34 replies to this topic

[denno]

A good friend of mine is selling his 03 plate t350 soon and has cheekily asked if id swap it for my vxt and give him £4k. Effectively he'd be giving me around £16k for mine as his is worth around £20k.It has 15k miles on the clock,looks the dogs nuts in black with 18" spiders,plus it has the targa roof. I have always loved these cars and very nearly went for it before deciding on the turbo last April.Now that he has scratched the tvr itch hes tempting me with this offer! Im aware of the reliabilty,running costs etc,etc so would just like to no based on this scenario how many of you would be brave enough to go for it in my position?!!My car is an 04'plate and has 17k miles on the clock,both cars are in excellent condition.Your views appreciated thanks.

Edited by denno, 01 August 2008 - 05:05 PM.

[theotherjonnymac]

Personally I would not go there. Whilst I would love one the reliability issues and upkeep costs would ruin ownership for me.

[LazyDonkey]

TT had one - best ask him the true horror of what it cost him

[A13X]

Id love to have one and prob will over the next few years. Id make sure id buy one with the fresh engine rebuild and definately made sure it has the extended tvr warranty

[pincher]

Yes & no is my answer to your question

Yes purely for the noise and the petrol cap - vid of a mates at Le Mans this year here

No for the fact that the exhaust came adrift just outside Rouen and the clutch packed up just outside Calais!!

Cracking cars but not sure I could live with the ever-lurking feeling of impending doom that could well be just around the corner - pretty much the reason I got a VX rather than a Griffith!

[VXJON]

Id love to have one and prob will over the next few years. Id make sure id buy one with the fresh engine rebuild and definately made sure it has the extended tvr warranty

I would love a t350 which for me is one of the best looking cars ever, but the horror stories of engine rebuilds and general build quality problems have put me off ever seriously considering buying one

[Tfp]

If you have a TVR itch then chances are you will own one eventually. If he is a good friend and you know the car is a good one with no bad previous history then better to buy that one rather than an unknown. Why does he want out? Has he suffered lots of repairs/bills? TVR build quality can vary from car to car, some are better than others, I had a 500 Griffith and that wasnt too bad, only two cars I have owned make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck when revving hard, the Griff and M5 Bmw. If you can afford the deal and have some cash left over to look after a TVR then maybe its time you took the plunge. Dont know what the T350 drives like? Does it have traction control? My old Griff was downright dangerous, it would spin up in the dry on full chat without any warning and leave nasty marks in ones underpants. They are beautiful to look at and give massive rewards in pride of ownership, be carefull where you leave it, scumbags do like to scratch them or throw cig buts at them.

[denno]

If you have a TVR itch then chances are you will own one eventually.

If he is a good friend and you know the car is a good one with no bad previous history then better to buy that one rather than an unknown.

Why does he want out? Has he suffered lots of repairs/bills?

TVR build quality can vary from car to car, some are better than others, I had a 500 Griffith and that wasnt too bad, only two cars I have owned make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck when revving hard, the Griff and M5 Bmw.

If you can afford the deal and have some cash left over to look after a TVR then maybe its time you took the plunge.

Dont know what the T350 drives like? Does it have traction control? My old Griff was downright dangerous, it would spin up in the dry on full chat without any warning and leave nasty marks in ones underpants.

They are beautiful to look at and give massive rewards in pride of ownership, be carefull where you leave it, scumbags do like to scratch them or throw cig buts at them.

To cut a long story short last year his mrs left him,they sold the house and he bought one with the cash he got from the house.

It was only ever going to be a 12month fix for him until he was ready to buy another place.Now hes scratched the itch he wants to release a few £'s but still wants something with rarity and performance and by his own admission there isnt the vast performance difference between the two that you would expect.

The vxt fits the bill for him due to being that much cheaper to maintain,i guess 90% of the thrills without having to sell your kidneys to maintain the thing!

The only major bill he has had is around £1k for a big service at David Gerald who said there were no signs of engine wear.Im fully aware that the later spec models are not as risky or a recent rebuilt engine for that matter,unfortunately this is neither a later spec engine or a rebuilt one.

He has admitted that although he hasnt had a big repair bill as of yet,the ownership of the car is somewhat tarnished by the constant worry of 'is this going to be the day it goes bang'.That coupled with the heavy fuel costs and new mrs wanting to buy a house soon has left him looking elsewhere.

The car is a bit of an animal where handling is concerned,even in the dry it can step out if you put the power down too early and no it hasnt got traction control!I can afford the plunge and have the backup for maintenance,however that doesnt necessary mean i want to blow all my hard earned cash on repair bills!Lol.

[TurboTomato]

It's ok, I'm here My T350 did cost me a small fortune, as Lazy says, but to be fair that was pretty much all down to depreciation (£32k to £23k in 9 months flat, plus paying the finance off early cost me another £1k). Prices seemed to have stabilised much more now, and T350s seem to depreciate rather slowly at the moment So there is no chance of you losing anywhere near as much as I did IMO. I think from looking at your posts you are already aware of the problems with the Speed Six engine and the relevance of a later car or one with a recent rebuild. Later cars should be good for around 30k before a rebuild - the good news is if you're not putting a lot of mileage on it it will take you some time to reach that, the bad news is that being an 03 plate it's not the very latest variant. Having said that, T350s have a vastly better reputation regarding rebuilds than early Tuscans (2000/2001). If I were you I'd get a decent warranty - from a TVR dealer if they are still doing them (about £1300 from what I remember), or from some other source. The question you need to ask yourself is can you afford to run it, and enjoy it? You'll average about 20mpg (less if you really push it). Insurance for me was £750. Servicing is every 6k and a basic one can be around £300-500, and every other one the valve clearances will need checking and adjusting so best to budget anything up to £1k. I read somewhere that because of lack of type approval, post March 2001 TVRs won't be subjected to the CO2 based road tax system, so you'd only be paying £200 a year (worth checking). If you don't get a comprehensive warranty then you'll need a slush fund of around £5k just in case the worst does happen. If you're ok with that then I'd go for it - the good thing is, being a friend's car you know how he's treated it and the fact that it seems to be a good, reliable one. Let's just say this - I'd have another, and it would be the Targa - my first one made such a gorgeous noise that I drove everywhere with the windows open, and I'd have loved to be able to open the roof up.

[Beety]

I sold my vx220 turbo and bought a t350c and never looked back Yes the engine could go bang, so what when the fun factor is massive! Mines done 30k and going strong and its used every day. Insurance was only £400 and you get cheap tax. They do eat fuel and bits do fall off, but everyone loves a tvr Do it and own one of the most exciting cars out there Just start an engine fund so you can afford the 4.0 red rose engine!!!

[justin182]

I recently went from a VXT to Exige, then to a T350.. This was a write up i done for the lotus boys if its any use

Thought i would write up a quick review as I am sure there are people on here who have at least considered the change to a TVR. Anyways, I decided to trade my NA 06 Exige in for a T350 and have had it three weeks now.

Reasons for the change were, the exige just wasnt getting used as it should (track) and was sitting on A roads all the time, plus the small boot was becoming a pain.. So decided I wanted something comfier, bigger boot, and just as rare.. Quick surf around and thought about a T350! Push came to shove and decided to go for it.. I made sure i bought a fully comp warranty with it aswell just incase

Anyways.. As for the car itself, I think i prefer the looks of the exige, but the TVR seems to grab a HUGE amount of attention, quite un nerving at times tbh.. The boot is massive in comparison! And is also much comfier..

When i first drove it away, I was still on the honeymoon period, I loved it! The power is massive! there is torque everywhere, and the noise is immense! I really cant get over just how loud this car is! Yet cruising on the motorway its just a small rumble.. The one thing that really got to me was the handling, being used to the exige, it feels a bit 'wallowy'.. Bit too much body roll for my liking.

The interior is a really nice place to be, adjustable seats and wheel, meaning it quite easy to find a decent driving position.. The pedals are bottom hinged which takes a bit of getting used to, as does the massive pedal travel! In traffic the clutch can be hard work, and it gets very hot inside the cabin, which i believe is due to the transmission tunnel.. but the leccy windows are a nice touch! So not too much of a problem The car feels bigger than the lotus, but it also feels safer for some reason!?

Running costs - insurance was a few hundred more, and the petrol is probably about the same, unless around town where i think the exige was a good bit better, but on a run, the TVR can see about 30mpg

All in all, I'm pretty happy, i know one day i will go back for an orange exige S, once i dont need a boot etc.. But for now i'm happy I think its something people at least have to try once in their lives

Comments etc welcome

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I have been keeping a close track on the costs of the TVR so far, and its in for a service this week.. So can easy update this thread next week etc if you want

[Yellow_or_black?]

Aesthetically, externally that's one of the few TVRs that doesn't make me drool (sorry; although I'm sure you couldn't care less!) - but that interior is something else: just sex on a stick <dribble> That gorgeous minimalism, those smooth leather-clad curves - slurpy Wish the VX interior looked like that...

[jazzyjeff]

I have been keeping a close track on the costs of the TVR so far, and its in for a service this week.. So can easy update this thread next week etc if you want

Cool, that would be great...always been a fan of these but been too scared so far to seriously consider one - especially at 12/14,000 miles pa... Yours is a bit 'black' for me (one of the great things I like about TVRs are their adventurous interior colour combinations and 'spectraflair' exteriors

JJ

[MaDFreeBiRD]

Not like this helps but all im going to say is Cerbera 4.5 yes please.

[Rosso Rebel]

I'm impressed that you're getting 30 mpg on a run - almost economical!! I don't think that there are many cars that can match the whole theatre of owning / driving a TVR - the fantastic burbles coming from the exhaust, the awesome torquey grunt, the beautiful lines and interior, and the thought that should always be in the back of your mind that if you push it, just that tiny tiny bit too much it's going to turn round and bit you on the arse!! It will never have the handling of the Exige / VX, but can be improved with nitrons and geo set up, etc..... Enjoy your beautiful car, if we ever upgrade ours its a close call between a T350 and a Saggy.....

[Claymoor]

I have to say keep the VX. Look at ebay and see what the realy sel for not the asking price. Also look at the adverts listing all the bits that have been replaced or recently mended. I was amased at how cheep some of theas go for.

[VXT Tim]

Thought that was yours Mikey. Why did it burn a hole, i thought you had the gold, all singing all dancing warranty?

[jonhanson]

excellent thread guys! some really good info there and honest feedback which is rare! I am sort of toying with the idea of changing the VXt for a T350t, but am also worried aboout cost etc,dont want it to eat all the money I have!! I just wander if a new exhaust on the VX would help with the sound and the desire for the gorgeous TVR! Jon

[salopian]

I am sort of toying with the idea of changing the VXt for a T350t, but am also worried aboout cost etc,dont want it to eat all the money I have!! I just wander if a new exhaust on the VX would help with the sound and the desire for the gorgeous TVR! A new exhaust will sound great, right up to the time you hear a TVR next. Difficult decision & you can't say that about many other cars.