Reliabiltiy - Audi v TVR?
Discussion
So many of this groups cars are so over rated by people, they laugh at the average Ford which is now generally a much better built car , but people buy a badge and never look at each car on its own individual merits. I was a spanner shifter for ford in late 80' early 90's i probably PDI and test drove thousands of new cars and lots of used none fords .Fiesta and escorts where badly built and sierra and Scorpio where very well built , hardly any defects compared to the fiesta / escort , simply because they where built in different countries , so a badge means absolutely nothing its called good marketing which only last so long when resting on previous efforts , people get wise after a while !.
Look at the first Merc ML's they were not even built by Merc .
But in general the quality of German cars is not what it used to be and from what i can gather it is getting like BL , Ford and Jaguar was in the 70's which seems to be caused by problematic unions .
Also i got told that a certain porker dealership is doing on average 4 major warranty engine jobs every week.
And people slag off TVR's , no we are just honest ,thing is if you buy a car that goes out ot say its the best engineered thing ever , and you buy it for that- a sort of look at me I am captain sensible ,then people hardly ever admit when the car gooses up because they dont want to look like numpties. Worst of all you pay through the nose for the privilege !!
Anyway good to see a owner admitted that some of these motors are not what they say on the Tin
Look at the first Merc ML's they were not even built by Merc .
But in general the quality of German cars is not what it used to be and from what i can gather it is getting like BL , Ford and Jaguar was in the 70's which seems to be caused by problematic unions .
Also i got told that a certain porker dealership is doing on average 4 major warranty engine jobs every week.
And people slag off TVR's , no we are just honest ,thing is if you buy a car that goes out ot say its the best engineered thing ever , and you buy it for that- a sort of look at me I am captain sensible ,then people hardly ever admit when the car gooses up because they dont want to look like numpties. Worst of all you pay through the nose for the privilege !!
Anyway good to see a owner admitted that some of these motors are not what they say on the Tin
Edited by Rum Runner on Saturday 4th November 23:21
I have had three new audi's on the trot.
The first broke down on me at least four times and the second and third both had new gearboxes within six months.
The second gearbox took over a month to fix and this was within the first two months of ownership. Tried to reject the car but that is a whole other story.
I had ordered another but cancelled this when the last broke down. I told the sales guy I was going to buy something I knew would brakedown.
I had to laugh when the tvr sales guy told me don't expect a tvr to be as bullet proof as my audi.
The first broke down on me at least four times and the second and third both had new gearboxes within six months.
The second gearbox took over a month to fix and this was within the first two months of ownership. Tried to reject the car but that is a whole other story.
I had ordered another but cancelled this when the last broke down. I told the sales guy I was going to buy something I knew would brakedown.
I had to laugh when the tvr sales guy told me don't expect a tvr to be as bullet proof as my audi.
167,000+ in a Volvo 240 (belonged to family member to 99,000) - only thing bought was power steering rack at 150k. Sold for scrap when generator went on the blink. Scrap dealer put it back on the road.
140,000+ Rover 400 (bought at 60,000 for pittance) - just new front air dam after hare misjudged its abilities. However, something rattled in the cat three times for about 1000 miles each time. Complaints to Rover elicitated the criticism that I had probably driven through a puddle. Problem did not reoccur after about 80k
170,000+ on Ford Mondeo (bought at under 60,000, car given to daughter at 140k) - remarkably only a replacement front roll bar rubber. In March this year put in for MoT and cost for repair to various bits was £130. My daughter told it was about twice its value. She had to pay for its disposal.
It's not as if I drive slowly, especially the Rover, but I do look after my cars. I change the oil and filter more frequetly as the cars get older. If it's supposed to be every 6k, once it's clocked 80k it's every 4k. Later, every 3k. I do all my own servicing and most repairs (not that there have been that many). Couldn't do the roll bar rubber on the Mondeo, cost £100!
Half my driving is on fairly long commutes.
It is astounding how reliable some cars are nowadays.
EDITED TO ADD:
I replaced both front wishbones on the Mondeo when the rubbers went. The fact that they were going was picked up on a MoT. Didn't fail, just a warning.
140,000+ Rover 400 (bought at 60,000 for pittance) - just new front air dam after hare misjudged its abilities. However, something rattled in the cat three times for about 1000 miles each time. Complaints to Rover elicitated the criticism that I had probably driven through a puddle. Problem did not reoccur after about 80k
170,000+ on Ford Mondeo (bought at under 60,000, car given to daughter at 140k) - remarkably only a replacement front roll bar rubber. In March this year put in for MoT and cost for repair to various bits was £130. My daughter told it was about twice its value. She had to pay for its disposal.
It's not as if I drive slowly, especially the Rover, but I do look after my cars. I change the oil and filter more frequetly as the cars get older. If it's supposed to be every 6k, once it's clocked 80k it's every 4k. Later, every 3k. I do all my own servicing and most repairs (not that there have been that many). Couldn't do the roll bar rubber on the Mondeo, cost £100!
