Buying a used Griff
Discussion
Hi all! I have a 4L Chim which I find to be underpowered and am hoping to buy a 5L Griff which has done about 24k. Would appreciate any advice about what to look for at this mileage when I test the car (not yet with the dealer). Dealers' price is 21k which seems reasonable for a four year old car.
macdeb, that sound is suggestive of the lifters being worn which, in itself, is no big deal but having had 2 sets before points to a bigger, potentially wallet crippling affair. If it's any consolation, any of us could have got caught out with that one. (might as well get a 5.2 ltr block and pistons, hot cam and jag air meter and....sorry
>> Edited by apache on Saturday 8th March 16:57
>> Edited by apache on Saturday 8th March 16:57
Griffs are getting a bit rare, and hence commanding appropriately buoyant prices, especially good ones.
A service history from a dealer or independent, with detail as to what maintenance has been carried out will be a pre-requisite and, unless you are very experienced or confident (or foolhardy!), you need to consider the benefits of an inspection from a specialist (not the Alcoholics Anonymous or Royal Accident Club variety, as good as they are they're not necessarily expert in Blackpool's very finest plastic bucket). The reason this is important is because your heart is going to find it very difficult to let your head be rational. Better to miss one good Griff, than to pick up something which is going to be a little more demanding on the patience and wallet.
People have different ideas about the value of a warranty, but I'd like to mention the words "paper", "worth", "the", "written on", "it's" and "not" for your consideration.
If you find a low mileage car I can almost guarantee that you'll spend a few months tidying up after niggling problems. Be brave and accept these and you will be well rewarded. I'm talkng about niggles, note, rather than finding you've bought a dog!
Good luck - and keep us interested onlookers up to date!
A service history from a dealer or independent, with detail as to what maintenance has been carried out will be a pre-requisite and, unless you are very experienced or confident (or foolhardy!), you need to consider the benefits of an inspection from a specialist (not the Alcoholics Anonymous or Royal Accident Club variety, as good as they are they're not necessarily expert in Blackpool's very finest plastic bucket). The reason this is important is because your heart is going to find it very difficult to let your head be rational. Better to miss one good Griff, than to pick up something which is going to be a little more demanding on the patience and wallet.
People have different ideas about the value of a warranty, but I'd like to mention the words "paper", "worth", "the", "written on", "it's" and "not" for your consideration.
If you find a low mileage car I can almost guarantee that you'll spend a few months tidying up after niggling problems. Be brave and accept these and you will be well rewarded. I'm talkng about niggles, note, rather than finding you've bought a dog!
Good luck - and keep us interested onlookers up to date!
Don't be put off by a low mileage car!!
It's condition, use, history, gut feeling about the owner, specialist check over that matter. Your perfect car could have 10k on the clock or 60k on the clock, age is not the predominant issue.
That 8 year old car could have been completely rebuilt, resparayed, maintained every 3,000 miles and be better than new, some owners are like that. Or a year old with 30k on the clock, but equally well maiantained.
As they are now a classic (i.e. not built anymore), if you intend to keep it for any length of time, my advice would be to buy it nmainly on condition (i.e paint, interior, chassis, service history, and other bills)
Mine, for example only has 12,000 on it ( 4 years old), and is near perfect. Perhaps the difference with my low mileage car, is that it does get driven at the very least once a week, all year round. ANY car that has a history of being stuck in a garage for 2-4 months (or more) at a time will give you lots of niggling problems, from electrics to gaskets.
BEST advice get the Steve Heath book, look at a lot of cars, narrow it down to one or two that you think are OK. Then get a specialist/independant TVR inspection to go over it witha fine toothcomb.
Best of Luck
B
It's condition, use, history, gut feeling about the owner, specialist check over that matter. Your perfect car could have 10k on the clock or 60k on the clock, age is not the predominant issue.
That 8 year old car could have been completely rebuilt, resparayed, maintained every 3,000 miles and be better than new, some owners are like that. Or a year old with 30k on the clock, but equally well maiantained.
As they are now a classic (i.e. not built anymore), if you intend to keep it for any length of time, my advice would be to buy it nmainly on condition (i.e paint, interior, chassis, service history, and other bills)
Mine, for example only has 12,000 on it ( 4 years old), and is near perfect. Perhaps the difference with my low mileage car, is that it does get driven at the very least once a week, all year round. ANY car that has a history of being stuck in a garage for 2-4 months (or more) at a time will give you lots of niggling problems, from electrics to gaskets.
BEST advice get the Steve Heath book, look at a lot of cars, narrow it down to one or two that you think are OK. Then get a specialist/independant TVR inspection to go over it witha fine toothcomb.
Best of Luck
B
I agree that low mileage is not necessarily bad news. I bought a 3 year old Griff 500 in November last year with just 6,500 on the clock. It had full history etc and I paid a highish price from a main dealer but I have had no problems.........yet.
>> Edited by prop on Sunday 9th March 10:35
>> Edited by prop on Sunday 9th March 10:35
i agree with prop and bj,from my experience the lower the mileage the better.after having terrible trouble with a previous chimp which had a few miles on it,i knew that with the next car i wanted low miles.my griffs a v.early 1997 and had only 8k on it last august when bought.ive had no probs whatsoever so far in 2k miles.its more important that its still been properly serviced ,even when its hardly been used.to me ftvrsh is a must.
many thanks to all of you who were kind enough to give constructive replies. I now have a dark blue Griff500 with just 7k on the clock (£25k). Goes like a bomb. The nicest feeling is that I own a classic--the nastiest is that spares are apparently becoming harder to get but that is a minor niggle 
magnus
magnus
mongoose said: nice one magnus,hope you enjoy the griff as much as i enjoy mine.just out of interest,which spares are getting harder to find then?
Just hearsay from parts manager at Mole Valley who seems to be a bit of a pessimist. Anyway as long as the Range Rovers keep going the V8's will be OK
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