Should I? A little PH advice please.
Discussion
Currently bored of my 330i sport. Feel I need some excitement. Is this the way to go ?
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/805280.htm
Don't do very many miles anymore, and really not worried about ecomomy/insurance/VED.
Running cost wise - I hardly have to spend a penny on my BMW, and i appreciate Tivs aren't the most reliable cars. What can I expect to spend in a years ownership on maintaining the beast?
Much appreciated. K
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/805280.htm
Don't do very many miles anymore, and really not worried about ecomomy/insurance/VED.
Running cost wise - I hardly have to spend a penny on my BMW, and i appreciate Tivs aren't the most reliable cars. What can I expect to spend in a years ownership on maintaining the beast?
Much appreciated. K
Doctor Bone said:
Running cost wise - I hardly have to spend a penny on my BMW, and i appreciate Tivs aren't the most reliable cars. What can I expect to spend in a years ownership on maintaining the beast?
Surprisingly not as much as you might think. A car of that age and mileage can be easily maintained by an independent garage and you could have a 6000 mile service for as little as £150 should there be nothing major needing seeing to. The ad does state that the car has a new clutch, battery, starter and alternator and those items come under the 'major needing seeing to' that I mention.Fuel costs are down to how you drive the car- mpg can vary between 13 and 30!
Get yourself a one day Cat 20 insurance certificate and arrange a test drive with the seller. Whether you commit to buy or not, I'll bet you'll enjoy it.
It does look like a tidy car, in good condition, but check the condition of the chassis- especially the outriggers.
Oh, and read this before you view: http://www.chimaerapages.com/resources_buyers.php
Doctor Bone said:
i appreciate Tivs aren't the most reliable cars. What can I expect to spend in a years ownership on maintaining the beast?
I've done 25,000 miles in mine in a little over 2 years and have had to spend about £250 on 'failures' (cracked manifold and failed window switch) plus 2 services (Fernies paid for the first!) but have chosen to spend somewhere over £2k in upgrades (brakes, shockers, hot-start, remote boot release etc etc)I use it in all weathers, it's parked outside and has never let me down - to me that's reliable.
I'd go for it, although the colour combo is a bit old man for me.
They're not as bad as people say. Had a 4.0 for over a year now, it's never complained. Only thing we changed was the clutch as the original was on 80k miles roughly. I thought that was fair enough, otherwise it could be driven daily. Leave it 4 weeks and it'll start on the button, battery never goes flat, it never overheats and always puts a smile on my face.
People who tuck them up in bed at night in a carcoon & tartan blanket, with a trickle charger and pay for £700 services every six months will say they're expensive to maintain. But then life's expensive, if you sit on the kerb dropping £10 notes into the storm drain.
In short....make sure it's solid underneath, especially the outriggers. The engine's a basic Rover V8 with a clever exhaust manifold, good solid engines. 95 onwards cars have the T5 gearbox, a fine piece of kit that prefers rush changes than pootering around town. All the diffs whine, although not excessively.
Then just check common sense parts....matching tyres on each axle with even tread, ask the owner what fuel they run it on, find out what oil they use. You can soon tell if someone's genuinely looked after it.
Dodgey electrics can be rectified with an afternoon, some wire, a multimeter and some connectors. Most TVR's have "niggles" not faults! Use them as a bargaining tool, then set about putting them right.
That said, ours came with odd budget tyres, stone chips, a dodgey LED on the dash, mist in the rear lens, loads of scrapes and scratches and the guy selling wasn't the guy on the V5! But aslong you know you're not into something dodgey and go in with your eyes open you'll not be ripped off. Ours turned out to be solid underneath, and two previous owners contacted me through vids of it on Youtube saying it was a great car and the most reliable TVR they'd had.
It's one of the most reliable cars I've had full stop. Nows the time to buy too, I say get one!
They're not as bad as people say. Had a 4.0 for over a year now, it's never complained. Only thing we changed was the clutch as the original was on 80k miles roughly. I thought that was fair enough, otherwise it could be driven daily. Leave it 4 weeks and it'll start on the button, battery never goes flat, it never overheats and always puts a smile on my face.
People who tuck them up in bed at night in a carcoon & tartan blanket, with a trickle charger and pay for £700 services every six months will say they're expensive to maintain. But then life's expensive, if you sit on the kerb dropping £10 notes into the storm drain.
In short....make sure it's solid underneath, especially the outriggers. The engine's a basic Rover V8 with a clever exhaust manifold, good solid engines. 95 onwards cars have the T5 gearbox, a fine piece of kit that prefers rush changes than pootering around town. All the diffs whine, although not excessively.
Then just check common sense parts....matching tyres on each axle with even tread, ask the owner what fuel they run it on, find out what oil they use. You can soon tell if someone's genuinely looked after it.
Dodgey electrics can be rectified with an afternoon, some wire, a multimeter and some connectors. Most TVR's have "niggles" not faults! Use them as a bargaining tool, then set about putting them right.
That said, ours came with odd budget tyres, stone chips, a dodgey LED on the dash, mist in the rear lens, loads of scrapes and scratches and the guy selling wasn't the guy on the V5! But aslong you know you're not into something dodgey and go in with your eyes open you'll not be ripped off. Ours turned out to be solid underneath, and two previous owners contacted me through vids of it on Youtube saying it was a great car and the most reliable TVR they'd had.
