why i now hate my t350
Discussion
picked it up 3 weeks ago loved it black with tan interior. some bits where not right but its a tvr so what. then last week in traffic water temp goes up to 110 take to tvr london for test and pressure test all done on the day and mornig after and fixed. for now the yesterday gets hot again and now its on its way to wiltshire on a flat bed for a new radiator and probably and cracked head casket. rubbish worse than the tamora i had 2 years ago why did i do it again. i just love the way they sound and look but there really built like crap. how sad i am so pissed off i want to change for something else and right now i dont care what. now i have to go home in a hired smart car which i had to pay for. great
misdo
misdo
yes it has a 1 year warranty but tvr london wont do the work as they did not supply the car which is why its going back to david henry cars. it great that tvr dealers only do warranty work on cars they sell. which is a nice touch god forbid they behave like all other car dealer networks. anybody want to buy a soon to be fixed t350.but deep in regression i still love it and one day just before i get committed i would like to own a sagaris but i am sure it would break down just before i do.
misdo
misdo
That's crap. I took my TVR to Racing green for warranty work when it was sold by Mole Valley. I would write to Mr. Smolenski and tell him this is unheard of in the industry.
At the end of the day, the dealership claims it from the manufacturer anyway as long as a qulaified mechanic signs off the problem as a warranty claim.
At the end of the day, the dealership claims it from the manufacturer anyway as long as a qulaified mechanic signs off the problem as a warranty claim.
I had the same problem WRT any warranty work.
I was told by other dealers that they didn't want to look at my car if it was warranty work and had I bought the car from another dealer. Now if their books were bursting at the seams and you had to wait months for service I'd kind of understand, but since one of these dealers has since gone down the pan and turned independent I suspect they had some spare timeslots where the mechanics were twiddling their thumbs. I know the labour rates for warranty work are lower, but £15 per hour is more than £0 per hour... and they could have gained another customer (12k service was coming up). I guess business acumen is not at the top of the list as a requirement for being a dealer sometimes.
I was told by other dealers that they didn't want to look at my car if it was warranty work and had I bought the car from another dealer. Now if their books were bursting at the seams and you had to wait months for service I'd kind of understand, but since one of these dealers has since gone down the pan and turned independent I suspect they had some spare timeslots where the mechanics were twiddling their thumbs. I know the labour rates for warranty work are lower, but £15 per hour is more than £0 per hour... and they could have gained another customer (12k service was coming up). I guess business acumen is not at the top of the list as a requirement for being a dealer sometimes.
Having had a car from David Hendry I can say that THEY are keen to have any car back to do work under warranty especially when you have taken the car to a "new" dealer. I took my car to Silverstone for some warranty work but they weren't allowed (allowed may be too strong a word)to do it. David Hendry wanted to see the car and undertake the work themselves as they have been a dealer for many years.
At the time I was miffed at having to take the thing to Wiltshire but in the end the pricy recommended fix by Silverstone was wrong and Hendry fixed the problem and a few more niggles besides under warranty.
As with any dealer there are good and bad stories about them. From my limited experience all I can say is that the work was done, other bits checked and fixed, parts ordered (oil pressure sender) and sent to me for another dealer to fit and I was happy with the experience.
At the time I was miffed at having to take the thing to Wiltshire but in the end the pricy recommended fix by Silverstone was wrong and Hendry fixed the problem and a few more niggles besides under warranty.
As with any dealer there are good and bad stories about them. From my limited experience all I can say is that the work was done, other bits checked and fixed, parts ordered (oil pressure sender) and sent to me for another dealer to fit and I was happy with the experience.
maddog-uk said:
That can not be true. K.K had some work I thought done under warranty by London TVR and I dont think he bought his car from them.....
It isn't! I've just come off the phone from my next nearest dealer and they are happy to take on any warranty work I may have in the future. I think it may be a case of dealers just trying to pick and choose their labour rate?
As an ex-main dealer, the issue here isn't with used car warranties (in the case of Bennem), it is with new car warranty, some used car warranties will only pay the supplying dealer a sensible labour rate.
When you supply a new car part of your profit margin is used to 'look after' the car - this is TVR's policy, not that of its dealers. Bottom line is warranty work just does not pay, the times are un-realistic, the rate is way too low and takes an age to get paid for the work (if you get paid). Therefore if a car you haven't supplied new comes in for warranty work there is a natural resistance to doing it. When car sales are almost non-existent a dealer relies on its workshop to keep its head above water, so taking on warranty work that loses you money from cars supplied by other dealers is commercial suicide, especially when you've got enough loss making warranty on the cars you HAVE supplied. It still didn't save us, but there's a lot more to that story than meets the eye...
