How to buy first Chimaera

[stevebr]

I would welcome any advice you may feel that I need when buying my first tvr. I'm looking for a low mileage chimaera and haven't decided which engine size to go for.

Can anyone recommend a good friendly dealer where I can go and test drive to ascertain exactly what I want? I'm in north Oxfordshire but am prepared to travel.

Has anyone used Rob Ingleby's "Find a sportscar" service?

Thanks in advance

[squirrelz]

Why a low mileage one? The only reason I can think of to buy a low mileage one is if you're going to be putting a lot of miles on yourself, and want to keep the average down.

[GeorgeC]

Steve,

I am on my second Chimaera and both have been high mileage, a well sorted one that's been driven may be a better bet. Fernhurst are a friendly bunch although no longer franchised. Go to a local TVRCC regional monthly meeting; Berkshire is 3rd Tuesday of the month (18 June) at The Swan, Three Mile Cross just by J11 of the M4, Oxford is 1st Thursday at the Dog House Frilford, you should get some idea of what to look for.

I haven't used Rob Ingleby's "Find a sportscar" service, but a guy I talked to at Back Home spoke very highly of him.

Regards

George

[thirsty]

You should look at as many cars as possible. That is how I ended up at Fernhurst. They had a huge selection at very good prices. True, they are not Franchised anymore, but so what? Doesn't seem to have hurt their business.

I would also recommend looking at Station Hill Garage in Farnham. They sell cars on consignment, so if they just happen to have one that fits your fancy, it will cost you less. Both have web sites.

Look through this site. On the main page there are lots of cars for sale, and in this section, there are tons of threads about things to watch out for.

Do your research ahead of time.. it will pay off.

thirsty.

[thirsty]

Oh yeah.. if power is your thing, then the 5.0 is the way to go. I ended up with a Chim 450, but it was because I loved the car, and it still has plenty of "grunt".

[silver500chimp]

I got mine from mole valley in Surrey - travelled down from Leeds - not sure how far it is for you but their customer service was excellent - I dealt with Paul Stratford. They have a website :
www.tvrservice.co.uk/Carsforsale.htm
Definitely recomend them.
Hope you get what your looking for

Paul

[rahlea]

I would recommend Fernhusrt TVR to try out the cars, but would buy privately to save yourself the dealers margin (Fernhurst were not very negotioable on price).

You should only buy a car that has a full (TVR) service history and ideally one that has just been serviced. Call up the garage where the service took place and talk to them about the car - they are usually very helpful. Clearly their opinion on the state of the car should be the best available and current. They will even tell you about advisory works that were not carried out - it is in their best interest to spot as many of these as possible.

[stevebr]

When you say you would go for a higher mileage car ahead of a low mileage one, what would you consider to be high mileage?

[squirrelz]

I would say that they need to do 5k a year to keep in fettle, but no doubt others will shoot me down in flames

Mine had 30k on it after 4 years when I bought it.

You sometimes see them with 10k after 8 years, and you have to wonder.....

[anonymous-user]

I've got a 53k R reg Chimaera 4.0.
It was on 52,500 approx when I got it 3 months ago.

I bought privately, and got it for £15500.
It has a full TVRSH by TMS, and had 2 owners.

There are bargains out there, my criteria was to get the latest model I could get (I wanted the facelift model) so wasn't too bothered about the engine size.

Lee

[robkola]

The Oxford Car Club have an in depth knowledge of Peninsula - highly recommended (maybe too far for you!)
I got mine through David Gerald - so a nice drive up the A44 from Oxford to Evesham should sort you out.
Fernhurst are close to Adrian Blythe who are doing a roaring trade in Griffs/Chimaeras.