday 26th October 15:58

Would JA be able to give opinions on S3s? Beginning to think it might have to be my entry point. Still, love them!

I'd imagine so, certainly seen S's on his website before. He's a bit of a bugger when it comes to returing calls so you may need to keep trying if he's busy.
I notice you're in Beds - whereabouts as you're welcome to take a look at my Chim and have a chat if you want any extra advice providing you're not too far away. I'm in St Neots (about 4 mile from Offords)

[Legend83]

Thanks for the offer - I am in Luton so very south Beds!

Yes, I know my TVR would not be safe in Luton...

Edited by Legend83 on Thursday 26th October 16:17

[radzoule]

M@H said:

Legend83 said:

My head says S3 for £5k, nice relatively cheap running costs, but my heart and ears say Chimaera.

£300-£500 a service (and DIY will not help your resale potential),

I'm not sure that's always strictly true - it depends on the purchaser! A number of people on here do the majority if not all of their own work and really do care for their cars. The advantage of "tinkering" is that maintenance is constant rather than at set intervals - the moment something needs looking at I look at it, hence I have numerous receipts throughout the year showing the car is constantly maintained, and at no expense. The condition of a car speaks for itself, irrespective of who has done that work IMHO!

[Legend83]

Does anyone know how much a dash reveneering on an S3 would cost? There is an S3 in classifieds for £4,350 that looks ok, but priced due to dash.

Also, anyone ever dealt with Steve Reid - lovely looking Monza Red S3 for £4,995 in classifieds.

[Tyre Smoke]

To be honest, only the servicing needs to be done by an independent/main dealer in order to keep the resale value up. But you can do most things yourself, it is a very basic mechanical beast, a Chimaera.

Rover V8 - parts everywhere at least as plentiful as the Ford V6 in the S and not rocket science to work on. Bits of trim and general fiddling is half the fun of owning one. Don't believe that they have to run on Super U/L, my 4 Litre was just as happy on normal stuff. Waxoyling is a yearly must, but need not cost a fortune. You don't have to get a TVR specialist to do it for you exactly! Tyres will cost exactly what you want to spend, there are loads on here who love Toyo or Bridgestone but in my experience they have lasted less than 7000 miles of not hard driving. Buy a cheaper brand of tyre and they will do the job - as long as you aren't planning to go around every corner with the arse wagging you won't need super sticky uber expensive stuff. I have heard but not used, that Falken are a good budget tyre on a Chimaera.

It can cost as much or as little as you want really, depending on how dirty you want to get with it! And it is true that they work better if used a lot so don't be put off buying a Chimaera with 80000 miles on it for cheaper money. The engines go on for ever - look at how many Rangey V8's there are with 150k on the clock and in a TVR it's hardly over worked is it? likely too that the more mileage the more care it has had and all the niggles have been ironed out. Buy one that needs a new hood and get a grand knocked off then get a new hood for about £500. As long as the chassis is sound, pretty much everything else is easily fixable.

[oggs]

*Thread hijack* *Cough* Northants/Dunstable hoon this Sunday details here

Hijack over

[M@H]

radzoule said:

M@H said:

Legend83 said:

My head says S3 for £5k, nice relatively cheap running costs, but my heart and ears say Chimaera.

£300-£500 a service (and DIY will not help your resale potential),

I'm not sure that's always strictly true - it depends on the purchaser! A number of people on here do the majority if not all of their own work and really do care for their cars. The advantage of "tinkering" is that maintenance is constant rather than at set intervals - the moment something needs looking at I look at it, hence I have numerous receipts throughout the year showing the car is constantly maintained, and at no expense. The condition of a car speaks for itself, irrespective of who has done that work IMHO!

You are of course right, however there are some buyers who will only look at cars with a recognisable service history and stamps in the book. I could produce thousands of pounds of receipts for parts and service items, but how do you know which car the parts were fittd to Ultimately a good DIY history looks good to an "enthusiast"-type buyer, but a lot of Chim buyers are not in that category