Decision made, I'm going to buy a Chim!
Discussion
After much thought on this i've decided i'm going to have a Chim, if all goes well about september/october/november (at the latest) I just need to get a bit of money saved then i'm Chim shopping.
I know its' a bit in the future but i can't wait!
Just a few Q's!
Would it be a good idea for me to rent a garage? Or would Chim be OK parked on drive with a car cover?
Does classic insurance only apply to Chims 10 years and older?
Power steering Yay or Nay?
How do Chims drive in all weathers?
Any advice welcome!
Regards,
Nicola
I know its' a bit in the future but i can't wait!
Just a few Q's!
Would it be a good idea for me to rent a garage? Or would Chim be OK parked on drive with a car cover?
Does classic insurance only apply to Chims 10 years and older?
Power steering Yay or Nay?
How do Chims drive in all weathers?
Any advice welcome!
Regards,
Nicola
car.chic said:
After much thought on this i've decided i'm going to have a Chim, if all goes well about september/october/november (at the latest) I just need to get a bit of money saved then i'm Chim shopping.
I know its' a bit in the future but i can't wait!
Just a few Q's!
Would it be a good idea for me to rent a garage? Or would Chim be OK parked on drive with a car cover?
Does classic insurance only apply to Chims 10 years and older?
Power steering Yay or Nay?
How do Chims drive in all weathers?
Any advice welcome!
Regards,
Nicola
I know its' a bit in the future but i can't wait!
Just a few Q's!
Would it be a good idea for me to rent a garage? Or would Chim be OK parked on drive with a car cover?
Does classic insurance only apply to Chims 10 years and older?
Power steering Yay or Nay?
How do Chims drive in all weathers?
Any advice welcome!
Regards,
Nicola
If you can find a garage, get one (but plenty live outside)
Power steering: try both, you'll know which you prefer.
You'll love 'em!
car.chic said:
After much thought on this i've decided i'm going to have a Chim, if all goes well about september/october/november (at the latest) I just need to get a bit of money saved then i'm Chim shopping.
I know its' a bit in the future but i can't wait!
Good decision!
Just a few Q's!
Would it be a good idea for me to rent a garage? Or would Chim be OK parked on drive with a car cover?
Mine is garaged now but used to sit outside with no problems. Just make sure the roof is regularly waterproofed (Thompsons sealer is good). Applied a couple of coats every year. This managed to keep the inside nice a dry.
Does classic insurance only apply to Chims 10 years and older?
Several insurance companies will cover the Chim as under a 'classic' policy. I use AON.
Power steering Yay or Nay?
How big are your biceps?! Mine is non PAS. It can be quite heavy whilst parking but fine on the move.
How do Chims drive in all weathers?
Tend to use mine mainly in dry weather but many others use all year round. You need to be careful in the wet. Lots of torque and light weight can mean the rear overtaking the front if you are over zealous with the loud pedal!
Any advice welcome!
Regards,
Nicola
I know its' a bit in the future but i can't wait!
Good decision!
Just a few Q's!
Would it be a good idea for me to rent a garage? Or would Chim be OK parked on drive with a car cover?
Mine is garaged now but used to sit outside with no problems. Just make sure the roof is regularly waterproofed (Thompsons sealer is good). Applied a couple of coats every year. This managed to keep the inside nice a dry.
Does classic insurance only apply to Chims 10 years and older?
Several insurance companies will cover the Chim as under a 'classic' policy. I use AON.
Power steering Yay or Nay?
How big are your biceps?! Mine is non PAS. It can be quite heavy whilst parking but fine on the move.
How do Chims drive in all weathers?
Tend to use mine mainly in dry weather but many others use all year round. You need to be careful in the wet. Lots of torque and light weight can mean the rear overtaking the front if you are over zealous with the loud pedal!
Any advice welcome!
Regards,
Nicola
My thoughts.......
Deffo put it in a garage....i have a Leven cover but that doesnt stop water leaking into the boot!!! The damp in the boot made some of the laquer separate from the paint on a rear wing. Atr the end of the day, if its in the dry, no harm can come to it. It also keeps bird poo and cats off!
Get one with a FSH and from someone who has kept all the receipts. It shows they are fanatical about looking after the car. I have somewhere in the region of £18,000 of receipts from when mine was new. It's now 13 years old!
Condition. Condition. Condition.
Forget mileage. When I bought my latest Chim, I test drove one with 29,000 on it and it was a bag of nails which tried to throw me off the road and the bloke "did the oil changes himself"
So then I plumped for mine which had 74,000 miles on it but had a huge history, all reciepts and was in great condition for its age, especially underneath.
Looks for tell tales signs of water inside. Like white residue or wet maps behind seats. Put your hands under the seats to check for damp.
good luck.
p.s. I drive mine in all weathers and it's 100% reliable and dry.
Deffo put it in a garage....i have a Leven cover but that doesnt stop water leaking into the boot!!! The damp in the boot made some of the laquer separate from the paint on a rear wing. Atr the end of the day, if its in the dry, no harm can come to it. It also keeps bird poo and cats off!
Get one with a FSH and from someone who has kept all the receipts. It shows they are fanatical about looking after the car. I have somewhere in the region of £18,000 of receipts from when mine was new. It's now 13 years old!
Condition. Condition. Condition.
Forget mileage. When I bought my latest Chim, I test drove one with 29,000 on it and it was a bag of nails which tried to throw me off the road and the bloke "did the oil changes himself"
So then I plumped for mine which had 74,000 miles on it but had a huge history, all reciepts and was in great condition for its age, especially underneath.
Looks for tell tales signs of water inside. Like white residue or wet maps behind seats. Put your hands under the seats to check for damp.
good luck.
p.s. I drive mine in all weathers and it's 100% reliable and dry.
