Faults:

Electrical: all of the switches/contacts in the dash melted.

Transmission: always felt sloppy and the gears would grind when shifting no matter what.

Brakes: very spongy, and never did fell like they would stop the car in time.

Rear end: the axle fell out one day on the freeway and the rear of the car dragged on the ground.

Air conditioner: never worked right, when I would turn left or right the overflow would spill out onto the carpet on the passengers side.

General Comments:

The car looked great.

The car did handle and respond well.

I believe this is the way the British were getting back at Americans for breaking away from the colony.

Faults:

Headlight motors stopped working, replaced them with new and the new ones quit working again after one year.

Webasto sunroof leaked, despite several "repairs" by Webasto specialist.

Vibration of front wheels on braking, even after rebuild and rotor machining.

Many intermittent electrical problems, too many to list.

Extremely difficult to shift into second gear unless car thoroughly warmed up.

Constant fettling of carburettors to run properly; never stayed in balance more than a couple of weeks.

General Comments:

The TR7 was a car I'd long admired, and I tried very hard to sort it out and enjoy it.

It would be a great car for people who enjoy tinkering as much as, or more than, driving.

When all things were working well, it was unbelievably fun, it was a blast on curvy roads and the full length sunroof was wonderful on a warm fall day. It also has a great exhaust note and once warmed up it allowed me to shift through the gears quickly and precisely.

Unfortunately on average it required one hour of fettling for every two hours of driving, and at the end of the day I simply could not live with that arrangement.

Faults:

Numerous problems have arisen with the car.

First off, the head gasket blew in 1984 with 80000 miles. Then it sat until 2001 where it was picked up by the owner who redid the head gasket and then passed the car on to me.

Clock, cigarette lighter, stereo, and fog lights have never worked from the time I've owned the car.

Turn signals stopped working. 82008 miles.

Brake lights stopped working. 82102 miles.

Wipers stopped working 83125 miles.

All of these were easy fixes, so I don't mind working on the car.

Hood keeps popping open on the freeway. I don't know why. Luckily it doesn't matter because it's not the "suicide" type hood.

I have not had anything go wrong with the tranny or anything else with the drivetrain for that matter.

General Comments:

This car is a thrill to drive. I get 30 mpg constantly, lots of attention on the road, and it's easy to park, which is nice living in a cramped city.

My friends love my little TR7 because it's so unique. Only 3 are registered in my state.

This car is a lot of fun to drive because it feels like the steering wheel is the road. The engine gives off that awesome throaty sound, not the whiny Japanese car sound. No offense, I have a Honda Accord also and love it. This car is also surprisingly comfortable. That seemed to be one of their advertising strengths.

Besides all of the minor problems, this car is a real joy to work on and it has served me well as a little fun car.