Ebay Cerbera : How much to repair this?

Ebay Cerbera : How much to repair this?

Author
Discussion

richmartin

Original Poster:

84 posts

285 months

Monday 4th November 2002
quotequote all
Hi,

Just found this damaged Cerbera on Ebay.co.uk from Douglas Valley:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1784812599

For £10,000 it seems a bargain but how much do you reckon the repairs would cost? Personally, driving a repaired TVR would not bother me, as long as I knew I had saved a packet,

Cheers,

Rich

dai capp

1,641 posts

261 months

Monday 4th November 2002
quotequote all
Plenty...

I've seen ones with less damage costing between 8 and 12K to repair and rosso pearl can be a sod to match the paint for, though there are places that guarantee a match.

Also do you really want to buy a car capable of doing the best part of 200 mph when it could have chassis damage.

You could try emailing the photos to tvrbodyshop.co.uk and see if they'll estimate the cost.

Cheers

DC

Fourwheeldrift

88,560 posts

285 months

Monday 4th November 2002
quotequote all
Probably worth 22k when finished (it will be a repaired 4.5). Is there less than 8k of damage???????
Only looks like cosmetic fibre glass repair work and front right wheel (suspension/etc) to be done.

Looks like a top 'n tailed road traffic accident or track day shunt.

I'm no repairer but this looks like a good project for someone.

>> Edited by Fourwheeldrift on Monday 4th November 20:09

richmartin

Original Poster:

84 posts

285 months

Monday 4th November 2002
quotequote all
Darren,

Thats what I was thinking, it seems bloody cheap and I think it would be a great project car. I'm really interested in it. You could upgrade the front lights, maybe after burners from Zertec on the back. Thats if the descrption is correct, doesn't mention suspension damage.

In response to Dai Capp: surely it wouldn't cost over 8 grand to repair just the fibre glass? Even with a little suspension damage, 8k seems way too much.

Could anymore guestimate a repair cost?

Rich

HarryW

15,151 posts

270 months

Monday 4th November 2002
quotequote all
I'm certainly no car repairer but for this to be going through any kind of auction then it must have been subject to write off .
To be written off I understood the repairs have to be considered to be over half the value of the car (any one know extactly how that works, or even if that assumption is right?).
So if it's up for a reserve of £10K then I expect that the cost of the repairs must have been quoted to be well in excess of £10K for insurance company to write it off in the first instance?
Or have I got it completely wrong yet again .

Harry

incorrigible

13,668 posts

262 months

Monday 4th November 2002
quotequote all
see my profile for the state mine was in when I got it, parts cost about £1700, and I paid someone £3k all in for the respray (after I'd done ALL the glass work, they just did the top coat of filler and the paint)

Do you feel lucky punk

I don't reckon it's got any chassis damage, the wishbones are made of cotton wool so even a small knock will usually knacker them BUT DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT

Mine was the first glass car I've done and I really don't think it's anything to be scared of, but I guess I put in 100-150 hours, so that'd be anyhting up to £6k if you were going to pay someone else

Mail me through my profile if you either want it done, or want a chat about doing it yourself

pistolar

1,474 posts

269 months

Monday 4th November 2002
quotequote all
boys boys the insurance company when assesing the damage would take into account the cost of a hire car whilst the car was being repaired. If you said £50 per day for the hire car and the body shop has the car for 6 weeks you are looking at £2100 before you have even looked at the cars repair cost.

richmartin

Original Poster:

84 posts

285 months

Monday 4th November 2002
quotequote all

pistolar said: boys boys the insurance company when assesing the damage would take into account the cost of a hire car whilst the car was being repaired. If you said £50 per day for the hire car and the body shop has the car for 6 weeks you are looking at £2100 before you have even looked at the cars repair cost.


Does this affect the cost of repairing the car with your own money?

I don't own the car (yet) in need of repair, so is this relevant?



>> Edited by richmartin on Monday 4th November 23:05

kingjohn

80 posts

266 months

Monday 4th November 2002
quotequote all
Guys,
As far as the insurance write-off goes, you are right about the repairs having to cost less than the value of the car, just be aware that the value of the car (even post repair) will be significantly less than if it had never had an accident. In other words, that £10k cerbera with about £10k worth of repairs will not even be worth £20k when it is repaired, a potential buyer will be able to tell (unless he's a complete muppet) that it has been repaired, and if it has been recorded then a HPI check will make it very hard to shift. There are too many perfect cerberas around for anyone to pay anything like full whack for an accident-repaired one.
Plus, you may have trouble insuring it unless you have it repaired by TVR or a specialist.
I'm not saying it's impossible, just don't think it's worth it myself.
John.

bennno

11,661 posts

270 months

Tuesday 5th November 2002
quotequote all

I have a friend whom paid £16k for a 98/R 4.5 Cerb in full working condition and not smashed to pieces like the one below!

Its likely its recorded as a total loss so will be worth naff all when you try to resell. From here that looks like a new nose cone, radiator, headlight, wheel / tyre, front suspension, front wishbones etc - perhaps a total chassis job.

To put it another way the insurer would have fixed it themselves if the costs were sensible, after all if it was a question of 8k's worth of repairs or 18k's worth of payout they would have taken the former.

Best buy for somebody that wants an AP engined Griff or Tuscan racer and then sell off the other bits to owners to lower the cost of the engine!!

Bennno

dai capp

1,641 posts

261 months

Tuesday 5th November 2002
quotequote all

richmartin said: Darren,

Thats what I was thinking, it seems bloody cheap and I think it would be a great project car. I'm really interested in it. You could upgrade the front lights, maybe after burners from Zertec on the back. Thats if the descrption is correct, doesn't mention suspension damage.

In response to Dai Capp: surely it wouldn't cost over 8 grand to repair just the fibre glass? Even with a little suspension damage, 8k seems way too much.

Could anymore guestimate a repair cost?

Rich


Rich,

I'm basing my opinion on the same insurance comments as have been made. Usually the cost to repair has to be less than the value, so even taking hire cars off you are looking around 8K.

Also I've noticed two factors when it comes to repairing cars like Cerbies, firstly fibre glass repairs seem to be pricey as generally the full panel gets replaced and secondly there's the TVR factor along the lines of if they've got one of them they can afford it!

Correct me if I'm wrong as well, but wouldn't you need the whole front nose cone and wings on a Cerbie (you would on a Griff as it's one peice) to make a fully satisfactory repair (I'm a bit of a perfectionist)

Cheers

DC

joust

14,622 posts

260 months

Tuesday 5th November 2002
quotequote all

pistolar said: boys boys the insurance company when assesing the damage would take into account the cost of a hire car whilst the car was being repaired. If you said £50 per day for the hire car and the body shop has the car for 6 weeks you are looking at £2100 before you have even looked at the cars repair cost.
Hmm - not so sure given what I just read in Piston Head news. Look at "Bodyshop meltdown" www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=5738 - in there it says the insurance company force the body shop to give the hire car out for free....

ro_butler

795 posts

272 months

Tuesday 5th November 2002
quotequote all
Not worth it IMHO.

If you speak to a bodyshop most will not guarantee a match with Rosso Pearl unless it has recently been resprayed. This means a full respray before you even start, which has to cost a couple of grand at a TVR approved bodyshop.

Don't get me wrong, you could do it yourself on the cheap using 'backstreet' garages and by borrowing a spray gun but like Benno said Cerbies are so cheap now it is not really worth the effort.

yum

529 posts

274 months

Tuesday 5th November 2002
quotequote all

dai capp said:
Also do you really want to buy a car capable of doing the best part of 200 mph when it could have chassis damage.




Bang on.

why not ring them to discover why they are selling it unrepaired? (post the reason when you discover it)

R

M@H

11,296 posts

273 months

Tuesday 5th November 2002
quotequote all
" can supply every part to repair at xtra cost"

therefore they will have a fairly precise list of the damage ?

"vehicle well modified over 400BHP"

? !

Cheers
Matt.

mycerbera

413 posts

268 months

Tuesday 5th November 2002
quotequote all

bennno said:
I have a friend whom paid £16k for a 98/R 4.5 Cerb in full working condition and not smashed to pieces like the one below!

Bennno


£16k for a 4.5??? When and where?

bennno

11,661 posts

270 months

Tuesday 5th November 2002
quotequote all


"vehicle well modified over 400BHP"



thats what it gives when you improve engine breathing by ripping off the exhaust on a kerb and smashing the air intake chamber in to little pieces.

suprised it does not also say, lightweight version with improved engine cooling design.



Bennno

richmartin

Original Poster:

84 posts

285 months

Tuesday 5th November 2002
quotequote all
Sent an email to Douglas Valley through the ebay auction, last night, asking about the damage and the cost of the extra parts.

Jason from Douglass Valley just replied to my email saying:

"Parts will cost £1000 for all parts required from our dismantling yard"

--

Am I right in assuming that this does not include the fibreglass sections?


Rich

>> Edited by richmartin on Tuesday 5th November 11:34

Mel-S3

176 posts

263 months

Tuesday 5th November 2002
quotequote all
Well I think you will have to have a good look at the car yourself before you buy. Also take along someone who has finished many right-offs. Ask Douglas Valley what category of write-off it is; I think there is about 3 or 4, stolen recovered to heavy accident – this can make a difference when you sell.

Personally I think if a dealer is selling it, then it won’t be no bargain. The insurance company has written the car off because the car is beyond economical repair. But, for a car like this they only have quotes from TVR specialist garages. This means hourly rate in excess of £50 per hour. To get it done cheaper then you have to go to the run of the mill garages. If the chassis is bent, which it could be having front and rear damage, then there could be a problem.

Then finally the resale value. In my experience a right-off is worth 20% less. Also right-offs tend to have no previous history, it never seems to get passed on. Which means another drop in resale value; I estimate 15%, which means the car could be worth 35% less than a clean car – food for thought.

Melvin

richmartin

Original Poster:

84 posts

285 months

Tuesday 5th November 2002
quotequote all
Had a couple of quotes from body shops, after emailing them the photos.

They reckon around £4,500 for labour and paints, thats not including the parts needed to repair.

So overall around £5,500. I think I'm loosing interest, you could get an early 4.2 with no damage for about the same money overall. Save a lot of hassle. Anyway, thanks for the replies, I'll keep an eye on the auction at ebay. I wonder if it will sell...