Potential Tuscan Owner

[Basil Brush]

Hello from a new member of forum. I am looking at buying a car between 25-30k and am thinking Tuscan as I've loved the look of them since they came out but have not been in a position to consider it before. It will be used as a daily driver.

What sort of actual service/maint costs am I actually looking at. If I assume £3k a year am I fooling myself? My current car is a Porsche 944S which costs about £2k per year so I am used to a bit of pain.

I know this subject has been covered a number of times but I am looking for a guide as to actual £ amount to get an idea whether it's feasible.

Thanks.

[ajvmoore]

Hi Basil (Basil Brush???) boom boom !

Most current threads are a bit negative at the mo, you dont say where you are based, but I suggest you talk to some owners - I live between Basingstoke and Reading, and would be delighted to tell you my experiences, and take you for a spin (too much tragedy to let you have a drive , but dealers will help with that). I know a few tusc owners around the country and could put you in touch.My car has been absolutely superb - more than I expected, it is not reliable like my BMW or Honda (previous cars) but they did not make me happy like the Tusc. I will not just say 'go for it!' because I do not know what you are hoping to get!- Serious mode off.....GO FOR IT!!!! YIPPEEE

[Basil Brush]

I live in Leeds and am basically looking for the best, most exciting car I can afford, without compromise really coming into the equation. I know a couple of people who have run earlier TVRs so know a little bit about them but not much.

I know what you mean about a negative theme though.

[martvr]

Hi Basil,

Suggest you have a look at the data entered by PH members on their cars. Find it under 'Members Area' 'Members Cars'. Scroll down to find the Tuscans and look for those with a pence per mile figure showing, indicates that running costs have been input.

You might like to post a query for TdF on his experiences of a Tuscan, I'm sure he'd be pleased to help and it would save you the trouble of a long journey down to ajvmoore 'for a spin'

[basil brush]

Thanks. I had a look through the members cars but only a few had costs recorded. There are also none from people who have had a lot of problems.

I must say though, the more I look at them the more hooked I'm getting.

[yum]

If you want to speak to some local people, get on the North yorkshire website and contact Richard Abbott. He may be able to put you in touch with one or two tuscan owners locally.

www.yorknet.co.uk/tvrcc/

He's also got some useful advice on the local dealers, too, which most of us would back up.

If you decide against a tuscan, remember all of the other TVRs out there (esp Griffs and Chimaeras). You won't need to spend your whole budget that way.

Good luck

R

[basil brush]

Will do Richard.

Thanks.

[Shamus1972]

Hi - I have owned my Tuscan for about 4 months now, and I was expecting the worst when I bought it, with regards to reliability and expense! I'm pleased to say that having driven it to work every day (only 5 miles each way, hardly enough to warm the oil!) and covered 4000 miles, apart from petrol I've only spent about £300 on it! (Except for petrol and insurance). £200 was spent on an engine tune due to a slight miss fire at high revs - it cured it briefly but the miss fire is back again and slightly worse than before - I'm going to wait until the service to get it looked at. Another £80 was spent fixing the reversing light (a dodgy connection, but the warranty doesn't cover adjustments!), and £20 on a couple of gold disks for the wheels!

Economy-wise, about 18-23 mpg.

My first service is due in about 2000 miles, and while I can't comment from any previous experience, after looking at various dealer prices it seems to be about 10p per mile - ie 6000 mile service = £600, and 12000 mile service = £1200. Based on 12000 miles per year, that's £1800 for servicing. A set of tyres is probably about £500 which probably last 6000 miles (pure speculation) and brakes... I dunno!

Sorry to ramble on - buy the car, it's more than just a car!

[Basil Brush]

Nice looking car Shamus. How many miles had it done when you got it? Did you buy at dealer or private?

I was looking at the service costs at Joospeed which brings it down a bit (£280 6k and £400 12k incl.) I'll be using the car for commuting too so will be doing about 8-10k pa, meaning basic servicing should be about £800 a year. It's just that if I am realistically going to have to do a top end rebuild and a clutch every couple of years things will start to get expensive.

[Shamus1972]

I bought it from Henley Heritage, although they were selling it on behalf of a customer so the price was low - £31000. Mileage was 3600 when I bought it, which, when I was looking around, wasn't much below average.

I do believe that you either buy a good one or a bad one - I was lucky and mine seems good - but after talking to various mechanics and engineers, I think with the Tuscan especially, the regular servicing and particularlly the tappet adjustment every 12000 miles should be strictly adhered to. I would imagine the S6 engine is fairly highly strung!

With regards to cheap servicing, I don't know if the place where you got the cheaper prices is a TVR dealer or not, but you will lose a fair bit of money when it comes to selling your car if it doesn't have a full TVRSH.

Good luck - buy one!