Are TVR's Quality cars?

Are TVR's Quality cars?

Author
Discussion

ribol

Original Poster:

11,200 posts

257 months

Thursday 5th December 2002
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Some people on these pages genuinely believe that TVRs are a quality hand built thoroughbred, prepare yourself for a shock. TVRs are an enthusiast’s car, one bought by people who don’t mind them being not very reliable and not particularly well put together and do not mind fixing them, I am one such person. I wanted one, have bought it and enjoy it every time I drive it but I know enough about cars to know exactly what it is. The parts that work reliably on the car are not TVR components they are from specialist thoroughbred car builders like Fords, Vauxhall, VW etc. TVR now produce their own engines, needless to say they will be reliable and put the cheapo Rover unit to shame, yeh - and the three bears. Personally I will never run one of the new breed of TVRs, any car with an engine that is mounted on Velcro would not suit my needs. The quality issues with TVRs are very well documented on these pages, in fact you could probably take all the info which is freely available on these pages put it all together and even write a book about the subject.

Has it never occurred to anyone that if these cars were built and designed better they would not need so much “specialist” attention in the first place, any complications running them stems from there. I find some of the stuff on here quite amusing, the “oil pump issue” as it has been called is the current myth. I didn’t realise I drove a car with such a high tech engine that if you answer the phone mid oil change you risk damaging the engine; must get Santa to bring me an answer phone. A V12 Ferrari has twin upright oil filters and yes there is a right way of fitting them but with all due respect it has an oh so slightly more complicated setup than my TVR.

I like my Chim, it’s quick, it gives me something to tinker with and it is a pleasure to drive about in on a nice sunny day and I would not be without it which is why it has a place in my garage. Would I like to tour Europe in the rain without RAC cover – not really. I was lucky enough to buy a good one - is a TVR a good quality car - you tell me?

Ivan

Rosso Paul

1,080 posts

266 months

Thursday 5th December 2002
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Trying to be controversial are we?

Signed, a happy TVR owner.
Paul

>> Edited by Rosso Paul on Thursday 5th December 18:13

Rosso Paul

1,080 posts

266 months

Thursday 5th December 2002
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Edited 'cos every time I post it arrives twice!
Paul

>> Edited by Rosso Paul on Thursday 5th December 18:11

2 Sheds

2,529 posts

283 months

Thursday 5th December 2002
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From an owner of various British sports cars i would say that my 10 year old Griff is a good quality car, for its type. i.e low volume, then 24 grand, 2 seater.
Tim

ribol

Original Poster:

11,200 posts

257 months

Thursday 5th December 2002
quotequote all

Rosso Paul said: Trying to be controversial are we?

Signed, a happy TVR owner.
Paul

>> Edited by Rosso Paul on Thursday 5th December 18:13


Who? Me?

ribol

Original Poster:

11,200 posts

257 months

Thursday 5th December 2002
quotequote all

2 Sheds said: From an owner of various British sports cars i would say that my 10 year old Griff is a good quality car, for its type. i.e low volume, then 24 grand, 2 seater.
Tim


Would you spend £39/40K on one today?

Ivan

shpub

8,507 posts

271 months

Thursday 5th December 2002
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Oil pump myth is nothing to do with TVR.... characteristic of a Rover or Rover-BMW engine.

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

Don

28,377 posts

283 months

Thursday 5th December 2002
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Interesting thread, ribol. And worthy of note and a reply since rather than being a joke by a non-TVR owner it is a genuine query as to what people think...from a TVR enthusiast and owner.

Or at least...that's how I interpret your post.

Is a TVR a "quality" car? Discuss.

The short answer has to be: "Depends." Doesn't it?

Coming from the frame of reference of an enthusiast why yes it is. The cars are not that fundamentally unreliable. Many, many owners have a good ownership experience - that vast, and somewhat silent, majority I suspect. The interiors are hand-made things of beauty. The Tuscan, in particular, has lovely weighty controls that feel "high quality".

But yes. Stuff goes wrong with them all the time (in my experience). It seems hard to keep on top of it all to the point where our Chimaera is ever "100%". There's always something that will be "fixed at the next service."

Having said that it has let us down (and stopped) only once with a failed water pump - which a Vauxhall Cavalier of my acquaintance managed to do as well...so is it any worse quality than GM's finest?

A TVR *must* be a "quality" car?

No. No. no. no. TVRs are utterly fantastic and I WOULD have a car with a TVR engine. They'll sort it out in the end - already have from what I can tell....for all the problems with some of the early S6 engines.

But "quality"?

Other cars simply do not have little stuff which goes wrong...all the flippin' time. My Porsches have never had a problem with the wing mirrors for example. The speedo has never stopped at 19999. The petrol guages are accurate. The speedo is accurate.....I could go on at length...but we'd be missing the point.

I'd agree with you that a TVR is an enthusiasts car - and you must be ready to put up with a list of niggles. As you point out - they have their rewards.

Which compensate in my view...love 'em.

But "quality"?

Depends what you wanted doesn't it. If quality means "meeting and exceeding expectations" - well a TVR does that alright. More power than you thought possible. More smiles per mile. More camaraderie in the owners club.

More trouble.... well, there we go...

2 Sheds

2,529 posts

283 months

Thursday 5th December 2002
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ribol said:

2 Sheds said: From an owner of various British sports cars i would say that my 10 year old Griff is a good quality car, for its type. i.e low volume, then 24 grand, 2 seater.
Tim


Would you spend £39/40K on one today?

Ivan


No, but to be fare i didn't buy mine new either. older well kept TVRs offer good value, and seem more reliable than new ones, maybe ??
Tim

Maca

146 posts

258 months

Thursday 5th December 2002
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"I was lucky enough to buy a good one - is a TVR a good quality car - you tell me?"
who cares - you parts with the cash and takes what you get.

Pettsie

354 posts

256 months

Thursday 5th December 2002
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I recently bought my 15 year old 350i as a - well - toy! For the same money I could have had an MGB or Morris Minor / Beetle convertable. I know that bits fall off etc but I love the thing. I don't know of a comparable car for the money?

simpo one

85,151 posts

264 months

Thursday 5th December 2002
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'quality hand built thoroughbred'

Quality - honestly, no.
Hand built - yes.
Thoroughbred - if this means 'not containing other people's parts', then no. However, Supermarine Spitfires are described as thoroughbreds and I doubt all their parts were made by Supermarine. I wouldn't like to try keeping one in A1 reliable condition either! Perhaps 'thoroughred' means 'evolved from previous designs' in which case the answer is yes.

But while TVRs are not as bombproof as Nissans or as well-built as Bentleys, they offer value for money (well, at least second-hand they do, not so sure about new ones) on the bang-for-bucks scale. And the looks of course. I'm not aware of any low-volume hand-built car that doesn't have its problems. As PW said, TVR can design an entire car for the money that BMW spend playing with a new dash design.

clint888

101 posts

257 months

Thursday 5th December 2002
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I have my chim which I love dearly. It has a superb engine but kit-car build quality. I only use it in the summer and I NEVER take it on a long journey. It jhas done 19k miles. My second car is a BMW M5 E28 series--it has done 180k miles and is 100% reliable. I would trust it driving round the world---but given a choice I know which car I would keep--the TVR every time--sheer thrill of driving!

ribol

Original Poster:

11,200 posts

257 months

Friday 6th December 2002
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2 Sheds said:

ribol said:

2 Sheds said: From an owner of various British sports cars i would say that my 10 year old Griff is a good quality car, for its type. i.e low volume, then 24 grand, 2 seater.
Tim


Would you spend £39/40K on one today?

Ivan


No, but to be fare i didn't buy mine new either. older well kept TVRs offer good value, and seem more reliable than new ones, maybe ??
Tim




Spot on Tim, I am with you on that one, only problem is will people continue to buy the new ones for us to buy used?

