Thinking about a Tuscan for a daily driver. Am I mad?

[peter_church]

Hi,
I am on the hunt for a new car and I am thinking about a S/H Tuscan. Judging from some of the sad stories they look like they can be a right pig, but does any one here clock up serious milage in these beasts or are they toys for the weekend?

Thanks

[UpTheIron]

What's a "serious mileage?"

Plenty of people use TVR's daily, but the amount of driving and the type of driving you do might make it less practical.

[peter_church]

Hi,
About 200 mile round trips. Mostly motorway and empty A roads. I just dumped a 2.8 Saab V6 that was giving about 24 mpg so petrol is not really one of my worries.

Thanks for the help.

[UpTheIron]

Long journeys really are not a problem - in the past I've regularly used mine for a daily commute that is/was 70 miles each way, and I've done much longer trips fairly regularly - 200, 300 miles plus without stopping other than for fuel, including the rather obvious Le Mans trips, but also into/around Paris without any problems (other than people jumping into the road to take pictures!).

However, if you are talking about 200 miles a day, every day, then there are a few practical considerations:

- you'll be visiting the petrol station (at least) once a day
- you'll be getting a service every six weeks - probably meaning you will be without the car for several days.
- it would not be unreasonable to be prepared for major engine work on an annual basis.

However if you are talking about using a Tuscan for anything up to 20k/year I don't see any major problems...beyond that it makes too much sense not to also run a cheaper car as well.

Edited by UpTheIron on Sunday 28th January 10:55

[peter_church]

UpTheIron said:

Long journeys really are not a problem - in the past I've regularly used mine for a daily commute that is/was 70 miles each way, and I've done much longer trips fairly regularly - 200, 300 miles plus without stopping other than for fuel, including the rather obvious Le Mans trips, but also into/around Paris without any problems (other than people jumping into the road to take pictures!).

However, if you are talking about 200 miles a day, every day, then there are a few practical considerations:

- you'll be visiting the petrol station (at least) once a day
- you'll be getting a service every six weeks - probably meaning you will be without the car for several days.
- it would not be unreasonable to be prepared for major engine work on an annual basis.

However if you are talking about using a Tuscan for anything up to 20k/year I don't see any major problems...beyond that it makes too much sense not to also run a cheaper car as well.

Edited by UpTheIron on Sunday 28th January 10:55

Thanks
I owned an SL for a while and that was quite good at draining oil reserves, so daily trips for petrol are not so bad for me. I live the other side of Bath and make regular commutes out to Berkshire and London. Not every day but enough to want something interesting to get in for 5 hours of my life. I started off looking at an XKR however having been in my mates fully tuned XK-R the standard R seems far too sedate, and not very grin worthy. Thus my sudden revived interest in a TVR the Tuskan was my first though however I am also considering a Chimera or Cerbera as weel so nothing s really set right now. At the end of the day a want a car that I can enjoy and wont break my bank every time it sees a dealer.

Regards,

Pete

[toobin]

peter_church said:

Hi,
I am on the hunt for a new car and I am thinking about a S/H Tuscan. Judging from some of the sad stories they look like they can be a right pig, but does any one here clock up serious milage in these beasts or are they toys for the weekend?

Thanks

Its a car, made for driving sir!!!!

Get one, enjoy it, keep smiling!!!

[peter_church]

toobin said:

Its a car, made for driving sir!!!!

Get one, enjoy it, keep smiling!!!

Watch this space out of interest would I be better off starting with a late model Chim then moving up to a Tuscan S when I have had time to cut my teeth on TVR ownership or will it make little difference?

[b2tus]

Peter
My take.....
I had a late Chim for 2 years....really got bitten by the TVR bug and then changed to a Tuscan which I have enjoyed for the past 2 years.
Still completely smitten with the TVR experience and camaraderie.
Go for it...if you don't, you will always be looking over your shoulder wondering what you missed.
Cheers
Brent

[cheeky]

Hi Peter,

My Tuscan was a daily driver for quite a while and has sometimes been a commuter.

It has had somewhere between 6-8 trips from London to Scotland and back, including one with a week driving round the highlands.

It has done London to Paris to St. Emilion to Biarritz to Carcassonne to Paris to London.

It has done Hampshire to Courchevel and back, with the return journey at 1.2 leptons.

And it did London Thunder - 2-3 hours at 0.01 leptons for much of the way - without missing a beat.

So the Tuscan can clearly handle it. I can't think of any problems it had on those long trips (not even the rainy week in Scotland!).

And a fair bit of mileage does mean it gets looked after. This one's had 44k miles in 5 years or so.

So don't worry unduly. And remember that they're so cheap now that you can easily put aside some cash "just in case". Have a look at: www.pistonheads.com/sales/71221.htm

[shorts!]

I used mine as a daily driver, not necessarily driving it every day but every day I drove I drove it. In two and a half years I managed over 50k miles with such behaviour. At around 10k miles it suffered the famous finger follower issue but after that I had barely any trouble. Check the fluids regularly and get friendly with the staff at a few petrol stations and the hundreds of hours you spend in the car will be much more fun than sitting down in the same seat for hours should be.
Lots of motorways and fast A roads will probably give you similar or perhaps better mpg than the Saab but a whole lot more fun.

Edited by shorts! on Wednesday 7th February 01:05