Should I or Shouldn't I??

[Skybudda]

I'm in the market to buy my first TVR Tuscan, well my fist TVR actually. Have been scouring websites galore over the last few days and have one question.

If you look at two Identical cars (if thats possible) and the first has had 1 or 2 engine rebuilds and the other hasn't had any major issues with it, which one would you buy? Assume 10,000 miles Y plate. FSH etc

Really interested in your thoughts.

Regards

[St george]

Any,
there all greeat!!!!.

[Justhe1]

I to am in excactly the same situation/quandry...

Would be most interested in peoples opinions...

Is there a "max mileage per year" that people would/would not consider, or does it not matter if a x/y plate has say 30k on it if its got a full history, had all upgrade works, engine rebuilds etc..

Is it in fact better to go for these cars as all the niggles have been well and truly ironed out (hopefully)?!?!

[Dai Capp]

Conventional wisdom says that the engine probelms were resolved after year 2000 cars. However, I think there are plenty of folks who would argue that point.

Most cars have gone bang before 10000 miles have been completed on one engine, though I know of a couple that have gone after, one at around 11000 and one at 19000. I would personally prefer to buy a car that had had a rebuild carried out after 2001 than one that had had no rebuild at all.

Other than that, if you buy from a dealer make sure your warrenty covers a rebuild, if you buy private you're a braver man than I...

Cheers

DC

[rude girl]

Don't know about which one to buy, but if it's your first TVR, I'd certainly be ringing round insurers before I committed myself to anything.

There were apparently a lot of single vehicle accidents last year in TVRs, and a higher than expected proportion of them were first-time owners and sadly Tuscans featured high on the list. So you might just find that you might get put in to this profile and be considered a bad risk. Even worse if your car is not a second car, kept in a garage, on limited mileage or if you have any convictions on your license.

[anonymous-user]

IMHO - get the one with the rebuilds.

There were design/component flaws in the original engines which have hopefully been rectified in later models (or after a recent rebuild) - eg. using higher spec parts that can cope with the stresses.

[Skybudda]

thanks to all of you. why do you think buying privately is a little more scary? From what I've seen dealers just add 3 or 4 grand to the cost and don't provide any other value (other than advice of course). Warranty is TVR's not dealers. With an AA full car check/service report I should be ok..no?

Am i being a complete dipstick and missing something really obvious that a dealer provides outside of TVR warranty?

[21tvr]

Skybudda said:

thanks to all of you. why do you think buying privately is a little more scary? From what I've seen dealers just add 3 or 4 grand to the cost and don't provide any other value (other than advice of course). Warranty is TVR's not dealers. With an AA full car check/service report I should be ok..no? Am i being a complete dipstick and missing something really obvious that a dealer provides outside of TVR warranty?

Theo I bought mine privately off here in fact!!!

I did a huge amount of research for days before like you have been doing - there is much to learn!

I have a June 2001 'Y' car which I bought with 12k on the clock, it has now done 19.5k and is 'sweet', the engine problems onlt relate to a small percentage of cars (unfortunate but they make the headlines) I'm not saying that the Speed Six is good for 150,000 miles however, it is based on a race engine and as we know race engines are rebulit after every meet!

Look carefully and you will get a good one. Most dealers give you nothing extra!

Then you should get yourself on a day like our trip to Keevil to get used to the power with traction control or ABS - please be careful!

Yes, check the insurance situation - if it's your first TVR they may have a problem with you stepping straight into a Tuscan

Hope this helps

Simon

[St george]

Theo,
I bought mine from a dealer, and it had many niggles.
Most of these only required labour and were all fixed for free. As Simon said, as long as you have done your research and check the car out it should not make a difference, but I have seen the benefit of the dealer buy for sure.

Terry

[grimbo]

Hi Theo,i brought my tuscan privately after a long search.I got mine off here as well.Before i picked it up it was in a TVR dealership getting some work done,painting the bonnet.It also had a oil sensor switch fitted.Which gave up the ghost about a week after i had it.Warning light coming on all the time,pressures realy low.Heart attack time!
Guessed it was a sensor,confirmed by my localRacing green,who i must add were excellant.Had it sorted in no time.It turned out the last dealer had cross threaded it and sqaushed the brass sensor behind it when fitting it.
My point is that there is obviously some good and bad dealers out there.I certainly wouldn't want to be buying one off the one who couldn't even fit an oil sensor!
Have fun hunting for one,they are well worth the wait.

p.s they also did a terrible job realigning the bonnet.I sorted it in 5 mins.Also 1ltr of oil missing after service.
hope i haven't put dealers in a bad light.I know there are some brill ones as well.

[Alex]

Justhe1 said:

I to am in excactly the same situation/quandry... Would be most interested in peoples opinions... Is there a "max mileage per year" that people would/would not consider, or does it not matter if a x/y plate has say 30k on it if its got a full history, had all upgrade works, engine rebuilds etc.. Is it in fact better to go for these cars as all the niggles have been well and truly ironed out (hopefully)?!?!

I think looking for one that's done a "MIN mileage per year" will stand you in better stead.

[Justhe1]

Thanx for the words of wisdom to date...

I (think) if I can stretch myself and try and get at least a "Y" plate - after reading a lot of previous threads I gather that most of the engine probs should have been resolved, different suspension setup and Mk III hood...

Is this correct? Are there any other major updates that I have overlooked??

Also what year did the front indicators go clear??

Now all I need to do is just need to find an immaculate privately advertised cyrstal topaz Tuscan 3.6 with about 10,000 miles, all updates (if applicable) for about £27k !!!!