Should I get a Tamora?

[mr wiki]

Ok, now seriously. How reliable are they really?

I own a S1 Elise at current and thinking of getting a Tam.

Can I use it EVERYDAY?

Will it break the bank? I am no playboy millionaire, I don't have a shed load of money to chuck down the pan.

Any thing I should look out for? tips?

[Don1]

BEst thing to do is book yourself a few hours, and have a read of everything in the Speed 6 forum, and here.

Then do your sums, make sure you can get a 'known' car, and make sure you have around £5k left, incase the worst happens.

But the answer is 'yes'.

[madbadger]

I used mine as an only car for three years. For the last two I have run it alongside an old polo. I'm not a millionaire playboy either.

It can be done. They are more reliable than people make out. There are cheaper ways of running one.

Do you want to make it happen?

[mr wiki]

Don1 said:

make sure you have around £5k left, incase the worst happens.

If that is really the case (which I feared) then I can't get one. Who has 5k Lying around?

[900T-R]

mr wiki said:

Who has 5k Lying around?

People who have 15k lying around to buy one in the first place?

[mr wiki]

900T-R said:

mr wiki said:

Who has 5k Lying around?

People who have 15k lying around to buy one in the first place?

You mean people who have 20k Lying around.

[Don1]

Exactly. That's what I mean by 'doing your sums'.

But if you buy one with a rebuild, then the warrenty should still be OK on it, and you will be fine.

[T40ORA]

Do you sums, as Don1 says, then if you can't afford it now wait until you can. Then do it. It will be worth it.

[icraigmy]

Yes, buy one today without delay

Try and get one with a 4.0L rebuild/upgrade.

I can't say that mine has been reliable.
1. Clutch went in 2006 (21,000 miles on clock),
2. Steering rack has had to be reconditioned twice,
3. Oil pressure sender unit has had to be replaced,
4. Drivers door ECU has had to be reconditioned,
5. Interior vinyl/leather is worn and in areas there are holes,
6. Accelerator cable snapped,
7. Radiator leaked - replaced with a new alloy radiator,
8. LCD display had missing lines - replaced with new one,

Modifications I have made to the Tamora of my own choosing:
1. 4.0L Engine Upgrade/Rebuild to full Red Rose spec, oilway problems sorted,
2. Nitron Shocks all round,
3. Uprated front brakes,
4. ACT Carbon Fiber Air Tight Air Box,
5. JP Sport Exhaust

Hope that this has not put you off. Mine is a 2002 Tamora, but if you can get a later one then things might be more reliable.

I don't use mine as an everday car, did'nt buy it for that reason. It is my weekend toy and I intend to keep it for a very long time.

Don't be put off with unreliability issues with TVRs. The shear excitement, adrenaline pumping feeling, permanent smile at the performance of a TVR far out weighs the fustration with the niggly problems one gets with these cars.

[mr wiki]

icraigmy said:

Don't be put off with unreliability issues with TVRs. The shear excitement, adrenaline pumping feeling, permanent smile at the performance of a TVR far out weighs the fustration with the niggly problems one gets with these cars.

Thats all well and good, but if I can't get to work for the 6th day that month because my tvr has broken I don't think the boss will like that

[dickieandjulie]

Get one immediately! If you can afford it.

I love mine and whilst people talk about niggling problems generally they are not ones that will stop you driving it or getting to work.

Touch wood, no let downs from mine in two years and had a wedge for four years before that and it never let me down either.

Budget for regular servicing plus allow for incidentals to get those little niggles sorted.

Accept that you will always have a 'to do' list for the car, buy the best you can and as someone else said, a known car where people can vouch for how it has been treated etc.

Then enjoy yourself!!

[RobboC]

Oi Wiki, don't get one! I want to find one for myself! lol

[mr wiki]

dickieandjulie said:

Budget for regular servicing plus allow for incidentals to get those little niggles sorted.

Accept that you will always have a 'to do' list for the car, buy the best you can and as someone else said, a known car where people can vouch for how it has been treated etc.

I am quite a custom to a 'To do list' I have an elise Bits are always falling off the car in one way or another.

Edited by mr wiki on Monday 10th August 13:29

[OatSy]

If you want an unbiased opinion then if you don't have access to a second car then don't buy a TVR.
By the way mine has been 100% reliable for 3.1/2 years I have owned it. But I think I've been extremly lucky

Edited by OatSy on Monday 10th August 13:39

[900T-R]

OatSy said:

If you want an unbiased opinion then if you don't have access to a second car then don't buy a TVR.

Exactly - get a snotter for the daily grind, anything to get you around. The whole problem with TVR's perceived 'unreliability' when they were new has been people getting to their eyeballs in debt to get a £40K TVR as their only means of transport and assume the ownership experience would be largely the same as with a £40K BMW, while no one would dream of doing the same in a £150K Lamborghini. It's an exotic, low level production car and while they thrive on being used regularly and properly you'd be nuts to completely rely on it for your livelihood - if only for the fact that if someone drives into the back of you it's not likely a 'get it into a bodyshop and pick it up two days later' affair.

[jev]

To add my 2p worth....

You can use a Tamora as your only car but not (I would say) as a car to use everyday. The issue is the warm up requirement. If say you are doing a 5 mile commute it won't warm up for you to enjoy. If you are doing a 30 mile commute it will but the 6000 mile service intervals will cost you!

Written from the perspective of 2 years (16,000 miles) of trouble free Tamora ownership as an only car (using public transport for the daily commute).

Edited by jev on Monday 10th August 14:11

[mr wiki]

Second car is not an option, thanks lads. Back to looking at boxters then.

[madbadger]

mr wiki said:

Second car is not an option, thanks lads. Back to looking at boxters then.

Then you'll have exactly the same problem when the Boxster breaks without the fun of the Tamora the rest of the time.

Lose / lose.

If you are that worried put the local Taxi companys number in your mobile.

[LaserTam]

how far is your commute? servicing is every 6,000 miles, if you do 12,000 miles a year, then by having a 'snotter' to use on the rainy/icy days could mean you only need 1 service a year, not two, thus saving £500/£600 per year - enough to pay for running of said snotter I would guess.

Had mine for 4 years from new. Dont use it as a commuter but it has only let me down (so I cant drive it) twice - both time was the throttle cable.

[900T-R]

madbadger said:

If you are that worried put the local Taxi companys number in your mobile.

That'd get rather expensive if the car's away for 10 weeks or more for an engine rebuild...

And yes, my TVR (an older and simpler RV8-engined one, mind) has been 100% reliable and driveable since registering it here after I'd got it sorted, but that was 15 months after I bought it. It's not the reliability in se, but simply the fact that 99.9% of TVR drivers don't need to rely on their car to take them to work and back, and due to the nature of the cars you can't always count on replacement parts to fit etc. which can cause additional garage downtime.
As usual with small scale production/handbuilt cars there's a lot of car-to-car variation - I know of one T350 that's been in the workshop more often than it's been out for a drive while others are pretty much spot-on out of the box with only the odd niggle. If you buy one you can't be entirely sure which you'll get - if the latter, enjoy ; if the former, prepare to spend a fair bit of time and money and maybe switch workshops if the first one doesn't seem able to get to the bottom of things. Would I buy one in the knowledge that I'd be relying on it to bring me to work and back every day? Not unless I know I can easily jump on a pushbike or into a tube station and still make it on time. Would I use the car daily after I've had it for a year or so and was satisfied it was 'sorted'? Probably if it meant that way I could realise a dream that would otherwise remain just a dream. But if I needed the car for work I'd still rather have another, mass market, car available as a back up.

Edited by 900T-R on Monday 10th August 14:55