Reliability........ (of course)

[timmy30]

Open question to all of the TVR owners out there, especially those who've owned several.... has the whole reliability/build of the cars improved significantly progressing say from the Chimaera to the Cerbera then the Tuscan and Tamora?

[vyt]

Owned a Chim 400, Cerby 4.2 and now a T350.

T350 is the best of the bunch as far as general build quality goes. Also much more useable on a daily basis. T350 is just over 2 years old with nothing but a couple of niggles early on. I have to say that the Cerby is in a class of its own in terms of out and out grunt though.

None of my TVR's ever left me stranded, (over 7 years). Worst problem was a broken cluch lever arm on the Chim at 40k miles.

[Tripps]

Nothing like as bad as you hear as long as you keep them well serviced and handle any noises/vibrations as soon as possible.

Whatever you do, research the car you're interested in a allow the suggested sum per year for servicing and other work, for a Cerbera £3k pa is the suggested sum, and in my experience thats about right.

[cerbyt]

Use them as often as poss is the key. I've gone through most of the older models and never had any major problems (fan thermostat on Cerbera, clutch master cylinder seal leak Chimaera about as bad as it got). Now have a 02 Tuscan S and I do think the fit and finish has got better.

[timmy30]

Tripps said:

Nothing like as bad as you hear as long as you keep them well serviced and handle any noises/vibrations as soon as possible. Whatever you do, research the car you're interested in a allow the suggested sum per year for servicing and other work, for a Cerbera £3k pa is the suggested sum, and in my experience thats about right.

By 'research the car' do you mean the model, or the actual specific car? I've got it narrowed down to either a Cerbera or a Chimara anyway.

I see the odd hard top chim advertised, is this like the hard top that you can get for a Boxster that clips on top?

[macdeb]

Two Griffs, T350 and now a Chimaera. Second later Griff better built but had 'minorish' engine problem. T350 bloody marvelous, Chimaera [2000] build quality on par with T350 [might be because they built quite a few]

[maddog-uk]

My tamora has had excellent build quality! Better than previous German cars I have owned!

[BIG DUNC]

I have owned the wedge for 9 years, and the only time it left me by the side of the road was when the immobilisor packed up ( only fitted a few weeks before as well! ). I am the sure the more modern TVR's are much better built.
However, the secret to not breaking down IN ANY CAR is to make sure it is really well serviced and looked after. As the car gets older, this makes all the more difference

[beano500]

Most reliable thing about them is the big you get every time....

[chris watton]

Yep, they seem to be fine, on the whole...........

[softtop]

timmy30 said:

I see the odd hard top chim advertised, is this like the hard top that you can get for a Boxster that clips on top?

They all have a hard top, it goes in the boot.

[VARSOVIA]

Just to point I´ve bought a 450 Chim from dec.1999, with 8.500 miles aprox. this last summer.., tooked the weel for holidays in Spain: at the end more then 4.000 miles under all sort of weather conditions (even 2 heavy hailstorms, one of them with the roof up..!; as well as very hot temps.), and not a single problem...

[beano500]

VARSOVIA said:

Just to point I´ve bought a 450 Chim from dec.1999, with 8.500 miles aprox. this last summer.., tooked the weel for holidays in Spain: at the end more then 4.000 miles under all sort of weather conditions (even 2 heavy hailstorms, one of them with the roof up..!; as well as very hot temps.), and not a single problem...

My bet is that you've been in the garage about 20 times.














Just to top it up with petrol

[mongoose]

timmy30 said:

Open question to all of the TVR owners out there, especially those who've owned several.... has the whole reliability/build of the cars improved significantly progressing say from the Chimaera to the Cerbera then the Tuscan and Tamora?

My first chim had several things go wrong,and nearly put us off TVR's all together,this was nearly all due to previous owner neglet i found out later.My next griff was beautifull,and reliable.Next came the Tuscan(mid 02 build)and that suffered the usual valve stretch,and was getting noisier,so i ditched it after only 6 months.Now i'm back in a Griff,which again is proving reliable,despite being modified for more performance(i'm having some great fun with it).The build quality on the V8 cars is far better than that on my Tuscan,and the V8's definately feel more solid and sorted.However the one thing that dissapoints me on the later('00 year)Griff,is that the paintwork is very thin,and put over tinted primer to reduce costs.My tuscan was also the same.My earlier Griff and Chim weren't like this,and were much less prone to stonechips as a result.However the later Griff and Tuscan have a better,more durable chassis coating,i think because they started to 'key' the steel before powdercoating.

[macdeb]

mongoose said:

timmy30 said: Open question to all of the TVR owners out there, especially those who've owned several.... has the whole reliability/build of the cars improved significantly progressing say from the Chimaera to the Cerbera then the Tuscan and Tamora? My first chim had several things go wrong,and nearly put us off TVR's all together,this was nearly all due to previous owner neglet i found out later.My next griff was beautifull,and reliable.Next came the Tuscan(mid 02 build)and that suffered the usual valve stretch,and was getting noisier,so i ditched it after only 6 months.Now i'm back in a Griff,which again is proving reliable,despite being modified for more performance(i'm having some great fun with it).The build quality on the V8 cars is far better than that on my Tuscan,and the V8's definately feel more solid and sorted.However the one thing that dissapoints me on the later('00 year)Griff,is that the paintwork is very thin,and put over tinted primer to reduce costs.My tuscan was also the same.My earlier Griff and Chim weren't like this,and were much less prone to stonechips as a result.However the later Griff and Tuscan have a better,more durable chassis coating,i think because they started to 'key' the steel before powdercoating.

Bang on with the paint thing. [seems more than I thought gone back to V8]

[Top Chimp]

Tvr specialist pointed out a speed 6 wich had done 35,000mile without a rebuild and was amazed.
Surely then the old V8 has a lot going for it !!.
My 95' Chim has less rattles than most new cars.