Franchised Dealers

Many 'S's will have service histories from the main TVR dealerships. As with other manufacturers, a main dealer service history will increase the resale value of the car.  

The main dealers have significantly higher labour rates than non-franchised garages. Whilst they will have the expertise, they primarily deal with the new models. As a result, your servicing costs over time could be significantly more than the difference in resale value.

To gauge the reputation of a dealer, the best source is obviously other owners. I've used the TVR mailing list (see the TVRCC for details). I established that the dealer I was going to use seemed to have a reputation for always recommending replacement of brakes and steering racks. I subsequently had the brakes checked elsewhere, and was informed that they were fine. The main dealer was asking for £400 to sort out the brakes.

Non-Franchised Dealers

Finding a good non-franchised dealer will also be a matter of word of mouth. A knowledgable buyer will be perfectly happy with a car with history from one of the reputable non-franchised outfits. Obviously labour rates will be lower, and you may find that they make more efforts to repair the car rather than just replace components. You may find that the non-franchised garages will use exhange parts rather than brand new items (e.g. starter motors, alternators etc.). These will obviously be cheaper. Non-franchised specialists can be found in the OilyPages.

Do-It-Yourself

A perfectly viable option with the 'S' series, since most of the components are sourced from Ford cars. With the help of a good manual (see Steve Heath's site), most jobs could be done at home. This could affect the resale value adversely, but it all depends how long you intend to keep it. A mint condition car will still fetch more than a scruffy car with service history.

Costs (Major Service)

(Figures are based on telephone quotations in November '98)