Who thinks TVR's are unreliable?
Discussion
hing about it breaking down or costing him loads, last thing was a camshaft failure resulting in a top end rebuild on one of the banks its a 1994 Chimera. He still loves it though, had it maybe 4 years now.Every time I tell someone I've got TVR they instantly breath in through their teeth and say what unreliable cars they are. It doesn't matter that they have never owned one, or known anybody who's owned one 
I've not had mine for a very long time but she's been faultless.....
I've not had mine for a very long time but she's been faultless.....
- finds some wood to touch, pretty sharpish
Chilliman said:
I've heard this many times, and was at a charity classic car show a couple of months ago and heard a young lady state (in front of a Griff and a Chim) 'they look nice but they break down alot'
How many PHer's think this????
To be fair they are just going from what they've heard from a mates colleagues cousin down the pub or what Clarkson says on Top Gear. Ask her how often her car broke down and see what she says How many PHer's think this????
9 years of TVR ownership and around 7k a year my 2 cars have broken down 3 times between them. My wifes Leon has done so twice in 4 years (a 'reliable' German/Spanish car) and my mates 5 year old TT has been back to the dealers on a low loader way more times than my TVR and wifes car combined.
ybt1982 said:
Every time I tell someone I've got TVR they instantly breath in through their teeth and say what unreliable cars they are. It doesn't matter that they have never owned one, or known anybody who's owned one
I've not had mine for a very long time but she's been faultless.....
I know the feeling.I've not had mine for a very long time but she's been faultless.....
- finds some wood to touch, pretty sharpish
They are so unreliable I did 2500 miles in Europe this year, from freezing mountain roads to 30+ degree traffic jams in Italy she performed faultlessly, I've done a trackday, I do use it properly! I've been stuck in heavy London traffic for several hours in approx 30degree heat.
Yes bits break now and then but it goes with the territory of that TYPE of car. They need maintenance which again that TYPE of car needs. They aren't a 320 BMW which you can just thrash from cold it's whole life.
Basically British people love nothing more than complaining about things, especially things made in Britain.
My first Chim was "unreliable" in that it would stall when coming to an idle - stepper / vac leak / temp sender / speed sender etc usual suspects, easy to fix, but if you don't know anything about cars, you could run up a big bill and class it thus as "a nightmare".
Second Chim was a paragon or reliability, but had obviously been looked after better than the first one.
Second Chim was a paragon or reliability, but had obviously been looked after better than the first one.
Nothing's ever fallen off my 400SE, stories about them leaving a trail of parts are untrue - ok, so a window fell out, and the dashboard and glove box fell off, but that's quite different as these fell 'into' the car, not 'off' the car.
However if by reliability you mean breaking down, mine has NEVER broken down in the 13 years or so I've owned it! (mind you, it's been mothballed the past 9 years). Overheated on occasion, but never been stopped by the side of the road bonnet up as it were.
However if by reliability you mean breaking down, mine has NEVER broken down in the 13 years or so I've owned it! (mind you, it's been mothballed the past 9 years). Overheated on occasion, but never been stopped by the side of the road bonnet up as it were.
This will be an interesting thread.
I've owned TVRs for nearly 20 years. I love them. I love the frame, the excitement, the pleasure.
I've owned the ex Gerry Marshall 4.3BV Griff, a T350 (with factory 3.6 S6) and currently run the Typhon.
I can count the number of times I have broken down on one hand over that period (and I'm not from Sellafield). Also, each of those occasions were standard consumables. I recall 2 breakdowns with the Griff and one with the T350. An alternator was one and a clutch was another.
Alongside the Tivs I have run XKRs, Rangies, 5 and 1 series Beemers. Those have had the same record. The 540 blew some water pipes and a Rangie a fuel pump.
So, in short, I've simply not had reliability issues with my cars.
I must have done over 150,000 miles in TVRs. Including at least 2 big, high speed, long distance trips through Europe every year. These trips have been in the company of other exotic performance cars from big companies and there has always been at least one terminal breakdown but never one of my cars. One Ring trip was the hottest week on record at 40+ degrees and none of the Italian or German exotics made it back. Badly built cars or badly maintained cars? Almost certainly the latter.
Have I been lucky or is it me?
Well, to be frank, it's me. I don't beat my cars up, I buy smart in the first instance, I look after them and they are dry stored. I've never had a car in the last 15 years that has lived outside.
I believe that that the latter is extremely important for Tivs. I would not own one if I had to park it out in the elements. The electrics are simply not sufficiently weatherproofed. I believe many issues stem from this.
Secondly, they are high performance cars that are cheap to buy and this leads to people trying to run them on the cheap.
They are not rugged like a mass produced car and if you don't look after them then they don't look after you. And if the first owner hasn't redressed the factory niggles that is another issue.
So, in essence, they are as reliable as the owners are smart.
I've owned TVRs for nearly 20 years. I love them. I love the frame, the excitement, the pleasure.
I've owned the ex Gerry Marshall 4.3BV Griff, a T350 (with factory 3.6 S6) and currently run the Typhon.
I can count the number of times I have broken down on one hand over that period (and I'm not from Sellafield). Also, each of those occasions were standard consumables. I recall 2 breakdowns with the Griff and one with the T350. An alternator was one and a clutch was another.
Alongside the Tivs I have run XKRs, Rangies, 5 and 1 series Beemers. Those have had the same record. The 540 blew some water pipes and a Rangie a fuel pump.
So, in short, I've simply not had reliability issues with my cars.
I must have done over 150,000 miles in TVRs. Including at least 2 big, high speed, long distance trips through Europe every year. These trips have been in the company of other exotic performance cars from big companies and there has always been at least one terminal breakdown but never one of my cars. One Ring trip was the hottest week on record at 40+ degrees and none of the Italian or German exotics made it back. Badly built cars or badly maintained cars? Almost certainly the latter.
Have I been lucky or is it me?
Well, to be frank, it's me. I don't beat my cars up, I buy smart in the first instance, I look after them and they are dry stored. I've never had a car in the last 15 years that has lived outside.
I believe that that the latter is extremely important for Tivs. I would not own one if I had to park it out in the elements. The electrics are simply not sufficiently weatherproofed. I believe many issues stem from this.
Secondly, they are high performance cars that are cheap to buy and this leads to people trying to run them on the cheap.
They are not rugged like a mass produced car and if you don't look after them then they don't look after you. And if the first owner hasn't redressed the factory niggles that is another issue.
So, in essence, they are as reliable as the owners are smart.
Edited by DonkeyApple on Tuesday 11th December 21:53
TVR Cerb Speed 6, four years - zero break downs and zero hassle. Regret selling the old girl!
Fancy Audi 3.0T Quattro, back to garage about 5 times in two years for various things going wrong.
Honda CRV 2.0. lost count but at least 4 times back to garage and couple of break downs.
TVR Cerbera Speed 12, zero break downs but only a handful of miles on the open road...lol
Keep them serviced and well maintained as with any car..
Fancy Audi 3.0T Quattro, back to garage about 5 times in two years for various things going wrong.
Honda CRV 2.0. lost count but at least 4 times back to garage and couple of break downs.
TVR Cerbera Speed 12, zero break downs but only a handful of miles on the open road...lol
Keep them serviced and well maintained as with any car..
owned 2 TVR's in my time covering about 7 years and never, not once have I not made it home under my own power, this includes many European trips and loads of track days, average about &k miles a year.
Unreliable no, in need of regular TLC yes, in need of being driven like I stole it deffo, she loves it.
Unreliable no, in need of regular TLC yes, in need of being driven like I stole it deffo, she loves it.
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