Discussion
Picked up my Cerbera from Thames Valley yesterday. It is running like a dream and no longer sounds like a tractor running with no oil thanks to new camshafts.
The gear changes are smoother, and I can easily get it into 1st and reverse thanks to a new gearbox input shaft.
Everything is much smoother and much more responsive. Thames valley have done an excellent job.
I had forgotten how exhilerating it was to drive,a nd it now makes all the right pops bangs and crackles.
All at a not inconsiderable cost ! See profile.
Roll on Elvington !!!!
blimey, just had a look at your profile. deep pockets, or very flexible friend!?
i'm picking up my first cerbera on saturday, after deciding to trade in my reliable (but cosmeticaly awful) M reg chimaera 4.0. it's a 97 (P) 4.2 with all the mods, and plenty of cash spent on it. could do without the bills you seem to have accrued, i hope that's your lot for a good while.
it's a dealer job, so i get a years worth of warrantee. and all the cosmetic items have been sorted (front respray being the main one)
fingers crossed (for both of us!)
gd
i'm picking up my first cerbera on saturday, after deciding to trade in my reliable (but cosmeticaly awful) M reg chimaera 4.0. it's a 97 (P) 4.2 with all the mods, and plenty of cash spent on it. could do without the bills you seem to have accrued, i hope that's your lot for a good while.
it's a dealer job, so i get a years worth of warrantee. and all the cosmetic items have been sorted (front respray being the main one)
fingers crossed (for both of us!)
gd
I reckon you've spent about £8500 on your car????
When I brought mine this is what scared me so I brought as new as possible with a dealer warranty.
Yours looks a lovely car and is now obviously well sorted, but surely if you had that sort of money (£28000ish?) would'nt you have been better buying newer?
Not critizing in any way BTW, just interested, coz I nearly brought an older car but decided against it for the fear of those bills!
When I brought mine this is what scared me so I brought as new as possible with a dealer warranty.
Yours looks a lovely car and is now obviously well sorted, but surely if you had that sort of money (£28000ish?) would'nt you have been better buying newer?
Not critizing in any way BTW, just interested, coz I nearly brought an older car but decided against it for the fear of those bills!
quote:
I reckon you've spent about £8500 on your car????
This may sound like I am trying to convince myself (or wife) and I probably am ! But...
If you take out the costs of things that are expected, Tyres, Service costs, Insurance, MOT, oil etc, and stupid accidents like driving over rocks on the road, then the costs are more like £4200.
I bought the car for 19k when most were selling privately for 21k and dealers for 24k. I now know that all the work that needs doing has been done, and all the niggles fixed, and have not ended up spending any more than if I had bought from a dealer !!! 19000 + 4200 - 24000 = 800 savings !!
I did NOT go into Cerbera with my eyes open. Bit of an impulse purchase after going for a spin in the first one I saw ! Completley the wrong way to do it but thats another story. I even had my wife with me !! I did thinkt hat the car would need some work givent he much lower price.
I think that mycerbera buying at 17000 should expect soem heavy bills, especially if the clutch has not been upgrade or if it is running on the original camshafts. Don't mean to worry you if you read this !
If I had read this and other forums first then I perhaps would not have entered the exhilerating world of Cerbera ownership. But in retrospect I am glad that I did buy the Cerbera.
I am still trying to convince myself that everything is sorted and nothing else will go wrong...... ONly time will tell !
Its the first I have owned so I don't know. That is what I am worried about! The following may be complete rubbish and I would happily be corrected by anyone with greater mechanical knowledge. Although Cerbera ownership seems to increase mechanical know how ,as bits of the car go wrong and you find out why !
In the past 8 months of ownership with 3 months off road being fixed! It has had the following done.
Upgraded clutch. Will be required on any old 4.2 that hasn't had it done , as they no longer make the original 4.2 unit. My car had 20000 miles, questionable whether this was original clutch though.
The parts alone for an upgraded clutch cost £1500 as it is new flywheel, bellhousing, complete clutch. Labour from a dealer would probably be another £1500. Mine was done for £500.
The change in clutch highlighted a worn gearbox input shaft which the clutch is attached to (makes gear changes difficult and getting into reverse impossible. Note for a test drive). I think there was another Cerbera at Thames Valley with this being done when I picked up mine.
New camshafts, as majorly worn ! Major job. Dealers would remove engine and cost would be about £3500 for this alone. Again seems amazing that they only last 20,000 miles, but could be way it has been driven and cared for I suppose. Again these were the original cam shafts and the new ones are much quieter.
New radiator. Reconditioned steering rack. Reconditioned starter motor.
Other stuff has just been niggles, like leaks, doors not opening. Windows closing by themselves. RADIO RECEPTION.
In summary I think it must depend on the car, how it is looked after, and driven that will dictate how often it needs major work doing.
I am hoping and praying that other than regular services and maintenance that it should go at least another 20000 miles fbefore requireing anything major.
The gearbox is in very good condition (I'm told), not much more can go wrong with the engine without a completley new one being required.
It could do with a respray as some of the lacquer is beginning to come off, and the muppet who owned it previously resealed the rear light covers with what looks like araldite, taking off some of the paint !
