Help Please

Help Please

Author
Discussion

Karl Onyett

Original Poster:

29 posts

259 months

Monday 7th October 2002
quotequote all
Hi all i'm new to this forum and need some advice i'm looking at getting a 98R 4.2 Cerbera and need to know what to look out for when buying one, What problems do they get the most, people who i have spoken to about one have told me how unreliable they can be, I will only be doing about 7k miles a year in it, and may be a couple of trackdays also where can i get the front light conversion done and how much does it cost,

Thanks Karl

[url]www.BHPclub.co.uk[/url]

MikeyT

16,596 posts

272 months

Tuesday 8th October 2002
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Karl, as with all things Cerbie, get the best one you can afford keeping about 3k a year clear for servicing/general things.

7k a year shouldn't hopefully present yopu with too many problems if you're getting a good 'un. You can't beat getting the car looked at by an independent – even if buying from a dealer sometimes. I believe Joolz is the man in this respect.

Always get a good warranty if buying from a dealer/independent as well.

An hour or two spent trawling the threads on here will have you more knowledgeable on Cerbs than your average man in the street or whatever and is time well spent. Every type of problem is covered in these threads.

ro_butler

795 posts

272 months

Tuesday 8th October 2002
quotequote all
Light conversion costs about £1k (or 1200 in my case) including a front end respray.

TVRBodyshop did mine and made a good job of it.

Rob.

Karl Onyett

Original Poster:

29 posts

259 months

Tuesday 8th October 2002
quotequote all
Thanks for the help, I will be going to look at one tomorrow with 49K miles on the clock and just had the 48k service that cost 6 grand so he tells me, is it better to try and get one with about 20k miles, i have been told the tappets can wear very quickly is this true

karl

ro_butler

795 posts

272 months

Wednesday 9th October 2002
quotequote all
6K!!!!!! That is about the cost of an engine rebuild. Find out what he had done, and if he kept all the receipts.

mycerbera

413 posts

268 months

Wednesday 9th October 2002
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Karl,
See my ad in the Cerbera classifieds section, C8ERA, well worth a look! Suit you sir!

whatever

2,174 posts

271 months

Wednesday 9th October 2002
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quote:

Karl,
See my ad in the Cerbera classifieds section, C8ERA, well worth a look! Suit you sir!



Is there an echo in here?

whatever

2,174 posts

271 months

Wednesday 9th October 2002
quotequote all
quote:

Hi all i'm new to this forum and need some advice i'm looking at getting a 98R 4.2 Cerbera and need to know what to look out for when buying one, What problems do they get the most, people who i have spoken to about one have told me how unreliable they can be, I will only be doing about 7k miles a year in it, and may be a couple of trackdays also where can i get the front light conversion done and how much does it cost,

Thanks Karl




Hi Karl

You're one of many people who seem to be trying to convince themselves that they want a Cerbera!

Take a test drive (if you haven't already) -- that's usually all the convincing a person needs.

I think, though, that these sorts of questions have been covered quite a bit over the last few weeks/months. Have a dig around. In short -- leaks (both stuff getting in and stuff getting out), check all electrics, good oil pressure at start up (50psi cold, 40psi hot albeit with some margin of error in the gauge), good "go", nice gear change when cold. And take it easy when the engine oil is cold.

What problem most? All of them no, seriously, they're mostly not all that bad. But if there's anything not quite right, sort it straight away as they get worse quickly. That's what you need to judge whether the previous owner has done or not.



Ted -- perhaps we could get a collation of the posts on these sorts of threads and sort out a "I want to buy a cerbera but I'm scared it'll cost me more than an arm and a leg and never run for more than a week at a time and how do I know if it's been well looked after" FAQ type thing. Assuming you're reading this, that is...

Karl Onyett

Original Poster:

29 posts

259 months

Wednesday 9th October 2002
quotequote all
Thanks for your help people i have had a good look at all the posts on this site and found out a hell of alot of info thanks to all you lot hopefully i will find a nice one soon,
I can't wait i've only tested a couple of 4.2's so far and been very impressed very big smiles

karl