Discussion
Ive just watched my old Esprit S4 sell on Ebay, for 2.5k less than I sold it for 12 months ago, the new owner also spent just under 4k on repairs and maintenance, this represents about a 6.5k loss in 12 months on his part. I sold it because I had a feeling it was going to need a fair bit of money spending on it, I was lucky and sold it for exactly what I paid for it. How does this stack up against TVR ownership and running costs?
To compare like with like I'm not sure whether servicing costs should be included. After 4 ½ years with my Chimaera it has costs me around £500/year. There was one exceptional year when I had to change the diff and also did some upgrades but even then it was less than £5k for the year. To put servicing on top you should add around £450/yr.
I think it really relates to the age of the car and the ability of the owner to fix things themselves.
I think it really relates to the age of the car and the ability of the owner to fix things themselves.
It is a bit of a lottery, if you dont know what your buying, as I didnt really, Its difficult to do your own work on an Esprit, nothing is accessable, and you tend to find as you are fixing one thing you are breaking something else in the process of getting to it.. at least with Tivs you can get at the oily bits, you have a chance, its in the front and you have a big work area, feel a bit sorry for the lad, he must be gutted.
Mine has cost me roughly 3K in servicing and other bills a (93 Griff 500) and ive had it nearly 3 years but thats taking it to a main dealer for most of the work but i did have a warranty for the first year havnt had too many probs considering the cars age but a lot of the work can be done by yourself if your confident or a garage of your choice if you think them up to it . However i am talking about the Rover engined cars the speed six and AJP V8 are a different thing . If your thinking of buying a RV8 engined car you should invest in a copy of the Steve Heath Griffith and Chimeara workshop guide. I had too fit a new alternator, radiator ,brake hoses, and an alarm system on top of servicing , I used to have a 2.0 alfa 145 cloverleaf and that cost me twice as much in bills as the tvr .
My Chim has hardly cost me anything in the last 10 months i have had it.
I did have to do a lot of work on it when i brought it as i got ripped off by some guy in Blyth.
If you are going to get a Chim or Griff, seriously take someone from here with you to have a look.
There are some jobs on these cars that cost an absolute fortune and unfortunately they will eventually happen.
Outriggers - If these are rusted through you are looking at anything from £1.5k upwards.
Broken engine - £1k if you are lucky
Wishbones £40 - £90 depending on which ones and there are 8 of them.
Good thing is they cant depreciate that much...if you look on ebay, every now and then you will get a crashed chim in need of repair for sale and they go for £6-£7k!!!!!!!
Oh - Running Costs? I use mine everyday, round trip of 14 miles to work and back and i probably use £20 of petrol per week...sometimes less sometimes more depending on how drive style!!!
I did have to do a lot of work on it when i brought it as i got ripped off by some guy in Blyth.
If you are going to get a Chim or Griff, seriously take someone from here with you to have a look.
There are some jobs on these cars that cost an absolute fortune and unfortunately they will eventually happen.
Outriggers - If these are rusted through you are looking at anything from £1.5k upwards.
Broken engine - £1k if you are lucky
Wishbones £40 - £90 depending on which ones and there are 8 of them.
Good thing is they cant depreciate that much...if you look on ebay, every now and then you will get a crashed chim in need of repair for sale and they go for £6-£7k!!!!!!!
Oh - Running Costs? I use mine everyday, round trip of 14 miles to work and back and i probably use £20 of petrol per week...sometimes less sometimes more depending on how drive style!!!
andy-w MAY have said:
Broken engine - £5k if you are lucky
Yep thats me lucky Darren. As I've said before apart from routine servicing mine cost nowt for 4 years then WHAM get some of that. This year its cost me as much as it is worth on repairs. If you get one you are correct to give the chassis priority but personally I would not buy one that has not had some of the following done cam,clutch,suspension. Good luck
ray_von said:
Yep thats me lucky Darren. As I've said before apart from routine servicing mine cost nowt for 4 years then WHAM get some of that. This year its cost me as much as it is worth on repairs. If you get one you are correct to give the chassis priority but personally I would not buy one that has not had some of the following done cam,clutch,suspension. Good luck
And then there are cases like this...!!!!
You got your car back yet???
ray_von said:
It's back Andy and sounding very good, now up to HHC for my nitrons and it'll all be ready........just in time for winter!!! 
Is this some kind of dream?
You have your car back?
I am down your way this weekend...i shall hunt you out and see if you are lying!!!
Does it sound a lot better then?
Oh - CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
couger said:
Its difficult to do your own work on an Esprit, nothing is accessable, and you tend to find as you are fixing one thing you are breaking something else in the process of getting to it.. at least with Tivs you can get at the oily bits, you have a chance, its in the front and you have a big work area, feel a bit sorry for the lad, he must be gutted.
I disagree on both counts. The Esprit is about as complex as a TVR but a lot of access is actually easier, depending on what you need to do. The Turbo does add a few complications but the rear brakes and suspension are easier to work on than some TVRs. The cabin trim tends to be better designed (from an access point of view) on the Esprit, too.
TVRs may appear to have lots of room up front but only up to the S series: the Chimaera and Griffith actually have the engine well back in the bay and the exhausts follow such a convoluted path that there's still no space.
wedg1e said:
couger said:
Its difficult to do your own work on an Esprit, nothing is accessable, and you tend to find as you are fixing one thing you are breaking something else in the process of getting to it.. at least with Tivs you can get at the oily bits, you have a chance, its in the front and you have a big work area, feel a bit sorry for the lad, he must be gutted.
I disagree on both counts. The Esprit is about as complex as a TVR but a lot of access is actually easier, depending on what you need to do. The Turbo does add a few complications but the rear brakes and suspension are easier to work on than some TVRs. The cabin trim tends to be better designed (from an access point of view) on the Esprit, too.
TVRs may appear to have lots of room up front but only up to the S series: the Chimaera and Griffith actually have the engine well back in the bay and the exhausts follow such a convoluted path that there's still no space.
Bollox..
I dont have a engineers workshop attached to my house like some people 
Edited by couger on Tuesday 5th December 17:27
Gassing Station | North East | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff