Will a Chim for less than £10k be a good bet......
Discussion
Discuss........!!
Sorry!
Just sold the Westy and got cash burning hole in my pocket. Would like to satisfy TVR itch but £10k is gonna be top price and really want to spend less (for a 3rd car in household).
Is it realistic to try for a Chim?
Should I just look for mint "S"?
Is the Pope Catholic?
etc etc
Sorry!
Just sold the Westy and got cash burning hole in my pocket. Would like to satisfy TVR itch but £10k is gonna be top price and really want to spend less (for a 3rd car in household).
Is it realistic to try for a Chim?
Should I just look for mint "S"?
Is the Pope Catholic?
etc etc
you may be lucky and find someone that is desperate to sell and a gem for £10k. However, all of those I looked at for around £10k (the lowest part of the market) were £10k for good reason. Some had tatty paintwork, some had high mileage, some were accident/repaired, some had dodgy history etc etc etc.
I decided to spend a bit more and bought a mint early car with low miles and immaculate. I would be surprised if you find one that totally sorted for £10k, but as I say, you may be lucky and find someone desperate to sell. My early Chim is in the classifieds, but I'd rather shove wasps up my arse than accept £10k for it.
I decided to spend a bit more and bought a mint early car with low miles and immaculate. I would be surprised if you find one that totally sorted for £10k, but as I say, you may be lucky and find someone desperate to sell. My early Chim is in the classifieds, but I'd rather shove wasps up my arse than accept £10k for it.
HI WWesty
Interestingly I recently faced the same problem you are facing now. I built an SEiGHT a few years back which was incredible, and recently decided to buy another Westy. With a £10k budget the Westies I saw were utter crap. When I realised you could get a decent Chimaera for that amount there really wasn't any competition.
It's worth looking at a fair few, as some of the TVR's I saw weren't up to much at all but it is possible.
I picked up a 94 4.0 with 30K miles and full TVRSH for just over your budget. With a little patience and some travelling you'll get a great one!
Good luck!
Interestingly I recently faced the same problem you are facing now. I built an SEiGHT a few years back which was incredible, and recently decided to buy another Westy. With a £10k budget the Westies I saw were utter crap. When I realised you could get a decent Chimaera for that amount there really wasn't any competition.
It's worth looking at a fair few, as some of the TVR's I saw weren't up to much at all but it is possible.
I picked up a 94 4.0 with 30K miles and full TVRSH for just over your budget. With a little patience and some travelling you'll get a great one!
Good luck!
Go for it, my advice is to get a newer car with a higher mileage, these are a much better bet than a low mileage older car. Like any car they like to be used. My first Chimaera had 81000 miles on when I bought it, It had 100000 plus when I sold it and I believe its still going strong - (care to commet Carinatauk?). So yes good cars can be had for 10K. I really dont know why people are afraid od a high mileage, these engines have been around for decades and are understressed - especially the 4.0, they will run to hundreds of thousands of miles if they are looked after, and most TVRs are looked after.
Ocean1
>> Edited by ocean1 on Monday 9th August 16:09
Ocean1
>> Edited by ocean1 on Monday 9th August 16:09
Nano2nd said:
But remember a £10k Chimaera even if it's a fully sorted, top notch motor, will cost you as much to run as £25k Chimaera, so if £10k is going to say goodbye to all your disposable income go for an S
i disagree with this statement somewhat
Care to elaborate at all
When I bought my car it was worth £20k (well thats what they charged me) it's now worth about £11k (I hope) and the bills are if anything getting bigger not smaller, but over an average of none one off unlucky breakdowns it's probably pretty level on the service costs
Should I ever wish to sell my baby, I personally would want a little over £10k for my motor. Maybe more like £11500, even though it has high milage. It's on about 98200 at the moment and still going strong.
I agree with the comment above about milage not really being an issue. If anything it proves that the car has spent plenty of time on the road and not in the garage rotting away.
These cars are better driven regularly. I've used mine almost every day for a year and a half (33000 miles) and have never once had a single engine problem.
The things to look out for on a higher mileage car (some of which I've learnt the hard way!) are diff problems, UJ's, gearbox, steering rack, balljoints etc etc. Basically the things that naturally wear over time.
When I was Chim hunting, I saw a few very nice L and M reg Chims in an amazingly good state for about £10500, and that was a year last December so I see no reason why you can't pick up a decent one for £10k now.
I agree with the comment above about milage not really being an issue. If anything it proves that the car has spent plenty of time on the road and not in the garage rotting away.
These cars are better driven regularly. I've used mine almost every day for a year and a half (33000 miles) and have never once had a single engine problem.
The things to look out for on a higher mileage car (some of which I've learnt the hard way!) are diff problems, UJ's, gearbox, steering rack, balljoints etc etc. Basically the things that naturally wear over time.
When I was Chim hunting, I saw a few very nice L and M reg Chims in an amazingly good state for about £10500, and that was a year last December so I see no reason why you can't pick up a decent one for £10k now.
www.pistonheads.com/sales/detail.asp?i=27359&s=1
this looks like a total bargain! the car looks totally mint in the pictures!
this looks like a total bargain! the car looks totally mint in the pictures!
Paid well under 10 for mine with full history, high (for a TVR) mileage.
Could do with a stone chip respray but so what, most of the ones I looked at had chips to some extent.
I bought mine in early Dec from a garage & they said it would have been £10 in the summer. So you will get a cheaper one in the winter. BUT there are a hell of a lot more to choose from at this time of year.
If you want one go for it! It's only money after all!
Could do with a stone chip respray but so what, most of the ones I looked at had chips to some extent.
I bought mine in early Dec from a garage & they said it would have been £10 in the summer. So you will get a cheaper one in the winter. BUT there are a hell of a lot more to choose from at this time of year.
If you want one go for it! It's only money after all!
LOL Pies!!
Shnozz - too right, that looks a great car....and there was me still debating old 911/TVR S/Chim/Z3(!)/something else......and thinking I would sort myself out and buy a bargain in October....
I guess there'll be another along like that.
BTW How much does Rob Inglebey(?), the "find a sportscar" chap charge? haven't managed to catch up with him yet?
Whatever i get, I doubt it will be as good a financial result as the Westy was - 2 years ownership and even including every bill (insurance, servicing etc)I made a profit..!!!!!!
Cheers for all the help
Shnozz - too right, that looks a great car....and there was me still debating old 911/TVR S/Chim/Z3(!)/something else......and thinking I would sort myself out and buy a bargain in October....
I guess there'll be another along like that.
BTW How much does Rob Inglebey(?), the "find a sportscar" chap charge? haven't managed to catch up with him yet?
Whatever i get, I doubt it will be as good a financial result as the Westy was - 2 years ownership and even including every bill (insurance, servicing etc)I made a profit..!!!!!!
Cheers for all the help
wwesty said:
BTW How much does Rob Inglebey(?), the "find a sportscar" chap charge? haven't managed to catch up with him yet?
last I heard it was £500 for the full find a car service and £200 for going and inspecting one that you have already found. I did the latter with my first TVR, an S3, and he was very helpful.
Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff