Discussion
I recently purchased a 2002 Tamora from Stephen James Motors. I traded in my 96 Chimaera and must say that ultimately I'm very pleased with the change. I was always going to change from the chimaera to another TVR but couldn't decide which one. I think once you've owned a TVR not much else comes close. Luckily the boss agrees with me and she loves TVR's too.
Anyway, Long story short a few hundred miles in the engine started to use a lot of oil (about 2 litres every 200 miles). I was a aware of the problems with the straight 6 - thanks to reading other threads on Piston Heads - So made sure that I bought a car that had had a rebuild. It turns out that the car had a problem with leaky valve guides and upon inspection ultimately required a new head.
This is where I really need to give credit to Stephen at Stephen James Motors. As when it slowly dawned on me that there was a serious issue with the engine, I was half expecting to have a fight on my hands to get it rectified. I've heard many horror stories where the dealer runs in the other direction with your money and the warranty you're left with is fairly shaky.
I rang Stephen and informed him of the problem and I must say his attitude was superb. He agreed that I was the innocent party in this and he said that I should be able to enjoy the car and not have that worry on my hands. It took a couple of days for him to ring around and get the car booked in and he paid for the work to be done under warranty, no questions asked. As I said a new head was required in the end and I know the end bill was in excess of £3,500 !!
How refreshing to deal with a dealer who is honest and sympathetic with the customer. SJM will certainly be top of my list when I feel the need to change my car in the future.
I just thought I'd share my experience with you guys and give credit where it's due.
Here's to many happy miles in our new Tamora :-)
Anyway, Long story short a few hundred miles in the engine started to use a lot of oil (about 2 litres every 200 miles). I was a aware of the problems with the straight 6 - thanks to reading other threads on Piston Heads - So made sure that I bought a car that had had a rebuild. It turns out that the car had a problem with leaky valve guides and upon inspection ultimately required a new head.
This is where I really need to give credit to Stephen at Stephen James Motors. As when it slowly dawned on me that there was a serious issue with the engine, I was half expecting to have a fight on my hands to get it rectified. I've heard many horror stories where the dealer runs in the other direction with your money and the warranty you're left with is fairly shaky.
I rang Stephen and informed him of the problem and I must say his attitude was superb. He agreed that I was the innocent party in this and he said that I should be able to enjoy the car and not have that worry on my hands. It took a couple of days for him to ring around and get the car booked in and he paid for the work to be done under warranty, no questions asked. As I said a new head was required in the end and I know the end bill was in excess of £3,500 !!
How refreshing to deal with a dealer who is honest and sympathetic with the customer. SJM will certainly be top of my list when I feel the need to change my car in the future.
I just thought I'd share my experience with you guys and give credit where it's due.
Here's to many happy miles in our new Tamora :-)
Good on him for rectifying the problem however for it to be a surprise I find it a little odd?
On early Speed 6's, the valve guides don't just suddenly start to leak oil. The original engines (and early factory rebuilt ones which are no better as they used the same junk materials) had soft valve guides. They wear over 1000's of miles and it steadily gets worse, using more and more oil and smoking more and more, particularly on a hot re-start.
For it to be at the point where it's using a litre of oil every 100 miles it must have been a real smoker and there will have been plenty of very obvious signs there was a problem long before it got to this point. I would also want to check the pistons/bores for signs of detonation as with that much oil in the combustion chambers, it would have been detonating.
This is what happened to my engine and as part of its rebuild it needed 3 new pistons due to detonation damage from excess oil in the cylinders due to the worn valve guides. Mine was at 33k miles and using about half the oil yours was.
On early Speed 6's, the valve guides don't just suddenly start to leak oil. The original engines (and early factory rebuilt ones which are no better as they used the same junk materials) had soft valve guides. They wear over 1000's of miles and it steadily gets worse, using more and more oil and smoking more and more, particularly on a hot re-start.
For it to be at the point where it's using a litre of oil every 100 miles it must have been a real smoker and there will have been plenty of very obvious signs there was a problem long before it got to this point. I would also want to check the pistons/bores for signs of detonation as with that much oil in the combustion chambers, it would have been detonating.
This is what happened to my engine and as part of its rebuild it needed 3 new pistons due to detonation damage from excess oil in the cylinders due to the worn valve guides. Mine was at 33k miles and using about half the oil yours was.
In fairness to the dealer. The car wasn't showing any signs of this when I took it for a test drive, and I drove it home 150 or so miles and around for the next few days with no issues. It started to smoke on startup after a few days (maybe a week) or so and seemed to quite quickly get progressively worse. As you say it was a real smoker, to the point where it would smoke on pull away if I had been sitting in traffic or a hot start after filling up with fuel. (quite embarrasing pulling out of the garage and leaving a plume of smoke behind).
I spoke to the dealer and he said that it had shown no signs of this previously whilst he had the car and from his reaction and honesty I tend to believe him as he didn't try to fob me off at all. All I can think is that someone had done a sub standard job previously and when the car was driven for a prolonged journey or more frequently then this occured, as it seemed to get quite bad very quickly.
Thanks for raising the point regarding detonation on the pistons. Dulfords did the work, so I'll be giving them a call tomorrow to ask if this was something that they checked for. I don't want to go through all of this only to find I still have a problem - good advice indeed.
Obviously I'm hoping that's not the case.
I spoke to the dealer and he said that it had shown no signs of this previously whilst he had the car and from his reaction and honesty I tend to believe him as he didn't try to fob me off at all. All I can think is that someone had done a sub standard job previously and when the car was driven for a prolonged journey or more frequently then this occured, as it seemed to get quite bad very quickly.
Thanks for raising the point regarding detonation on the pistons. Dulfords did the work, so I'll be giving them a call tomorrow to ask if this was something that they checked for. I don't want to go through all of this only to find I still have a problem - good advice indeed.
Obviously I'm hoping that's not the case.
Yes, That's the one. I also saw the Blue one while I was there ( Very nice car BTW ), but the missus was set on the red one :-)
As you say, very honest and genuine guy and I would definitely recommend to anyone - SJM will definitely be my 1st choice as and when I decide to change car in the future (which will most definitely be another TVR).
As you say, very honest and genuine guy and I would definitely recommend to anyone - SJM will definitely be my 1st choice as and when I decide to change car in the future (which will most definitely be another TVR).
another thumbs up from me, did not buy a car from him but he happliy spent 2 hours with me on a saturday morning talking me through TVR's and took me out for a drive in a Chim and then looked surprised when i started talking about money thought i was purely on a research trip not looking to buy, when i then did come to buy a Griff from him he sold it the day before i got there but he happily then gave me advice on what to look for the grif that i did buy, can not fault him!
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