>> Edited by oliverkelly on Friday 15th February 13:38
In the past 8 months of ownership with 3 months off road being fixed! It has had the following done.
Upgraded clutch. Will be required on any old 4.2 that hasn't had it done , as they no longer make the original 4.2 unit. My car had 20000 miles, questionable whether this was original clutch though.
The parts alone for an upgraded clutch cost £1500 as it is new flywheel, bellhousing, complete clutch. Labour from a dealer would probably be another £1500. Mine was done for £500.
The change in clutch highlighted a worn gearbox input shaft which the clutch is attached to (makes gear changes difficult and getting into reverse impossible. Note for a test drive). I think there was another Cerbera at Thames Valley with this being done when I picked up mine.
New camshafts, as majorly worn ! Major job. Dealers would remove engine and cost would be about £3500 for this alone. Again seems amazing that they only last 20,000 miles, but could be way it has been driven and cared for I suppose. Again these were the original cam shafts and the new ones are much quieter.
New radiator. Reconditioned steering rack. Reconditioned starter motor.
Other stuff has just been niggles, like leaks, doors not opening. Windows closing by themselves. RADIO RECEPTION.
In summary I think it must depend on the car, how it is looked after, and driven that will dictate how often it needs major work doing.
I am hoping and praying that other than regular services and maintenance that it should go at least another 20000 miles fbefore requireing anything major.
The gearbox is in very good condition (I'm told), not much more can go wrong with the engine without a completley new one being required.
It could do with a respray as some of the lacquer is beginning to come off, and the muppet who owned it previously resealed the rear light covers with what looks like araldite, taking off some of the paint !
>> Edited by oliverkelly on Friday 15th February 13:38
quote:
If I had read this and other forums first then I perhaps would not have entered the exhilerating world of Cerbera ownership. But in retrospect I am glad that I did buy the Cerbera.
Exactly the same here Oliver. I found this web site two days before picking up my 30k S6 and I nearly shat meself when I saw all the tales of woe. I would have missed out big time tho'....my car, even with its problems is just awesome and I urge anyone thinking of taking the plunge to just do it.....you will never regret it. The Cerbera is one of the greatest drivers cars ever (apart from Bennno's Porker of course
) DO NOT let the tales of woe put you off, just use them to your advantage in gaining knowledge about the cars prior to buying, something me and Oliver did not do.As I have said countless times before, once you hear that engine you can't walk away, its impossible.......right Oliver?? 
quote:
New camshafts, as majorly worn ! Major job. Dealers would remove engine and cost would be about £3500 for this alone. Again seems amazing that they only last 20,000 miles, but could be way it has been driven and cared for I suppose. Again these were the original cam shafts and the new ones are much quieter.
One of the reasons the early camshafts were replaced was because of their not lasting - basically they have no "ramp" on the lobes to take up the clearance before actuating the valve, this is what makes them noisy. This isn't very kind to either the cam or the valvetrain! You'll hear people say the later "whisper" cams lose power, but they're just more developed for a production car.
Not much use to you now, but I have been told that when the clutch packs up on earlier 4.2's and the dealer tells you need to upgrade to the new £1500 jobby, you can actully send the orig clutch assembly back to AP and they will rebuild it for a small sum and the whole job works out less than half of the new clutch costs.
Don't know how true this is, but I heard it from a good source.
Mags
>> Edited by mags on Monday 18th February 09:30
Don't know how true this is, but I heard it from a good source.
Mags
>> Edited by mags on Monday 18th February 09:30
Not many people know this, but you can have your original AP twin-plate clutch system re-lined with a mintex organic material, which proves to be as good as, if not better than the original! I had mine done in Sheffield for £100 the pair and replaced the slave cylinder seals at the same time. Taking the gearbox out is not rocket science, most good workshops can do it. TVR dealers may not approve, but it makes running a Cerbera on a budget much easier!
My 4.2 has done about 30K now appears pretty hard to get into first (reverse not a problem) when warm in traffic etc. Is this normal? a quick chat to a dealer told me it was the master/slave cylinder needing replacement.They reckoned if they were in there doing that then i might as well have a new clutch!- does all this ring true? they estimated 2grand?
8.5K running costs in what 6 months, your experience is going to match my first Cerby which used up 11k of mine and the warranty companies money in the first 9 months of ownership.
not being funny but it is not acceptable, for christs sake new camshafts, gearbox shafts and the like on a sub 30k mile car is an embarrasment to the British car industry.
For the record my 996 has now done 36k miles (7k in my ownership), i've spent just £120 on a service and according to the computer records its never had a bean spent on it other than servicing, new pads and one new set of disks.
not saying its better, just saying you shouldnt be buying large chunks of car for a 4 year old...
Bennno
quote:
For the record my 996 has now done 36k miles (7k in my ownership), i've spent just £120 on a service and according to the computer records its never had a bean spent on it other than servicing, new pads and one new set of disks.
not saying its better, just saying you shouldnt be buying large chunks of car for a 4 year old...
Bennno
Blah blah blah Porsche......blah blah blah million miles without a service..........blah blah blah never breaks down.......
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