Goodbye Tuscan
Discussion
Well after the 3 months of excitement and religious reading of the pistonheads website. I bought a Tuscan speed six with 8000 miles on the clock. I have owned the tuscan for 2 months now and even after being aware of all the possible problems that could occur with a TVR, it caught me by surprise how rickety and shabbily put together these cars are ?!
I have had carpets falling down whilst driving along. The heater control unit falling down whilst driving along?! The fan belt slips, the display clicks on and off whilst you are driving along. The bonnet fits badly and the windscreen wipers rub the paint off the bonnet. The seat belts lock . And finally the most embarrassing, the first time I took the roof off and went for a blast, the rubber seal along the top of the windscreen decided to come off and flap about in the wind........
Now I am not putting TVR down in any way, I am dissapointed that after all the criticism and negative feedback on this forum and in general towards their company, they still have huge build quality problems, not major problems but enough small ones and all different that i am not willing to put up with this kind of quality (bang for buck or not). I am now off to the local porsche garage to pick up a 996, it would seem in this case that you get exactly what you pay for........ oh and a final insult .... the trade in price £26000
I have had carpets falling down whilst driving along. The heater control unit falling down whilst driving along?! The fan belt slips, the display clicks on and off whilst you are driving along. The bonnet fits badly and the windscreen wipers rub the paint off the bonnet. The seat belts lock . And finally the most embarrassing, the first time I took the roof off and went for a blast, the rubber seal along the top of the windscreen decided to come off and flap about in the wind........
Now I am not putting TVR down in any way, I am dissapointed that after all the criticism and negative feedback on this forum and in general towards their company, they still have huge build quality problems, not major problems but enough small ones and all different that i am not willing to put up with this kind of quality (bang for buck or not). I am now off to the local porsche garage to pick up a 996, it would seem in this case that you get exactly what you pay for........ oh and a final insult .... the trade in price £26000
Jamos, Most of the problems you described should have been spotted prior to purchase. How many did you look at before you bought this one? I agree that these things should not happen, but, caveat emptor still applies if bought privately, and the dealer should have sorted it out if bought from one. Good luck witht the Porsche!
Enjoy the 996 Jamos but you would do well to remember that Benno was crowing from the roof about the build quality of his 996 compared to his old cerbera and the fact that it was cheaper to service. Then his gearbox and clutch got shagged and if it wasn't for his warranty it would have cost about £10,000 to put right. Now he's bought a Ferrari and there is no guarantee with them either. If you buy EVO mag check out the geezer in there called David Yu, who to my knowledge has spent well over £10,000 in twelve months trying to run an F355. Total bills in the last two months??? over £6,000 
That makes a TVR look bloody cheap.....
There are good ones and bad ones, unlucky...you got a bad un.......
That makes a TVR look bloody cheap..... There are good ones and bad ones, unlucky...you got a bad un.......
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All the problems sound like minor TVR niggles to me.
Minor, yes, however I have spoken to three people recently...each knows a Tuscan owner. Each owner as given up and either sold the car or given it back to the dealer. This may be because they are not "TVR types", but word of mouth counts for a lot - it put me off...
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Minor, yes, however I have spoken to three people recently...each knows a Tuscan owner. Each owner as given up and either sold the car or given it back to the dealer. This may be because they are not "TVR types", but word of mouth counts for a lot - it put me off...
I agree with that though... that's why I bought a Tamora. All the second hand Tuscans I looked at had rattly engines and poor build quality. IMO, they had such a waiting list for the Tuscan they just slung them together. I don't think they are all crap though, there must be some good ones out there?????
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All the problems sound like minor TVR niggles to me.
Hmmm, not really. I had an excellent chimp from new and it had a few minor probs but nothing mega and was a fantastic car. It just got too slow in the end (even though it was a 5ltr).
My tuscan, not only had the 'minor niggles' but also:
Caught fire (rebuilt), All 4 wheels warped, electrics had a mind of their own ....... plus lots lots more.
I agree that when we buy TVR's we do have to expect to put up with a certain amount of 'british built' problems, but no ones patience is endless.
As regards to Benno's gearbox and clutch giving up, that is all very well and these things do happen, and I am sure happen to far lesser marques than Porsche. However I bet Benno, hasn't cringed whilst driving along the road with your gorgeous looking car sounding like it has a nest of mice in the suspension?! I have never heard anything like it, creaking and groaning ?! My completely ignorant about cars girlfriend described it as "Rickety"......Now as for minor, if you went and paid £15000 pounds for a Ford focus you wouldn't expect carpets to fall down and big lumps of metal to be held in place by "Velcro" !? I don't expect it from a £40000 car ?! I still love the look of the car and the ingenuity of it and of course the speed, but I believe it is just an excellent idea poorly executed. I gave it a try and gave in, now I am going back to a standard of quality I expect (previously owned a 993). I for one don't mind paying the extra. Which is maybe where TVR should be looking. Build the cars better and pass the cost on.... One last thing ?! I used this car daily for 2 months, at the start everything was tight and perfect and as the days went past things started to basically fall off ?! No PDI inspection would have found any of the things that have caused me to part company with the car ?! I guess I am just lucky to be able to shrug my shoulders get rid of it and put it down to experience...still won't stop me smiling at other tuscans though (I promise I won't be laughing)
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If you buy EVO mag check out the geezer in there called David Yu, who to my knowledge has spent well over £10,000 in twelve months trying to run an F355. Total bills in the last two months??? over £6,000
Indeed, I always have a good chuckle at this guy
He had the audacity a few months ago to go banging on about what a great car he's got and how he'd never buy a TVR "just too unreliable 
" then he carries on shelling out shedloads of money each month to fix this and that and saying what great value his Ferrari is! Takes all sort I suppose 
R...I can see what you're getting at mate. It's rather weird and hard to understand why build quality has got worse and not better over the years...
My Griff was fantastic and always felt well screwed together, my Cerbera was even better but not as mechanically well put together.
My Tamora is very well built, but I have looked at other Tamoras and been surprised how they can get out of the factory with so many faults. Maybe I'm luckier because my Tamora was the 2nd off the production line so more time was taken screwing it together??? Who knows....
I'm going to see what happens over the next 18 months as to whether I buy another one or not. However, like you I know several people who are not happy with their Tuscan, and that's one of the reasons why I didn't buy one.
I won't be buying a Porsche in my life though, because they do absolutley nothing for me, nothing personal.
Good point about improving the quality though, I would pay more if TVR's were built to Porsche quality...if only eh?
My Griff was fantastic and always felt well screwed together, my Cerbera was even better but not as mechanically well put together.
My Tamora is very well built, but I have looked at other Tamoras and been surprised how they can get out of the factory with so many faults. Maybe I'm luckier because my Tamora was the 2nd off the production line so more time was taken screwing it together??? Who knows....
I'm going to see what happens over the next 18 months as to whether I buy another one or not. However, like you I know several people who are not happy with their Tuscan, and that's one of the reasons why I didn't buy one.
I won't be buying a Porsche in my life though, because they do absolutley nothing for me, nothing personal.
Good point about improving the quality though, I would pay more if TVR's were built to Porsche quality...if only eh?
Interesting thread, though I have a question or 2.
- Jamos how old is/was your Tuscan?
I think it would be helpful to hear about owners of recently built Tuscan. For instance, I can't recall anyone on this site complaining about the Tuscan S, which is a more recent car. Flasher's suggestion that quality may go down as the order book fills up could well be right...
No need to thank me for this nice, useless comment
Must go back to work !
Cheers
R
- Jamos how old is/was your Tuscan?
I think it would be helpful to hear about owners of recently built Tuscan. For instance, I can't recall anyone on this site complaining about the Tuscan S, which is a more recent car. Flasher's suggestion that quality may go down as the order book fills up could well be right...
No need to thank me for this nice, useless comment
Must go back to work !
Cheers
R
I've just gone back through my EVO mags and worked out what David Yu has spent on the F355 since he aquired it in Jan 2001......
How much do you reckon????..........
£18,032..... yes £18,032 in one year, running a Ferrari F355. By my calculations he's done about 14,000 miles in it, in that time making it about £1.30 a mile.
F**k me!! you could have bought a Griffith with what that bloke has spent!!!
Jamos,
What did the dealer and TVR say about all the problems you had? Were they helpful/understanding?
I definately agree with the others, I'd much rather have paid £10K more for my Cerbera for a better build quality than have all the problems and worries that I'm stuck with now.
Have fun with the Porsche, I'll be joining you soon. Was going to buy the Tuscan S but I've lost faith in TVR. I hope they sort all their problems out soon as the cars really are fantastic (until they start going wrong!).
What did the dealer and TVR say about all the problems you had? Were they helpful/understanding?
I definately agree with the others, I'd much rather have paid £10K more for my Cerbera for a better build quality than have all the problems and worries that I'm stuck with now.
Have fun with the Porsche, I'll be joining you soon. Was going to buy the Tuscan S but I've lost faith in TVR. I hope they sort all their problems out soon as the cars really are fantastic (until they start going wrong!).
quote:David Yu would probably be quite well off if he didn't have such a car addiction. His last long-term runner was an R33 Skyline that he very seriously modified at huge cost. His test reports showed thousands spent on it each month.
...carries on shelling out shedloads of money each month to fix this and that...
The dealer said he would obviously sort them all out, but that is missing the point..... the car had only covered 8000 miles ?! I know we all defend it as "Expected" in a TVR, but I think that is just letting them off the hook with shoddy workmanship. I also had a deposit in for a Tuscan S.... needless to say I don't any more and the dealer refunded me it in full. So if anyone from TVR reads this forum, that is another £50,000 you won't be receiving from a TVR fan, not sure how many more of us TVR can afford to let slip away ?!
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Minor, yes, however I have spoken to three people recently...each knows a Tuscan owner. Each owner as given up and either sold the car or given it back to the dealer. This may be because they are not "TVR types", but word of mouth counts for a lot - it put me off...
I agree with that though... that's why I bought a Tamora. All the second hand Tuscans I looked at had rattly engines and poor build quality. IMO, they had such a waiting list for the Tuscan they just slung them together. I don't think they are all crap though, there must be some good ones out there?????
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