The wait is killing me!

[S Works]

I'm going half crazy, having been reading PH for a good few months now and having made up my mind that a Chimaera is the one for me I did my susms and went for a couple of test drives. As expected once the initial fear of the unknown was overcome I fell madly in love with the V8 and the incredible, idiot laugh-inducing accelleration and torque.

I think I'm getting a good idea of what my budgets going to get me but something maddening has got in the way....

HOUSE PURCHASE.. aaaarrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhh

Now my mind is being polluted by 'sensible' thoughts.

I'm buying a place with my other half which doesn't have a garage and only has on-street parking. There may be a chance for me to park a car in the back garden behind a locked gate but it would still not be garaged.

One option is building a small pergola and hiding a roof in it making a kind of natural car port which would keep the rain off a bit.

Would/does anyone in their right mind consider buying a Chim and leave it to the elements? Am petrified of ending up with a £20k, 300bhp goldfish pond.

[mrmaggit]

Yes but you'd have very happy goldfish!

[pies]

Decent car cover or leven cap,problem solved £150

[M@H]

I don't have a garage, just a good cover from Classic Additions and the car is fine. No way would I go with on-street parking though.

Cheers
Matt.
(and a 4.0 Chimaera that's for sale.. hint hint.)


>> Edited by M@H on Monday 27th October 15:32

[raceboy]

Mine lived on the drive for 3 years, no cover of any kind and it leaked a little but nothing worth worrying about

[count duckula]

Mine has never leaked, houses are over rated, you don't see a "househeads" web site, get the chim asap, and you will be forever happy.

Malc

[Raify]

Mate,

say boks to IKEA and get it!

[Mrs_T]

It'll be fine on the drive. We have a wonderful garage but the car won't fit down the side of our house!. Steve_T still wants us to live in an aircraft hanger so that he has room for all his toys.
Karen

[Nevin]

My car and a couple of others round here sit on the street all year round and we don't have any problems.

Other than one of the delightful local children running a coin or similar right down one side. Has only happened once though.

[ATG]

I've street parked mine for a couple of years now without any serious problems.

[Voltaire53]

[quote=S Works]Would/does anyone in their right mind consider buying a Chim and leave it to the elements? quote]

Well since my garage is not cleared out mine's been outside on the street for the last 3 months (practically since I owned it) and has been fine barring a couple of local kids nicking the TVR valve caps and occasional sluggish start after a heavy downpour.
I agree a garage, or off road parking at least, is preferable but keep the car in good condition (and possibly buy a cover for the worst winter days) and you should be fine so long as the area you live in isn't like Beiruit.

WRT the kids, their school (2 doors down from the house!) actually took it seriously enough to search the likely suspects and I got 2 of the 4 back!

[Mark.S]

1.5 years of parking mine outside without problem. Eventually bought a cover to save on washing and polishing time!

[aaandy]

Again, mine lives outside with no problems at all. Would recommend one of the covers from Leven (£150) to cover the roof and windows but that is about it.

[d50cyx]

Have had mine out on the street for 8 weeks now, full cover, no problems. And this in South London!

[Nick P]

"do it do it do it do it do it"

"no, get a Lupo"

"shut it softy, get a Chimaera"

"on second thoughts.....yeah F**k it, get a Chimaera"

[peterc]

I wanted a TVR when I was 19 yrs and had to wait until I was 52 yrs before I got my first. I now have a W reg 4.5 Chimeara and love it to bits.

The advice the I would give you has nothing to do with parking outside? The advice I would offer however is to go for it NOW whilst young enough to really enjoy it.

However, such purchases must be a carefully considered and be a joint decision between you and your partner. Forget all the macho crap quoted here.

[manek]

Agree (as someone who waited not quite 52 years but a LONG time). Leave it outside as I did for three years without problems - in London, yet - it'll be fine with a Leven cloth lid on the cockpit. That won't harm the paintwork and you can pop it on when the car's already wet to stop it getting any wetter (which you can't do with a full cover).

Go for it.

[chimburt]

hmm. bad luck. you're going to have to move fast if you're to secure 'Sportscar V8.0'
the problem is, that you've already been coerced into Housey V3.0, and if you're not careful, you're well on your way to 'upgrading' to 'Rugrat V2.4.1'
From what i can tell, the last is serious, and the business of migrating is fraught with peril. Chances are you'll have to bin a LOT of your old software, and a LOT of hardware - may even restrict your choice when it comes to replacing said hardware as Rugrat is notorious for hogging resources.
as a result you may have to give up any chance of moving into 'Sportscar V8.0' for the forseeable future.
sorry.

i'd suggest you spend 12.5k and get a car that's been used a bit, and get a place that leaves room for a garage or has one already, really. this would add value to your house and would make your experience more enjoyable.
use my car all year round but it does get put to bed in a well-ventilated garage. the hood has always been good ( 1 coat of thopmson's last year, keep meaning to do another this year, but.... ), but even so i use a hood w/screen cover when it looks like rain at work. don't see any real reason why you shouldn't leave it out, but take time to make sure the bloomin thing is dry straight away.
check insurance w/o garage!

good luck.

[Bob the Planner]

However after teenager8.arrg you get the option of Sportscar V8.5l or equivalent