Am I mad in thinking a 5-6k Chimaera won't cost a fortune
Discussion
So, i am probably not selling my VX220, decided to keep it, but looking for something cheapish to play with as well. I've always liked Chim's, and really want to own a car with that amazing V8 soundtrack, especially once the exhausts are sorted!
So I was wondering whether I am dreaming, that i can buy a 5-6k car and not spend a fortune on running it !
What are people's opinions, am i seriousl in for a shock if i go for one of these cheaper cars. Colour and overall bodywork condition etc wouldn't be a major issue, just would want a reliable engine, and no big bills!
any advice appreciated
So I was wondering whether I am dreaming, that i can buy a 5-6k car and not spend a fortune on running it !
What are people's opinions, am i seriousl in for a shock if i go for one of these cheaper cars. Colour and overall bodywork condition etc wouldn't be a major issue, just would want a reliable engine, and no big bills!
any advice appreciated
I looked at a 4.0hc before I bought my 450, was priced at £6k which was cheap, body work very good, however dash cracked, buttons missing , hood torn on front edge, all this U would be talking ~£800 to sort. It ran really lumpy and the seats were kippered. I spent another 1.5k and got 450 with half mileage, act induction, tornado chip, full leven interior, Tuscan seats and I've calculated about another £1000 worth of mods. Having said all that still a good car for 6k but I had always wanted a tvr and living with one that wasn't up to scratch would always have dissapointed me.
I spent an age trying to find the right one there is some right rough one's out there which will end up costing you a lot of money to put right, I ended up going over my budget of £8k to get my self a decent one hoping that it doesn't cost me in the long run? So far so good I have small oil leak and had the car cut out a few time when idling which I am led to believe is a common problem with the speed box? All booked in for next week to get these minor faults sorted love the car and loving the TVR experience!
My own opinion unless you are mechanically minded and know your way around cars, I would save the extra and go for one that has been well looked after.
Hope you find yourself one mate!
My own opinion unless you are mechanically minded and know your way around cars, I would save the extra and go for one that has been well looked after.
Hope you find yourself one mate!
Edited by Mr Starmist on Friday 27th July 09:38
I'm a definite believer that you can get one cheap and make the modifications/restoration yourself. I bought mine for £4300, engine and chasis both in great condition. The interior was VERY tired and the chap who'd had it before be had made some "interesting" modifications when he obviously had no idea what he was doing.
I've had mine about 6 months now and still have a list of things that need doing but i imagine if you ask most people on here even the one's that had paid top dollar for theirs would also have a similar size list.
Mine's being used as a daily driver and other than the throttle cable snapping (18 years old) has been great !! I'm not great with the tools but to give you an idea my ignition barrel snapped and with a new switch this cost me £16 to replace.
My advice would be just get one, base your decision on chasis and engine shape and do the rest yourself. It's a lot of fun and you get to understand the car a lot more that way anyway !
HTH -
AJ
I've had mine about 6 months now and still have a list of things that need doing but i imagine if you ask most people on here even the one's that had paid top dollar for theirs would also have a similar size list.
Mine's being used as a daily driver and other than the throttle cable snapping (18 years old) has been great !! I'm not great with the tools but to give you an idea my ignition barrel snapped and with a new switch this cost me £16 to replace.
My advice would be just get one, base your decision on chasis and engine shape and do the rest yourself. It's a lot of fun and you get to understand the car a lot more that way anyway !
