Tuscan opinions

[PrinceRupert]

Fattyfat said:

No trips planned this year but a kind offer which I'll keep track of.

No problem. For reference, my car had a Str8Six rebuild 15k miles / four years before I bought, and a respray (in flip paint) a few years I bought so bodywork was immaculate (no longer, bloody stone chips). Interior is in decent condition though the carpets are pretty faded and the leather to the seats (particularly driver's bolster) is a little tired. Chassis was immaculate. Good history and mechanically sound. I reckon it would have been 25k private sale. So for that sort of money, if you're willing to go Mk1 / not too worried about miles, you can get a decent car.

[Fattyfat]

Seems to be a gap in my budget and the car I'd ideally want so I think I'll be holding off for a while. The vendors of the 'cheap' car weren't for entertaining any offers and that's probably no bad thing, for me anyway.

Will see what pops up on the market in due course. Chimaera is still on the radar but I now fear buying one and then thinking I should've held out for a Tuscan

So, for now...

Cheers, FF

[Shnozz]

Fattyfat said:

Seems to be a gap in my budget and the car I'd ideally want so I think I'll be holding off for a while. The vendors of the 'cheap' car weren't for entertaining any offers and that's probably no bad thing, for me anyway.

Will see what pops up on the market in due course. Chimaera is still on the radar but I now fear buying one and then thinking I should've held out for a Tuscan

So, for now...

Cheers, FF

At £20k I’m not surprised. Think if you can’t stretch to that you might be saving a long while to find another for anywhere near that price point.

Regardless, if cash is that tight I’m not sure I’d want to be running a speed 6 TVR.

[Fattyfat]

Shnozz said:

At £20k I’m not surprised. Think if you can’t stretch to that you might be saving a long while to find another for anywhere near that price point.

Regardless, if cash is that tight I’m not sure I’d want to be running a speed 6 TVR.

Should've clarified better. My budget for a toy was 20K. The car I viewed is 20K but really wants a lot of money spending on it, there's no wiggle room for necessary refurbishment. That makes it poor value compared to a more sorted example IMHO. After doing plenty of research I'd be better looking at a car with the desirable rebuild etc. That's realistically a 25-30K (or more) proposition. If I spend that now I'll likely end up divorced!!

Associated running costs are fine, buying the wrong car to start with isn't.

Cheers, FF

[8Speed]

I would be looking for a nice Chimaera, you'll find a pretty good one for £20k if you check it out properly.

[so called]

so called said:

I bought my first Tuscan, a year 2000 model, in 2006 with 70k miles.
It had had a factory rebuild at 35k and yes, it needed another one as soon as I bought it.
The point being that a factory rebuild is not necessarily good.
Indy rebuilds are better. Straight6, TVR Power etc.

After the initial rebuild expenses, I used it as my daily driving back and to to Germany for work and loved every minute of it until it got written off in 2009.
It was reliable and great fun.

I bought my current Tuscan Convertible in 2009, which I love, and have taken it 30k to around 87k miles in the past 14 years.
It's been to German, Spain and/or Portugal every year between 2009 and 2018 but had a lot less since Covid.
Still love it.

Just to be clear on my post above, when I bought my first Tuscan, I didn't realize that it would need a rebuild straight away.
It managed 34 miles before it went off to the garage.
I got it back 5 months later along with a repair bill of £11,500.

Be careful, be very careful.
(I wasn't).

[Fattyfat]

8Speed said:

I would be looking for a nice Chimaera, you'll find a pretty good one for £20k if you check it out properly.

Which I have done. Bought a 1999 Chimaera 400 for well below budget. I might even keep a clean licence too!

[BEARDYB0Y]

Fattyfat said:

Which I have done. Bought a 1999 Chimaera 400 for well below budget. I might even keep a clean licence too!

Congratulations, welcome to the clan! When do you pick it up?

Only one thing missing... We need pictures!