Running Costs of a Griffith 500

[fsulaim2]

Hi guys,

I have recently sold my Mitsubishi Evolution....and am now starting to scout for possible replacement performance cars.

Though the Cerbera is my all time favourite, I cannot bring myself to part with 1 penny on a car of 'not so good' build quality and reliability.

I am looking at the Griffith 500 as an alternative (not hugely keen on the Chimaera).

Can some one please give me an indication of the typical running costs of Griffith 500 over a 12 months period ? I am expecting this to be signnificantly lower than a Cerby.

Ignore insurance, tyres and fuel. Assume 5k miles a year

Service Costs - Assume a TVR specialist (What are the service intervals?)
Maintenance and Repair ? I assume the Rover V8 is much more reliable than the AJPV8 unit.

Any advice, tips or experiences would be appreciated.

Thanks.



>> Edited by fsulaim2 on Thursday 1st June 22:00

[victormeldrew]

Budget on £2k a year and you won't go far wrong.

[UpTheIron]

fsulaim2 said:

Though the Cerbera is my all time favourite, I cannot bring myself to part with 1 penny on a car of shameful build quality and reliability. I am looking at the Griffith 500 as an alternative (not hugely keen on the Chimaera).

Can you expand on the the above? The only difference between a late Chim and late Griff is the bodyshell - did you mean something other than looks?

"Shameful" is rather strong, and makes me wonder what you expect of a Griff....?

[g-boy]

get a good one and you wont need to spend as much.

buy the steve heath book, do your research. make sure you get a recently serviced car and check the report. main things are chassis, engine temperature, oil pressure and general under bonnet rattles and tapping. engine should be loud but smooth sounding. good luck

[ncs]

victormeldrew said:

Budget on £2k a year and you won't go far wrong.

Thats what I was going to say.

If you want to have a chat with some Kent locals give me a shout - happy to help

Nick
SE London & NW Kent TVRCC

[fsulaim2]

UpTheIron said:

Can you expand on the the above? The only difference between a late Chim and late Griff is the bodyshell - did you mean something other than looks? "Shameful" is rather strong, and makes me wonder what you expect of a Griff....?

Perhaps 'shameful' is a strong word. I will tone it down to 'not so good'.

I was actually refering to the Cerbera..... not the Chimaera. The Chimaera does not appeal to me in the way that a Griffith does...but this is just a personal preference and is purely from a cosmetic point of view.

I have done a lot of backround reading on the Cerbera and I am horrified by the concept of owning one. To me the Cerbera is one big Product Development excercise...where the customer is the guinea pig.

[UpTheIron]

fsulaim2 said:

I was actually refering to the Cerbera..... not the Chimaera.

I realised that, although having re-read my reply it didn't make it clear. My second point was along the lines that if Cerb ownership scares you, how would you feel about Griff ownership that is likely to cost you at least 50% of the Cerb ownership that horrifies you.

Not criticising or trying to put you off, but there are not that far apart in terms of ownership costs, niggles and erm, character

[fsulaim2]

ncs said:

victormeldrew said: Budget on £2k a year and you won't go far wrong. Thats what I was going to say. If you want to have a chat with some Kent locals give me a shout - happy to help Nick SE London & NW Kent TVRCC

Hi Nick,

Thank you for your kind offer. I will for sure be in touch very soon. I just have a few housing expenses...and then I can pay some attention to start looking at cars.

£2,000 does not sound too bad. Not too bad at all. Actually not much more than my Evolution....

[wassy]

£2k a year ! that seems like a lot.
Pay a bit more for a good car and enjoy it. Mine has cost me about £600 a year for servicing etc and i'm into my fourth year of ownership.

[FourWheelDrift]

Not including servicing (or fuel ) in 10 months I've spent £2.95. Bought 2 100A fuses to replace one that blew and one as a spare.

Costs depends on condition, age, use and abuse.

