Tvr prices? Are they taking a big drop?

[marshtvr05]

Hi again im after a little help!!
I have just been looking on ebay at the finished sales to get an idea of the value of cars. Out of about 30 cars listed only 3 sold and not one of them over £11000?
The rest didnt make the reserve or had no bids at all?
This included cars from old to nearly new!

Im interested in chimaeras , is it that being an old shape they are no longer desirable hence falling interest/prices?
Please help as i was hoping to purchase one this weekend and my findings have got me concerned.

P.s Dont get me wrong i know buying a tvr i am going to loose money, but i would like to be able to sell it again next year when i have saved up for a newer one.
Also if any of you have one for sale in the Suffolk area let me know!

many thanks
Russell

[M@H]

Ebay is a lottery.. don't use it as a price guide. ..and no they aren't.

And don't rush your purchase either.. your posts make you sound like you want to have signed on the dotted line by this time next week. (yes I realise the sun is out this week )

There are very good cars about for a fair price, and there are some real piles of shite around for the same money.. take your time, see a few, drive a few, get a feel for what you are looking at and where you can negotiate prices, then buy wisely.

More haste less speed. Or in this case, More haste more spend.

Cheers,
Matt.

>> Edited by M@H on Friday 10th June 13:53

[chimster]

Hi Russell,

Welcome to the gang.

Don't despair, personally I don't think the prices on Ebay represent the true picture. Ebay is little more than an online "Bootsale" in a manner of speaking, whereby people purely endeavour to get items as cheap as concievably possible. If you were to look at the classifieds on PH or on the TVRCC sites, these are probably more representative of the current private rates to be fair. From a dealership you can probably add at least a further few grand to this typically, but many dealerships now supply a full warranty and sometimes include even a service into the bargain within the retail price, which of course is quite a comfort zone for many first time TVR buyers.

I think the Chimaera shape is timeless, a true British sports car with wonderful lines and curves. I could never see this affecting the value of the cars to be fair.

The true value of a TVR is really in the eye of the beholder. If you see a superb condition car, with low mileage, in a stunning colour with all concievable extras and a FTVRSH you may be tempted to pay slightly over the odds for it (as I probably did!). The cars colour does seem to influence saleability and values I've noticed. Some darker colours seem to fetch slightly less in some cases than radiant metallic shades.

I'm in Suffolk (Ipswich) so if you want any help or guidance with purchasing a Chim let me know and I'll be all to happy to help.

Cheers,

Keith

[marshtvr05]

Hi
keith
There is a nice 5.0 chimaera 1999(s) £16500 30k ftvrsh in ipswich near the hospital for sale in met helcon red.
Do you know the car/driver?
The main problem is it is out of my budget and if i were to stretch to it i would have nothing left for the repairs...which i gather come all to often!

The 2 other cars i am looking at this weekend are a 1994 (L) 4.0 33k £9000 green in felixstowe and a 1997 (p) 4.0 60K £12750 green in hadleigh (this car broke down on my first visit much to the genuine surprise of the owner . He has kept in touch and the car came back from tvr kerridges last night)I look forward to hearing the outcome.

Do you know of any for sale in our area? What cc is yours? have you had any problems?
Sorry for all the waffle
cheers
Russell

[parrot of doom]

Have you looked in the classifeds here? Some cars are being sold by forum members, which is useful for investigating the vehicle's fault history (I don't mean that to sound negative, all cars have faults now and again).

[Podie]

marshtvr05 - you have e-mail...!

Who is the Suffolk RO...? See if you can get yourself to the Essex meet on Sunday... come and see some cars, talk to owners etc...

[jellison]

If you want one get one - don't worry about residuals and all that crap a TVR is for life (well mine is).

[V8 Archie]

My observations suggest that prices dropped quite sharply over the last couple of years but now appear to have stabilised.

[rooster]

marshtvr05 said:

i would have nothing left for the repairs...which i gather come all to often!

actually, get a good one and there won't be many repairs, obvious things like rusted wishbones etc are ineveitable, but waxoyling and regular servicing can make such a difference to the longevity of your car. I have had rooster for 3 years, the wishbones were replaced immediately but that is ALL I have had done. I have begun a systematic change on theings like brake hoses etc and gradually the car will get even better with age. They are a beautiful car and work well when cherished.
Welcome BTW

[Apache]

Look at any RV8 as an ongoing restoration and you'll be fine

[M@H]

V8 Archie said:

My observations suggest that prices dropped quite sharply over the last couple of years but now appear to have stabilised.

Havent seen that myself.. I bought my 93 Chimaera for £11,000 in September 2002, sold it for £10,500 in Jan 2004, I reckon its still got to be worth £9.5k assuming its still in good condition and hasnt had too many miles piled onto it. Even if it would only sell for 9k, that still means its only lost 2k in 4 years.

Cheers,
Matt.

>> Edited by M@H on Monday 13th June 08:30

[phild66]

It's also worth remembering that the desirability of convertibles fluctuates according to the weather (no kidding).

[chimster]

marshtvr05 said:

Hi keith There is a nice 5.0 chimaera 1999(s) £16500 30k ftvrsh in ipswich near the hospital for sale in met helcon red. Do you know the car/driver? The main problem is it is out of my budget and if i were to stretch to it i would have nothing left for the repairs...which i gather come all to often! The 2 other cars i am looking at this weekend are a 1994 (L) 4.0 33k £9000 green in felixstowe and a 1997 (p) 4.0 60K £12750 green in hadleigh (this car broke down on my first visit much to the genuine surprise of the owner . He has kept in touch and the car came back from tvr kerridges last night)I look forward to hearing the outcome. Do you know of any for sale in our area? What cc is yours? have you had any problems? Sorry for all the waffle cheers Russell

Hi Russell,

I do seem to remember seeing the Halycyon red Chim parked on a verge near the Hospital a few months back whilst I was driving past. I must confess it was a very nice colour and seemed to be well looked after car.

The other two seem contenders as well though, let me know how you get on. I do not specifically of any others for sale locally but I'm sure there are a few going as we speak. Have you been through the Piston Heads classifieds, there are always a good selection of Chims for sale and there may be a few local to us.

My car is the Imperial (mettallic) Blue 400 flavour, it is a real beast and plenty fast and loud enough for me. I have found it to be a fantastic car and in the year I have had it, have only had a couple of minor trim issues (easily resolved - glue), the stepper motor (controls the idling) replaced. All of these under warranty of course, other than that, nothing of note at all.

I recently opted to put the car into Kerridges for a full 12,000 interval service, alternator/pump belt replacement and a complete overall health check. I did however have the hydraulic valve lifters checked and replaced, they can tend to get a little lazy at times and although there was nothing physically wrong with them and they were not affecting performance, replacing them has certainly quietened the tappets down. I just wanted the car completely blitzed for the summer, so that I know that the car is in excellent overall mechanical order. Peace of mind is worth a lot to me personally !

As many other PH'ers will no doubt agree, buy very carefully, buy the absolute best car you can afford (even if it means going slightly over budget for the right car), mileage is less important but condition is everything, this can make a world of difference to the whole TVR ownership experience, get a full inspection if possible and a full TVR service history is absolutely essential (plus reciepts if poss).

If you want any more info or pop by to look over my Chim drop me an E-mail from the link on my profile.

Cheers,

Keith

[zippee]

Has anyone seen the 98 400 for sale in the classifieds for under 12k?
Where do you guys reckon the prices are likely to level off at? Late last year it was virtually impossible to find even early cars at this price and when I bought my 97 400 in Jan I found it hard to find much around my price range (paid 13k for it), now theres an abundance of Chims both early and lateish at around the 10-12k mark, with a few even dipping down to 9k. Is this a common fluctuation every other year or so or has this year just seen a hrd fall in the prices.

[_dan_]

I'm selling my late 95 Chim for around £7.5k - £8.5k, bought it for £12.5k two and a half years ago. Done a good ammount of miles in it tho, used as an everyday car.

[gf350]

zippee said:

Has anyone seen the 98 400 for sale in the classifieds for under 12k? Where do you guys reckon the prices are likely to level off at? Late last year it was virtually impossible to find even early cars at this price and when I bought my 97 400 in Jan I found it hard to find much around my price range (paid 13k for it), now theres an abundance of Chims both early and lateish at around the 10-12k mark, with a few even dipping down to 9k. Is this a common fluctuation every other year or so or has this year just seen a hrd fall in the prices.

Hi Tony,
Is that the one thats done 62K miles, I'd say your one with half the mileage is a much better deal, especially as your one is in such good condition.
That one does look pretty nice though and I like the colour.
GF

PS. Got the front of mine armourfended yesterday and I'm quite impressed with it, looks like its going to work really well, its pretty much invisable unless your looking for it.