Precieved Unreliability

[page3]

From another car forum:

"...compared to the competition in the price and performance bracket, TVR are undoubtedly one of the most unreliable manufacturers."

I for one totally disagree with the above statement.

Would you? How would you combat (assuming you disagree) this sort of statement?

(Yes, I know we've had this sort of discussion a zillion times before, but I wanted a good answer to back up my firm belief that this is an untruth. This is not an invitation for lots of ill-informed TVR-bashing. Debate good. Some quotable replies- better, Agreement with me - best)

[Marki]

[Marki]

You lot are suckers for punishment ,, and then get all over deffensive

[page3]

Marki said:

...but is that a or a or mearly a ?

...or have I just opened another can of worms

[page3]

Marki said:

You lot are suckers for punishment ,, and then get all over deffensive

Well I've nothing better to do. The Weather's crap and my Tiv's in for repair.


(that last bit is a joke...)

[Marki]

i think it was a with a splash of

[cerbyt]

Always opens a can of worms...but for one I have never really had any reliability problems with my Tivs (Cerb had a faulty fan switch, Chimaera a sticky brake calliper, Tuscan an intermittent speedo sensor.) All but the Tuscan were used daily over the last 8 years or so.

[page3]

cerbyt said:

Always opens a can of worms...but for one I have never really had any reliability problems with my Tivs (Cerb had a faulty fan switch, Chimaera a sticky brake calliper, Tuscan an intermittent speedo sensor.) All but the Tuscan were used daily over the last 8 years or so.

Agree.

Problem is, these sort of uninformed 'opinions' always delivered as gospel are so very difficult to refute, without sounding all defensive or listing all the times your car hasn't gone wrong.

I think I'll just label my own thread as a stupid idea and go out and drive my unreliable, old, creaky but ever so fine, British, flawed masterpiece that my Tiv is.

[amcphillips]

I think that most people that go on about reliability are those that have never owned one. Someone starts a joke and all of a sudden it becomes truth. All IMO of course.

[sideways mostly]

BC I'd leave them talking to themselves-they are doing very well so far.

[JonRB]

I've had people say "Oh, a TVR. Isn't it really unreliable?" in various levels of diplomacy (the best being "I really, really like your car. The sound of the V8 is awesome. But I have to ask - it it true what people say about the reliability?" )

I give virtually the same answer:
I've owned the car for 4½ years and it has been very reliable. I have had a few niggles, but probably no worse that anyone driving a Ferrari or Lotus of the same age and cetainly far less than the owners of classic cars. It's not a Honda and has to be driven with mechanical sympathy, but they are actually pretty reliable cars.

So there you go.

>> Edited by JonRB on Sunday 23 April 18:10

[L1OFF]

sideways mostly said:

BC I'd leave them talking to themselves-they are doing very well so far.

[page3]

sideways mostly said:

BC I'd leave them talking to themselves-they are doing very well so far.

Disappearing post? Read it earlier and though what a well thought out and interesting post.

[JonRB]

Following on from my earlier post, my dad had a 400SE in the 90's and says that it was a terrible car. But he left it out on the drive in all weathers and then complained when it leaked. Never maintained it - just took it to the dealers when needed. Just expected to jump into it and drive it.

He sold it and bought a 964 Carrera 4 which he loved, which just kind of sums it up really. He never really "got" TVR ownership, and it's obvious the detractors of TVRs don't either.

[Devil's Advocate]

amcphillips said:

I think that most people that go on about reliability are those that have never owned one. Someone starts a joke and all of a sudden it becomes truth. All IMO of course.

Ask a TVR technician who has worked on other makes of cars. TVRs are, in my experience, more unreliable than other cars, but they are specialist cars so the comparison is not really fair. The issue is cost of reliability to the owner: massive repairs bills, long down time, repeat failures. Cut out engine failures (nearly there now?), make sure parts availability is good, pursue continuous improvement with a little more vigour (clutches, oil pressure senders, door encoders...) and you're left with a formula that works - the cars may still be somewhat unreliable but the repairs will be reasonably inexpensive, swiftly repaired and not repeated. Supermodels are unreliable but we'd all like to have one (wouldn't we??)

[JonRB]

The way I see it is that they're a damn site more reliable than a classic Ferrari or Lamborghini, yet they're allowed their 'quirks' because they're 'Italian Thoroughbreds'.

I just think our Blackpool Donkeys should be cut the same slack.

[sideways mostly]

on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and
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on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and you get the idea

[JonRB]

mungo said:

So engines that go pop when most modern cars are due for their first oil service is ok is it?

I'm talking about a mid-90's Rover V8 wedge, Matt.

My point is that people are very intolerant to TVRs being unreliable because of their perceived reputation. It is a self-perpetuating, self-fulfilling prophesy.

I seem to recall that a lot of M3s had a lot of problems with their engines too. However, BMW have the money to prevent their unshakeable reputation for reliability and the "Ultimate Driving Machine" becoming tarnished.

I'm not debating that TVR have handled the Speed 6 engine badly, but let's change the record on that one, eh? You didn't even have a TVR with a Speed 6 - it was a Rover V8 one, wasn't it? So why are you always grinding that particular axe?

>> Edited by JonRB on Sunday 23 April 18:26

[Marki]

Quinny said:

At least they have something else in common, they follow each other around like lost puppies, just popping up in every TVR thread just to have a little dig. 1 owns a Seat, the Other owns a Mini(not even a proper one at that)

You muppet what has the car we own now got to do with it , any one can come on here and see s6 owners whining .

And as i said at the start of this thread you lot seem to be begging for it continualy starting threads on the same or similar subject "whats that noise" "Are they going bust"
or similar

[JonRB]

mungo said:

JonRB said: I'm talking about a mid-90's Rover V8 wedge, Matt. I wasn't

TVR's perceived reliability problems predate the Speed6 engine issue, and yet you appear fixated on it.