What Happening to Cerbera Prices!!!!

What Happening to Cerbera Prices!!!!

Author
Discussion

jdf

Original Poster:

55 posts

266 months

Monday 21st October 2002
quotequote all
Whats happening to Cerbera prices?

I have been thinking of buying for about six months and am now in a position to do so but the prices of Cerberas seem to be in free fall. You might think this is good for someone looking to buy but the downward trend is starting to make me nervous about depreciation once I do buy.

I now know of 1998 4.2 Cerberas selling for as little as £15K and even 4.5's down as low as £18K and the vehicles I am referring to were all main dealer maintained with less than 25,000 miles on the clock.

Plus when you look through piston heads there are great looking cars that have been for sale privately for months and when you speak to the people who have sold they had to end up letting the cars go for way less than the asking prices.

MikeyT

16,929 posts

278 months

Monday 21st October 2002
quotequote all
Yeah, but jdf, if you're gonna buy one and keep it for a long while then what's the problem?

You're gonna be quids in mate!

Be thankful you haven't got to sell a Chimaera to buy a Cerb (which I would have to do if I could afford a Cerb in the first place!)

alastairm

536 posts

276 months

Monday 21st October 2002
quotequote all
I bought mine this time last year and got a great deal! Problem is that people are generally desperate to get rid of them at this time of the year with Xmas etc upon us soon and will price them accordingly.

jdf

Original Poster:

55 posts

266 months

Monday 21st October 2002
quotequote all
I'm not expecting to sell the car straight away but I must confess the thought of losing £5k a year in depreciation plus the potential costs of maintenance and possible engine rebuilds is a little offputting.

jurdy

264 posts

291 months

Monday 21st October 2002
quotequote all
Where did you see a 4.5 for 18k?

ches

77 posts

276 months

Monday 21st October 2002
quotequote all
You seem to appreciate the worst case scenario so it's your call!!

jdf

Original Poster:

55 posts

266 months

Monday 21st October 2002
quotequote all
I looked at a 4.5 Fernhurst had for sale and spoke to the previous owner. He had advertised it for £23K had no response at all and eventually Fernhurst bought it from him for just £18K, they then loaded it with a £7K margin (pretty healthy margin) and put it up for £25K. By the way the same dealers offered me £5K below book for my car in PX! Luckily for me I have just sold it privately.

Some peaple seem to think dealer cars are in some way better than private, but in fact most dealers buy stock from Top marquaes then load a margin!

TVRinBFG

1,458 posts

291 months

Monday 21st October 2002
quotequote all
If anybody else is selling a £18k Cerbera 4.5 then get in touch. I have cash in my pocket burning a hole.

jdf

Original Poster:

55 posts

266 months

Monday 21st October 2002
quotequote all
Theres one advertised on piston heads classified at the moment for £20K, maybe if you offer £18K?

BLUETHUNDER

7,881 posts

267 months

Monday 21st October 2002
quotequote all
As far as im concerned the more the prices drop the better for me,being at vw yesterday has wetted my appetite for a cerb again anyone want to swap for a chim 4.0HC???

ches

77 posts

276 months

Monday 21st October 2002
quotequote all
Part of the fun of owning a Cerbera is their exclusivity, Falling prices would mean they become more accessable. Before you know it they'll be doughnutting round carparks with blue underlighters and "ON A MISSION" stickers in the back window. Going too far? I hope so.

>> Edited by ches on Monday 21st October 23:05

ro_butler

795 posts

278 months

Monday 21st October 2002
quotequote all

ches said: Part of the fun of owning a Cerbera is their exclusivity, Falling prices would mean they become more accessable. Before you know it they'll be doughnutting round carparks with blue underlighters and "ON A MISSION" stickers in the back window. Going too far; I hope so.


Yes but in the hands of people like that they won't last 5 minutes (either they'll get crashed or break due to lack of TLC) and become exclusive again

mlumb

2,420 posts

273 months

Tuesday 22nd October 2002
quotequote all
wheres the surprise in a dealer paying only 18k to buy in a cerb? dealers almost always offer silly prices and then stick a huge margin on them.when i bought mine in april this year there were a few cars around at maybe 17k but i wasn't impressed,a dealer in harrogate had one for 25k,(96model) which i thought was too much so i bought from a specialist for 19k with 20k miles the cars better now than when i bought it so who knows what its worth,but there are definately some rough cars out there.if you like what you see in a car and the price is realistic then go for it but don't buy a car just because its cheap.

basher

998 posts

291 months

Tuesday 22nd October 2002
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All TVR's are now subject to ridiculous depreciation not just Cerbera....you will often find that the only way you do not suffer astronomical depreciation is if you buy an old one...( I paid 13500 for my 4 l pre cat griff and sold it for 10 3 yrs later - not bad...) But baring in mind what has been going on with TVR reliability of late (and I know it has always been the case of people mocking TVR for unreliability(which was usually unfounded and isolated cases)) has now become a real issue in the 2nd hand market...and ignorance then applies these issues to all models rather thqn the ones concerned......You think Cerbs are in freefall you want to take a look at Tuscan's !! Not many ways around this really....just make sure you get a good one and look after it....I loved my Cerb 4.5 and even though I did suffer some depreciaton I still got a good price for it when I sold it..... don't worry too much about deprecaiton as it is a function of the seller and ifyou do not plan to sell it then who cares.....

AndrewD

7,592 posts

291 months

Tuesday 22nd October 2002
quotequote all
£5k a year depreciation, oh those were the days ...

jurdy

264 posts

291 months

Tuesday 22nd October 2002
quotequote all
So what if a dealer buys a 4.5 for 18K. The average punter is never going to see the benefit of that. We have seen two threads appear over the last two weeks pretty much discussing the same thing, is there any chance that we move the boards back towards the technical issues????

jonny tvr

4,541 posts

288 months

Tuesday 22nd October 2002
quotequote all
a 4.5 at £18K is rubbish! There are always going to be the odd owner (of any car) that is desperate to sell and will take a hit on price to get the cash quickly, but this is not the norm. The typical private price for a 1998 4.5 with lowish mileage with good history and in good condition is £22-23K. Remember this is also a buyers time of year.

jdf

Original Poster:

55 posts

266 months

Tuesday 22nd October 2002
quotequote all
They might well be advertising at £22-23K but speaking to the few people who have managed to sell their cars they certainly are not selling for this amount £19-20K seems to be the norm.

MikeyT

16,929 posts

278 months

Tuesday 22nd October 2002
quotequote all

jurdy said: So what if a dealer buys a 4.5 for 18K. The average punter is never going to see the benefit of that. We have seen two threads appear over the last two weeks pretty much discussing the same thing, is there any chance that we move the boards back towards the technical issues????




The prices of these cars is a big discussion point and so I say we keep the forums full of whatever is in Cerbera owners and potential Cerbera owners heads at the time and not just the mechanical bits

I haven't even got one but I'm still interested to hear what the secondhand market is doing, as you never know.

jurdy

264 posts

291 months

Tuesday 22nd October 2002
quotequote all
JDF,

Posted an earlier response to your thread asking you to show me where a 98 4.5 was on a forecourt at 18k. You haven't been able to do that and have just highlighted a point that everyone knows. That is to say that the motor trade DO actually make a margin of the cars they sell. I mean, Hey you didn't think they did it for the love of the cars did you?

If someone is mad/desperate enough to sell their car for that sort of cash then OK but there are very few reasons why you would off your cerbie at 2-3k below trade book value.

I will ask (as this is getting very ) that we try to steer the topics back towards the technical issues/problems that current owners/enthusiasts want to discuss.