Half my driving is on fairly long commutes.
It is astounding how reliable some cars are nowadays.
EDITED TO ADD:
I replaced both front wishbones on the Mondeo when the rubbers went. The fact that they were going was picked up on a MoT. Didn't fail, just a warning.
Edited by Derek Smith on Sunday 5th November 19:42
A friend of mine bought a Renault van. The gearbox went three times in the first year. He's a welder and needs the van for his work. After throwing his teddy out of the pram (or van) with the dealer, the salesman said; "No van's 100% reliable, sir." He pointed out that his previous Transit had been for 8 years.
When his third g'box was fitted, sold van, bought - guess what?
Give Renault their due, they were helpful, supplied a replacement, smaller, van each time and did admit that there was a design fault. But, as my friend said, Ford didn't have to.
Yet, as we all know, Fords are very unreliable.
When his third g'box was fitted, sold van, bought - guess what?
Give Renault their due, they were helpful, supplied a replacement, smaller, van each time and did admit that there was a design fault. But, as my friend said, Ford didn't have to.
Yet, as we all know, Fords are very unreliable.
I have a 210,000 mile sierra first used as a company car by my father, and general office car which did lots of towing trailers etc. Its had clutch , brake discs , water pump and front TCA bushes, and carb gasket ( £1.85). Still runs mint ,very little corrosion and just sailed through MOT , goes first turn engine very quiet uses no oil , and still does over 40 mpg on a carb . Not worth £50 , but does mean i can have a TVR for fun, and when i park it in the local supermarket i don't have to stress about people driving trolleys and cars into it.
Its much more comfortable on long runs than a a lot of modern motors as it has decent suspension travel and 70 series tyres , which does mean not the most grip in the world but good fun going sideways at slow speed , as its has loads of transfer time as you feel the tyres load up with gradual loss of grip (Oh and no power steering ).Other cars come and go hear regularly but i would never sell the old ford.Its very similar to driving a slow TVR Series ,but I suppose that's mostly what a S series is , as i look at the one on the drive right now, which is hear for a few days TLC.
Its much more comfortable on long runs than a a lot of modern motors as it has decent suspension travel and 70 series tyres , which does mean not the most grip in the world but good fun going sideways at slow speed , as its has loads of transfer time as you feel the tyres load up with gradual loss of grip (Oh and no power steering ).Other cars come and go hear regularly but i would never sell the old ford.Its very similar to driving a slow TVR Series ,but I suppose that's mostly what a S series is , as i look at the one on the drive right now, which is hear for a few days TLC.
Edited by Rum Runner on Sunday 5th November 19:38
The point is that when cars like Audis and VWs break down we are very unforgiving.
As they are completely lacking in soul and charisma, they should at least be reliable.
When my Audi TT was unreliable, I was furious with it.
I expected it to be dull but reliable - dull and unreliable was more than I could stand.
Now my TVR may have the occasional (very small) hiccup, but as it has charisma by the bucket load - I can live with it.
The reliabilty record of many of the "prestige" manufacturers is carefully crafted fiction anyway.
The solution is I suppose to have a Lexus and a TVR - then you can really laugh at the smugness of the Golf TDi / Audi A3 brigade.
As they are completely lacking in soul and charisma, they should at least be reliable.
When my Audi TT was unreliable, I was furious with it.
I expected it to be dull but reliable - dull and unreliable was more than I could stand.
Now my TVR may have the occasional (very small) hiccup, but as it has charisma by the bucket load - I can live with it.
The reliabilty record of many of the "prestige" manufacturers is carefully crafted fiction anyway.
The solution is I suppose to have a Lexus and a TVR - then you can really laugh at the smugness of the Golf TDi / Audi A3 brigade.
espresso said:
The solution is I suppose to have a Lexus and a TVR - then you can really laugh at the smugness of the Golf TDi / Audi A3 brigade.
Yep, I'd agree with that and I've got a glorified A3... I don't know anyone personally that has received bad customer service from Lexus I also know people with both an IS and a GS that both have done over 100,000 miles without a single problem one of the cars is now 8 years old too (I wish I could say that about my S3).
angrys3owner said:
espresso said:
The solution is I suppose to have a Lexus and a TVR - then you can really laugh at the smugness of the Golf TDi / Audi A3 brigade.
Yep, I'd agree with that and I've got a glorified A3... I don't know anyone personally that has received bad customer service from Lexus I also know people with both an IS and a GS that both have done over 100,000 miles without a single problem one of the cars is now 8 years old too (I wish I could say that about my S3).
Just out of interest how many tvr owners have had a bad experience with the dealers? So far to me they seem really good but I am about to buy a car?
My experience with the VAG group is once they have your deposit they don't really care and once you have the car they dont give a s*^t. (even if you have brough five VAG cars (yes I should know better).
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