>> Edited by SP on Friday 18th November 12:17
When you supply a new car part of your profit margin is used to 'look after' the car - this is TVR's policy, not that of its dealers. Bottom line is warranty work just does not pay, the times are un-realistic, the rate is way too low and takes an age to get paid for the work (if you get paid). Therefore if a car you haven't supplied new comes in for warranty work there is a natural resistance to doing it. When car sales are almost non-existent a dealer relies on its workshop to keep its head above water, so taking on warranty work that loses you money from cars supplied by other dealers is commercial suicide, especially when you've got enough loss making warranty on the cars you HAVE supplied. It still didn't save us, but there's a lot more to that story than meets the eye...
>> Edited by SP on Friday 18th November 12:17
SP said:
As an ex-main dealer, the issue here isn't with used car warranties (in the case of Bennem), it is with new car warranty, some used car warranties will only pay the supplying dealer a sensible labour rate.
When you supply a new car part of your profit margin is used to 'look after' the car - this is TVR's policy, not that of its dealers. Bottom line is warranty work just does not pay, the times are un-realistic, the rate is way too low and takes an age to get paid for the work (if you get paid). Therefore if a car you haven't supplied new comes in for warranty work there is a natural resistance to doing it. When car sales are almost non-existent a dealer relies on its workshop to keep its head above water, so taking on warranty work that loses you money from cars supplied by other dealers is commercial suicide, especially when you've got enough loss making warranty on the cars you HAVE supplied. It still didn't save us, but there's a lot more to that story than meets the eye...
>> Edited by SP on Friday 18th November 12:17
Castle TVR explained the very same situation to me when I had a couple of minor niggles.
After the explanation I could see why the would not want to sort any minor issues I had. In fairness to Castle though when I did have a show stopper and I needed their help they stepped up to the mark without question and did the job.
Left me feeling a bit guilty to be honest, I went elsewhere to save a few quid originally and then needed them to bail me out. Lesson learnt
>> Edited by ibroker on Friday 18th November 13:32
>> Edited by ibroker on Friday 18th November 13:33
No reason to feel guilty, the dealer still represents TVR and part of the responsibility of being a main dealer is to sort out warranty issues regardless of whether you supplied the car!
Castle never said a word when I got them to sort out warranty things on our Tuscan that we didn't buy from them and I'd have been shocked if they had.
VW were fined millions when their UK dealers refused to do work on Euro imports.
Mark
Castle never said a word when I got them to sort out warranty things on our Tuscan that we didn't buy from them and I'd have been shocked if they had.
VW were fined millions when their UK dealers refused to do work on Euro imports.
Mark
Well if TVR are like SP states then I really don't see why anyone would want to be a TVR dealer if they were in it to make money. Perhaps if these kinds of issues (the apparent hard life dealers actually have) is made more public then we could all campaign to get TVR to pull its socks up.
This is all part of the 'being a main dealer lot' - sadly it only really works well when the sales are good.. if the sales stall and you have loads of warranty work then your workshops become clogged with jobs that dont pay.
I'm sure many good TVR dealers have had this - some go bust / become indies / shed the franchise : I've heard of all these.
Lack of sales seems to be the route cause IMHO.
I'm sure many good TVR dealers have had this - some go bust / become indies / shed the franchise : I've heard of all these.
Lack of sales seems to be the route cause IMHO.
targarama said:
Well if TVR are like SP states then I really don't see why anyone would want to be a TVR dealer if they were in it to make money. Perhaps if these kinds of issues (the apparent hard life dealers actually have) is made more public then we could all campaign to get TVR to pull its socks up.
In the 12 months or so that I've been following PH, look at the dealers that have gone: Street, Kerridges, Christopher Neil, Silverstone, TMS, then add the imminent closure of London (Hogarth*) and then consider that winter has only just started so there'll be more casualties in the coming months. Says a lot I think.
* Not even TVR themselves want to be a TVR dealer
Hey guys just chill! If i were you i would not touch a straight six engined tvr. Now, i have doneat least 80 heads on them and valve timing! These engines were designed by AL Melling and as far as I'm concerned if it was not for john r then the thing wouldn't work. P.S your valve shims were made abroad and at least 100000 were proven to be not case hardened.
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