Anyone know this car?

[NelsonR32]

Me and my old man will be looking at this car tomorrow. Anyone know it? Anything we should be looking out for?

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...

[Julesprivate]

Do you mean specific to that car or Chimaeras in general?


for that one I would be looking for around £4000 in cash in the boot...


Chassis condition is THE thing to check so get it up on a ramp while you are there.

[Pipeandacrepe]

Price is crazy. Why are dealers 50% more than private? Looking at two at the moment, similar age and mileage for £4k+ less because they're being sold out of somebody's garage rather than a grasping dealer.

[Goaty Bill]

Pipeandacrepe said:

Price is crazy. Why are dealers 50% more than private? Looking at two at the moment, similar age and mileage for £4k+ less because they're being sold out of somebody's garage rather than a grasping dealer.

Because dealers must give a warranty?
Are you a betting man?

How much warranty would you like to give on someone else's Chimaera?


Does seem a lot of money for a 55k miles 4L, but it does also look to be in quite nice condition.

[Pipeandacrepe]

£4k one year warranty... I'd take my chances.

[Robert Lees]

Pipeandacrepe said:

£4k one year warranty... I'd take my chances.

as above, 4k is a lot. Cars sold by their owners are generally looked after, they know everything that has been done and generally are sad to see it go. Dealers not fussed. Not sure if they gave a warranty it would be worth it anyway.
private cars are cheaper because the owners know what needs doing and in my experience are honest about a the faults and price accordingly.

[Chimaeraman]

You pays your money you take your choice..........I bought a 2000 4.0L from a dealer and paid a similar price. For that I got a pristine example, new chassis, new interior, immaculate bodywork and a warranty. But more importantly peace of mind and a car that I knew would not cause me any headaches. I did not want to spend hours fixing niggly problems. If a potential new buyer comes onto this forum he/she will be besieged with tales of woe. Little wonder that the non- mechanical among us sometimes opt for the more expensive dealer option. Just make sure that the dealer is reputable!!

[Julesprivate]

a warranty on a used car is almost worthless, almost anything ends up as fair wear and tear or 'preexisting'

having just been down that road (again) with my wife's TT I don't think I will ever bother with one again..


it depends on who underwrites the policy but a lot of the better known ones are worthless IMHO

[PYNEY]

hi all

for what its worth I bought my chim from this dealer "kerridges " and can highly recommend them !
I nearly always like to buy my cars from a private sale to make a saving and put the money I have saved on the car when required

now the chim I bought from kerridges was the best chim I had seen for ages it was spot on perfect in every aspect
and dosen't require any money spending on it for many years to come , which from a private sale you normally have to out lay something ?

cost for 12k sevice ? paintwork ? new hood ? etc

this dealer wont let the car go out until any items are sorted
they give a in house 3 month warranty for anything that goes wrong with the car "anything" and a further 3 months for mechanicals with a warranty company

if this car meets the bill and is in good condition etc etc go for it and have a deal with them

let us know how you get on with the test drive ?

just want to ad , buy any tvr on condition , if its not been looked after don't pay over the odds , now if its mint its worth paying the extra £££

Edited by PYNEY on Saturday 2nd March 11:48

[phillpot]

PYNEY said:

dosen't require any money spending on it for many years to come

I like your optimism

[sheel]

When I bought last year, I looked at several private and so called dealers, ended up buying a 2000 4.5, cracking history and a superb original spotless chassis, much to the envy of my stepson who has a very nice Cerbera but without the chassis condition I have.

Have run the car for 12 months with no problems apart from routine maint , the dealer was a classic car enthusiast and his stock was all top notch, I paid £11995 which was above my budget but got me a lovely example (I would never normally buy from a dealer !)

There are some what I class as underpriced private sales about, however unless these are being sold by enthuisasts and experienced owners and you have a good inside knowledge of the failings of TVRs I would steer clear.

Look for a good detailed maint history and try to inspect the chassis as closley as you can, alternatively see if you can get a fellow PH tivver to come with you, those on here know their cars and can give the most objective advice.

Chimera's are great cars to own and drive, not too expensive to run and pound for pound fantastic performance, they need looking after hence a previous history is important, little jobs left become more expensive later.

Buy with your head, your heart will be far more satisfied in later years !

Rich

[Chilliman]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I bought my 500 from Kerridges in December 2010, and it, like the other TVR's there at the time, was mint, inside, outside, and underneath. I too wanted peace of mind, and didn't have time to scour the countryside trying to get a 'good deal'. You get what you pay for, and if peace of mind is on your list of extras then you will have to pay that little bit more...

Only downside to Kerridges is the fact they have Noble's there. Which is a distraction

Chilli

[Julesprivate]

That's good advice.

I ignored all of it and bought mine sight unseen from eBay. The car had no service history (lost by a previous owner) was a Cat D and the description was only "OK".

I spoke to the owner, understood what I was getting in to and decided it was worth a punt at the (really very reasonable) price he was asking. TBH even if it had needed a body lift and/or new engine it would still have been a cheap Chim (especially with 20k miles from new and looking as good as it does).

I completely understand the "confidence" and "ease of mind" buying from a reputable dealer gives but personally I'd rather get the car cheap and have the cash set aside to pay for anything "unexpected". Having said that I guess the real advice would be "don't blow all your budget on the initial purchase, unless there really is a cast iron warranty".

I understand people being frustrated about some of us saying that dealer prices are inflated, it would be nice to think that your pride and joy is worth £15k or £20k but in reality a car is only ever worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

To put it in perspective, my Chim cost ~£8k less than the one advertised, has been 100% reliable and looks "almost" as nice (it looked better before I bought it I am sorry to say). That £8k "saved" would have bought me a spare car, let alone any parts to fix any problems that "might" crop up.

IF I weren't mechanically inclined, didn't have a pretty decent support network (friends in the trade, friends who are stupidly handy with a spanner etc) then MAYBE I'd be tempted to spend more on initial purchase and be content - I just feel that (for me) I don't need to - but not everyone is the same.

That really does look like a LOVELY car, and all things being equal it's still a LOT of car for the money, I can't think of many other cars that give as good VFM £ for £ as a TVR does.

The fact that I personally wouldn't pay that much for it is more an indictment of ME than it is of the car or the dealer.

[PYNEY]

if your an owner of a chim or any tvr for that matter please don't under value a good car !
if a dealer is asking £xxx for there car and helps in putting the values up it can only be a good thing when we want to sell the car privately

[Pipeandacrepe]

I saw a bloody awful one at a dealer today for £10k. Absolute dog, it needed a full nut and bolt restoration but was being sold as a straight, sorted car.

[BountyHunter]

PYNEY said:

if your an owner of a chim or any tvr for that matter please don't under value a good car !
if a dealer is asking £xxx for there car and helps in putting the values up it can only be a good thing when we want to sell the car privately

thing is a TVR is supposed to be a relatively cheap sports car for enthusiasts
push the prices up too much and you lose the intended market for the cars, further to that theres only a limited number of people who want this sort of car, and an even smaller amount who can afford them.

look at Griff prices (as an example) - these days theyve pushed up so high that its a much more limited amount of people who can buy them.

[Chilliman]

BountyHunter said:

PYNEY said:

if your an owner of a chim or any tvr for that matter please don't under value a good car !
if a dealer is asking £xxx for there car and helps in putting the values up it can only be a good thing when we want to sell the car privately

thing is a TVR is supposed to be a relatively cheap sports car for enthusiasts
push the prices up too much and you lose the intended market for the cars, further to that theres only a limited number of people who want this sort of car, and an even smaller amount who can afford them.

look at Griff prices (as an example) - these days theyve pushed up so high that its a much more limited amount of people who can buy them.

Yes but cheap relative to what? A Ferrari? an MX5? Regardless of what make, when high performance cars drop in price they reach a level where they become affordable to a larger group of people who are enthusiasts when it comes to owning and driving but not so enthusiatic when it comes to maintaining. Our so-called recession only serves to exacerbate this situation. I believe the issue here isn't about pushing prices up, its about not letting prices drop and drop, which will not, in the long term, benefit the marque as more and more cars will be lost..

[Bassfiend229hp]

BountyHunter said:

look at Griff prices (as an example) - these days theyve pushed up so high that its a much more limited amount of people who have the bad taste buy them.

EFA...

[TJC46]

NelsonR32 said:

Me and my old man will be looking at this car tomorrow. Anyone know it? Anything we should be looking out for?

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...

Well what happened? Did you buy the car?

[N8CYL]

Or.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds?Category=us...