End of year review

2005-11-04 00:00:00

Though it doesn't seem like it to me, it has now been 2 years since i bought my Chimaera and i still love it! After a problematic and expensive first year, it's a relief to say that this year has been relatively trouble free and has been significantly cheaper too.

Only two minor problems occured. The first was in December when the alternator packed up, but was quickly and cheaply rebuilt by a local specialist. The other was more recent when the car suffered from an intermitent misfire on long drives. This was cured by replacing the ignition module - a spare was sent to me free of charge by a very kind member of PistonHeads.com.

The car was only off the road for a few days, compared to a few months last year, yet i actually did less mileage. I think part of the novelty has worn off - in the first year, i did drive the car just for the sake of it! The average cost per month has reduced from £550 to £332, which includes all running costs and insurance. A significant proportion of the £3981 i spent during the year was actually on upgrades and not just replacing parts because they had broken which seemed to be the theme in the first year!

The car remains great fun to drive and still attracts a lot of attention from other road users and pedestrians. This 3rd year of ownership could prove to be more expensive as i'm planning on upgrading the suspension shortly and might even consider the supercharger kit that TVR Power are currently developing.