Need advice on cerbie 4.5
Discussion
Hi i'am 23 in a few months time i'll be 24 and thinking of buying a second hand cerbera 4.5 97/98 which i've seen for around £20k,I have read up on afew sites that the 4.5 cerbera is slightly more reliable due to upgraded parts used, is this true? insurance from tescos will be around £1368 i will then have 4 years no claims, fully comp plus protected ncb i was planning on bmw m3 or mitshubishi evo 6 but insurance cost more for them? I was wondering if anyone can give me some pointers to look out for when buying a secondhand tvr? and how does it handle without abs will the car lockup easy on hard braking,I will be mainly be using it for daily driving and maybe on track now and again.i'll be doing around 8.000-10.000 miles a year. Is it possible to fit 19's on rear and 18's on the front like the porsche 911 turbo where the rear wheels are bigger than the front,and would this help with traction at the rear? oh and 1 more thing anyone know a cheap tracker company,I'am also planning on cat1 alarm and imobiliser.
Any help appreciated
steve
>>> Edited by defjam on Monday 13th January 20:51
Any help appreciated
steve
>>> Edited by defjam on Monday 13th January 20:51
In my experience the 4.5 is more sorted as far as the older cars go and you will find that a cat1 alarm is uaually insisted upon. As for the tracxker i find that unless specified for then I would not bother.....mine is with Siemens datatrack but my car came with one as standard - I never had one on the Cerb and in all fairness they are rarely nicked as there is not really a market for a nicked one due to small production run and the need for factory part sourcing......they can be very reliable - I did 12000 miles in mine in 10 months and apart from one or two problems it was ok...however I would not advocate using it everyday as even sall issues can start to make you doubt your arrival at the office on a regular basis....you can fit 19" wheels on them but you will need to get spacers and probably have the arches ground away underneath as your turning circle will be worse than an oceanliner....I would not advocate 19 on the rear and 18 on the front as they will not only look daft but it is highly unneccessary.....in the dry with 18" wheels (rears have 245 anyway) then the traction is excellent.....if you want to upgrade handling then fine look at changing shocks but I would not advocate trying to increase the grip as it is pretty unnnecessary and you can always get lower profile tyres if that is what you want to try and improve....personally I would have thought that you should own and drive the car for a good few months before you start modifying anything otherwise you will never discover the true characteresitcs of the car for yourself and hence what areas to improve...I will find it hard to believe that if you follow this process you will want 19" for anything other than aesthetic purposes....but hey that is my opinion....if you want a car with the best traction buy a porsche with trac control.....a cerbera is a drivers car with no aids and as such is most of the appeal and fun....try and aneathetise it and you will ruin the car it is trying to be I feel.....
If you're looking for general reviews concerning Cerbera's. The brooklands book, TVR performance portfolio 1995-2000 gives some good overviews (www.brooklands-books.com/system/index.html).
General consensus seems to be, do your research, post '98 is best, not every car is a horror story, budget 3K a year to maintain it.
General consensus seems to be, do your research, post '98 is best, not every car is a horror story, budget 3K a year to maintain it.
The thing I used to love about my Cerby was that when it was being, shall I say 'moody,' I could nevertheless spend protracted periods, fluttering the curtains and shamelessly oggling it's quite divine proportions.
The side profile slackened my jaw and the rear three quarter view gave me the screaming ab-dabs. Art; pure, unadulterated automotive art.
The interior is quite simply the best on this plane of existence and the sound from the tail gunners is hilarious on the overrun.
Ignore any advice against buying a Cerb. Listen to the combination of your heart and scrotum and tell me anything else compares (for the wonga)? Of course it doesn't!
Buy it and if it works it's a bonus! Sensible policies for a happier Piston Head.
Then you can say 'I lived!'
>> Edited by derestrictor on Tuesday 14th January 14:32
The side profile slackened my jaw and the rear three quarter view gave me the screaming ab-dabs. Art; pure, unadulterated automotive art.
The interior is quite simply the best on this plane of existence and the sound from the tail gunners is hilarious on the overrun.
Ignore any advice against buying a Cerb. Listen to the combination of your heart and scrotum and tell me anything else compares (for the wonga)? Of course it doesn't!
Buy it and if it works it's a bonus! Sensible policies for a happier Piston Head.
