Running a cerb
Discussion
I dont put anything away but I have yet to spend £3K on average over 7 or 8 years of ownership. I dream of £3k pa.
To be honest though its too simplistic a question IMHO. The cars are now older and so things are wearing out, chassis are needing work, engines are needing rebuilds, interiors are worn, paint is old etc... So whilst less people are willing to pay for their cars to be serviced there are more things needing attention. So the amount of work they require will increase as they get older albeit offset by reduced mileage and the amount of DIY work.
So I would say £3K is still a reasonable number but its an average. I personally dont see how one can keep a cerb perfect for so "little" unless you DIY and have no majors like engine, chassis or paint (or upgrades).
To be honest though its too simplistic a question IMHO. The cars are now older and so things are wearing out, chassis are needing work, engines are needing rebuilds, interiors are worn, paint is old etc... So whilst less people are willing to pay for their cars to be serviced there are more things needing attention. So the amount of work they require will increase as they get older albeit offset by reduced mileage and the amount of DIY work.
So I would say £3K is still a reasonable number but its an average. I personally dont see how one can keep a cerb perfect for so "little" unless you DIY and have no majors like engine, chassis or paint (or upgrades).
3k seems reasonable as an all in number. I thought I was nowhere near that, but then I thought about what I have spent.
New alarm system, tyres, clutch slave cylinder & oil pressure switch (both including labour) and that's since about April, so a while til the year is up. Got a major service on the way, usual type stuff, and that's before 'fettling' costs as Gazza mentioned.
New alarm system, tyres, clutch slave cylinder & oil pressure switch (both including labour) and that's since about April, so a while til the year is up. Got a major service on the way, usual type stuff, and that's before 'fettling' costs as Gazza mentioned.
If i am honest i cant see how you could run a cerb on 3 grand if you were to use it as a main car.If you are good with the spanners and dont have it serviced at a garage ect then yes if you are lucky you could do it.Mine went for its mot and failed on top wishbone bushes only,now with the parts labour and mot costs i had a bill for £360.this for me i think aint that bad,but i have since put on a new exhaust at £260,door seals £40 and about another £160 on other small bits.still to do are
Shock overhaul at £80 per corner (if no parts are used)
Rear bushes to anti roll bar £30
tappets £180
diff mounts £60
oil seal for gear box ect ect
The list go's on and my car is a good one ,which is a secound car and will not rack up on miles.
Now i dont mind the spending on her cos its my choice and my real love .But what i am saying is if she were my main runner i could easily spend well over the 3 grand mark each year
Shock overhaul at £80 per corner (if no parts are used)
Rear bushes to anti roll bar £30
tappets £180
diff mounts £60
oil seal for gear box ect ect
The list go's on and my car is a good one ,which is a secound car and will not rack up on miles.
Now i dont mind the spending on her cos its my choice and my real love .But what i am saying is if she were my main runner i could easily spend well over the 3 grand mark each year
spongy said:
Now i dont mind the spending on her cos its my choice and my real love .But what i am saying is if she were my main runner i could easily spend well over the 3 grand mark each year
Exactly this. Depends on usage. Not sure I could/would run a Cerbera as an only car.Chimaera is a different story though.
Running a Cerbera is a real roller coaster.
The ups: high days and holidays when you get behind the wheel, press the magic button and listen to the sweet sweet music of the AJP as your neighbours look over the garden wall with a big frown.
Then you are hooking up a series of challenging bends, back end twitching, the car reminding you it will try to kill you if you don't pay attention.
Kids (both grown up and young alike) pointing and getting all excited at hearing, then seeing something that manages to be both terrifying and beautiful in equal measure.
The taste of adrenaline after you get back from a fast drive where you have had a bit of a 'moment', and that hidden sense of relief when you realise you have made it home alive (and I mean REALLY alive)
The series of perplexed expressions that 'normals' make when they are trying to open the door, open a window, work out why you'd buy a car that drinks faster that Oliver Reed on a rugby outing in a brewery, or why you feel the need to get up at daybreak on a Sunday morning just to go from A back to A via C, F, V, and D.
The downs: The cost, the relentless cost. The power the car has to fling enormous bills at you, when you have worked out that the next bill can't possibly be a 4 figure one again, but invariably it is, and that 4 figure number rarely starts with a 1.
The little things that let you down, erratic electrics that miraculously fix themselves, and only go wrong when you are trying to impress. The little things that stop the Sunday morning blast and turn out to be a 20p switch. 20p to buy and 4 hours to diagnose and replace.
The fear of every little noise that's slightly out of place, every creak, squeak, rattle (and there are plenty) that could be the warning of another wallet-crushing
disaster on the horizon.
Not to mention the anxiety of MOT time...
I think I averaged about £3k per year spend, but I only covered about 11000 miles in the 4 years I owned the car, so it's far from normal car mileage. Some say they get better with more use, I think that's true, but the cost still goes up.
My Cerb never really badly let me down, as in left me at the side of a road, it was always silly stuff that left me stranded at home (flat battery and dodgy electrics mostly), but if you are a fastidious owner you will want to do plenty of preventative stuff and get your servicing done well, so unless you are handy with the spanners you have to resign yourself to spending a lot, and I don't think they are getting cheaper, quite the contrary.
For me the lack of being able to comfortably take my wife and daughter out in the car at the same time for any longer than a 10 minute blast, when compared to the cost of keeping the car in tip top condition meant it just wasn't worth it. If I was considerably richer than I am I would have one as a 3rd car, the stress of running one as an only car without a very healthy contingency fund, would be too much for me.
The ups: high days and holidays when you get behind the wheel, press the magic button and listen to the sweet sweet music of the AJP as your neighbours look over the garden wall with a big frown.
Then you are hooking up a series of challenging bends, back end twitching, the car reminding you it will try to kill you if you don't pay attention.
Kids (both grown up and young alike) pointing and getting all excited at hearing, then seeing something that manages to be both terrifying and beautiful in equal measure.
The taste of adrenaline after you get back from a fast drive where you have had a bit of a 'moment', and that hidden sense of relief when you realise you have made it home alive (and I mean REALLY alive)
The series of perplexed expressions that 'normals' make when they are trying to open the door, open a window, work out why you'd buy a car that drinks faster that Oliver Reed on a rugby outing in a brewery, or why you feel the need to get up at daybreak on a Sunday morning just to go from A back to A via C, F, V, and D.
The downs: The cost, the relentless cost. The power the car has to fling enormous bills at you, when you have worked out that the next bill can't possibly be a 4 figure one again, but invariably it is, and that 4 figure number rarely starts with a 1.
The little things that let you down, erratic electrics that miraculously fix themselves, and only go wrong when you are trying to impress. The little things that stop the Sunday morning blast and turn out to be a 20p switch. 20p to buy and 4 hours to diagnose and replace.
The fear of every little noise that's slightly out of place, every creak, squeak, rattle (and there are plenty) that could be the warning of another wallet-crushing
disaster on the horizon.
Not to mention the anxiety of MOT time...
I think I averaged about £3k per year spend, but I only covered about 11000 miles in the 4 years I owned the car, so it's far from normal car mileage. Some say they get better with more use, I think that's true, but the cost still goes up.
My Cerb never really badly let me down, as in left me at the side of a road, it was always silly stuff that left me stranded at home (flat battery and dodgy electrics mostly), but if you are a fastidious owner you will want to do plenty of preventative stuff and get your servicing done well, so unless you are handy with the spanners you have to resign yourself to spending a lot, and I don't think they are getting cheaper, quite the contrary.
For me the lack of being able to comfortably take my wife and daughter out in the car at the same time for any longer than a 10 minute blast, when compared to the cost of keeping the car in tip top condition meant it just wasn't worth it. If I was considerably richer than I am I would have one as a 3rd car, the stress of running one as an only car without a very healthy contingency fund, would be too much for me.
, but as you've all given serious answers maybe i'm wrong and getting a bit cynical in my old age, besides which we all know it's nearer £5k p/a.skoff said:
Running a Cerbera is a real roller coaster.
The ups: high days and holidays when you get behind the wheel, press the magic button and listen to the sweet sweet music of the AJP as your neighbours look over the garden wall with a big frown.
Then you are hooking up a series of challenging bends, back end twitching, the car reminding you it will try to kill you if you don't pay attention.
Kids (both grown up and young alike) pointing and getting all excited at hearing, then seeing something that manages to be both terrifying and beautiful in equal measure.
