Running a second car

onomatopoeia said:
Add "AA membership" to your list if considering either of those, particularly the latter! Badly made kit cars from Blackpool. Fast? Very. Reliable? No.
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Lol. Have you owned one or just going from top gear comments?

Mines been the most reliable car I've ever owned. We regularly have annual meets with 650 to 800 cars attend without any breaking down. The thing is, nearly all are owned by enthusiasts who look after them.

Badly made? To what do you attribute those comments? I've bespoke hand made interior, aluminium switch gear, still looking good 17 years after it was made.

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A friend of mine bought a Sagaris earlier this year and has had the interior re trimmed in RAF colours. Looks and sounds amazing and he is well chuffed with it.
 
Byker28i said:
Lol. Have you owned one or just going from top gear comments?
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I'm going from what I've been told or shown by people I know (real life people that live in and around the same city as me, rather than people I know on the Internet) that own or have owned them, as second cars and/or for motorsport use.

When people start talking about re-engineering mountings for important components (e.g. handbrake or pedals) as the original is failing in a car that was only a few years old at the time, something has been either badly designed or badly built. Phrases like "it pulled straight through the body" were being bandied about on one occasion :eek:. It was the owner of a Griffith 500 that I've known for over 20 years who said to me "It's like a badly built kit car", it wasn't me that invented the phrase.

Everyone I know that owns or has owned one (perhaps a dozen or so people in total) has said something that amounted to "you have to treat it like a classic car rather than a modern, even from new, so constant attention is needed. They aren't reliable like moderns." Obviously none are new now, but this was talking about the Tuscan / Cerb / Griffith going back to when they were still in production.
 
Loved the MX-5 that Jon (Yves Geza) unloaded onto Mrs Nod and it was pretty much trouble free other than the (?) camshaft position sensor crapping out on the way to look at its replacement! The airbag warning light came on intermittently but we had it before that was an MOT failure, although the dealer it went to had it for a long time - wonder if they had problems tracking the fault down?! The hood catches wore out too and have to be bought as a unit - not cheap but a very quick and easy job to do. The hood is so quick and easy to erect/detumesce - far quicker than the electric one on the replacement. Personally think the Mk 2/2 1/2 is the best looking of the bunch but that's a matter of taste. Mk 1s seem to be rotting out by now.
 
onomatopoeia said:
Oh dear, does that mean old French hatchbacks are likely to be going up in price soon? (e.g. Pug 205 1.9GTi)
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They've already rather gone! As have 1980s Golfs and any other old porridge that's escaped the stancing chavs!

Byker28i said:
Mgbs are reasonable cheap to fix, good club and are a good example of old, small British sports cars, but aren't really sporty.

Any Tvr electrical issues are usually down to dirty connectors, which affects any old vehicle. TVR cerbera the park switch on the wiper motor wears out every 10-15 years, a pain to change but cheap. A few have reported burnt pins on the door/window control box, but that's easily fixed, and there's a company that repair the boxes if needed.
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Any TVR issues are down to the idiot owners who insist on making the same mistake again and again! Like Lotus ownership, everything is more or less fine ... just so long as you resist the temptation to turn that key in the ignition!! :banghead: :p

The great thing about an MGB is that parts are all easily and [ridiculously] cheaply available, so you can actually keep one running! And you can do much of the maintenence yourself; all of it if you learn how to reweld rusting metal! They're also quite cheap to buy and the image of a classic sports car, even though they weren't very sporty, even back in the day when I drove one on holiday to Malaga! Actually it was at its best that holiday, driving through the Spanish night with the roof down, smelling the olive and orange groves and listening to the exhaust note burble away in overdrive top!

However, having said that the Morris Oxford roadster is not sporty, it is a nice connection with old-fashioned driving with direct steering and narrowish tyres that send you two e-mails and a text that they're about to lose grip! It's the same reason I run a Mini - a car I hated back in the day but which, like the MGB, was designed almost exactly half way back in the whole history of motoring and reflects those old times!
 
So you know one person with a Griffith who've had problems? So now your talking to an active Cerbera owner of 10 years. The Griffith and Chimera were the most sucessful cars built by TVR, lots sold. Apart from cars written off, nearly all are still on the road which wouldn't happen if they were as badly built as you suggest. Never heard of any mountings pulling straight through a body.

Obviously TVR reliability stories came about with the some of the straight 6 engines failing in the last cars and that's a hotly disputed topic between designer and TVR. designer claimed TVR made changes for cost reasons, TVR claimed poor design on parts.

