West Yorkshire!!

[lig]

Hello there,

I currently have an Elise and have had such bad dealer service that i am going to sell it and i am thinking of buying an old Griff (pre cat 4.3BV seems to be everyones favourite)??, and i need some advice.....is there someone in WY that i can trust (good service wont rip me off) for serviceing and maintenance etc..?? i know there is one in Harrogate (horseless carriages) but i think this a main dealer and will probably be expensive??

all advice welcome (also on which model to buy)!!!

Regards,

Lig.

[mrmaggit]

You'll be talking about Joolz at Joospeed in Chesterfield.

[lig]

Cheers for the reply mrmaggit, but i was kind of hoping that there was somewhere closer!! I should have said i live in Ilkley West Yorkshire, is chesterfield in West yorks????

Lig.

[mrmaggit]

Depends how observant you are!

[_DJ_]

I suppose it's either down the m62 to Stockport or the M1 to Chesterfield (neither of which are in Yorkshire, nevermind West Yorkshire). There's also a specialist in North Yorks (Boroughbridge).

[lig]

Cheers DJ, Boroughbridge is a lot closer, can you tell me the name of the specialist??

Lig.

[gemini]

ITs TJ Motors
Tell him North Yorks TVRCC RO sent ya!
contact details on nytvrcc web site

[burriana500]

lig said:

all advice welcome (also on which model to buy)!!!

Griffith 500... you know it makes sense

And you'll find there are a lot of TVR drivers in and around W.Yorks that get together pretty frequently for general mayhem and lunacy ... there'll be some pretty dodgy pics from the weekend around soon if not allready that will prove my case

[j_s_g]

lig said:

I currently have an Elise and have had such bad dealer service that i am going to sell it and i am thinking of buying an old Griff

Can I ask if that's a certain licensed Lotus dealer a little South-East of you that has other fancy (and more foreign) dealership licenses too? Without mentioning any names online, of course. If so, they frigged my Elise costing me £700 when they serviced it, not to mention that they switched my front tyres (with plenty of tread left) for two that were through to the steel! They're still on my hit-list for revenge...

For the TVR, I found the time (from Huddersfield) to drive to Chris Neil's in Cheshire, Harrogate Horseless Carriages, or Joospeed in Sheffield was just about the same. Chris Neil's worked out much cheaper than HHC, so I get the servicing (and dealer stamp) from there. Anything else, and it'll be in the very capable (and less expensive) hands of Joolz. Especially now I've moved closer to Chesterfield.

Without knowing what kind of driving you like, I can't recommend a particular model. But I moved from the Elise to the Cerb and am *very* happy with it. Having to spend a bit of money doing up the suspension, but it's a totally different (and *much* nicer at >60mph) drive.

[burriana500]

j_s_g said:

(and *much* nicer at >60mph) drive.

Bag 'o' nails <60 mind you



ooooonly joking - to hear JS pedal to the metal taking a sling shot down a certain slip road is a sound to behold indeed oh

and with a proper V8 under his bonnet he'd sound awesome

[j_s_g]

burriana500 said:

ooooonly joking - to hear JS pedal to the metal taking a sling shot down a certain slip road is a sound to behold indeed oh

It's amazing how it seemed like I was going much, much faster than the legal 70mph I was obviously doing... must be the sports 'zorst.

[Lig]

Hi JSG, yep you guessed right, about the dealer that is, they currently have my elise for servicing and have quoted me to 'skim the rear discs ("to save me money") and put on new pads', the nice cheap price of £395!!! can you believe it!! I can get genuine Lotus parts (new discs and pads) and fitted at my local tyre place all in for £110, how can they justify £400?? this is one of the reasons why i have decided to get an older car as my Liz is 18months old.

As for my driving, i dont really use the 'track handling' much as i have done 18k miles and there is still loads of tread on every tyre. I think i am quite a tame driver really. I went to Harrogate HC and they advised me to get the newest i could afford (a rougher 500 would be a better buy than an older 4.3) but i guess its hard to say?? initially i quite fancied a precat but now am warming to a 500, what do you say.??

[burriana500]

Get one

and quick!

[j_s_g]

Lig said:

Hi JSG, yep you guessed right, about the dealer that is, they currently have my elise for servicing and have quoted me to 'skim the rear discs ("to save me money") and put on new pads', the nice cheap price of £395!!! can you believe it!! I can get genuine Lotus parts (new discs and pads) and fitted at my local tyre place all in for £110, how can they justify £400?? this is one of the reasons why i have decided to get an older car as my Liz is 18months old.

Skimming the discs? Hmmmm... I wouldn't advise that unless you're really strapped for cash/wanting to sell straight away () - not a good idea, in my opinion.

Lig said:

I went to Harrogate HC and they advised me to get the newest i could afford (a rougher 500 would be a better buy than an older 4.3) but i guess its hard to say?? initially i quite fancied a precat but now am warming to a 500, what do you say.??

I say drive as many as you possibly can, and buy the one that gives you the best overall "feeling". That includes good handling, good history, knowledgeable previous owners (if possible), reliable car, etc. I'd probably put straight-line performance at the bottom of the list, as that's easily improved with the savings you'll make from not having a lemon (no matter how new) blow up on you. Having said that, the newer the car, the more likely it is to have design niggles ironed out.

I'm no Grif expert, so I'm sure one of the guys on this forum can give you the exact details of issues. However, if you've got an 18 month old Elise, the (private sale) value of that must be pretty close to the cost of an early 2nd hand Tamora?

[lig]

yeah probably would be close to a Tamora, but i also have a 96' golf VR6 which i use for motorway driving and i cant justify having that amount of money sitting in the garden all week!! and i wouldnt want to use the TVR for work as i often park in dodgy car parks and i would worry about it (that is why i bought the golf in the first place). So back to the Griff, I also fancy an older car because i want to learn about it and repair it myself and i will feel easier doing that on an old car. I have just bought the TVR 'bible' to help me along the way!! Did you say you lived in W yorks??

[tvrinbfg]

Come to the Yorkshire and Humberside TVRCC meeting on Monday. It's in Esholt near Shipley from 2000 hrs ish. There will be a number of Griffith owners you can speak to.

[cess]

..........or come to the West Yorks lot do at Ossett this Saturday evening, have a look at www.tvrcc-westyorks.co.uk for details.
Don't just look at TVR specialists for servicing either - there are some very good, very enthusiastic garages around West Yorks - most of us use none specialists!
Cheers
Tony

[barbon]

Contact me ,I also live in Ilkley and have a 4.3BV , will give you lots of advice if i can.

[j_s_g]

lig said:

Did you say you lived in W yorks??

I was in Huddersfield, as is Burriana500 (currently). I've just moved down to Derby, and he's off to East Yorkshire shortly. There are plenty of other TVR owners in the area that are up for drinks/drives, though, and I'm back up all the time anyway. Just give me a shout if you want a spin in a Cerb at any point.

[burriana500]

Blimey! ... where are all these new names cropping up from? ... and more importantly, why haven't you been out on some of our runs

Lig - where abouts do you live? If you're free on Sunday 14 March a run is being planned, possibly around the Pennines this time - keep an eye on the Yorkshire forum.

al