A dilemma brewing

[Heathyboy]

Hi folks,

I've had an S3 for nine years and have a bit of dosh burning a hole in my pocket and feel that now is the time to get something with a V8 under the bonnet.

A Chimp won't fit in the garage but our house is on the market (so will probably sell in another 30 years!) but a V8S will and of course I'm biased on the looks. The thing is that I am going to see a V8S tomorrow but I'm not sure that for 'value for money' I wouldn't be better off waiting for a 4ltr Chimp.

Trading my S3 against a V8S will probably still leave me with £5.5 - 6K to spend. In your opinion is the V8S worth that extra (my S3 is in good nick and the one I'm seeing is)? I don't want the hassle of selling privately.

Appreciate any comments as I'd like to get my mind a little straighter before I see the beast and fall in love haha!

Edited by Heathyboy on Wednesday 16th July 20:08

Edited by Heathyboy on Wednesday 16th July 20:09

[sphs2]

lets put this is simple terms, v8s 0r chim? which do you think is better looking?, also how many v8s do you see compared to chims? chims are almost as common as ford mondeos!!!!!!! no contest.

[Barkychoc]

Ask Longers, he's had both, and now has an S. Maybe that says it all.......

[pies]

Chims have cats,very few without
V8S cat free,very few need cats

Do you play golf ?

[Heathyboy]

No, don't play golf

For the looks - S-type wins for me, love that traditional look and as a person I like to see rare sportscars on the road too but also like the look of the Chim but like you say not as rare so not sure if you'd get the same sense of occassion whenever you drive it.

Think I was worried that the V8S wasn't worth £5-6K over that of the S3. Got my practical head on for a moment. Was thinking for £9k could get a decent V8S but it would be a pretty old car by now, for a couple of grand more could get a half-decent Chim that is a lot younger.

Anyway, I've decided! This is a weekend play thing so I have to think 'smiles per mile' - has to be an S!

[Gerald-TVR]

Heath

Speak to Steve Reid, the gamekeeper, he has an expensive one but it sounds fantastic, only wish I could............

[hvdweerden]

what is wrong with this one? only 7k

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/507241.htm

Br, Han

[Longers]

Heathyboy said:

No, don't play golf

I do

Heathyboy said:

For the looks - S-type wins for me, love that traditional look and as a person I like to see rare sportscars on the road too but also like the look of the Chim but like you say not as rare so not sure if you'd get the same sense of occassion whenever you drive it.

As Barkychoc said above, I started with an S then a Chim as everyday cars. Due to moving further from work I needed a more economical everyday car so sold the chim to fund it and got a weekend S2 toy with the change. The S's, particularly the V8's, are a lot rarer than the chims. You don't really notice it when your out on the road on your own until you go to any TVR event!

Heathyboy said:

Think I was worried that the V8S wasn't worth £5-6K over that of the S3. Got my practical head on for a moment. Was thinking for £9k could get a decent V8S but it would be a pretty old car by now, for a couple of grand more could get a half-decent Chim that is a lot younger.

Wouldn't have thought you need to pay up to £6k more for the V8 than a V6....
Yes, the S's are older cars, but most wouldn't have got to this age without lots of work being done. The cheaper chim's however might be approaching the time that they need that work doing. I know this from the bitter experience of someone I work with - he got a "cheap" chim that turned out to need a couple of grand spending on it.

Heathyboy said:

Anyway, I've decided! This is a weekend play thing so I have to think 'smiles per mile' - has to be an S!

Good choice!! The chim is much more refined and has plenty of power and as an everyday car it's great. However I found it too smooth and uninvolving as a pure toy. Yes it'd be much more fun than my daily driver but as a weekend toy I'm much happier with the grin factor of my S (which is a V6) and when I got it I knew it was in tip top condition unlike some of the older chims that were going to need some money spending on them quite soon. As mentioned in the other thread about performance compared to a Honda Civic, the grin factor, low running costs and rarity of the S cannot be beaten

Longers

[Heathyboy]

Cheers Longers. Been and looked at it today but I'm not going to pursue it. It is in above average condition I'd say but is probably a backward step in comparison to the one I already have.

By difference in money, I'd probably get about £3k for mine as a trade in (at the most - even though it's good) and the V8S is advertised at just below £9k.

Will keep looking...

[CTE]

Everyone to their own, but Chims are aweful looking things. I have never driven one, but I have certainly blown the doors off a few, much to the digust of their owners. A V8S is a far better car.

[Longers]

Heathyboy said:

I'd probably get about £3k for mine as a trade in

Sell it privately thru the PH classifieds and get yourself another grand or two

[Heathyboy]

Unfortunately, I'm away a lot with work and have very few weekends where I could be available to sell it so hence the need to trade-in. No rush anyway, I'll wait until I see the right car!

Thanks for all your help guys!

[Dave_M]

Heathyboy, I'm not far from you if you want a go in another V8S for comparison purposes (I'm not selling ).

I may go to the WWM meet on Sunday, if you are interested let me know and I'll try and remember to bring her along

[Heathyboy]

Hi Dave,

I haven't been to a WWM meet for about 5-6 years! I won't be able to make this one unfortunately - I'm coming to the end of an OU degree so my workload is pretty immense. Thanks for the offer though it is much appreciated.

I will get a long to one of the meets in the Autumn and hopefully catch up with you then. Until then, happy motoring!

H