[F C B P]

FourWheelDrift said:

Not including servicing (or fuel ) in 10 months I've spent £2.95. Bought 2 100A fuses to replace one that blew and one as a spare. Costs depends on condition, age, use and abuse.

..and luck

[fsulaim2]

UpTheIron said:

I realised that, although having re-read my reply it didn't make it clear. My second point was along the lines that if Cerb ownership scares you, how would you feel about Griff ownership that is likely to cost you at least 50% of the Cerb ownership that horrifies you. Not criticising or trying to put you off, but there are not that far apart in terms of ownership costs, niggles and erm, character

I appreciate that it will not be a cheap car to run or maintain....but 50% is a huge difference in total running costs ! Also incrementally...I dont think a Griffith will cost much more than my Evolution to run and maintain....so psychologically...I can cope with this more.

I can accept small niggles etc...but I have heard absolute horror stories with the Cerberas. Too many to be just 'special incidences'. Infact...people on the 'Cerbera' Forum have advised me to budget £5-6k a year in just repair and maintanence !



>> Edited by fsulaim2 on Thursday 1st June 22:04

[Ballistic Banana]

I agree with wassy I do 3-5k a year and probably spend £2-3k all in.

BB

[UpTheIron]

fsulaim2 said:

I can accept small niggles etc...

OK, OK, grilling over!!!

My profile has some examples of Chimaera running costs (basically the same car as a Griff, only better looking ). My second Chim was probably pretty much as bad as it can get, other than perhaps adding in a top end rebuild and cam (50k mile type stuff), so should give you a pretty good idea.

At 5k miles/year, most of what has already been said on here is about right - £2k-3k/year should be plenty - but it is likely to be an uneven spend - one service / £1k year, but then the odd big bill will bite when you aren't expecting it!

Good luck.

[fsulaim2]

UpTheIron said:

fsulaim2 said: I can accept small niggles etc... OK, OK, grilling over!!! My profile has some examples of Chimaera running costs (basically the same car as a Griff, only better looking ). My second Chim was probably pretty much as bad as it can get, other than perhaps adding in a top end rebuild and cam (50k mile type stuff), so should give you a pretty good idea. At 5k miles/year, most of what has already been said on here is about right - £2k-3k/year should be plenty - but it is likely to be an uneven spend - one service / £1k year, but then the odd big bill will bite when you aren't expecting it! Good luck.

Thanks mate. All comments and advice are more than welcome.

I am a total novice to the world of TVRs.... so a grilling is perfectly fine !

>> Edited by fsulaim2 on Thursday 1st June 22:07

[wassy]

Oh Ballistic one, you agree. Does that mean i'm not Woosie any more !

[Ballistic Banana]

wassy said:

Oh Ballistic one, you agree. Does that mean i'm not Woosie any more !

Pardon

[richb]

Ballistic Banana said:

I agree with wassy I do 3-5k a year and probably spend £2-3k all in. BB

But the bloke said ignore insurance, tyres etc. so what does that leave? Service and occasional repairs. I do 6k per year and get it serviced annually by Racing Green or Austec and spend about £5-600 on servicing. Other expense like Magnacor leads, Bosch injectors, Tornado chips, rolling roads, Nitrons etc. cannot be considered as necessary expense it's my choice. I can't see how you could £2,000 annually on servicing? Rich...

>> Edited by richb on Thursday 1st June 22:20

[wassy]

[wassy]

22:04
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

fsulaim2 said:I can accept small niggles etc...

OK, OK, grilling over!!!

My profile has some examples of Chimaera running costs (basically the same car as a Griff, only better looking ). My second Chim was probably pretty much as bad as it can get, other than perhaps adding in a top end rebuild and cam (50k mile type stuff), so should give you a pretty good idea.

At 5k miles/year, most of what has already been said on here is about right - £2k-3k/year should be plenty - but it is likely to be an uneven spend - one service / £1k year, but then the odd big bill will bite when you aren't expecting it!

Good luck.

Better looking ! Should have gone to Specsavers.