It's one of the most reliable cars I've had full stop. Nows the time to buy too, I say get one!
Agreeing with what's been said, I've had mine for over 2 years now and the only thing that's gone wrong has been a clutch master cylinder seal. £50 and an hour of my time and it was good as new. I have spent a small (make that large) fortune on the car however but that's been upgrades and original parts were all fine and have been sold on to happy buyers. If you know how to pick up a spanner, you can easily service it yourself which brings running costs down even more. That said, its nearly 14 years old... there's every chance something may break, but thats just the luck of the draw. Most things are pretty cheap to fix on a Chim anyway 
Have a look at my old car on my profile for a good example of costs over 3 years and 34000 miles. They can be expensive to run but preventative maintenance is key with these cars.
Ensure you buy one with a good chassis and full history and you should be fine. The RV8 engine is pretty bullet proof if maintained correctly, shocks do go and cams can wear around 60k. Also check condition of the driveshafts as these are another weak point if the car has been used as TVR intended.
The one you're looking at does look nice but be aware it is at the bottom end of the market so please check carefully. There are many bargains to be had at the moment (especially in this financial mkt) but be aware if you do buy a lemon it WILL cost you a fortune - just ask TVRMoneypit on here.
Ensure you buy one with a good chassis and full history and you should be fine. The RV8 engine is pretty bullet proof if maintained correctly, shocks do go and cams can wear around 60k. Also check condition of the driveshafts as these are another weak point if the car has been used as TVR intended.
The one you're looking at does look nice but be aware it is at the bottom end of the market so please check carefully. There are many bargains to be had at the moment (especially in this financial mkt) but be aware if you do buy a lemon it WILL cost you a fortune - just ask TVRMoneypit on here.
kenny Chim 4 said:
A car of that age and mileage can be easily maintained by an independent garage and you could have a 6000 mile service for as little as £150 should there be nothing major needing seeing to.
I've seen the 6,000 mile service schedule that the TVR independents use and with parts & labour I don't know of any garage that would do the job for £150...unfortunately.
Kitchski said:
I'd go for it, although the colour combo is a bit old man for me.
People who tuck them up in bed at night in a carcoon & tartan blanket, with a trickle charger and pay for £700 services every six months will say they're expensive to maintain. But then life's expensive, if you sit on the kerb dropping £10 notes into the storm drain.
Bit old man, you must be joking... that red is luuuuurvely... and the fastest colour into the bargain....People who tuck them up in bed at night in a carcoon & tartan blanket, with a trickle charger and pay for £700 services every six months will say they're expensive to maintain. But then life's expensive, if you sit on the kerb dropping £10 notes into the storm drain.
I was one of those people who use tartan blanket, trickle charger and expensive servicing... I say one, because I managed to find a good indie who services it for a fraction of what I used to pay... mind you I still swear by the blanket, and I wouldn't be without the trickle charger for the world.
You'll find it completely different to the 330... raw power, not a single creature comfort in sight and not nice in the rain and poor weather IMHO... traction aside, it's not a pleasant experience when you have to drive with windows up and top on etc... these babies were made for the middle of summer when you get out there with the wind in your hair.... from my memories of having hair!!
jimothy said:
£5K... My god prices are dropping. My head was telling me to sell mine as I hardly do any mileage, but at that price I might as well keep it.
Really glad I sold mine when I did - got £8750 for a similar mileage 97 400 back at the start of October.Mind you - some dealers are still looking for ridiculous prices for Chims at the moment, surely they can't be selling any?
this is a tec forum so you only read about problems,not about all the cars without problems.ive had my car 4 years now done 22k and paid abot 1k for servicing and tyres with no real issues.you have to realise these are not beamers and sometimes you have to get your hands dirty,but thats all part of the fun imo.
Zippee said:
jimothy said:
£5K... My god prices are dropping. My head was telling me to sell mine as I hardly do any mileage, but at that price I might as well keep it.
Really glad I sold mine when I did - got £8750 for a similar mileage 97 400 back at the start of October.Mind you - some dealers are still looking for ridiculous prices for Chims at the moment, surely they can't be selling any?
You can spend over £1k just to replace a noisy diff (just an eg), it doesn't take long to make up that difference.
Very rarely do good cars sell cheap, nowadays everyone knows the worth of everything.
A £150 service would be very VERY cheap. 
Mine does less than 6k a year and servive/MOT time I expect a bill in the region on £300 if nothing needs doing.
Obviously bits wear out like any car but most bits are not that expensive and if you know one end of a spanner from the other a lot of things can be done yourself for peanuts, eg standard front brake discs and pads could be done for under £60
Go for it, not the best time of year to learn to drive it but with those prices it's the best time of year to buy.
Mine does less than 6k a year and servive/MOT time I expect a bill in the region on £300 if nothing needs doing.
Obviously bits wear out like any car but most bits are not that expensive and if you know one end of a spanner from the other a lot of things can be done yourself for peanuts, eg standard front brake discs and pads could be done for under £60
Go for it, not the best time of year to learn to drive it but with those prices it's the best time of year to buy.
You will have to spend some money on your tvr.maybe the odd exhaust manifold gasket,differential seal,wishbone bushes,maybe a camshaft!and then you might want to buy new suspension,or tune it slightly;but hopefully it wont depreciate like the bmw,and it will feel a bit more "special"
Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff