Cerbera Advice

[mattler]

OK I`ll make this post simple.
I`m considering a Cerbera
Budget 20-25K
Mileage - about 1500 per yer
PLEASE HELP as I know very little about them
Cheers in advance
Matty

[andrewlloyd]

ill make it easy for you for your budget 4.5 4.5 lightweight 4.5 red rose if you can find them. or standard 4.5 then spend some of your spare cash on some nice upgrades

[mattler]

A lot of people say to go for one that had a recent rebuild? Is this the case on all the ones mentioned?
Also I`m leaving about 10K sat ready for potential maintenance per year.

[steviejasp]

Having owned my Cerb for 2.5 years and recently advertised it for £16,995, the best bit of advice I can give you is
buy the red one in the classifieds before anyone else does.

[richtvr]

If the red ones still available if be looking at that with your budget. You'll get a well sorted one for the money your looking to spend and they'll soon start going up in value

[andrewlloyd]

just looked on the classifieds theres a 4.5 red cerbera at£ 19.999 its had a loadddd of money spent on it would guess more than the asking price its stunning .and had everything done ie upgrades and with engine warranty id seriously consider it best of luck ps its also been featured on this forum

[mattler]

This one
http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

[steviejasp]

Yep

[mattler]

If I could move that quick on it I would
Sure it will sell soon!
Also I would prefer one in a different colour but saying that, the amount of cars I`ve bought on spec as opposed to colour is countless LOL

[andrewlloyd]

thats the one and then you can spend that 10k on a nice holiday or lots of petrol and track days

[ukkid35]

If you're only going to do 1,500 miles a year - by choice - then you are obviously looking for a car that will be totally reliable on the dozen or so occasions you use it each year.

That will be a challenge.

Chances are the decision you make about which specialist you are going use to maintain your car will be just as important as the car you purchase.

[andrewlloyd]

this car is like gold dust and its not very often so many phs agree

[mattler]

ukkid35 said:

If you're only going to do 1,500 miles a year - by choice - then you are obviously looking for a car that will be totally reliable on the dozen or so occasions you use it each year.

That will be a challenge.

Chances are the decision you make about which specialist you are going use to maintain your car will be just as important as the car you purchase.

Elaborate please? Reliability issues which I need to know about? Surely it isnt just like a lucky dip and ANYTHING could potentially go wrong? TVR must have got some bits right???

[andrewlloyd]

found the thread if it helps http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[mattler]

ukkid35 said:

If you're only going to do 1,500 miles a year - by choice - then you are obviously looking for a car that will be totally reliable on the dozen or so occasions you use it each year.

That will be a challenge.

Chances are the decision you make about which specialist you are going use to maintain your car will be just as important as the car you purchase.

Elaborate please? Reliability issues which I need to know about? Surely it isnt just like a lucky dip and ANYTHING could potentially go wrong? TVR must have got some bits right???

[HowMuchLonger]

mattler said:

TVR must have got some bits right???

The looks..

[andrewlloyd]

so cerberas do have there problems but if you buy one which has had plenty of money spent on upgrades there shouldnt be any major issues the speed6 engines were very weak but a lot got rebuilt the red one everybody is talking about has had a rebuild plus upgrade to the redrose engine with a 100k warranty on it the suspention on the original tend to fail clutches are another issue again should have been sorted by now electrics can be an issue

[amazon]

mattler said:

ukkid35 said:

If you're only going to do 1,500 miles a year - by choice - then you are obviously looking for a car that will be totally reliable on the dozen or so occasions you use it each year.

That will be a challenge.

Chances are the decision you make about which specialist you are going use to maintain your car will be just as important as the car you purchase.

Elaborate please? Reliability issues which I need to know about? Surely it isnt just like a lucky dip and ANYTHING could potentially go wrong? TVR must have got some bits right???

Cerberas are great cars. Experience tells me that they much prefer to be driven lots. That's not to say you will have lots of trouble if you don't. There are no guarantees with any car. Fair chance you will want to drive it much more than that anyway

[Jimbolian]

A sense of humour, spare pants and zip ties. And a long right leg. : )

[ukkid35]

mattler said:

Elaborate please? Reliability issues which I need to know about? Surely it isnt just like a lucky dip and ANYTHING could potentially go wrong? TVR must have got some bits right???

A friend of mine, who has owned TVRs for the last 15 years, bought a Cerb 4.5 LW for £20k+, and then spent almost as much on his first 'service' as I spent buying my tatty 4.5. However 'little' things keep catching him out (big fuse, drop links, exhaust issues). And now he doesn't feel he can rely on the car.

That's just one data point, but probably perhaps relevant to you.

That's not to say I find things easy, I have to contend with clutch slaves, exhaust manifolds, steering racks, and the one thing that I really resent - chassis corrosion. However you should be able to buy a car that has these already dealt with.