Common Problems
Discussion
Picked up on this from the condensation thread but it would seem useful to get a list of the most common issues/niggles people are seeing with their cars and what if any was the resolution. So here goes with mine so far :-
1. Glove box lock came unstuck on second day - superglue seems to have done the trick
2. LCD plays up on long journeys - still trying to resolve this one but have had all connections checked and spoken with electronics design engineer at factory
3. Drivers door opening while on the move - have had the dash switch cleaned and lubricated. Touch wood this one is now cleared as I was fortunate not to loose the door turning out of a junction the other day
4. Passenger door window not always closing when door shut - have had switch in door catch adjusted ( be warned, its fiddly, and a 2 hour job )
5. Roof seals come out of runners when putting in boot - Nubbin's fix for this ( previous thread ) works a treat
Mark
1. Glove box lock came unstuck on second day - superglue seems to have done the trick
2. LCD plays up on long journeys - still trying to resolve this one but have had all connections checked and spoken with electronics design engineer at factory
3. Drivers door opening while on the move - have had the dash switch cleaned and lubricated. Touch wood this one is now cleared as I was fortunate not to loose the door turning out of a junction the other day
4. Passenger door window not always closing when door shut - have had switch in door catch adjusted ( be warned, its fiddly, and a 2 hour job )
5. Roof seals come out of runners when putting in boot - Nubbin's fix for this ( previous thread ) works a treat
Mark
Blimey, where do I start....Some of these faults well covered on other threads and solutions provided by others (thanks guys), but here's a summary so far:
1. Glovebox - same as you. Superglue not strong enough but Araldite two-pack is
2. Doors rubbing against sills - dealer re-ground edges and resprayed
3. Drivers side window seal miles out - dealer altered glass angle (two alum brackets at bottom of slider frame altered - easy). Some black self-adhesive draught proofing strip finished remaining gaps, now quiet up to 60mph.
4. Drivers seat too low and no thigh support - I jacked it up with washers and new bolts. Be careful here, its a seatbelt attachment point.
5. All my Bison trim wearing out at rubbing points - HELP! Have alleviated it a bit with velcor strips (furry side) but looks shite
6. Headlights useless - replaced bulbs with Philips Vision Plus (£10 a pair www.bestcarbulbs.com). 50% more light, miles better.
7. Rear numberplate shakes loose - either remove heat deflector and bolt through or stick it with some mastic (not permanent)
8. Black paint flaked off exhaust - polish it off permanently, looks miles better
9. Boot doesnt open wide enough - put 10mm spacers behind the two hinge bolts. Just clears the seal still
10. Water gettign in behind various rear lights - more clear silicon
11. HORRIBLE resonant exhaust boom 2500-3000 rpm. Joolz looking at this, may have a solution soon.
12. Boot lid misalignment - dealer job
13. Speedo inaccurate - get v6.0 software downloaded by dealer
14. LCD display hard to read - try adjusting brightness/contrast, its just about ok now
15. Steering wheel allen screws rusty - get some lovely stainless ones from Leven for £6
16. Impossible to check coolant level - ?? Someone's suggested a dipstick to Leven
17. Roof panel rubber peels off everytime you extract it from the boot - either reattach quickly by stretching it (avoids need for screwdiver etc) of permanently glue it in and use the screws that attach the feeder rail to give extra purchase.
18. Door locks rattle - dealer job
19. Bonnet trailing edge fouls passenger wiper arm - cut away underside lip to free (best done with a minature gringing stone on a Dremel if you have one)
20. Rear roof section fouls seatbelts against B-pillar when folded down - this is one of the most annoying and dangerous faults. Other than wrenching the roof lining around everytime there's no answer. Someone needs to produce a guard that bolts over the seatbelt feeder. Help?
21. Rear brakes locking up before fronts - actually lethal, illegal, and a type approval failure. Dealer can adjust bias
22. Water leaks into footwell - run sealant behind A-pillar door rubbers
23. Windscreen condensation above instrument binnacle - seems to be a windscreen out and re-seal job. But get a new screen ready first, hard to remove without cracking.
24. Loose gear knob - there's a little collar underneath it, just tighten by hand
25. Check you DONT have 3 1" round plugs in the bottom of each door, the holes should be open to allow water to drain.
Cant think of anymore for now..!
