I have been watching a couple of threads on here with interest. Firstly the rather worrying one on the suspension bushes and then those on the questions of what car next.

I always thought that the next car I purchased would be another S2000, but the bushes issue has put me right off. So the hunt for an alternative has started...

I have been looking at four year old 996's and have recently discovered that there is a rising trend of oil seal problems and engines going pop. Added to which Porsche want nothing to do with it.

So on looking elsewhere, I can't seem to find anything else apart from a TVR T350T. With the discount on offer on a spanking new one it becomes a decent proposition, strap on a 3yr factory warranty, which is included in price, then it becomes even more interesting.

So my question to those in the know is whether they are really as unreliable as everyone says and with the waranty, does that matter?

Or should I play it 'sensible' with the Porker?

Please help a very confussed soul, what would you do?

 

Which factory is this?

 

I wouldn't touch a new TVR now, not until the future of the company becomes clearer. A factory warranty's not much cop if the factory doesn't exist

 

The RMS issue on 996s apparently isn't as big an issue as some people would have you believe. If you're at all concerned about it, you could always take out the Porsche used car warranty (

 

i went down this route, possibly considering an older porsche, looked at a t350t and a VX220 turbo. I ruled out the porsche as too old and expensive to run, the TVR as lovely but too impractical and unreliable to drive every day, and in the end, the VXT was too small to get in and out of on a daily basis. so i bought another S2k.

I don't understand all the hystryonics about the bushes. yes it is a potential weakspot on the car, but i didn't have the alignment checked on my previous car so wasn't aware if my bushes had seized or not. If i had needed to get the alignment done, i 'may' have found the bushes were seized, and if so i would have had to pay a lot to get it fixed. But the car cost me virtually nothing to run for 2 years so even if i had had to have the wishbones replaced, then i suspect the overall cost to run the car for 2 years would be less than that to run a porsche or a TVR for the same period and mileage.

If you are worried about the bushes on your s2k, don't even consider a TVR!

 

Front suspension arm on a Griffith

 

[QUOTE=GSi,Apr 27 2006, 11:04 AM] Front suspension arm on a Griffith

 

TVR's always have niggles, whether they are 10 years old or brand new.

If that's going to bother you, buy a Porker.

 

Or a Skoda, I've heard they're cheap to run.

 

I understand the TVR will have niggles, and that doesn't bother me that much, it is more the expense of the bushes on the S2K to put right.

As long as the factory is there (or the dealership if I can agree with them that they will honour the warranty) then those niggles should be sorted free of charge, shouldn't they?

I don't drive everyday, so it is really a weekend tool, but I would only have one car.

Are TVR's really that bad to own?