34 replies to this topic

[TurboTomato]

I just wander if a new exhaust on the VX would help with the sound and the desire for the gorgeous TVR!

Not a chance - there is no way you ever make any 4 cylinder VX sound as nice as a Speed Six engined TVR.

[denno]

Thanks for all the opinions guys,have decided not to go for the swap and keep the vx for the time being.I might as well save the pennies and buy a ferrari 360 in a year or two!There as low as £40k now and running costs similar to a tvr!Without the rebuild worries!

[Tfp]

Thanks for all the opinions guys,have decided not to go for the swap and keep the vx for the time being.I might as well save the pennies and buy a ferrari 360 in a year or two!There as low as £40k now and running costs similar to a tvr!Without the rebuild worries!

Went down the route of looking for a 355/360 recently, was scared off by some of the repair costs I saw and the amount of body repainting/repairs they had had. Many had started lives as prestige one day hire cars (can you imagine what a thrashing they get)

In the end failed to find a nice genuine one for my budget, most had had 4 or more owners, and some had been downright money pits to their owners.

Then theres the worry about leaving it anywhere, yes as with all prestige cars, but Ferraris do seem to attract vandalism in a big way.

I do still have the urge to own one and still keep looking but not sure will find a good one in my price range.

What about Nobles? Anyone any real experience?

[SteveA]

For 40K you could get one of these

http://www.pistonhea...ales/611167.htm

or one of these

http://www.pistonhea...ales/595290.htm

both are more understated than a 360, no real reliability issues and would whip it in a fight anyway.

[denno]

For 40K you could get one of these

http://www.pistonhea...ales/611167.htm

or one of these

http://www.pistonhea...ales/595290.htm

both are more understated than a 360, no real reliability issues and would whip it in a fight anyway.

Yes 911 turbo has crossed my mind,some are as low as £32k now but the thought of a ferrari being not too far out of reach is somewhat tempting.Obviously running costs are going to be high on any of these types of cars but how many opportunities come along to actually own one?Just a thought really because if one could consider owning a tvr with the running costs they incurr then why not a porshe or ferrari.Food for thought for the future i think.Dont like going down the finance route tbh but could be an option if i didnt want to save for another 12-18 months.

[Toady]

Thanks for all the opinions guys,have decided not to go for the swap and keep the vx for the time being.I might as well save the pennies and buy a ferrari 360 in a year or two!There as low as £40k now and running costs similar to a tvr!Without the rebuild worries!

not a chance mate!!! the ferrari would cost SO much more than a tvr to service and repair!

If it were me and I had the cash then I would go for it! I used to own a cerbera 4.2 and REALLY loved the car! Ive hankered after a T350t for the last couple of years but not got one yet. Im pretty sure it 'will' be the next car I own, but right now the vxt is fullfilling all my needs! (in the car department I must add!) Sorry guys but the vx will never be as good as a tvr in my eyes! Yes its cheaper to run, but if your worried about that then you wont buy a TVR anyway! lol!

Oh and the engine rebuild hype really isnt as bad as its made out to be if you ask me! After 03 the sp6 lump became a lot more reliable. The older 4ltrs found in the cerbs and tuscans had probs with the top ends, but the 3.6's are much better, and the later ones are the better. Obviously if you can get one with a 4ltr RR rebuild then your laughing!

Edited by Toady, 17 August 2008 - 09:52 PM.

[TurboTomato]

Thanks for all the opinions guys,have decided not to go for the swap and keep the vx for the time being.I might as well save the pennies and buy a ferrari 360 in a year or two!There as low as £40k now and running costs similar to a tvr!Without the rebuild worries!

not a chance mate!!! the ferrari would cost SO much more than a tvr to service and repair!

Yep I would have to agree with that - a Ferrari may cost about the same as a TVR to run if all goes well but the potential for massively larger bills is there as well. The worst you'll get with a TVR is a rebuild, and that will cost about £5k. That's small change in Ferrari terms - major components like gearboxes and engines are another league compared to TVR. There's no way I'd consider trying to run a Ferrari on a TVR budget.

[Toady]

or another car that i'd like to have would be a noble m12 3ltr.

[MaDFreeBiRD]

or another car that i'd like to have would be a noble m12 3ltr.

The m400 would be my weapon of choice

[denno]

Thanks for all the opinions guys,have decided not to go for the swap and keep the vx for the time being.I might as well save the pennies and buy a ferrari 360 in a year or two!There as low as £40k now and running costs similar to a tvr!Without the rebuild worries!

not a chance mate!!! the ferrari would cost SO much more than a tvr to service and repair!

Yep I would have to agree with that - a Ferrari may cost about the same as a TVR to run if all goes well but the potential for massively larger bills is there as well. The worst you'll get with a TVR is a rebuild, and that will cost about £5k. That's small change in Ferrari terms - major components like gearboxes and engines are another league compared to TVR. There's no way I'd consider trying to run a Ferrari on a TVR budget.

I was talking in terms of servicing,clutch replacement,tyres,these are no more than you would spend on a tvr.A major service including belts is £1k,my mate spent that on his last tvr service.You will find a clutch costs under £1k also,doesnt a vx cost about that anyway?£800 for a set of tyres,these are figures ive researched from actual owners before anyone tells me otherwise.Agreed if the gear box or engine went bang then there would be serious trouble!But from what i can gather the 360 is alot more reliable than ferrari's of old and certainly not many cases of engine rebuilds if any at all from the threads i have read,as long as they have been correctly serviced of course.Read a tvr forum about the speed six engine and you will find something on engine rebuilds on every other page.

[TurboTomato]

Thanks for all the opinions guys,have decided not to go for the swap and keep the vx for the time being.I might as well save the pennies and buy a ferrari 360 in a year or two!There as low as £40k now and running costs similar to a tvr!Without the rebuild worries!

not a chance mate!!! the ferrari would cost SO much more than a tvr to service and repair!

Yep I would have to agree with that - a Ferrari may cost about the same as a TVR to run if all goes well but the potential for massively larger bills is there as well. The worst you'll get with a TVR is a rebuild, and that will cost about £5k. That's small change in Ferrari terms - major components like gearboxes and engines are another league compared to TVR. There's no way I'd consider trying to run a Ferrari on a TVR budget.

I was talking in terms of servicing,clutch replacement,tyres,these are no more than you would spend on a tvr.A major service including belts is £1k,my mate spent that on his last tvr service.You will find a clutch costs under £1k also,doesnt a vx cost about that anyway?£800 for a set of tyres,these are figures ive researched from actual owners before anyone tells me otherwise.Agreed if the gear box or engine went bang then there would be serious trouble!But from what i can gather the 360 is alot more reliable than ferrari's of old and certainly not many cases of engine rebuilds if any at all from the threads i have read,as long as they have been correctly serviced of course.Read a tvr forum about the speed six engine and you will find something on engine rebuilds on every other page.

I'm going on what a guy on SELOC called Brian Drought said of his F355 Spider ownership. Looks like you've done more research but I still stand by what I say!

[denno]

Thanks for all the opinions guys,have decided not to go for the swap and keep the vx for the time being.I might as well save the pennies and buy a ferrari 360 in a year or two!There as low as £40k now and running costs similar to a tvr!Without the rebuild worries!

not a chance mate!!! the ferrari would cost SO much more than a tvr to service and repair!

Yep I would have to agree with that - a Ferrari may cost about the same as a TVR to run if all goes well but the potential for massively larger bills is there as well. The worst you'll get with a TVR is a rebuild, and that will cost about £5k. That's small change in Ferrari terms - major components like gearboxes and engines are another league compared to TVR. There's no way I'd consider trying to run a Ferrari on a TVR budget.

I was talking in terms of servicing,clutch replacement,tyres,these are no more than you would spend on a tvr.A major service including belts is £1k,my mate spent that on his last tvr service.You will find a clutch costs under £1k also,doesnt a vx cost about that anyway?£800 for a set of tyres,these are figures ive researched from actual owners before anyone tells me otherwise.Agreed if the gear box or engine went bang then there would be serious trouble!But from what i can gather the 360 is alot more reliable than ferrari's of old and certainly not many cases of engine rebuilds if any at all from the threads i have read,as long as they have been correctly serviced of course.Read a tvr forum about the speed six engine and you will find something on engine rebuilds on every other page.

I'm going on what a guy on SELOC called Brian Drought said of his F355 Spider ownership. Looks like you've done more research but I still stand by what I say!

Yes tt think the f355 is dearer to run.The figures for yearly average running costs of a 360 were £3k a year.Dont no if that is overly expensive considering its a ferrari,what would you say the average running cost of a speed 6 tvr would be over a year?(without a rebuild).I would have thought it wouldnt be far off that figure.Probably imagine other parts on a 360 would be more expensive though so i guess it could esculate well over £3k a year if you were unlucky.

[TurboTomato]

what would you say the average running cost of a speed 6 tvr would be over a year?(without a rebuild)

Depends on mileage and if you include insurance in that figure.

[Tfp]

One of the Ferraris I viewed was a 360 Modena with the F1 gearbox, was 2 and a half years old done 13,000 miles. It had just been in for its sevice, had new clutchplates that they wouldn't cover under warranty, and various other little bits. Total of the bill was £8000 Also saw some bad bubbling of rust in the drivers door shut that he said would be sorted under warranty. After seeing some bills like that on a car thats not too old and low mileage I got cold feet.

[denno]

One of the Ferraris I viewed was a 360 Modena with the F1 gearbox, was 2 and a half years old done 13,000 miles.

It had just been in for its sevice, had new clutchplates that they wouldn't cover under warranty, and various other little bits.

Total of the bill was £8000

Also saw some bad bubbling of rust in the drivers door shut that he said would be sorted under warranty.

After seeing some bills like that on a car thats not too old and low mileage I got cold feet.

Could see why you would get cold feet seeing that kind of of bill!Aparently the manual box is the one to go for though.

Im pretty sensible myself so if there was enough evidence that the majority of these cars were costing that kind of money to run then i would certainly run the other way.

Like i said in an earlier post 360 owners tend to agree that your average yearly bill would be £3k which i could swallow.However there obviously could be a chance that that bill could turn into an astronomical figure if you were to pick a duff car!

I tend to chance things by percentages and would certainly delve more deeply into other peoples ownerships and experiences before taking such a gamble.

Like i say this would be something i would consider a year or two down the line so who knows what could happen between now and then,which accordingly to owners are estimating these cars will be in the £30k's!I would imagine a ferrari for that kind of price would be depreciation proof.In the meantime i will do the research and keep an open mind.