1997 TVR Griffith 500 review from UK and Ireland

Needed a replacement clutch.

Camshaft replaced (wear and tear aparently at 32000 miles?)

Roof leaking.

Dealer far too expensive as well as useless.

Tyres every 6000 miles (£300 0dd)

A £650 service every 6 months if you use a main dealer.

This car is fantastic to drive with a V8 grumble that will make the hairs on you neck stand on end. It is also seriously fast and can get you into a lot of trouble, especially as the brakes are barely upto the job (No ABS and a tendency to lock the rear wheels first).

The car is also one of the most stylish money can buy, mine was previously a TVR show car. I really enjoyed owning this car, but it was not cheap to run, main dealers are a rip off, basically charging ferrari type prices for what is really a basically engineered car. It cost me £2000 to get the camshaft and followers changed after they failed and could not claim on the warranty as it was "wear and tear". TVR also wanted £360 for 2 bridgestone SO2 rear tyres, my local tyre dealer got me them for £285.

Basically if you have one of these cars shop around and use specialists, there are also lots of parts on these cars common to other mass produced cars, it is a shame as otherwise this car was great.

I would love another, but I could not afford to keep it. Maybe I will go for a kit car with a 5.7 litre chevvy engine next..