Griffith as daily drive

[fergus3060]

Good morning,

Just wondering if anyone uses a Griff as their daily drive. Good/bad choice? I do a fair number of miles (15k p/a) so I guess the fuel cost would be fairly high, but really its reliability I'm after. I currently have a Skoda Octavia and a T350 but thinking of freeing up some cash and consolidating to one car.

The Skoda is obviously a very different vehicle and I wouldn't expect that level of 'get in and go' reliability, but I wonder if a Griff would be any better than the T350, which is great fun but I always have a level of stress that it's going to break down on me.

Thanks

[8Speed]

TVRs are much less likely to break down if they're used regularly & properly maintained.
Cars with very low mileage are usually the ones that suffer problems.

[Englishman]

I used to do ~25K miles per annum for work and pleasure, usually split between two cars, always sports cars, often TVR's, including a couple of Griff 500's.

If you maintain TVR's properly, they will be as reliable as any other car. In fact, given even the last models are 15 years old now, they are holding up pretty well IMHO.

I'm surprised you worry about the T350 as fully sorted they are very good. A good Griff is also fine but obviously they will be noisier when it comes to wind noise, being a convertible. As always, suggest you try a few as there is a massive difference between individual examples and it isn't always the most expensive ones that are the best. Good luck!

[fergus3060]

The T350 has stung me a couple of times for some fairly large bills so I suppose that feeling is hard to shake, even though it's probably in the best shape of it's life now.

[TR4man]

fergus3060 said:

even though it's probably in the best shape of it's life now.

Could that be the reason to try daily driving it then?

[Englishman]

TR4man said:

fergus3060 said:

even though it's probably in the best shape of it's life now.

Could that be the reason to try daily driving it then?

Yep. My experience is if you spend until they are right, they are solid cars.

[TV8]

You can do but do you want to? I ran an old Boxster as a daily for nearly 3 years (until Oct last year) and it has its moments, good and bad!

[ESDavey]

I would guess that any TVR which is 15+ years old will be similar re reliability. Electrics are the #1 issue and age makes them fragile. My Griffith has failed twice, 100amp fuse and Immobiliser. Not expensive to fix and very good over 50,000 miles of driving. I set off across Europe every summer with a level of pending doom with RAC + Credit card at the ready !

Maybe sell both and buy a Merc SLK, BMW z4 or Boxer which will have a lower chance of failure BUT when they do, it could be expensive !

[Monkeylegend]

The problem I see with using these cars as a daily is that they very quickly stop becoming special and all the little quirks you love and accept when they are weekend toys soon become a source of irritation.

For me they are best left for those times when you want to drive something a bit different, less mundane, and arrive home after a day out thinking "that was special, I must do it again sometime"

Both my TVRs were well looked after but I spent most of my time when driving looking at the temp gauge and worrying about queues of traffic, not enjoying heat soak on a hot day, and hoping they would still be where I left them parked when I got back.

Keep them special.

Ironically though in hindsight I do wish I had driven them more often

Edited by Monkeylegend on Sunday 29th March 10:21

[bad company]

Mrs BC used our Chim 500 as her daily driver for a number of years. She was doing about 8000 miles so around half of those the op is considering. She had no problems but at 15000 miles I’d prefer something more comfortable.

[BIG DUNC]

I ran my 350i as a daily driver.

If it wasn't for the fact that most of the time now I need rear seats and a / or a tow hook, I would happily use the Griff as a daily driver.

[fergus3060]

Thanks all, seems like a well looked after griff would cope with the miles, but maybe keeping a bit of a banger alongside might be a better plan. T350 is on the market so will see what happens with it, I suspect it might not move for a little while given our current situation.

[FFMan]

for me this question is as much about usability as it is reliability.

On my 500, the heating is a bit hit and miss, the window demisting poor, the headlights fairly crap and the wipers not great - all judged against my 15 year old 3 series.

Driving all year means cold, icy, dark and torrential rain, all of which conspire to make your journey more stressful and elevate risk to you and motor.

i sort of envy those people who use TVRs as daily drivers, but after a long winters work day with sleet and a 50 mile drive ahead i'd take the bmw any day. Also, you might ruin your enjoyment of the Griff by over doing it.

Just my two-penneth

[JulianHJ]

I tried (albeit nearly 20 years ago) and it wasn't great. Frequent mechanical issues, leaks, terrible fuel consumption. It took away the specialness of the car. Your experience may vary of course.

[Moose v8]

Have to agree mine being early Griff crap heater, poor headlights, no power steering Use c class merc as everyday smoker like chalk & cheese to drive , smiles per mile Griff wins by a country mile 😁

[Corky]

FFMan said:

for me this question is as much about usability as it is reliability.

On my 500, the heating is a bit hit and miss, the window demisting poor, the headlights fairly crap and the wipers not great - all judged against my 15 year old 3 series.

Driving all year means cold, icy, dark and torrential rain, all of which conspire to make your journey more stressful and elevate risk to you and motor.

i sort of envy those people who use TVRs as daily drivers, but after a long winters work day with sleet and a 50 mile drive ahead i'd take the bmw any day. Also, you might ruin your enjoyment of the Griff by over doing it.

Just my two-penneth

Plus one, I did 100k in mine, fantastic cars, but not daily drivers, all IMHO of course.