Dont get me wrong, I've had all of the above but still love the car. It's an awesome achievement considering the development time/cost but I just wish TVR would pay attention to this site for the "free" development we are all providing in threads like this.
Finally, get a decent stereo head unit and rear speakers. I'd recommend Blaupunkt CD70 San Francisco (aluminuim, looks and sounds the b@llocks. £289 from ww.bluespot.co.uk) and JBL GT series 5" rear speakers - will fit in the existing holes if you push the carpet back a bit. Best frequency response you can get in 5", very deap sound, £60.
Must have bored the lot of you, but maybe this helps the new guys.....
1. Glovebox - same as you. Superglue not strong enough but Araldite two-pack is
2. Doors rubbing against sills - dealer re-ground edges and resprayed
3. Drivers side window seal miles out - dealer altered glass angle (two alum brackets at bottom of slider frame altered - easy). Some black self-adhesive draught proofing strip finished remaining gaps, now quiet up to 60mph.
4. Drivers seat too low and no thigh support - I jacked it up with washers and new bolts. Be careful here, its a seatbelt attachment point.
5. All my Bison trim wearing out at rubbing points - HELP! Have alleviated it a bit with velcor strips (furry side) but looks shite
6. Headlights useless - replaced bulbs with Philips Vision Plus (£10 a pair www.bestcarbulbs.com). 50% more light, miles better.
7. Rear numberplate shakes loose - either remove heat deflector and bolt through or stick it with some mastic (not permanent)
8. Black paint flaked off exhaust - polish it off permanently, looks miles better
9. Boot doesnt open wide enough - put 10mm spacers behind the two hinge bolts. Just clears the seal still
10. Water gettign in behind various rear lights - more clear silicon
11. HORRIBLE resonant exhaust boom 2500-3000 rpm. Joolz looking at this, may have a solution soon.
12. Boot lid misalignment - dealer job
13. Speedo inaccurate - get v6.0 software downloaded by dealer
14. LCD display hard to read - try adjusting brightness/contrast, its just about ok now
15. Steering wheel allen screws rusty - get some lovely stainless ones from Leven for £6
16. Impossible to check coolant level - ?? Someone's suggested a dipstick to Leven
17. Roof panel rubber peels off everytime you extract it from the boot - either reattach quickly by stretching it (avoids need for screwdiver etc) of permanently glue it in and use the screws that attach the feeder rail to give extra purchase.
18. Door locks rattle - dealer job
19. Bonnet trailing edge fouls passenger wiper arm - cut away underside lip to free (best done with a minature gringing stone on a Dremel if you have one)
20. Rear roof section fouls seatbelts against B-pillar when folded down - this is one of the most annoying and dangerous faults. Other than wrenching the roof lining around everytime there's no answer. Someone needs to produce a guard that bolts over the seatbelt feeder. Help?
21. Rear brakes locking up before fronts - actually lethal, illegal, and a type approval failure. Dealer can adjust bias
22. Water leaks into footwell - run sealant behind A-pillar door rubbers
23. Windscreen condensation above instrument binnacle - seems to be a windscreen out and re-seal job. But get a new screen ready first, hard to remove without cracking.
24. Loose gear knob - there's a little collar underneath it, just tighten by hand
25. Check you DONT have 3 1" round plugs in the bottom of each door, the holes should be open to allow water to drain.
Cant think of anymore for now..!
Dont get me wrong, I've had all of the above but still love the car. It's an awesome achievement considering the development time/cost but I just wish TVR would pay attention to this site for the "free" development we are all providing in threads like this.
Finally, get a decent stereo head unit and rear speakers. I'd recommend Blaupunkt CD70 San Francisco (aluminuim, looks and sounds the b@llocks. £289 from ww.bluespot.co.uk) and JBL GT series 5" rear speakers - will fit in the existing holes if you push the carpet back a bit. Best frequency response you can get in 5", very deap sound, £60.
Must have bored the lot of you, but maybe this helps the new guys.....
I know this may be a little controversial on this site, but that's an awfully long list of 'niggles' on a new 40K car.
I know the arguements about limited development budget, bang for buck etc but even so!!
The point is, 40K is a lot of money to spend on a car, and as such if it were me I'd want things to be right. I recognise that TVR owners are prepared to accept the odd imperfection, and that new models tend to have the development finished off by the first few customers, but that is a mighty long list.
I agree, but you're really paying for performance you can't get south of £150k in any other car. Having said that the 2 dangerous problems above (rear brakes
and seat belt jamming) are totally unacceptable. If any of you are seriously interested I can get a legal(ish) letter penned to TVR on our behalf.....??
and seat belt jamming) are totally unacceptable. If any of you are seriously interested I can get a legal(ish) letter penned to TVR on our behalf.....??
I've got quite a strange problem people think I'm imagining it until they see for themselves. The car runs GREAT in a straight line and around right hand corners. HOWEVER, put the car into a long left hand bend and the engine tries to stop, it totally dies and it only keeps turning because of the momentum of the car. This can be quite scary at high speed. Anyway the factory are completely baffled but think it may be caused by the left hand fuel pump not cutting out and therefore pumping air into the engine (the problem seems to happen when there's less than 20 litres of fuel). Anyone got any other strange ones?
That is weird and mine definitley doesn't do that. I have many of the problems on that list though and the car is going in to have them sorted all next week. They are all minor niggles though and I must stress that this is the best TVR I have owned yet. It's just frustrating that TVR themselves don't seem to pay any attention to their customers....We really could help them improve the product if they did...
Shame about the long list of niggles.
Many look v.similar to those on the tuscans. I recognise about 1/2 of them from my early tuscan.
You would have thought the factory would have more of an idea by now.
Glad to hear the mechanics are OK, as thats the important bit.
When will they hire a Quality Manager from Germany?
Anyone looked at an Ultima? Factory built ones have better build quality than TVR, and go a hell of a lot quicker too. Definitely on my wish list.
Many look v.similar to those on the tuscans. I recognise about 1/2 of them from my early tuscan.
You would have thought the factory would have more of an idea by now.
Glad to hear the mechanics are OK, as thats the important bit.
When will they hire a Quality Manager from Germany?
Anyone looked at an Ultima? Factory built ones have better build quality than TVR, and go a hell of a lot quicker too. Definitely on my wish list.
quote:
If TVR don't listen, then maybe the dealers should. Most of these problems could be checked and solved as part of the PDI by the dealer? All work charged as warranty work?
Good point about PDI. I think I will give my dealer a typed list of the common ones so they can check cars on arrival. I am also going to contact TVR for comments. Mechanically the car seems fine, I only know of 1 engine back to blackpool at the mo. I appreciate that with hand built cars niggles and minor differences are inevitable but when the list gets above 5 or 6 items its shoddy workmanship IMO. I wonder whether increased efficiency at the factory and quicker build times is actually having a counter effect in the quality area.
quote:
I know this may be a little controversial on this site, but that's an awfully long list of 'niggles' on a new 40K car.
I know the arguements about limited development budget, bang for buck etc but even so!!
The point is, 40K is a lot of money to spend on a car, and as such if it were me I'd want things to be right. I recognise that TVR owners are prepared to accept the odd imperfection, and that new models tend to have the development finished off by the first few customers, but that is a mighty long list.
Agreed, I spent "only" £25K on a Honda S2000, in 3 months I have had no problems whatsoever. I was going to buy a 2nd hand Chim, but posts like these convince me that I will not be a TVR owner (and I would love a Tuscan) until a basic level of quality is achieved.
The thing is, word of mouth counts for a lot. A colleague at work wants a Tuscan - I suggested he would be mad to as the engine is still not reliable enough. I obviously suggested he read the posts here, but when Joospeed says "if it were a horse they'd shoot it"...well...
quote:
You're missing out on something special here despite the above!
'tis very true.
But in view of how trivial and easily fixed the majority of these problems appear to be, it must be infuriating that they are not sorted prior to customer delivery.
A bit of end of line quality control at the factory, and attention to detail at the dealers, and maybe we wouldn't keep hearing about poor build quality and reliability issues.
A 40K car (that's about 60K gross earnings
) should not come with a list of 30 odd minor faults. 
(I assume that's the point you are making? ) Rich...
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