However most of these issues are now resolved - there are companies offering 5 year warrenties on these engines after rebuild. Rover v8 engines on the older cars are bullet proof and produce incredible power levels, or the Cerbera has the AJP8, lightest engine per bhp per litre.


And since this is a photo forum... :D

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Sorry annoys me when people spout off the same old stories without foundation
 
Yves Geza said:
Any TVR issues are down to the idiot owners who insist on making the same mistake again and again! Like Lotus ownership, everything is more or less fine ... just so long as you resist the temptation to turn that key in the ignition!! :banghead: :p
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trouble is - once they hit that price point (around £5-8K for Chimeras - a lot less for wedges) you get a lot of performance for the money and so people buy them for the performance without thinking about running costs and won't pay or do any of the tasks.


Yves Geza said:
The great thing about an MGB is that parts are all easily and [ridiculously] cheaply available, so you can actually keep one running! And you can do much of the maintenence yourself; all of it if you learn how to reweld rusting metal! They're also quite cheap to buy and the image of a classic sports car, even though they weren't very sporty, even back in the day when I drove one on holiday to Malaga! Actually it was at its best that holiday, driving through the Spanish night with the roof down, smelling the olive and orange groves and listening to the exhaust note burble away in overdrive top!

However, having said that the Morris Oxford roadster is not sporty, it is a nice connection with old-fashioned driving with direct steering and narrowish tyres that send you two e-mails and a text that they're about to lose grip! It's the same reason I run a Mini - a car I hated back in the day but which, like the MGB, was designed almost exactly half way back in the whole history of motoring and reflects those old times!
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I used to race old mini's, had a mini van with home made subframes (car was 1/3rd lighter) tuned 1330 engine...
Drove an old mini again last year as someone I knew bought one. Hated it, felt to small on the current roads, it hated poorly maintained roads, power felt ok, liked the delivery opposed to todays eco bland things. Decided I should never go back to cars of my youth...
 
Byker28i said:
Drove an old mini again last year as someone I knew bought one. Hated it, felt to small on the current roads, it hated poorly maintained roads, power felt ok, liked the delivery opposed to todays eco bland things. Decided I should never go back to cars of my youth...
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I certainly don't revere Minis as the greatest ever. They were never brilliantly manufactured and have lots of faults and your mate's car probably needs new rubber suspension cones - they do every few years! When I was young I didn't like Minis even though I rallied one but modern traffic has played into their hands and you've triggered one of my biggest bugbears!

A smaller car means you can position it to take the best line on the road! It needs less space for overtaking and it's just king in in any sort of urban traffic! ALL modern eco bland things are unneccessarily bloated! BTW, ever seen how tiny a Lotus Elan was compared to even a Mazda MX5?

Anyway I'm surprised you commented. You're a TVR owner! I assumed that means you're a man who's gone through life trying to explain that small is OK! :p
 
when I was single I used to have a 1971 MGB and a 1973 Triumph Dolomite as well as my everyday car - they all lived outside on the drive and got used about once a month. One time I hadn't touched the dolly for 4 months but none of the other cars would start but the dolly did - first time - and it was freezing with snow everywhere. cost me £150 that car did and I loved it. I don't even have one car now (have to share with my hubby lol)

but I recommend the trickle charger, a fuel filter (if not fitted) and turn the engine over frequently. Depending on the car it may be better to leave the car in first and leave the handbrake off - even better keep it on axle stands! If you get an old classic remember to grease all the nipples (the MG had 13) and if not garaged get a good quality cover which is 'breathable'. Don't leave the fuel tank full and remember petrol can go off. (you can buy fuel preservers). some car enthusiasts recommend draining the coolant, but if you take the car out once a month (and you should) then I don't think you need to do this.
 
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Byker28i said:
Badly made? To what do you attribute those comments? I've bespoke hand made interior, aluminium switch gear, still looking good 17 years after it was made
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The interiors are gorgeous, so much character.
 
Yves Geza said:
I certainly don't revere Minis as the greatest ever. They were never brilliantly manufactured and have lots of faults and your mate's car probably needs new rubber suspension cones - they do every few years! When I was young I didn't like Minis even though I rallied one but modern traffic has played into their hands and you've triggered one of my biggest bugbears!

A smaller car means you can position it to take the best line on the road! It needs less space for overtaking and it's just king in in any sort of urban traffic! ALL modern eco bland things are unneccessarily bloated! BTW, ever seen how tiny a Lotus Elan was compared to even a Mazda MX5?

Anyway I'm surprised you commented. You're a TVR owner! I assumed that means you're a man who's gone through life trying to explain that small is OK! :p
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I love minis, had lots, used to race them, have a real soft spot for them.. Should never have gone back and driven one again...

