Help buying a Cerbera

[PaladinX]

I am looking to buy a Cerbera. The trouble is this will be my first go at buying a TVR. I have read all the forums to try and get a idea of what is good and bad.
If anyone has got experience in this area and can help me out it would be most appreciated.
I am only on a lowly government wage and will have to borrow most of the money to get my dream car, so really want to minimise the chance of making a mistake.

Thanks
:driving:

[RUSSELLM]

PaladinX said:

so really want to minimise the chance of making a mistake.

Buy one that's just had the chassis, engine, clutch & both cylinders, brake discs, calipers, speedo, door buttons, starter motor, rear exhaust, replaced all with a year warranty & you should be alright.

Failing that allow approx £3k a year plus insurance, fuel (13-27 mpg), & keep your fingers & next of kins fingers crossed

[2 sheds]

Try to get a specialist to inspect it.
do a search on this as there have been a few of these threads within the last few weeks.

Good luck.

[Steve_T]

daggart said:

If you don't earn very much forget it.Mines cost me and the dealership a fortune and its mean't to be one of the better ones.Cerbera's are fantastic when there running right but you'll curse the day you ever bought it when it goes wrong.

What daggart said.

[trackcar]

Ideally you'd want a specialist in cerberas to look at it, as some TVR specialists don't properly know their way around the cerbera 'cos they're really chimaera/griff specialists. I would wholeheartedly recommend APM if you're after a cerbera specialist in the south, or Horizon Motorsport in the midlands.

Joo

[gary judd]

RUSSELLM said:

PaladinX said: so really want to minimise the chance of making a mistake. Buy one that's just had the chassis, engine, clutch & both cylinders, brake discs, calipers, speedo, door buttons, starter motor, rear exhaust, replaced all with a year warranty & you should be alright. Failing that allow approx £3k a year plus insurance, fuel (13-27 mpg), & keep your fingers & next of kins fingers crossed

look at this one meets most of the requirements

www.pistonheads.com/sales/46483.htm
Gary

[johnbear]

The Cerbera is a fantastic car, but don't buy one.

It's a money pit!!!

I brought what appear to be a mint Speed 6 Cerbera from District Garage, in Helsby (it turned out to be a right cowboy outfit) with full service history and 18k on the clock. In a year I've had to have the gearbox out three times (clutch slave, starter and clutch) and have just found out I'll need a head rebuild within 12000 miles, due to a stretched value stem.

I nearly had to have to engine lowered from the chassis, just to remove an over-tight cam cover bolt - unbelievable...

[trackcar]

to be fair that just sounds like general cerbera stuff and sp6 stuff .. no surprises at all in that list.

[peterrosey]

Ahem... there's quite nice one to be found in the classifieds, that has only just had new Protech suspension (way better than the second-rate items TVR use), sports exhausts and a service carried out by Joospeed, plus four new tyres...

Seriously, you're welcome to have a look at it without any pressure and if you bring insurance you can drive it, too, and see what you think. I'm only selling it due to business problems. I'm based in Nottingham, if this helps.

[ajcerb]

ditto the guys who have said don't do it unless you really do have access to a generous sum of spare capital and/or plenty of disposable income, and i do mean plenty, that you can use to deal with the issues that will crop up and which almost invariably are 'that'll be £1000 sir,' or more - possibly several times in the first year or two, plus servicing etc. I like mine, enjoy it, but without a doubt it has cost me a lot more than i anticipated to keep on the road as well as dealing with the things that really do have to be done as and when they are brought to your attention. If you are self employed you can make it tax deductible which takes away some of the pain but if not it can be harsh, unless you are loaded, which i'm not. The lower priced ones may seem like a bargain but unless you are incredibly lucky you will have to spend a lot more on it than you expect and it will stop being fun. I am looking into more wallet sensitive ways of owning a TVR but am finding it very hard to get my heart to believe what my head is telling me.

[TON70]

ajcerb said:

but am finding it very hard to get my heart to believe what my head is telling me.

Your forgetting one thing....love is blind
OK I've been lucky..(touches wood)only the odd one or two problems perhaps I've still got the worst to come(touches wood again!)but I still get that 'new car' buzz every time I drive the Cerb and that is what I bought it for, not the 'this is the most reliable, best value for money user friendly car ever!!!' but as the famous Donald Sutherland once said 'Negative waves man...' ( Bag of peanuts if you can name the film!!!)

>> Edited by TON70 on Wednesday 3rd August 20:18

[ajcerb]

can't name him but it was in Kelly's Heroes, i think - or was it the dirty dozen - anyway he drove the tank. My problem is love the car but when i look at the bank statements you have to wonder if it makes sense. The only point i was trying to make was that if you are on a tight budget to start with these cars can crucify you and turn a happy experience into a miserable one - it just isn't a sensible way to go into Cerbera ownership. The car will start to deteriorate because the work that needs doing won't get done and its value will just disappear - which if it has been bought on a loan is not a good thing to have happen.

[paulk]

I have say all the comments on here are a true reflection on the joys of owning a cerb.
I dont have a huge wage either working for local government but I have managed (hopefully) to keep the car in good order. It can be done just make sure that you budjet for the costs. I currently put away about 200 notes a month just for the car, thats a big chunk of my disposible income. Recently I needed a new clutch, flywheel etc £1800 didnt have the money due to recent split with the wife so i sold my motorbike. I dont go out pi**ing my cash up the wall 5 times a week which easily pays for the unexpected costs of the cerb.
Whatever you do dont spend your entire budget on the car leave 3-5k for the first year regardless of the condition of the car and 2-3k each year after.

dont let this put you off getting one mine costs me a fortune but I would not swap it for the world and i still beleive I have a good one
Do your homework speak to the people in the know and go for it and enjoy!

[UKBob]

Yup, they can be pretty expensive If Id not had a dealer warranty, mine would have cost me 3-4k or so in the first 5 months.

Budget for 3-4k in the first year, and 2-3k per year thereafter. It has been said by many cerbera owners that they've had their car for X years, and have only had very small minor niggley things go wrong.

Not sure where you are in the South, but check out www.Austec.co.uk They can help people find and source cars, but they will do a very thorough full check of any car for 2 hours labour, about £100 quid or so. IIRC.

Dont let prices scare you, buy if you can afford them. The fun factor is immesurable. Last night whilst in a car park, a few kids rolled up on their bikes, I could hear the chatter before they arrived... "seen it before, got pictures at home, should we take a video this time, ask him to start it up..."

Evening lads

Started it up with plenty of revs, many squeals of delight, then left via the one way car park route to exit to find them waiting cheering it on, asking for more revs etc then further down the one way car park route there they were again waiting... go on mister, do it again. So I laid down some rubber for the blighters.

Had a 20 something lass shriek-squeal as I passed popping and banging, the day before more kids screaming "wooaahhhhhhHH!" as I rocketed by, and the usual hundreds of looks, finger pointing, grins and shaking heads... all in the last 2 hours of driving.

Its a never ending grin machine. If you ever need your spirits lifted, just jump in and push the black starter button. Instant gratification! Its an enthusiasts car for sure, but cant be beat as far as the fun factor goes. So again: buy one, ignore the warnings (no amount of problems could ever put me off, there is nothing else out there to upgrade to!) but only buy one if you can afford to maintain it.

[robertjp]

I have turned myself upside down with deciding whether to get a Cerbera or something else, say a Chimaera that would be less expensive to run...

BUT,

If its in your heart, there really is no alternative.

You will come back to it again and again, even if you buy something else!

I have come to the conclusion it has to be the Cerbera or nothing, if i bought a Chimaera i would always wonder what it would have been like.

So...saving hard...you can always go to one of the good guys that will offer you 12 months warranty and fully serviced, that way you can decide after 12 months if you could keep up with the maintenance. If you sell it then you have lost nothing and gained a yr in the life of a Cerb.

James Agger or David Gerald appear to offer this kind of service and warranty...amongst others i am sure...

[paladinx]

Well thank you all very much for your replies. A very balenced and informative response.
It now seems that this car would be for the love and not financial enjoyment.
I shall save a little more and hopefully before christmas will want a 98-2000 Cerbera 4.5 with less than 50k on the clock and all the major areas (clutch, starter, engine etc..) fixed. I particularly like them with the 18" wheels, full hide and headlight conversion.
I shall have to put aside £300 a month for repairs/servicing and petrol. It also seems that most dealerships have been money grabbing on the maintenance of this car and assuming it is a rich boys toy, rather than an average earners love but hope is there with a few of the recommendations on this site offering good value for money.
Thanks again for all help. If anyone spots a good buy around the £18k mark let me know please.

Gareth