HTH -
AJ
You "can" buy a TVR for 5-6K and not spend much money running it,however in truth you will "want" to spend money on it...and this is where it starts getting costly
I bought a "solid" '93 Chimaera 9 years ago, in those 9 years I have "had" to spend £50 on a new alternator and £200 on a radiator re-core and "chosen" to spend £££££ on new hood,carpets,dash veneer,front respray,front wishbones,gaz shocks, rebushed suspension,ACT manifolds,sleaved exhaust....the list goes on
Have been thinking of selling mine for that price, and to my mind the buyer would be getting a solid reliable car for the money,but that said its a 19 year old car and I'm sure a new owner could find plenty of things to empty their bank account into ...if they chose to
I bought a "solid" '93 Chimaera 9 years ago, in those 9 years I have "had" to spend £50 on a new alternator and £200 on a radiator re-core and "chosen" to spend £££££ on new hood,carpets,dash veneer,front respray,front wishbones,gaz shocks, rebushed suspension,ACT manifolds,sleaved exhaust....the list goes on
Have been thinking of selling mine for that price, and to my mind the buyer would be getting a solid reliable car for the money,but that said its a 19 year old car and I'm sure a new owner could find plenty of things to empty their bank account into ...if they chose to
These days I think £6k will get you a pretty decent 400. It's like anything, though, the more you have to spend the more examples and specifications you'll have to choose from.
Personally, though, I'd always rather go in with a decent contingency fund. With a few upgrades and other bits of refreshing thrown in I've managed to spend the value of some of an entry level Chimaera on repairing mine after a major engine failure!
Of course it's not the only TVR option for the money. Make no mistake, a good Chimaera feels like a more solid, modern car, but if I was after a £5k TVR that wouldn't cost much to maintain I'd be tempted to go for a top-end S3 and keep the change.
Personally, though, I'd always rather go in with a decent contingency fund. With a few upgrades and other bits of refreshing thrown in I've managed to spend the value of some of an entry level Chimaera on repairing mine after a major engine failure!
Of course it's not the only TVR option for the money. Make no mistake, a good Chimaera feels like a more solid, modern car, but if I was after a £5k TVR that wouldn't cost much to maintain I'd be tempted to go for a top-end S3 and keep the change.
AJV8 said:
Dank....Buy Andy's if he's selling it
Sorry, my post wasn't meant to read as an advert, just an opinion from the side a potential seller, and after all these years of ownership remembering the days planning where and how I could spend money on it. What I was trying to get across is you CAN, but probably WON'T, but choose your car well and your spending will be out of desire rather than necessityAndy. G said:
Sorry, my post wasn't meant to read as an advert, just an opinion from the side a potential seller, and after all these years of ownership remembering the days planning where and how I could spend money on it. What I was trying to get across is you CAN, but probably WON'T, but choose your car well and your spending will be out of desire rather than necessity
No, i was serious mate. I would have jumped at one like yours at a good price when i was buying mine. I think one that's been taken care of by an owner who's had the time to get through their inevitable "to do" list is definitely the best way to go ! Regardless of age, if they haven't been looked after then things will go wrong. If they have then i think personally that they're great, even as a daily !
AJ
Andy. G said:
You "can" buy a TVR for 5-6K and not spend much money running it,however in truth you will "want" to spend money on it...and this is where it starts getting costly
I bought a "solid" '93 Chimaera 9 years ago, in those 9 years I have "had" to spend £50 on a new alternator and £200 on a radiator re-core and "chosen" to spend £££££ on new hood,carpets,dash veneer,front respray,front wishbones,gaz shocks, rebushed suspension,ACT manifolds,sleaved exhaust....the list goes on
Have been thinking of selling mine for that price, and to my mind the buyer would be getting a solid reliable car for the money,but that said its a 19 year old car and I'm sure a new owner could find plenty of things to empty their bank account into ...if they chose to
What your saying makes a lot of sense. Ive been look at a Chim as a second car and anything upto £10K gives a lot of choice. I bought a "solid" '93 Chimaera 9 years ago, in those 9 years I have "had" to spend £50 on a new alternator and £200 on a radiator re-core and "chosen" to spend £££££ on new hood,carpets,dash veneer,front respray,front wishbones,gaz shocks, rebushed suspension,ACT manifolds,sleaved exhaust....the list goes on
Have been thinking of selling mine for that price, and to my mind the buyer would be getting a solid reliable car for the money,but that said its a 19 year old car and I'm sure a new owner could find plenty of things to empty their bank account into ...if they chose to
Give me a heads up if you do decide to sell, might be interested (if I can convince the wife) and Im only in Reading.
Mine was £5.5K. Admittedly, I did then spend nearly that again getting a variety of things done - new wishbones, radiator etc. along with a myriad of smaller stuff. Some of this was preventative, the rad for example was on its last legs though as long as I didn't get stuck in traffic would have held out a bit longer. I also got all 4 wishbones done rather than just the one which was rotten.
However, I was very pleased with it once it had all been done and it made a world of difference to the way the car drove.
Since then I've spent around £600-900 each year on the service/MOT. The car itself is fairly solid, both Leven and Taylor TVR have said the engine is one of the sweetest they've come across and it doesn't seem to be plagued by the electrical problems that a lot of others seem to have (touch wood). None of the things which have come up at service time have been show-stoppers, just the usual stuff you'd expect in a car nearly 20 years old.
I've also done a few other bits to it - new hood, headlight conversion, new dash.
However, I was very pleased with it once it had all been done and it made a world of difference to the way the car drove.
Since then I've spent around £600-900 each year on the service/MOT. The car itself is fairly solid, both Leven and Taylor TVR have said the engine is one of the sweetest they've come across and it doesn't seem to be plagued by the electrical problems that a lot of others seem to have (touch wood). None of the things which have come up at service time have been show-stoppers, just the usual stuff you'd expect in a car nearly 20 years old.
I've also done a few other bits to it - new hood, headlight conversion, new dash.
Thanks for all the advice, i have seen this, and think it looks great, love the colour!
does anyone know this car, any opinions? Is the price right? I also like the fact the outriggers have been done, which i see is a common and expensive problem,!
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/4084574.htm
does anyone know this car, any opinions? Is the price right? I also like the fact the outriggers have been done, which i see is a common and expensive problem,!
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/4084574.htm
dank said:
Thanks for all the advice, i have seen this, and think it looks great, love the colour!
does anyone know this car, any opinions? Is the price right? I also like the fact the outriggers have been done, which i see is a common and expensive problem,!
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/4084574.htm
Looks pretty good. The 18s won't be to everyone's taste (I took mine off and reverted to 15s on the front and 16s on the rear as soon as possible) but a body-off restoration is a good sign and recent shocks - assuming they're something half decent - are a bonus.does anyone know this car, any opinions? Is the price right? I also like the fact the outriggers have been done, which i see is a common and expensive problem,!
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/4084574.htm
From what I've heard Philip seems to be quite sound, and the chassis work is quite essential for any TVR of this age - if it hasn't been done already I would always budget for it to be done at some point in the (very) near future.
If the engine's healthy is could be a case of taking off those alloys (you might even be able to negotiate a swap with OE ones and a little bit taken off the price, as the big bling ones are a relatively easy sell on their own), givce it a big service and enjoy the rest of summer (or what passes for it)
If the engine's healthy is could be a case of taking off those alloys (you might even be able to negotiate a swap with OE ones and a little bit taken off the price, as the big bling ones are a relatively easy sell on their own), givce it a big service and enjoy the rest of summer (or what passes for it)
Chris71 said:
Looks pretty good. The 18s won't be to everyone's taste (I took mine off and reverted to 15s on the front and 16s on the rear as soon as possible) but a body-off restoration is a good sign and recent shocks - assuming they're something half decent - are a bonus.
looks like a mishmash interior - the cerbie seats look out of place. Much better ones out there for that price. Er yes, now that you mention it, the colour of the seats is not a good match with the rest of the interior... Nowt against Cerbie seats in a Chimaera, after all that's what the factory did with the 2001 facelift cars...
Still a lot of car fvor the money if everything checks - how many sub-£8K Chims out there without any worries about the chassis?
Still a lot of car fvor the money if everything checks - how many sub-£8K Chims out there without any worries about the chassis?
Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff