I'm a lotus owner with a question (BE NICE LOL)
Discussion
hi
im thinking of a change (ssshhhhh) i hear horror stories of the tvr cerbera/tuscan, are they true, do they break down all the time or not? and i look in auto trader how come at 18k miles they have engine rebuilds?
will be honest im not rollin in it LOLOLOL, and if it breaks i have had it, and i would like to use it as a everyday car to work (only 12miles)
advice please
and thankyou in advance
im thinking of a change (ssshhhhh) i hear horror stories of the tvr cerbera/tuscan, are they true, do they break down all the time or not? and i look in auto trader how come at 18k miles they have engine rebuilds?
will be honest im not rollin in it LOLOLOL, and if it breaks i have had it, and i would like to use it as a everyday car to work (only 12miles)
advice please
and thankyou in advance
12 miles each way shouldn't be a problem, but a Cerb does need a fair amount of money spent on it and put aside in case of the worst.
Honestly, if you can't afford the time or money to fix it if it goes wrong then you'll always be worrying rather than enjoying the car.
I'd say you have a 50/50 chance of needing to spend a fair chunk of money on a Cerb at some point.
Honestly, if you can't afford the time or money to fix it if it goes wrong then you'll always be worrying rather than enjoying the car.
I'd say you have a 50/50 chance of needing to spend a fair chunk of money on a Cerb at some point.
you do need to be able to put a fair bit aside for the unexpected. And i do mean unexpected, as they don't break down all the time as myth suggests. I'm not exactly a millionairre, and i am coping well with running one (had it for around 10 months now) As for the engine rebuild after low mileage, i believe this is quite the norm for such a race bred engine in its early days - it takes a few more miles to get them properly bedded in. Indeed they say you are better off buying a second hand one than a new one!
Go for it - in my experience, my usual servicing bills don't exceed a grand, but things like tyres, tax and insurance all seem to arrive together!!
I have run my car every day - covering almost 35000 miles in last 3 yrs.
I felt quite good about life after a chum forked out over 1200 quid on a service on his elise
(Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious!
)
I have run my car every day - covering almost 35000 miles in last 3 yrs.
I felt quite good about life after a chum forked out over 1200 quid on a service on his elise
(Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious!
)
karluk29 said:
hi
and if it breaks i have had it, advice please
Well....that comment would make me pause a little if contemplating a Cerbera.
I would agree with all the advice given so far.....but... one thing you should be aware of......
The service bills are as stated so can be set aside in advance........but if it does need an unexpected expensive repair be warned that once you have a Cerb it will get under your skin very quickly and you won't want to lose it......you also won't want it to be off the road for very long either....
You may want to bear that in mind.....
I would advise that you take some time to read some of the back threads.......
...//P//karluk29 said:
hi
im thinking of a change (ssshhhhh) i hear horror stories of the tvr cerbera/tuscan, are they true, do they break down all the time or not? and i look in auto trader how come at 18k miles they have engine rebuilds?
will be honest im not rollin in it LOLOLOL, and if it breaks i have had it, and i would like to use it as a everyday car to work (only 12miles)
advice please
and thankyou in advance
Ah you been rumbled by a fellow Lotus owner !!!!!!
Seriously I went from my 2nd Esprit to a 4.2 Cerbera and now back to the Esprit, Cerbera was amazing and I loved it but needed a practical work car so it went and a year later went for my 3rd Esprit.
It was costly; warranty issues and getting them to pay, clutch problems which seem to be a common theme here and resale. I paid 23k for it, advertised on here for 13k about 14 months later and still would not shift, in the end traded the car in for 15k. As for the Esprit’s, never had a breakdown with any of them apart from one home start issue after being left for 8 odd weeks standing. Resale has always been good losing 1k or so and sometimes gaining.
However practicalities to one side if you have a hankering for a Tuscan/Cerbera then go for it, they may or may not cost you an arm and a leg but life is too short not to own a TVR. For me I love both marques and maybe just maybe a Tuscan maybe on the cards next time around, but for now I am enjoying the Esprit.
Dont do it, TVR's will rip a hole in your pocket and take your boxers with it!
Your woman will walk out the door.
Your neighbours kids will nick the badge.
Whilst popping over to a mates, someone will walk by outside and key the thing soooo deep, that you'll need glass-fibre work and a whole panel re-sprayed.
You'll be stuck in traffic and the temp guage will shoot off into the sky, and spew water vapour everywhere, and your oil will disintigrate, only to notice the next day, you've been thrashing her with no oil!
Your clutch will go soft and need replacing and fifth gear might stop working, sometimes second wont go in unless you hammer it in....
After you got the new clutch, the brake-fluid mysteriously leaks into the clutch bell-housing and contaminates your clutch, needing another clutch, after a week of the previous clutch replacement.
You leave your car parked up outside the local pub, and everyone watches in awe at your baby rolling backwards, slamming into a 400lb local skinheads pickup van! Mysteriously the handbrake cable snapped!
You're on the motorway fully loaded with your pal and his lady squeezed in the back, and your lady's (who left you earlier) replacement sitting in front, when suddenly the springs start sagging and you scrape her home!
Another time, you've popped into the local takeaway, to only come back out and not be able to get back into your car, cos the doors aint unlocking!
Another time, you hit the door release button, and the window dont go down enough so when the door swings open, you dislodge the pillar plate (carbon if you're a pre LW)....
You're driving along the M1 at night and the lights switch off mysteriously, you pull over, cant figure it out, get towed home, when you get home, you still cant figure it out and then go out to start the car and she dont start. Get towed down to the local dealers, and they fix it, slap a bill for a few hundred, bugger a few other things up. (what you dont know, is that it was just a 5p fuse!)
another time, you're driving down and she starts to huff and pufff..... the battery light fades in....
your alternator aint charging... towed to the garage... "oh sir, you need a new alternator, another bill for a few hundred slapped" (what you dont know, is that they only had to replace the big fuse underneath)....
and on and on and on.....
But....
and on, and on and on.....
saying that, unless you got 150k odd, you aint gonna get another better performing and thrilling driving experience this side of a Lambo....
Your woman will walk out the door.
Your neighbours kids will nick the badge.
Whilst popping over to a mates, someone will walk by outside and key the thing soooo deep, that you'll need glass-fibre work and a whole panel re-sprayed.
You'll be stuck in traffic and the temp guage will shoot off into the sky, and spew water vapour everywhere, and your oil will disintigrate, only to notice the next day, you've been thrashing her with no oil!
Your clutch will go soft and need replacing and fifth gear might stop working, sometimes second wont go in unless you hammer it in....
After you got the new clutch, the brake-fluid mysteriously leaks into the clutch bell-housing and contaminates your clutch, needing another clutch, after a week of the previous clutch replacement.
You leave your car parked up outside the local pub, and everyone watches in awe at your baby rolling backwards, slamming into a 400lb local skinheads pickup van! Mysteriously the handbrake cable snapped!
You're on the motorway fully loaded with your pal and his lady squeezed in the back, and your lady's (who left you earlier) replacement sitting in front, when suddenly the springs start sagging and you scrape her home!
Another time, you've popped into the local takeaway, to only come back out and not be able to get back into your car, cos the doors aint unlocking!
Another time, you hit the door release button, and the window dont go down enough so when the door swings open, you dislodge the pillar plate (carbon if you're a pre LW)....
You're driving along the M1 at night and the lights switch off mysteriously, you pull over, cant figure it out, get towed home, when you get home, you still cant figure it out and then go out to start the car and she dont start. Get towed down to the local dealers, and they fix it, slap a bill for a few hundred, bugger a few other things up. (what you dont know, is that it was just a 5p fuse!)
another time, you're driving down and she starts to huff and pufff..... the battery light fades in....
your alternator aint charging... towed to the garage... "oh sir, you need a new alternator, another bill for a few hundred slapped" (what you dont know, is that they only had to replace the big fuse underneath)....
and on and on and on.....
But....
and on, and on and on.....
saying that, unless you got 150k odd, you aint gonna get another better performing and thrilling driving experience this side of a Lambo....
Do it, do it, do it!!!!!
Bought my Cerby about 18 months ago (4.5 in atlantis halcyon pearl) used it daily initially (then moved closer to work and didn't need to). Also use it for sprint racing and rattling down to Le Mans occassionally! It has run faultlessy (apart from a fan thermostat dying, but it is 6 years old with nearly 50000 miles on the clock).
This car never ceases to put a smile on my face and if you can find a good independant garage such as Fernhurst or APM automotive the servicing costs can come down (48000 mile sevice, the big one, by APM automotive was £1100 including VAT, 2 new tyres, and a couple of other bits!).
Beware though there are some ropey ones about!
Best of luck!
Bought my Cerby about 18 months ago (4.5 in atlantis halcyon pearl) used it daily initially (then moved closer to work and didn't need to). Also use it for sprint racing and rattling down to Le Mans occassionally! It has run faultlessy (apart from a fan thermostat dying, but it is 6 years old with nearly 50000 miles on the clock).
This car never ceases to put a smile on my face and if you can find a good independant garage such as Fernhurst or APM automotive the servicing costs can come down (48000 mile sevice, the big one, by APM automotive was £1100 including VAT, 2 new tyres, and a couple of other bits!).
Beware though there are some ropey ones about!
Best of luck!
I've long been an admirer of the cerby and in few years I'll probably have one, everbody on here seems quite happen to pay the 1000 pound services? Now when I do get mine it'll be going no-where near a garage unless its mine, am I alone in this? Does anyone else service their own car?
Matt
Matt
350matt said:
I've long been an admirer of the cerby and in few years I'll probably have one, everbody on here seems quite happen to pay the 1000 pound services? Now when I do get mine it'll be going no-where near a garage unless its mine, am I alone in this? Does anyone else service their own car?
Matt
The services themselves are not £1000 from a respectable independent, quite a bit less in fact. A Cerb always need more doing to it than just a service...
You could always get just the service done by a garage to keep up your service history and do all the other non-service items yourself. I believe there are a couple of people who do their own services on here, but I'm not sure what that would do the resale value...
Los Angeles said:
Though many are used as everyday transport they are not built to take it
How can I put this diplomatically???
They are very well built! Hand built chassis, hours spent getting the fibreglass lovely and sorted for painting. Lovingly stitched bits of cow.
OK the quality control is done by Heath Robinson. But that doesn't alter the fact that they are well built.
Now...
They weren't designed with, say, speed humps in mind. You won't enjoy crashing over the pot-holed roads of this fair isle. But generally the more you use a car like this the better it's likely to treat you!
Not too fussed about the resale value, as I tend to keep my cars for quite a few years.
What are the bits which need replacing and where are they from? Front balljoints for example Saab / ford?
Also if the starter motors get too hot has anyone added some ducting from the grill to keep air moving over it?
also is the 4.5V8 more durable than the 4.2? As I've heard stories of cranks snapping at 70K and cams needing replacing at 30K, any truth in this?
Ta
Matt
What are the bits which need replacing and where are they from? Front balljoints for example Saab / ford?
Also if the starter motors get too hot has anyone added some ducting from the grill to keep air moving over it?
also is the 4.5V8 more durable than the 4.2? As I've heard stories of cranks snapping at 70K and cams needing replacing at 30K, any truth in this?
Ta
Matt
hmm... how do i put this?
i loved my cerb to bits and was gutted to have lost it,but i must say the v8 esprit i replaced it with is very good maybe even better.
ok so its an old design,but it looks the classic supercar shape and is admired by many as is the cerb.
i miss the noise of the cerb but the performance of the esprit v8 is much more accessible and the handling well documented.
id be happy with either.
mike.
i loved my cerb to bits and was gutted to have lost it,but i must say the v8 esprit i replaced it with is very good maybe even better.
ok so its an old design,but it looks the classic supercar shape and is admired by many as is the cerb.
i miss the noise of the cerb but the performance of the esprit v8 is much more accessible and the handling well documented.
id be happy with either.
mike.
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