buying a cerb. private or dealer?

[gervaised]

i'm getting the itch to upgrade to a 2nd hand cerb. however, the dilema for me is to either buy one from a dealer with warrantee and assurance it has been 'sorted out'. or, go private (some good 'bargains' on topmarques and pistonheads classifieds), pay up to £5-6k less, hope it doesn't go wrong and have that cash aside incase something does.
anyone weighed this up and taken the plunge? results please...

[VENOM500]

Stay with a Main Dealer, i bought my speed six from a non main dealer and hade a lot of sh*t and then they went bust!!

[mags]

You might want to speak to rob from www.findasportscar.co.uk ,he specialises in helping people like you and me avoid getting ripped off by dealers, but not get caught out by private cars with bad history.
I have spoken to him a few times as I am hoping to get an older Cerb early next year. He can also sort you out with a Warranty holdings, scheme.


Edited by mags on Friday 9th November 08:27

[quadcat1]

I must say shop around at main dealers as well. I found dream machines very competetive and have been extremely helpful on all accounts. I found my other nearest dealer Waldonway to be 4-5k more expensive.

[AndrewD]

Would slightly disagree with you. I'd look at cars from both dealers and privately, and buy the one you like most. Dealers sell poor cars as well, I'm sure, and whilst there is come back to an extent, they are not a blank cheque. A number of private sellers (me included) object to selling our cars to dealers for the sort of money they are offering because we know we have good ones and are just not prepared to give them away. Far more important than who is selling it is the history of the car, and buying privately you can look the owner right in the eyes and decide for yourself if it is right for you or not. Anyway, good luck whatever you do!

[M15ley]

Do Dream Machines have a web site??

[gervaised]

i had a word with rob from findasportscar.co.uk, and he seems to offer a great service. for a fee, he'll put people in contact with me to sell my car, and find suitable private sales for me. this included checking the cars out to see if they're in good order. anyone want a 4.0 chim for around 13.5k?

[M15ley]

Rob must be on his jollies, sent an e-mail a few days ago but no reply so far, fingers crossed though!

[gervaised]

having had a look on the autotrader site, there's so many cerbs for under £22000, they can't all be lemons. i think i'll talk to some tvr dealers and see how much they charge for a full inspection, and see if they'll give warantees on the strength of their own inspection.

[agholding]

Check out www.joospeed.net if you're near Chesterfield - he charged me £30 to check over a Cerbera - hour and a half at £20/hour - full diag's the lot. (Actually I only had £27 cash) Cheers Jools!

[Ston]

I was thinking about this when I bought my Chimp.

I was tossing up whether to get a low mileage Chimp with an L plate or a high mileage one on P.

In the end I went for the low mileage Chimp (6000 miles) on the L, but surely these engines (Rover V8's and TVR's in house block) are good for a hell of a lot more than say 40,000? A P reg with 40,000 miles is still going to be a very solid buy. (either chimp or cerb)

Is that a fair statement or am I way off the mark?

/Ston

[apache]

I should say so!!

[Jasper Gilder]

I bought my 4.5 from a dealer earlier in the year and the piece of mind is worth it. No worries about has it gone up a tree?. If you want a halfway house log onto the Team Proactive website. they are selling cerberas over the web and Adrian Windridge, who runs Team Proactive is a cerbera expert. I thought mine was good bit when Adrian had finished with it it was just fantastic!

[avi]

Gervaised

I have spoken to Rob on and off and purchasing a cerbi and he has come across as a genuine chap who is truely interested in getting the right car for the person interested.

So have a chat with him before going private or dealer

Cheers

Avi

[gervaised]

avi, i've spoken to him, and am convinced this is a good way to go. the only problem is that my job is in the balance at the moment, and i'll find out one way or the other this week. i'll take the plunge after christmas if the job's secure.
just hope swapping my reliable chim for a cerbie isn't a move i live to regret.

[dyb]

If I was going to buy another cerbera (i.e rather than 1st time buyer) we should be able to know what's good and bad. I would buy privatly, possible even high mileage especially if your not a high mileage user, it's suprising hw quickly you can get a high miler down to average miles when not overused.