Then you can say 'I lived!' >> Edited by derestrictor on Tuesday 14th January 14:32
derestrictor said: The thing I used to love about my Cerby was that when it was being, shall I say 'moody,' I could nevertheless spend protracted periods, fluttering the curtains and shamelessly oggling it's quite divine proportions.
The side profile slackened my jaw and the rear three quarter view gave me the screaming ab-dabs. Art; pure, unadulterated automotive art.
The interior is quite simply the best on this plane of existence and the sound from the tail gunners is hilarious on the overrun.
Ignore any advice against buying a Cerb. Listen to the combination of your heart and scrotum and tell me anything else compares (for the wonga)? Of course it doesn't!
Buy it and if it works it's a bonus! Sensible policies for a happier Piston Head.
>> Edited by derestrictor on Tuesday 14th January 14:32
He's got a point there!
Matt.
Hi guys thanks for your replys. I think I have set my heart in buying 1, seeing different reviews on the cerbera does'nt sound too bad as my previous choices of cars to buy are a fair amount to run aswell but without the brute force of the cerbie or the exquisite styling. I won't be getting 1 until nearer the summer but when I do I will post back to this forum to let u guys know how I get on thanks.
steve
steve
defjam said: Hi guys thanks for your replys. I think I have set my heart in buying 1, seeing different reviews on the cerbera does'nt sound too bad as my previous choices of cars to buy are a fair amount to run aswell but without the brute force of the cerbie or the exquisite styling. I won't be getting 1 until nearer the summer but when I do I will post back to this forum to let u guys know how I get on thanks.
steve
The only questions you need to ask are the following.
1. Do you *really* want one?
2. Can you afford to buy it?
By this I mean, do you have the money to not only pay for the car but for the inspection by qualified TVR experts that you *absolutely must* get before buying the car.
3. Can you afford to run it?
Which means, will you have enough money left over to pay for insurance, fuel and still have enough to spend £3k/year, *every year*, on service?
If you can answer yes to all three questions: Go for it! You only live once. You don't buy a TVR with your brains anyway, you buy with your heart (and probably some influence from bits a bit father down as well). ;->
I'm also in the market for a Cerbera, not really that bothered about the running costs as it's to be expected, but would like to know what to expect so I can make sure that when I do buy one I haven't bought a duff money pit that hasn't been looked after.
A lot of posts say that expect to pay around 3K a year on service. 3K for what??? Is this just for one service, how many miles a year?
I've been quoted @ a dealer 588/712 or 250/400 @ an independant, plus tappets for a 6k/12k service. That leaves well over 2K a year for what? A clutch a year, brakes ???
Please could those who find they spend 3K a year on maintenance enlighten me as to what it is spent on each year.
Cheers for the help.
>> Edited by m14cus on Wednesday 15th January 13:42
A lot of posts say that expect to pay around 3K a year on service. 3K for what??? Is this just for one service, how many miles a year?
I've been quoted @ a dealer 588/712 or 250/400 @ an independant, plus tappets for a 6k/12k service. That leaves well over 2K a year for what? A clutch a year, brakes ???
Please could those who find they spend 3K a year on maintenance enlighten me as to what it is spent on each year.
Cheers for the help.
>> Edited by m14cus on Wednesday 15th January 13:42
m14cus said: I'm also in the market for a Cerbera, not really that bothered about the running costs as it's to be expected, but would like to know what to expect so I can make sure I source a car that is sorted.
But.....
A lot of posts say that expect to pay around 3K a year on service. 3K for what??? Is this just for one service, how many miles a year?
I've been quoted @ a dealer is 588/712 or 250/400 @ an independant, plus tappets for a 6k/12k service. That leaves well over 2K a year for what? A clutch a year, brakes ???
Please could those who find they spend 3K a year on maintenance enlighten me as to what it is spent on each year.
Cheers for the help.
Going strictly on what I know from my main dealer.
6000 Service £600
12000 Service £800 + Tappets @ £450
Independants are of course significantly cheaper, and extremely highly regarded.
So if you do 12K a year thats £1850 on straight servicing. Pads arent cheap, I know that much and you can EASILY do a set of tyres in under 10K plus some additional costs and the £3K comes up pretty quick.
This is not to say however that it will always cost £3K a year to run, but I would suggest saving an equivalent amount if you do need something big you are covered.
Whatever you do though, enjoy the hell out of it!
Matt.
Fab advice! I shall apply this to all important decisions in life from now on!Gassing Station | Cerbera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff