Thinking of a cerbie, any advice would be great

[reubsuch]

Hello all

I have been out of the TVR wilderness for a year or so now and am beginning to get really itchy feet again. I have been lucky enough to own a T350 and a Tuscan S. Although the T350 was a fantastic car, the Tuscan really stole it for me. Even my wife shed a tear when we sold it.

Now i am tentively looking again, in these tougher times my budget has been diminished somewhat so 12k is probably my upper limit. I have always loved the Cerberas, the sheer menace they possess. I know they arent for everyone but what do owners think?

This car would be my daily drive, are they good to live with daily, am i likely to get a good one for my budget or should i wait? Is there a noticable difference between the speed 6, 4.2 or 4.5?

The last thing i want to do is by a dog, both my previous cars came from the great guys at TVR centre in Barnet so they would crucify me if i purchased one which blew up on me!!!

This is my first post so it is a bit long winded, but any advice on ownership etc of the cerbie would be greatly appreciated

One last thing, my wife will also be driving the car, she is 5ft 4", is teh cerbie a car for her (very heavy right footed!!!)

Thanks to all that respond

[fatjon]

My Mrs is 5'3" and she manages the Cerb OK. She only gunned it once and quickly learned a healthy dose of respect for it and loves driving it. Mine is a 4.5 ,as it appears are many of the later supposed 4.2s just with different inlet manifolds. They are a bit heavy to drive at low speed, an open road car not something you want to haul around the supermarket car park to often but in summer mine is used as a daily driver. If you are used to a T350 I wouldn't think it would be hugely different as a drive, just a bit more brutal I would think but never driven a T350 so dunno really. The V8s are stonking fast and the S6 not far behind, there is still virtually nothing on the road that will keep up with them.

Clutches are a known weakness, not silly money to change though, expect to put one in if the car has done more than 25 or 30k. The AJP8 is a sound engine with no known problems and the cars are mechanically quite simple by modern standards. Don't be put off by noisy V8s when cold, they have forged slipper pistons that have a high expansion ratio so they sound horrible cold. Check the outriggers same as on any TVR. Service history matters, a lot of the cheaper cars fall into the wrong hands an never see another service. Buy on history and condition not year. The handbrake will not work and if you fix it it will still not work for long!
Some are have had the cats removed, useful power boost but you need them for the test, even if they come straight out again so make sure they are in the boot or you will be £600 down at the next test.
Resales on V8s are better than 6's

[reubsuch]

Hi
Thanks for coming back to me with the advice

The 350 was quick but the Tuscan S was a much better all round TVR to be honest and with the 400bhp engine it was awesome, trouble is i paid the thick of 25k for that and now the funds arent there for the same figure.

It would seem that many cars fall out of the dealer servicing sector after a few miles. I will definitely take your advice and go for history over age. I have seen a couple advertised which look clean and honest so i will have to see. I am going to see the boys at the TVR centre over the weekend and take a Cerbera out and see what the boss thinks. They tried to get me in a 4.5 light weight finished in reflex charcoal, unbelievably stunning but 25k!!!

i am interested that clutches are at 25-30 thousand miles, that isnt too bad for the nature of the car is it. Eventhough it would be a daily drive the most miles we do in a year now is 9000 miles and with many people now doing servicing (offord and sebring near me) they are more wallet friendly

Thanks again for the info

[fatjon]

There are private sale cars going for sub 20k that are like the day they came out of the factory, or better in many cases. Worth considering as you also get to see who owns it and an idea of how the treat it which is worth more than hour of salesmans patter.

[clive f]

if I was looking for a cerb I would give this one some serious consideration, http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1036867.htm

it belongs to broganville, a very active member on here, a very knowledgable chap too.

[sheldo]

hi m8, dropped the chim off at sebrings last weekend and had a very quick butchers at what was up for grabs. They had an early 4.2(96 p) reg in a red with nearly 30k. Only had a quick look but seemed to be in very good condition. Outside had a few very minor marks and inside from what i saw seemed very clean with an uprated jbl stereo system. In your price range im sure. Give mark a call and he will give you the low down on it.

good hunting

[HarryW]

clive f said:

if I was looking for a cerb I would give this one some serious consideration, http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1036867.htm

it belongs to broganville, a very active member on here, a very knowledgable chap too.

Blimey that is stonking good value for Cerb with so much work done, I bet the recent bills are considerably more than the asking price, criminal, but a good buy for someone.

[VPower]

HarryW said:

clive f said:

if I was looking for a cerb I would give this one some serious consideration, http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1036867.htm

it belongs to broganville, a very active member on here, a very knowledgable chap too.

Blimey that is stonking good value for Cerb with so much work done, I bet the recent bills are considerably more than the asking price, criminal, but a good buy for someone.

+1!!!!

[Dr K]

http://www.tvr-centre.co.uk/used-cars/view/150306

[reubsuch]

Hi

Thanks to everyone for replying and posting on my topic. The community of TVR owners is something i really miss. I used to go to the local meets in my hertfordshire area and i do miss having a fellow owner flash their lights or put their hand up when you see them.

I am hoping to take a speed six out this weekend and if my wife is confident driving one, fingers crossed

The thread people have sent me of the silver cerb looks absolutely stunning, it is a shame it is so far away to be honest. I have seen a black one in norfolk which has recently gone up for sale but i need confirmation of its history

Thanks again

[Obiwonkeyblokey]

having looked at the ad for that silver car and the money thats been spent on it, I think your work here is done!

[brogenville]

Many thanks for the comments guys. To be honest, I've never begrudged spending a single penny on the car, but it has got to the point where I'm actually afriad to go through the reciepts and add them all up- then again it might just make me decide to keep the car after all.

[Mr M]

Come service time, you can get the odd feeling of why am I spending so much money on something I use so occasionally, but when you look at it, get in it and drive it you realise why. Lots of receipts seems to be good advise. Mine had. Some quite horrific main dealer bills in those early days though.