Anyone fancy seeing TVRs then Neil Garner performance engineering has an open day tomorrow at Kemble, near Cirencester. Lots of exotic sports cars as well.
 
Nice choice like those, but look at the price, I could think of a lot for that price.
Edit, there's a nice triumph gt6 on autotrader at Bicester, for £10,600
TVRs of course :)
Aston Martin db7's can be had for under £20k
Alfa Romeo 1750 GT
Alfa spider
 
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Nice cars, GT6 / TR6 and the rest, but not at those prices!
I remember when they had "banger status" ;)
 
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Yves Geza said:
A smaller car means you can position it to take the best line on the road! It needs less space for overtaking and it's just king in in any sort of urban traffic!
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Meh, with an X5 or Tuareg you get the space freed up voluntarily by the mini and micra drivers :p It's a shame we don't get Dodge RAM or the big Fords...
 
Surprised no one has mentioned Mercedes 190e w201 and E320 w124. Both very reliable well built over engineered German classics.
 
KIPAX said:
One trap I fell into for a few years because none of the insurances companies bothered to tell me :( was.... you can't use your no claims bonus on two cars... one only.. I found out by accident.. the insurance companies must have known and stored the info in case I made a claim i bet :(
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Yeah, why would you be able to use it on 2 cars? I mean you've had no claims for 12 years so it makes perfect sense, when you get another insurance policy that they act like you've never driven before!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
A lot of companies will*match* no claims on a second car though. Also classic policies (eg for a mk1 mx5 which I would highly recommend) are v cheap and you don't have no claims on them, usually)
 
I've had a second (well third actually if you count the wife's car) vehicle on and off (weekend toy) for as far back as I can remember - 2x classic minis, 3x mk1 mx5's, a selection of motorbikes, a range rover classic to name a few.

I've built up a second set of NCD with some policies, or they have mirrored/taken into account my NCD on the main car for the weekend toy which has reduced the premium down to peanuts.

The biggest issue for me, and not something I've seen mentioned so far, was the shuffling around of cars on my driveway every time I wanted to use one.

The driveway is long enough for about 5 cars, but is narrow so any more than 2 vehicles (remember the wife also has a car) meant that I had to shuffle them around continually.

So, if the MX5 was in the garage, I'd have to move the car in front of the garage into the road, get the MX5 out onto the road, then put the daily driver back onto the driveway.

Then I'd need to repeat to put the toy away.

It always seemed that the car I wanted/needed to drive was always blocked in by something.

Not a major issue, and to some it probably wouldn't cause any problems, but it used to annoy me intently.

Since June of this year I've not had a toy and am driving a Golf GTD which I hoped would satisfy daily driver duties and be fun/fast/a bit sporty etc. - it is for the most part, but now I've got an itch for a classic beetle or early land rover so will probably be doing driveway shuffling again soon!

Worth thinking about....
 
Byker28i said:
Badly made? To what do you attribute those comments? I've bespoke hand made interior, aluminium switch gear, still looking good 17 years after it was made.

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A few of my BMW nut friends have TVR's and they swear by them. I've heard about more common and serious issues with the more modern cars than TVR's. I could sit here all day and go on about major flaws with big named modern cars and each different engine.

I've owned two cars for a while now on different policies but with the same company. They gave me a bit of a discount with the second car but I think they just said that to keep me "sweet".

My 330D bmw is my daily driver, but I have an old E34 M5 that I'm currently restoring and I've only just declared it off the road for the winter. I've got a lot to do on it yet and it's getting a full overhaul, including the engine which I'll be rebuilding with all forged parts and a turbo the size of my head:D. I was using it this year for drifting but after all the work I'm doing it will just be a weekend toy for a bit of fun. I'm looking to get another BMW purely for the track (Driftland, my second home:rolleyes:) but it will end up being a proper shed by the end of next year, probably even within a few sessions. the closer you get to the walls and other cars the better(y) I better order my job lot of cable ties...
 
CaveDweller said:
A few of my BMW nut friends have TVR's and they swear by them. I've heard about more common and serious issues with the more modern cars than TVR's.
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All this crap about TVRs is just nonsense perpetuated by Top Gear. The same sort of crap as all American cars have crap interiors and don't handle. Just nonsense. I remember seeing Clarkson review the F100 pick up, and found fault with the poor dash fitting and gaps, but failed to mention that it had been converted to right hand drive... badly. An unmolested F100 has a very well made interior with none of the gaps or problems he talks about. Take any car, give it to a backstreet chop shop who proceed to cut the dash into pieces to switch it to RHD and you're bound to compromise the fit and finish.

Stop believing everything you see on TV. THINK!... it's not illegal... yet.
 
Pookeyhead said:
All this crap about TVRs is just nonsense perpetuated by Top Gear. The same sort of crap as all American cars have crap interiors and don't handle. Just nonsense. I remember seeing Clarkson review the F100 pick up, and found fault with the poor dash fitting and gaps, but failed to mention that it had been converted to right hand drive... badly. An unmolested F100 has a very well made interior with none of the gaps or problems he talks about. Take any car, give it to a backstreet chop shop who proceed to cut the dash into pieces to switch it to RHD and you're bound to compromise the fit and finish.

Stop believing everything you see on TV. THINK!... it's not illegal... yet.
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Top gear is an entertainment show and not so much consumer advice... as you say THINK. However there must be some good reasons why TVR went bust. McLaren still soldiers on... Don't get me wrong, TVRs look great and I'd have one parked in my shed if I was loaded, but it is not a daily driver, nor a reliable weekend adventure driver.
 
Pookeyhead said:
All this crap about TVRs is just nonsense perpetuated by Top Gear. The same sort of crap as all American cars have crap interiors and don't handle. Just nonsense. I remember seeing Clarkson review the F100 pick up, and found fault with the poor dash fitting and gaps, but failed to mention that it had been converted to right hand drive... badly. An unmolested F100 has a very well made interior with none of the gaps or problems he talks about. Take any car, give it to a backstreet chop shop who proceed to cut the dash into pieces to switch it to RHD and you're bound to compromise the fit and finish.

Stop believing everything you see on TV. THINK!... it's not illegal... yet.
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I don't listen to Top Gear, that was my point ;) I know many owners who have had no more than common wear and tear items to replace. I'd quite happily own a TVR with their workmanship, they're just not my cup of tea.
 
daugirdas said:
Top gear is an entertainment show and not so much consumer advice... as you say THINK. However there must be some good reasons why TVR went bust.
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Yeah.. it was taken over by a Russian boy with no business sense who put up a sign outside the factory saying "TVR - Orgasmic Living". I rest my case.
 
daugirdas said:
Top gear is an entertainment show and not so much consumer advice... as you say THINK. However there must be some good reasons why TVR went bust. McLaren still soldiers on... Don't get me wrong, TVRs look great and I'd have one parked in my shed if I was loaded, but it is not a daily driver, nor a reliable weekend adventure driver.
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Wel I'll be dipped in diesel! I agree with something daugirdas has posted about cars! (y)

Dear old Peter Wheeler replaced the old Rover/Buick V8s [which they probably couldn't purchase any more] with productionised versions of Al Melling's rather special racing engines. They could sell the cars no trouble. They sounded lovely and went like stink! ... It was the warranty claims that destroyed them!
 
daugirdas said:
Top gear is an entertainment show and not so much consumer advice... as you say THINK. However there must be some good reasons why TVR went bust. McLaren still soldiers on... Don't get me wrong, TVRs look great and I'd have one parked in my shed if I was loaded, but it is not a daily driver, nor a reliable weekend adventure driver.
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Which is why when they wanted a drivers car to teach Captain slow to drive fast with Jackie Stewart they chose a TVR.

We've just had an event at the weekend with over 300 TVR attend, not one broke down on the way there or back, despite travellin long distances...

Pookeyhead said:
Yeah.. it was taken over by a Russian boy with no business sense who put up a sign outside the factory saying "TVR - Orgasmic Living". I rest my case.
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Long story of young russian owner with too much money and no business sense, partly being taken by the previous owner

Les Edgar, the new owner popped into the event on Saturday - very interesting...
 
Yves Geza said:
Wel I'll be dipped in diesel! I agree with something daugirdas has posted about cars! (y)

Dear old Peter Wheeler replaced the old Rover/Buick V8s [which they probably couldn't purchase any more] with productionised versions of Al Melling's rather special racing engines. They could sell the cars no trouble. They sounded lovely and went like stink! ... It was the warranty claims that destroyed them!
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Engines were available just long in the tooth. No-one wants a new car with an old engine, plus the idea of the speed6 and AJP 8 was to raise a further revenue stream by TVR being an engine supplier for others.

AJP8 is very reliable, Speed 6 less so. Long story short, both sides blamed each other, probably with truth on both sides. TVR said the design was flawed, Melling said TVR had changed crucial components for cheaper versions.

There are a few companies now rebuild these - some with amazing power outputs. 460bhp and the same torque figures from a 4.7 AJP, one is even over 500bhp.
Speed 6 engines now delivering reliable 350-360 bhp, with some specialised versions pushing 420bhp. Some Companies now provide long warranties on their work.
 
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