Service history
Discussion
Went to look at a 98 S 4.0 Chim yesterday, seemed like a good honest car, beautiful Imperial blue but main drawback is that for the last five and a half years he'd only ever had it serviced by a normal garage, no dealers or specialists at all - not being mechanically minded, is this a reason to walk away?
Also from what I could see, the chassis looked fairly scabby/flaking but I'm not sure if this is mainly the coating coming off?
Also from what I could see, the chassis looked fairly scabby/flaking but I'm not sure if this is mainly the coating coming off?
alraven said:
Also from what I could see, the chassis looked fairly scabby/flaking but I'm not sure if this is mainly the coating coming off?
From personal experience I would say walk away, unless you can get the car off the ground and get right underneath to check not just the outriggers but the main chassis rails as well. I've found rust in mine that wasn't apparent until I started chipping away what looked like surface rust. Trouble was, it went all the way through!
alraven said:
Went to look at a 98 S 4.0 Chim yesterday, seemed like a good honest car, beautiful Imperial blue but main drawback is that for the last five and a half years he'd only ever had it serviced by a normal garage, no dealers or specialists at all - not being mechanically minded, is this a reason to walk away?
Also from what I could see, the chassis looked fairly scabby/flaking but I'm not sure if this is mainly the coating coming off?
Also from what I could see, the chassis looked fairly scabby/flaking but I'm not sure if this is mainly the coating coming off?
This is a constant discussion and sooooo many people have their own opinions.
I would not worry about the service history...the car is 9 years old...even if it had been serviced at a tvr dealership how could you be 100% confident and say that it has been serviced properly every time...?
No-one can tell if all the work has been carried out unless you were to stand there with a list of what needed to be done and ticked it off as it was done.
Has anyone doen this?
I would rather buy on condition rather than a car that had a book full of overpriced receipts...the car might have been serviced religously but it could still have shot outriggers, worn cams and bodged parts here and there...but then that is all IMHO...
(lights blue touch paper and waits for the fireworks....
)s7paul said:
alraven said:
Also from what I could see, the chassis looked fairly scabby/flaking but I'm not sure if this is mainly the coating coming off?
From personal experience I would say walk away, unless you can get the car off the ground and get right underneath to check not just the outriggers but the main chassis rails as well. I've found rust in mine that wasn't apparent until I started chipping away what looked like surface rust. Trouble was, it went all the way through!
You went through the main chassis rail...
How much of that did you have to replace?
Scares the hell out of you when you start chipping all the lose stuff off...especially when people say "go on, poke that bit around the top wishbone mount" and your screw driver goes through the tube...(cheers That Daddy
). Condition over Service History...every time.
I've owned mine for over a year and have had it serviced twice at a local garage. Not a TVR specialist. I have also had alot of work done by Dulford Automotive (who obviously are specialists). However, the garage I have my work done at is amazing. I had my last TVR done there aswell. They do alot more than they are asked to do, not to charge money, but to make your car better. They also run two racing championship leading Peugeot 205's, build the engines themselves becuase they get more reliablity than the a UK specialist. I trust them 100%, more than I would alot of specialists so, worth checking the garage out but by no means dismiss just on that.
In terms of the chassis, I'd say it is a priority, worth checking out properly, make sure it's only light surface rust...If so, then it can be rectified. If it is deep rust - I personally would walk away as I see that as an indication that its not been well looked after and can be expensive to fix..
In terms of the chassis, I'd say it is a priority, worth checking out properly, make sure it's only light surface rust...If so, then it can be rectified. If it is deep rust - I personally would walk away as I see that as an indication that its not been well looked after and can be expensive to fix..
TimmyArt said:
In terms of the chassis, I personally would walk away as I see that as an indication that its not been well looked after and can be expensive to fix..
No not really, all you need is a set of oxy-accetylene bottles, mig welder, grinder, lots of time and patience, and understanding wife
alraven said:
Thanks guys, it seems the consensus is that the chassis condition is much more of a worry than the service history, so I'm walking away this time. I think I'll have to involve a specialist to sort something for me.
I wouldn't neccesarily walk away at this point if you like the car. A lot of other cars might be similar for that age, piant maybe starting to flake off the chassis or you might find that people have just caked the chassis in waxoyl every year and who knows whats underneath ?? If the owner has had it serviced by the same garage for 5 and 1/2 years they can't be that bad ??(if it was the same garage). I'm going to have mine serviced at the same place I have my V*uxhall serviced at purely beacuse they are experienced people who have seen many vehicles in their time. A good local garage thats built up a reputation will no doubt have seen many a RV8 engined car/van/4WD in its time so will know how to look after them. Look through the receipts to see whats been replaced and have a look underneath, if the owners got nothinig to hide then I'm sure they would be happy to arrange. I've just purchased a Chim the same age and yes the paint / powder coating was flaking off but with a good poke around when it was up on ramps before the deal was concluded I was sure there was nothing I couldn't deal with. 3/4 days rolling around underneath the car and the outriggers were stripped/cleaned and pianted/treated to my satifaction, sh*t job but now its done I know what I've done as opposed to what somebody else 'might' have done.
A frustrating time searching for a Chim that meets your requirements but worth it in the end !!
Edited by simonb9 on Sunday 6th May 15:37
Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff