thinking of buying tvr cerbera
thinking of buying tvr cerbera
Author
Discussion

mrhankey

Original Poster:

4 posts

200 months

Sunday 3rd January 2010
quotequote all
hi,

i am thinking of buying a used tvr cerbera, i had a porsche boxster in 08 which i had for about 3 months and just had major problems with it. was off road more than on road. was purchased from a non main dealer.

i was wondering if someone could help me, been crawling the web looking and why do you need an engine rebuild in tvr's? and for the money i am looking at about 10-12k is this the supercar to go for?

many thanks

Gazzab

21,640 posts

311 months

Sunday 3rd January 2010
quotequote all
TOns of stuff on here re Cerb engines. Basically..... a recently rebuilt S6 will be good or any V8. The V8s are as strong as Rover V8s and so will nromally do 50 - 100K before a rebuild is needed.
There is a £9.5K greenish cerb in the classifieds that would probably be a safe bet leaving you a few K to cover any mishaps.

Jasper Gilder

2,166 posts

302 months

Sunday 3rd January 2010
quotequote all
I had two

If you don't buy a speed six, but get a V8 don't worry too much about rebuilding the engine

You'll need a budget for

Chassis refurbs ( some cars are nearly 15 years old and it is a 200mph car)
Starter motors - life of about 30K
Clutches, slave and master cylinders - same sort of life
Tuning to get the right power dlivery - experts like Jules know what to do
The odd electrical glitch...

But...

A well sorted Cerbera 4.5 is a truly awesome car, only really bettered by the mighty Sagaris

So if you've got teh budget to buy and a couple of grand a year to splurge - go do it - it's a great car!!!!

mrhankey

Original Poster:

4 posts

200 months

Sunday 3rd January 2010
quotequote all
thanks so much for the great and quick responses. new to the site but really impressed going through the posts.

i have seen a few 99-00 4l s6 spec? do they need a rebuild then after so many miles?

i will check out the ones for sale on here also. any advice is appreciated.

cheers

Gazzab

21,640 posts

311 months

Sunday 3rd January 2010
quotequote all
The S6 is infamous although latest rebuilds (expecially Power and a few others) are meant to have sorted the probs.
I would look for a 'known' car on here.

mrhankey

Original Poster:

4 posts

200 months

Sunday 3rd January 2010
quotequote all
thanks so you recommend the 4.2 v8 rover engine? does that spec of car come with power steering and is it best to go for that sort of thing in a tvr?

thanks again

Pied Piper

1,388 posts

276 months

Monday 4th January 2010
quotequote all
mrhankey said:
thanks so you recommend the 4.2 v8 rover engine? does that spec of car come with power steering and is it best to go for that sort of thing in a tvr?

thanks again
No rover V8 fitted to Cerbs it is an AJPV8 designed for TVR.

mrhankey

Original Poster:

4 posts

200 months

Monday 4th January 2010
quotequote all
thanks sorry must have read wrong on another site, does that spec have power steering and does it need to be de cat for sound to be good?

what year of model is best?

sorry for questions just need advice of people who know what they are talking about made big mistake in past.

thanks again

Marian

1,860 posts

242 months

Monday 4th January 2010
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Not wanting to rain on your parade but if you were disappointed that your Boxster was off the road for a time, I'm not sure the Cerbera is the car for you.

900T-R

20,406 posts

286 months

Monday 4th January 2010
quotequote all
Marian said:
Not wanting to rain on your parade but if you were disappointed that your Boxster was off the road for a time, I'm not sure the Cerbera is the car for you.
Was thinking the same...

M3John

5,974 posts

248 months

Monday 4th January 2010
quotequote all
To the OP. Nothing to add much really as those others that have replied already have loads more knowlage and experiance than me.

I bought mine in late October and had a nice introduction to Cerb ownership wink but, i really can't stress just how much i love the car. Yes it'll never be as realiable as my M3 or my daily smoker but i really don't care. I am lucky enough to have friends that own them and effectively let me `try before i buy`. Mine had been a long time coming and i'm glad that i'm now one of the lucky ones to have experianced these fantastic machines.



On the flip side though to everything i've just said:

Marian said:
Not wanting to rain on your parade but if you were disappointed that your Boxster was off the road for a time, I'm not sure the Cerbera is the car for you.
I'd strongly suggest listening to what this chap has said ^.

Gazzab

21,640 posts

311 months

Monday 4th January 2010
quotequote all
Tread lightly - if you dont know much about the cars eg engines and foibles then I would suggest that you need to read read read before buying. Dont buy a cerb cos it looks nice. Buy one cos you WANT one.

leemarkadams

859 posts

244 months

Monday 4th January 2010
quotequote all
I agree with all the comments said here, but as someone who has had a Boxster before, and now have a Cerb (4.2) a few things to be aware of:

1. The Boxster is more of an everyday car.
2. The Boxster should be easier to drive.
3. The Boxster is a bit 'common' (Just see how many you see driving on the roads any given day?).
4. The Cerb is more of an 'occasion' to drive, what do I mean well.......it is a LOT LOT quicker, noisier, rarer and most of all a LOT more fun!

I say do a lot more research and go into it with your eyes wide open, as a BIG bill could be just around the corner.......but then again it could with a Porsche! The thing to remember is a Cerb is still only a car, so if you are handy with spanners etc then a lot of the stuff you can do yourself, such as change the brakes, suspension etc...

Hope that helps

Lee


Pursyluv

1,949 posts

203 months

Monday 4th January 2010
quotequote all
Read the threads, listen to advice, ask lots of questions, basically be a pain in the arse and you should be ok. To avoid looking a bit of a twcensoredt on a public forum, I PM'd quite a few people, the majority of whom responded straight away - i've now got a Cerbera and made some friends as well, my only word of caution is budget - mine went from £10k to £12k to £15k in about a month!

sarsmel

14 posts

201 months

Monday 4th January 2010
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Hi got my cerb 4.5 10 years ago apart from some lucas electric crap, ie starter, windscreen wipers it's never let me down. Whats more after ten years it still brings a stupid grin on my face when driving it. great fun, go for it

Cooky

4,955 posts

266 months

Monday 4th January 2010
quotequote all
sarsmel said:
Hi got my cerb 4.5 10 years ago apart from some lucas electric crap, ie starter, windscreen wipers it's never let me down. Whats more after ten years it still brings a stupid grin on my face when driving it. great fun, go for it
Wow! a ten year Cerb veteran and you've only just posted to the 'funny farm' wink
belated welcome and get yerself on the register if you haven't done so.

Note to O.P. just thought I'd let you into a bit of Cerbie insider info..................................................................................................................you should know that the 'Bluey-Greeny Silvery' ones are the fastestrofl

Edited by Cooky on Monday 4th January 23:42