The taste of adrenaline after you get back from a fast drive where you have had a bit of a 'moment', and that hidden sense of relief when you realise you have made it home alive (and I mean REALLY alive)
The series of perplexed expressions that 'normals' make when they are trying to open the door, open a window, work out why you'd buy a car that drinks faster that Oliver Reed on a rugby outing in a brewery, or why you feel the need to get up at daybreak on a Sunday morning just to go from A back to A via C, F, V, and D.
The downs: The cost, the relentless cost. The power the car has to fling enormous bills at you, when you have worked out that the next bill can't possibly be a 4 figure one again, but invariably it is, and that 4 figure number rarely starts with a 1.
The little things that let you down, erratic electrics that miraculously fix themselves, and only go wrong when you are trying to impress. The little things that stop the Sunday morning blast and turn out to be a 20p switch. 20p to buy and 4 hours to diagnose and replace.
The fear of every little noise that's slightly out of place, every creak, squeak, rattle (and there are plenty) that could be the warning of another wallet-crushing
disaster on the horizon.
Not to mention the anxiety of MOT time...
I think I averaged about £3k per year spend, but I only covered about 11000 miles in the 4 years I owned the car, so it's far from normal car mileage. Some say they get better with more use, I think that's true, but the cost still goes up.
My Cerb never really badly let me down, as in left me at the side of a road, it was always silly stuff that left me stranded at home (flat battery and dodgy electrics mostly), but if you are a fastidious owner you will want to do plenty of preventative stuff and get your servicing done well, so unless you are handy with the spanners you have to resign yourself to spending a lot, and I don't think they are getting cheaper, quite the contrary.
For me the lack of being able to comfortably take my wife and daughter out in the car at the same time for any longer than a 10 minute blast, when compared to the cost of keeping the car in tip top condition meant it just wasn't worth it. If I was considerably richer than I am I would have one as a 3rd car, the stress of running one as an only car without a very healthy contingency fund, would be too much for me.
Brilliant Post!!!! This sums up Cerbera ownership for me perfectly..you love it...then you hate it.....then you love it again and so it goes on!!!The ups: high days and holidays when you get behind the wheel, press the magic button and listen to the sweet sweet music of the AJP as your neighbours look over the garden wall with a big frown.
Then you are hooking up a series of challenging bends, back end twitching, the car reminding you it will try to kill you if you don't pay attention.
Kids (both grown up and young alike) pointing and getting all excited at hearing, then seeing something that manages to be both terrifying and beautiful in equal measure.
The taste of adrenaline after you get back from a fast drive where you have had a bit of a 'moment', and that hidden sense of relief when you realise you have made it home alive (and I mean REALLY alive)
The series of perplexed expressions that 'normals' make when they are trying to open the door, open a window, work out why you'd buy a car that drinks faster that Oliver Reed on a rugby outing in a brewery, or why you feel the need to get up at daybreak on a Sunday morning just to go from A back to A via C, F, V, and D.
The downs: The cost, the relentless cost. The power the car has to fling enormous bills at you, when you have worked out that the next bill can't possibly be a 4 figure one again, but invariably it is, and that 4 figure number rarely starts with a 1.
The little things that let you down, erratic electrics that miraculously fix themselves, and only go wrong when you are trying to impress. The little things that stop the Sunday morning blast and turn out to be a 20p switch. 20p to buy and 4 hours to diagnose and replace.
The fear of every little noise that's slightly out of place, every creak, squeak, rattle (and there are plenty) that could be the warning of another wallet-crushing
disaster on the horizon.
Not to mention the anxiety of MOT time...
I think I averaged about £3k per year spend, but I only covered about 11000 miles in the 4 years I owned the car, so it's far from normal car mileage. Some say they get better with more use, I think that's true, but the cost still goes up.
My Cerb never really badly let me down, as in left me at the side of a road, it was always silly stuff that left me stranded at home (flat battery and dodgy electrics mostly), but if you are a fastidious owner you will want to do plenty of preventative stuff and get your servicing done well, so unless you are handy with the spanners you have to resign yourself to spending a lot, and I don't think they are getting cheaper, quite the contrary.
For me the lack of being able to comfortably take my wife and daughter out in the car at the same time for any longer than a 10 minute blast, when compared to the cost of keeping the car in tip top condition meant it just wasn't worth it. If I was considerably richer than I am I would have one as a 3rd car, the stress of running one as an only car without a very healthy contingency fund, would be too much for me.
I would say as a Mostly DIY owner i don't see anything like 3k if i were to keep it in standard trim and well maintained, For 5000 miles per year oils filters don't cost much and easy to change out for the 6k service. 12k with the valve clearances i do need a hand but not the end of the world mainly just takes time and knowledge of what your doing. Everything else is faily simple on these cars really.
How ever i do like upgrading and modding so i probs do spend 3k or so ish just bought new wheels and need tyres so that is over a grand right away and i buy up second hand spares on e-bay to keep cost down so have a good little Cerb stash now in the Garage if and when i need anything
How ever i do like upgrading and modding so i probs do spend 3k or so ish just bought new wheels and need tyres so that is over a grand right away and i buy up second hand spares on e-bay to keep cost down so have a good little Cerb stash now in the Garage if and when i need anything
scotty_d said:
I would say as a Mostly DIY owner i don't see anything like 3k if i were to keep it in standard trim and well maintained, For 5000 miles per year oils filters don't cost much and easy to change out for the 6k service. 12k with the valve clearances i do need a hand but not the end of the world mainly just takes time and knowledge of what your doing. Everything else is faily simple on these cars really.
How ever i do like upgrading and modding so i probs do spend 3k or so ish just bought new wheels and need tyres so that is over a grand right away and i buy up second hand spares on e-bay to keep cost down so have a good little Cerb stash now in the Garage if and when i need anything
Ahhhh so thats where all those spare bits are going,hope you did'nt buy that exhaust that was on there last week cos that was mine that i took to recycle centre,two days later its on FleabayHow ever i do like upgrading and modding so i probs do spend 3k or so ish just bought new wheels and need tyres so that is over a grand right away and i buy up second hand spares on e-bay to keep cost down so have a good little Cerb stash now in the Garage if and when i need anything
Lol no exhaust bits, Things like standard Shocks, seem to work very well for me and i picked a set up for less than £100 that had only covered 19k,coil packs, I had my eye on that power steering rack but went over what i was willing to pay. just to shelve it for a what if moment. Any thing i get for a good buy really.
Did the same with my old chim i had a spare engine nearly just a magpie i think
Did the same with my old chim i had a spare engine nearly just a magpie i think
Edited by scotty_d on Thursday 29th September 21:01
I agree with Scotty......if you have the knowledge & capability to do most of the work yourself you wont spend anywhere near 3k in a year. I've owned my Cerbera for neary 2 years. Sorted out loads of little niggles in the first 6-8 months of ownership (switches, sensors, senders etc). Last winter I treated her to new shocks, a brake overhaul, a set of spiders and a general tidy up underneath - total of about £1200. I now have a totally reliable car which has flown through it's last 2 MOT's with no advisories.
If you dont have the knowledge & capabilities, a Cerb could cost you a fortune to run. Every time you put it near a TVR garage, even for the simplest of tweeks or repairs, the bill is going to steep. I can only assume that labour cost are at least £70 p/h + VAT - If that's the case, me spending 5 hours working on the car would save me £420 plus the mark-up the garage put on the part(s).
In a nut shell, if you are a numpty on the spanners, it's ganna cost ya, if you can do most of the work yourself, a Cerbera can be kept in top condition for very little coin.
If you dont have the knowledge & capabilities, a Cerb could cost you a fortune to run. Every time you put it near a TVR garage, even for the simplest of tweeks or repairs, the bill is going to steep. I can only assume that labour cost are at least £70 p/h + VAT - If that's the case, me spending 5 hours working on the car would save me £420 plus the mark-up the garage put on the part(s).
In a nut shell, if you are a numpty on the spanners, it's ganna cost ya, if you can do most of the work yourself, a Cerbera can be kept in top condition for very little coin.
Gazzab said:
Hourly rate is generally 40 - 60.
A DIY cerbera with no nasties should cost less than 3k but every tvr will eventually need diff, engine, chassis, gearbox, shocks etc etc so it will at some point raid the wallet!
I am happy to pay the experts as I dont have the time or inclination.
A DIY cerbera with no nasties should cost less than 3k but every tvr will eventually need diff, engine, chassis, gearbox, shocks etc etc so it will at some point raid the wallet!
I am happy to pay the experts as I dont have the time or inclination.
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