Edited by Nick P on Tuesday 20th March 18:36
Nick P said:
My thoughts.......
Deffo put it in a garage....i have a Leven cover but that doesnt stop water leaking into the boot!!! The damp in the boot made some of the laquer separate from the paint on a rear wing. Atr the end of the day, if its in the dry, no harm can come to it. It also keeps bird poo and cats off!
Get one with a FSH and from someone who has kept all the receipts. It shows they are fanatical about looking after the car. I have somewhere in the region of £18,000 of receipts from when mine was new. It's now 13 years old!
Condition. Condition. Condition.
Forget mileage. When I bought my latest Chim, I test drove one with 29,000 on it and it was a bag of nails which tried to throw me off the road and the bloke "did the oil changes himself"
So then I plumped for mine which had 74,000 miles on it but had a huge history, all reciepts and was in great condition for its age, especially underneath.
Looks for tell tales signs of water inside. Like white residue or wet maps behind seats. Put your hands under the seats to check for damp.
good luck.
p.s. I drive mine in all weathers and it's 100% reliable and dry.
Deffo put it in a garage....i have a Leven cover but that doesnt stop water leaking into the boot!!! The damp in the boot made some of the laquer separate from the paint on a rear wing. Atr the end of the day, if its in the dry, no harm can come to it. It also keeps bird poo and cats off!
Get one with a FSH and from someone who has kept all the receipts. It shows they are fanatical about looking after the car. I have somewhere in the region of £18,000 of receipts from when mine was new. It's now 13 years old!
Condition. Condition. Condition.
Forget mileage. When I bought my latest Chim, I test drove one with 29,000 on it and it was a bag of nails which tried to throw me off the road and the bloke "did the oil changes himself"
So then I plumped for mine which had 74,000 miles on it but had a huge history, all reciepts and was in great condition for its age, especially underneath.
Looks for tell tales signs of water inside. Like white residue or wet maps behind seats. Put your hands under the seats to check for damp.
good luck.
p.s. I drive mine in all weathers and it's 100% reliable and dry.
Edited by Nick P on Tuesday 20th March 18:36
^^^ wot 'e sed
Also as a lady driver you definitely want to try PAS/non PAS before you buy. Personally I preferred non PAS but it has kept the 'bingo wings' at bay for a few more years
To reiterate CONDITION CONDITION CONDITION, and get it checked out by a specialist before buying (dunno if Trackcar still does this but if he doesn't he may know a man who can.
We kept ours on the drive with a car cap the lovely Rude Girl made for me (got a silver fleece car cover thingy from Halfrauds and fitted it over the Chim with sewing pins and she knocked it up on the sewing machine in about half an hour!
) That kept everything nice and snug. Be prepared to pay your salary into the local Shell stations account
Get a copy of the 'bible' useful to hae even though you may not be a mechanic.
Be prepared to have your heart broken when you sell it
Blue ones are fastest
If it is a daily driver get a 4litre, generally thought to be less problematic than the larger engines (no doubt someone will be along to correct me on that though
) Finaly, enjoy and I am not jealous one little bit, no sirreee, not me, no way guvnor
Oh and 2SB, driving the Chim in the snow is dead easy and huge fun! Stop being a wuss!
Ace-T
Ace-T said:
Oh and 2SB, driving the Chim in the snow is dead easy and huge fun! Stop being a wuss!
Can you come over and show me how to - if we ever get snow here, that is? Until then, I think I'll be preferring to drive the Saab in adverse conditions, or better still the MINI (if it's for business I do that anyway), GRP bodywork being expensive and all...
Thanks very much for the advice so far!
I'm going to start looking from now, so i can see as many cars as possible before actually buying. Also i haven't actually had a drive in one yet
, though my heart is set on a Chim and i really really hope i'm not disapointed!
Does TVR Club have a classifieds section? As i think getting one from someone whos in the club should be a better idea than just buying one from autotrader etc. will be checking out PH classifieds of course too!
I'm going to start looking from now, so i can see as many cars as possible before actually buying. Also i haven't actually had a drive in one yet
, though my heart is set on a Chim and i really really hope i'm not disapointed! Does TVR Club have a classifieds section? As i think getting one from someone whos in the club should be a better idea than just buying one from autotrader etc. will be checking out PH classifieds of course too!
Sounds too cheap?
! car.chic said:
Just a few Q's!
Would it be a good idea for me to rent a garage? Or would Chim be OK parked on drive with a car cover?
Does classic insurance only apply to Chims 10 years and older?
Power steering Yay or Nay?
How do Chims drive in all weathers?
Any advice welcome!
Regards,
Nicola
My thoughts...
If it lives outside, get a hood cover - it'll save scraping ice in the middle of winter (although the cover makes a nice crunching noise
) Classic cover generally applies to cars over 10, need to be garaged (which often negates the insurance thing in terms of cost) and not a daily driver (in my experience).
PAS is subjective. Many later cars had it as standard, so the choice is foten made for you. At speed I find little difference (my Chim had it, the missus Griff doesn't) - although it makes parking a damn sight easier.
No different to any other car. There are tricks that make life easier - silica gel bags absorb moisture in the winter months for example. Treated with respect they are pretty docile. I never let tyres get below 3-4mm before changing them. Drove mine in snow, ice, hail... did around 25,000 miles in 2 years.
As mentioned afore; buy on CONDITION. A good one will be a joy, a bad one will break your heart AND your wallet. Thing WILL go wrong. It may only be small, but they do need TLC and lots of it. Good cars will hold their money... it's worth saving those extra few pennies to get a good one - there is no such thing as a bargain TVR - you'll just pay for it later.
Edited by Podie on Tuesday 20th March 19:45
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