Cerberas, are they as unreliable as people say they are?
Discussion
Whenever I even mention the word "Cerbera" people seem to groan instantly and then say "Great car, good performance for the money, but they cost an arm and a leg to maintain"
Do they REALY break down all the time
Are they as much of a hastle as people say they are
And finally,
Are they worth buying??
Do they REALY break down all the time
Are they as much of a hastle as people say they are
And finally,
Are they worth buying??
It's certainly not like running a ricer, but then there are definately some good things about that too
Some early 4.2 cranks can break, clutches are required fairly regularly (like most performance cars) and they can be a bit temperamental electrically.
More of an issue perhaps is chassis rust - check any potential purchase out carefully. Age is not always a good indicator of condition.
Some early 4.2 cranks can break, clutches are required fairly regularly (like most performance cars) and they can be a bit temperamental electrically.
More of an issue perhaps is chassis rust - check any potential purchase out carefully. Age is not always a good indicator of condition.
drive one!! you'll forget about what people say.
buy right and all should go well, they cost no more to run as any thing else with the same level of performance (big porsche,ferrari,etc), its a supercar so its not going to be cheap to run. yes they do have the odd niggle here and there but the initial outlay will be a lot less than its rivals?
buy right and all should go well, they cost no more to run as any thing else with the same level of performance (big porsche,ferrari,etc), its a supercar so its not going to be cheap to run. yes they do have the odd niggle here and there but the initial outlay will be a lot less than its rivals?
Average cost for me over 5 or so years of running cerbs is about 4.5k pa for servicing and repairs. Some have paid a lot less. They can be pricey but not always. If you want a cheap car to run buy a less powerful robot made less attractive etc rep mobile. 3k pa for a cerb should do it.
Well, everything is relative !
Got a mate who had a Porsche 911 Turbo who had to pay £56,000 for an engine rebuild.
I've just had to pay £60 for a throttle cable - only thing wrong in 4 years
If you have a garage where it can be regularly parked
....Go and look at one
........If your heart doen't want to buy it straight away
........Then stay away
........Else
........Enjoy the best motoring decision you've ever made
........Endif
....Else
........You're not really interested
Else
Move home and get a garage
Endif
Got a mate who had a Porsche 911 Turbo who had to pay £56,000 for an engine rebuild.
I've just had to pay £60 for a throttle cable - only thing wrong in 4 years
If you have a garage where it can be regularly parked
....Go and look at one
........If your heart doen't want to buy it straight away
........Then stay away
........Else
........Enjoy the best motoring decision you've ever made
........Endif
....Else
........You're not really interested
Else
Move home and get a garage
Endif
Mr.Cerbera said:
Well, everything is relative !
Got a mate who had a Porsche 911 Turbo who had to pay £56,000 for an engine rebuild.
I've just had to pay £60 for a throttle cable - only thing wrong in 4 years
If you have a garage where it can be regularly parked
....Go and look at one
........If your heart doen't want to buy it straight away
........Then stay away
........Else
........Enjoy the best motoring decision you've ever made
........Endif
....Else
........You're not really interested
Else
Move home and get a garage
Endif
Got a mate who had a Porsche 911 Turbo who had to pay £56,000 for an engine rebuild.
I've just had to pay £60 for a throttle cable - only thing wrong in 4 years
If you have a garage where it can be regularly parked
....Go and look at one
........If your heart doen't want to buy it straight away
........Then stay away
........Else
........Enjoy the best motoring decision you've ever made
........Endif
....Else
........You're not really interested
Else
Move home and get a garage
Endif
That sort of thing makes me want to cry because I just can't see how? Surely writing it off and breaking for spares would've been better, or buying a brand new lump (can't be 50k?).Scary, and people are worried about Cerbs!
Duncan
I think to some point all Cerbs are money pits. No matter how much look after them. I got off lightly last year. A years running only cost me around £500. This year ive already passed over £2000 in maintainance costs.Breaking down has never really been an issue for me. But it has happened on two occasions. If you want reliability,then use them. The worst thing you can do with these cars is infrequent use.
My Cerb is the cheapest car I've bought in the past twenty years and the most expensive to maintain. Having said that, if I had wanted reliability, I would have bought a Honda. What I ended up with is a thoroughbred that needs careful 'fettling', or it will end up as a donkey!
Fact of the matter is, that there are not many cars that can match the excitement, plus performance of a Cerb. If you can't afford GBP 3,000 a year for maintainence, then forget it. If you can, you'll end up with a legendary car and possibly only bills for regular servicing, as the one's that are still remaining have (generally) been well looked after.
Fact of the matter is, that there are not many cars that can match the excitement, plus performance of a Cerb. If you can't afford GBP 3,000 a year for maintainence, then forget it. If you can, you'll end up with a legendary car and possibly only bills for regular servicing, as the one's that are still remaining have (generally) been well looked after.
I only kept mine for 6 months, so i'm not exactly an expert, but what i did learn was:
the car is mechanically quite simple, and reliable.
The electrics have a touch of eccentricity about them but not overly complex.
There are lots of little things that a bespoke hand built car will do, like some bushes and mountings wear quite quickly, some of the bodywork bits are not quite as robust as you'd hope, some of the engineering will frustrate you when you have to replace bits.
Overall i think TVR did a cracking job with it, but the lack of R&D and evironment stress testing is starting to show these days.
the car is mechanically quite simple, and reliable.
The electrics have a touch of eccentricity about them but not overly complex.
There are lots of little things that a bespoke hand built car will do, like some bushes and mountings wear quite quickly, some of the bodywork bits are not quite as robust as you'd hope, some of the engineering will frustrate you when you have to replace bits.
Overall i think TVR did a cracking job with it, but the lack of R&D and evironment stress testing is starting to show these days.
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