TVR Sagaris

[AJ.]

Does anyone have any experience with the TVR Sagaris, and what are peoples thoughts on dropping £40k on a car, when the manufacturer is in a state of limbo as TVR currently is.

This is the colour I'm looking at, it's Orancio Pearl (Lambo Orange)

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/617/sagaris1aa6.jpg

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/1493/1758923sc2.jpg

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/3221/1758921yj9.jpg

[benny boy]

Do look very nice its not one of my choices of cars though. Due to the state of affairs with TVR I would stay away for the time being. :)

[mr sideways]

As Benny said! and the build quality isnt that great! It looks a bit plastic to me,I would stick to german if it was my 40k

[Raja_SMGII]

40k? Be sensible, AJ :)

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/204614.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/images/204614-1.jpg

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/images/204614-2.jpg

[AJ.]

Yea I've gone off the RS4, really don't want 4 doors.

The Sagaris is stupidly quick, and handles very well, want something fun that you don't see everywhere.

I'm aware of build issues, but they seemed to have sorted that out towards the end of the Sagaris' production.

[noodler]

My partner bought an 06 and it was a great car. It had a few build issues the main being the doors wouldn't unlock. Being a biggish guy he had to pay a small paser by to climb in through the boot to open from the inside.

Went like a rocket though and handling was superb. i would say without the warranty it can get expensive, he did just over 5k in 1 year including servicing.

[Chaos]

Now that is good info. ;)

There's one a couple doors down who pisses the entire estate off at 7.30 on the odd day that he goes to work in it. Sounds gorgeous but you'd want the warranty as Noodler says, and plenty of MG owners found out the hard way what happens when things don't go well at HQ.. And they spent a fraction of what you're looking at. Would put me off dude, really would.

[mikem]

I was behind a Tamora ? (the hard top one, looks like the Sagaris but not as mean and a lot cheaper) back in Feb and it sounded outrageous, there was an oldish couple in it and I was almost out of control in the E90 trying to follow it round some bends near the lake district :D

Wouldn`t spend 40K on a Sagaris `tho.

[SpeedTrap]

The Sagaris was made for pure racing in mind (probably endurance) and is certainly better cars all round than some of their earlier creations. Being a true British Bulldog I am sure it will be taken over by another company or person with money to burn and re-develop it into something great. Its just that this pr£"$" Smolensky do not even have any future development/product...but I guess if you want to spend £40K, you might as well spread your wealth around here:)

[Mitch]

To me it seems like one of those moments where you should follow your heart and not your head for once. I would personally go for it and just enjoy it. Think of that grin on your way home!!!

[Mitch]

To me it seems like one of those moments where you should follow your heart and not your head for once. I would personally go for it and just enjoy it. Think of that grin on your way home!!!

[MistaSmiff]

AJ, thought you were getting a Porsche ??? :confused:

£40K on a TVR :eek: ...

If you can squeeeeeeeze another 9K then you could pick up a Ferrari 360 Modena £49K, there are now plenty just under the £50K price tag, plenty on the autotrader website.

[Stock323iSaloon]

not sure what model they are but i like the ones with side exit exhausts. TVRs have a poor reputation for reliability but i think they all look superb and go like a stink

[Gary]

Love the colour, if you're going to get a car like this then it should be an outrageous colour!
For that sort of money though I'd rather get a Noble M12GTO with not many miles on the clock if i wanted this sort of car.

[Juber]

Sagaris is such a nice car, an absolute beast and would turn heads every where. Its the history & reliability of them which is the concern for me. Would you use it as an every day car?

[sjj84]

Mate if you've got the money burning a hole, give in to temptation, buy it buy it buy it. Absolutely stunning cars and they sound amazing. Sure you can pick one up for less than £40k aswell.

[Juber]

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/213861.htm

[popsy360]

id put a few extra £k and buy a 996 turbo..£40k on a tvr..noooo way for me

[AJ.]

Yea my problem is I change my mind regarding cars very quickly, money or lack of is always an issue.

The only 996 I'd buy would be a GT2, even then the 996 is looking a bit dated for me, either way the GT2 is outta my price range, so by comparison 997's are way outta my price range, I've had to put alot of my personal money into my company so I don't have a great deal of dosh lying around at the moment, if I were to buy the TVR it would be partly on finance.

The one I'm interested in only has 2500 miles on it, it's a 2005 05' and is in perfect condition, and the dealer will give it a 1yr warranty and the 12,000 mile service, due to the age of the car (which is the big expensive one).

The current Sagaris market is approx £38k to £53k (but that is for a brand new car 0 miles.)

I don't want a F360, I have the urge for something unique, and something I won't get bored of looking at, this would be a second car.

For the sake of the jury, may I present exhibits:

A (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IifiGZKTHw4)

B (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CCe0AxpYJc)

C (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abYnejsRNnE&mode=related&search=)

My mind is made up, the only factor is getting the repayments to something I can afford.

[sjj84]

You are making the right choice in my opinion. If it's unique you want then that's got to be high up on the list. 911's are common, and F360's are hardly rare. Don't see many Sagari's around. Make sure you use it lot's though, it seems the TVR's that have problems tend to be the ones that sit in garages for 11.5 months of the year. There's a bloke that live in my parents village that has a Tuscan, get's used everyday, rain or shine and doesn't miss a beat. Wakes the neighbours up naturally, but you can't win everything.

[churchwa]

Make sure you get one with a few miles on the clock. It is always best as this way most of the niggles will have surfaced. Try to find one with 10k.

[Chaos]

Ed makes a good point, plus you also find one that's probably had a bit of regular use if it's around the age you're looking.

Sometimes it's not always best to take the sensible option, sometimes you just gotta live a little while you're still relatively young, go for it and fingers crossed you get a good un. :)

[sixspeed]

I had a Tuscan S when they first came out, back in 2002. The car was truely awesome... whilst it ran. I hate to run down TVR, because for the first 12 months I couldn't stop telling everyone who asked me about it how great it was, and that everyone should own a TVR etc...

The biggest problem, is that engine. The speed six is just made of chocolate. I had two engine rebuilds in 18k miles (and 24 months) of ownership. There are stories always around that they have "fixed" the problems, but you can guarantee that there will be very few Speed Six engines out there with 15k+ miles on and no rebuilds.

A rebuild is going to set you back approx £4k. My worry is, although you are being given a warranty, who is actually providing the service, since TVR is practically non-existant as a company at the moment. Blackpool closed down a long time ago. Who is making the parts?

£40k is a lot to spend on a TVR IMO in the current climate. I would ring a few other dealers, and "offer" them your car for trade. I wouldn't be surprised if they either told you that they don't want to touch it - or give you a rediculous offer in the region of low 30s or high 20s. You say you change your cars often as you get bored - resale is something then to consider I would have thought?

Now that I've made my bad points though, I will say that when these cars (and engines) are running - nothing beats them. The engine in the Sagaris is the same as the one in the Tuscan S. That thing pulled like a train - would eat 360s, 911s and M3s for breakfast and was truely awesome. If the damn thing was reliable, then I'd say it's a far better engine than the S54 M3 straight six....

Just go in with your eyes OPEN. Do NOT expect it to be anything like owning a BMW or Porsche. There will be huge build quality issues if you expect something as well put together as that. But accept it's a hand built, british car and consider all the squeaks, rattles, quirky heaters, failing window electrics and dashes etc etc as character (at the end of the day, who needs to see how fast you're going? :P). You need to have that kind of attitude, to accept the cars faults, and then you'll love it! :D

[MistaSmiff]

..I think Sixspeed has just summned it up..:rolleyes:

[AJ.]

My brother's owned a TVR Griffith for the last 8 or so years, so I'm totally clued up regrading TVR and the things that can and do happen with these cars.

I think the Sagaris is the best of the range as in the longevity is alot better than all the rest of the brand, I believe they fixed the engine problem from the Tuscan for the Sagaris.

Racing Green TVR would be my dealer and they have just received certification to build engines from ground up in house, they have the technicians and the know how, I believe Racing Green is to be one, if not the best TVR dealer/workshop in the country? They've informed me they can source whatever parts needed for the car, if ever needed, now that being ture or not is another question all together and one that couldn't be answered until a problem occurred, if at all.

The only thing I disagree with, with the car I'm looking at is the price, I think it should be £38k max, but the owner won't let it go for that, coupled with the fact there is another buyer interested who ordered the exact same car, but his was on the production line when they closed, so he's really prepared to pay full asking, hopefully he'll lose interest, but it's doubtful.

At the end of the day I want a Sagaris, and I want this colour, the chances of another car to this spec coming round anytime soon is slim to none, considering the fact there's only approx 135 UK Sagaris' and only approx 5 in this colour, if that many at all.

[benny boy]

Well looks like you have made your mind up already AJ good luck mate lol

[sixspeed]

I know a few of the guys down at Racing Green well (although last I heard a couple had moved on since I was last down there). That's one thing you will find though, that you do get friendly with your dealer!! I can't fault them down there though, they will look after you very well!

I'm not up to speed on things TVR since it's been 3 years since I sold mine, just please do your research though, and don't expect it to be a bed of roses. I *know* of Sagaris' that have gone back for engine rebuilds, so if you're being told that they were fixed, then I'd take that info with a pinch of salt - less have probably gone bang, because they're newer cars and so haven't done the mileage yet.

Prepare for the worst, and hopefully you'll be pleasantly surprised...