Ivan

K3NJW

448 posts

257 months

Friday 6th December 2002
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My mate Tony and I bought cars at the same time for the same price(ish). £13k bought me an eight year old 4.0l Chimaera and him a brand new Seat 1.8T 20v thingy. My car leaks, his doesn't, mines been serviced twice at the 6,000 mile interval at a total cost of £1,500, his hasn't because it has at 12,000 mile service interval. Mine makes a fantastic noise, the roof comes off, and everyone looks at it as you pass through town. My kids think it's fantastic and it makes my wife feel sick. Is mine a quality car ..... build wise, probably not, the dash creaks, the carpets need replacing due to the leaks, but it makes me smile every time I drive it, which has to be a quality in itself, and it's the only car I've ever driven just for the pure joy of driving it.

rthierry

684 posts

280 months

Friday 6th December 2002
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clint888 said: I have my chim which I love dearly. It has a superb engine but kit-car build quality. I only use it in the summer and I NEVER take it on a long journey. It jhas done 19k miles. My second car is a BMW M5 E28 series--it has done 180k miles and is 100% reliable. I would trust it driving round the world---but given a choice I know which car I would keep--the TVR every time--sheer thrill of driving!


My experience is so different: almost 20,000 miles in a year and the car never let me down. Drove it from Blackpool to St Tropez!

tapchapman

47 posts

264 months

Friday 6th December 2002
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Depends sems the right answer. Mine's a 97R Chimaera and all that happened in the first 4 years was the underfloor spoiler coming off on the M3 (!) and it poured power steering fluid over the garage at 900 miles due to a clip not being done up tight enough. The electrics had a bit of a wobble last month but that's all fixed now (total cost around £100); other than that, it's only been routine service, tyres, batteries, etc.

On the other hand, a fried bought a 5ltr Chimaera three months after me. In the first three months it had the engine replaced and all of the shocks replaced. When it needed a gearbox rebuild he traded in the car.

I'm sure it's the same with any make - there will always be a proportion of badly built versions. Most of us put up with the niggles because you can't buy the level of performance for anything close to the money.

incorrigible

13,668 posts

260 months

Friday 6th December 2002
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K3NJW said: My mate Tony and I bought cars at the same time for the same price(ish). £13k bought me an eight year old 4.0l Chimaera and him a brand new Seat 1.8T 20v thingy. ---more---
But a year down the line yours is almost certainly worh more than his

Paul S

6 posts

256 months

Friday 6th December 2002
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Perhaps I've been lucky but I'm on my second Chimaera and over a five year period neither has let me down or had any mechanical problems. (Including trips to France, Italy and Spain). The current one doesn't even leak. Conversly my Audi has suffered from numerous niggles, had the rear suspension assembly replaced on a recall and a new gear box fitted in 15,000 miles. So which one is the "quality" car?

RichB

51,435 posts

283 months

Friday 6th December 2002
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Hang on a minute your new to TVR ownership yet you’re telling us that we are in for a shock? What have you discovered in 2 months that we aren’t aware of after 5, 10 or 15 years ownership… You tell us that TVR are “not too hot on records”. Now forgive me but if you are new to TVR how do you know this? I have been to the factory a number of times and have actually been impressed by the records they do keep, Mike who does the end-of-build test drives was even able to look up his notes on the test for my first TVR a 1992 S3c, not bad eh? People seem all too ready to “slag-off” the factory without any facts so on what basis do you make your judgement?

Also it’s interesting that you say “The parts that work reliably on the car are not TVR components they are from specialist thoroughbred car builders like Fords, Vauxhall, VW” Well you seem to have an issue with having to prime the oil filter yet your argument is self defeating because (as Steve Heath has already pointed out to you) the engine is a Rover (previously Buick) V8 lump. You must have known that, so why contradict your self? p.s. Did you really refer to Vauxhall as a specialist thoroughbred car builder? Oh, what the heck you’re entitled to your opinion!

I must say Ivan, you will be missing out on a wonderful part of TVR ownership if you only use your car on sunny days, leaving it in it’s place in the garage the rest of the time. If you really know so much about TVRs you will also know that the most reliable ones are those that get regularly driven 12 months of the year, do it your way and it will suffer with those niggles that you seem to have resigned yourself to already, get out and drive it and you will own a fantastic British sports that rewards you with reliability and is a pleasure to own. Oh and finally pluck up the courage to stuck a few tools in the boot and go touring in France I can assure you it is far better than taking a boring old 5 series or something and leaving your TVR behind because you believe your own prophesy! Rich…


>> Edited by RichB on Friday 6th December 12:48