brooklands green chimaera

[valmet]

i'm searching for my first tvr and have spoted one in the pistonheads classifieds that i think is beautiful.its a brooklands green '98 4.5 chimaera (ref. 198625)with 47k.the car has been resprayed by central tvr and has a new hood.is this a good thing?would i be better to look for a more origonal car?will the new paint be easier scratched?is 'central tvr'a professional bodyshop?also what sort of mileage can these cars take?i was told recently that buying a 4.5 with 60k is like buying a diesel golf with 200k ie could let go at any time!should i be looking for a lower mileage car?any help,advice or words of wisdom about this car or in general would be greatly appreciated.

[mgaut]

70,000 miles and counting on a '94 Chimaera.

Read the buying advice threads, it's all about condition condition condition (particularly that chassis).

The old Rover lump is solid; if in doubt get it inspected or look for yourself on the ramp.

Mike

[Zippee]

valmet said:

?i was told recently that buying a 4.5 with 60k is like buying a diesel golf with 200k ie could let go at any time!

Utter bull Who on earth told you that? for starters the 4.5 is probably the strongest of the Chim engines.
Think how many other cars use the Rover V8! remember it's not specific to TVR and they are quite capable of galactic mileages providing they are looked after (that means properly warmed up and not constantly bounced off the limiter) and serviced regularly.

[leemarkadams]

Funnily enough I have a diesel golf (1999 T plate) with 222K miles on it, and you know what, ALL it has needed (except for discs, pads etc..) is a £100 air flow sensor!

Spookliy enough.................I also have a 5ltr Chim, with 87K on the clock, and I am well happy with it, as I looked at a few befoe this one, to be honest the milage did put me off a bit, but the condition of the car more than made up for it! And it goes like a bat out of hell,as I had a play with it today!

So, all I would say is go for condition etc, as we all know low milage cars that have let go!!!

Lee

[mccrackenj]

As others have said, 47k is nothing. Condition is all.

I wouldn't worry about a re-paint either, it's not as if it's going to be hiding dodgy rust repairs is it? A lot of TVRs have had front ends repainted, due to the stone chips they all pick up.

(Personally I'd prefer one with new paint because it would allow me to look after the paint properly and get a really good shine, as opposed to possibly having to rectify a previous owner's efforts at polishing lots of lovely scratches and swirl marks into it.)