The Bugatti Dilemma

[bucciali]

Hey Dan,

Good to see you signed up straight away!

Welcome to the forum and I look forward to hearing about your experience. It is amazing to hear that someone is already on their 3rd Spyker!

[Mel Bonkers]

SpykerX3,

Welcome to the Spykerowner forum! I as an enthousiast (and sadly not an owner) would love to hear about the differences between the three Spykers you owned, the do's and don't and of course about your experiences with Spyker!

Just like pterps, I'm very curious about the colours of your 3 Spykers. Feel free to post the pictures about the stereo, navigation etc. and of course about #005, #088 and #152

[SpykerX3]

Hey guys! My first one was black/tan--as well as my second. The one I am currently driving is Red/Black. It actually looks like a can of Coca-Cola!! The first one doesn't really count since I didn't really get to drive it. It came DOA (dead on arrival here in the states!) and after a tremendous amount of tinkering it was replaced. The second car (088) was good for a while but as the Spyker guys will tell you am I probably the best "tester" they have. If it started to rain outside, I'd go out! By the way, don't do that unless you have the coil shields installed.... I put a LOT of miles on it when I had it but I ALWAYS found a way to break it. I don't think there was a period of three weeks where something didn't go wrong. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying they are high maintenance. I am saying that for someone like ME to drive it it is far from perfect. I gave Spyker a list of things that I thought could be easily improved and they applied a lot of those suggestions in future cars. Some examples of these suggestions (don't read this if you don't want to "find" things wrong with the car!) include:
1) Why is the blinker light behind the wheel where you can't see it anyways?? You could be driving down the road and not know you are "that guy". Some of the key indicator lights are hidden in the middle under a "ledge". If you are 5-10 or taller (I'm 5-9) you cannot easily see them come on.
2) Some of the paint within the headlights bubble.
3) The hydraulic arms that pop the doors open are not strong enough. When it is cold, mine barely functioned--and when I say cold, I mean 50! I live in Arizona for gosh sakes! I can't imagine what you guys in normal climate do. If any of you plan on putting speakers in the doors (which can be done, i've done it) you WILL need stronger arms.
4) The entire design of the fob/ignition system is not good. My example... The very first time I drove the car I stalled it in the middle of an intersection. I flipped the red switch down and then back up to start the car.... nothing.... I had to REACH INTO THE GLOVE BOX and fiddle with the key to fire the thing up again. I could have been dead if I didn't give it thought prior to taking off.
5) Dyna mat in the doors. This will add about a pound of weight to the doors but it will deaden a LOT of the little things that make chirping type sounds in the car that drive me nuts. I always think something is going wrong when it is just reverb. If you have speakers installed, make sure they place some dynomat in the doors. Again, you will want the stronger arms. Just tell your Spyker guy that you want the one Dan Erickson has =)
6) Second FOB. I think it should come with one. I bought a second one. Note: When I first got this, it was programmed incorrectly and caused all sorts of problems.
7) I think the speedo and tach should be swapped. I like them on the other sides (preference)
8) I want to see a volt meter and oil pressure gauge. The lack of these three add to the fact that I don't think this car is a choice for track use. Anyone who races knows the importance of these gauges. You HAVE to know what is going on with your car and not having this critical information can cost you.
9) THAT LITTLE KEY THAT GOES IN THE WINDSHIELD!! I bet some of you a) didn't get it. and b) don't know what it is for. Spyker needs to do a better job of explaining this invaluable tool. PM me if you need more info on this one.
10) Have someone on call or an 800 number for us to call if we need help. Unfortunately, the dealers are not trained as much as they could/should be. They don't drive the cars so they can't speak to all the little things that go wrong. Maybe something as easy as having this board up would help if they let owners know it exists.

Those are just some off the top of my head. I know I have a lot more but i'll hold off for now. I want to be very clear about something though. I find fault in most anything. I am a perfectionist (like Victor). He takes all your feedback to heart and applies what he can. No car is perfect but we can all provide feedback to get as close as we can get.

[SpykerX3]

Originally Posted by Mel Bonkers

SpykerX3,

Welcome to the Spykerowner forum! I as an enthousiast (and sadly not an owner) would love to hear about the differences between the three Spykers you owned, the do's and don't and of course about your experiences with Spyker!

Just like pterps, I'm very curious about the colours of your 3 Spykers. Feel free to post the pictures about the stereo, navigation etc. and of course about #005, #088 and #152

Mel, i didn't have 005. My first was 038. 05, NOT wide body.

[F Spider]

Dan,

We should built on this list. Here is my take on them
1) Why is the blinker light behind the wheel where you can't see it anyways??---> With the propeller design steering wheel you can see the blinker. I'm 6'2" and Victor is 6'3". You need to grow up
2) Some of the paint within the headlights bubble. ---> Have not seen that on mine.
3) The hydraulic arms that pop the doors open are not strong enough. ---> I agree. Upstate NY gets really cold and they need a lot of help.
4) The entire design of the fob/ignition system is not good. ---> I have now 4-point seatbelts and cannot reach the key in the glove box without unbuckling myself.
5) Dyna mat in the doors. This will add about a pound of weight to the doors but it will deaden a LOT of the little things that make chirping type sounds in the car that drive me nuts. ---> I have no rattles or chirping, but would like to have your hydraulic arms.
6) Second FOB. ---> I also only have one, and need a second one. My first one is still programmed wrong.
7) I think the speedo and tach should be swapped. I like them on the other sides (preference)---> I would like to have them readable at night. All other gauges ar ok in the dark.
8) I want to see a volt meter and oil pressure gauge. ---> some gauges got deleted when the airco fans came in. I agree with the volt-meter, but still think that oil temp is more important than oil pressure.
9) THAT LITTLE KEY THAT GOES IN THE WINDSHIELD!! ---> I had to specifically ask for that one and have it now..
10) Have someone on call or an 800 number for us to call if we need help. ---> Like everything else with Spyker you just have to have Victor on your speed-dial

[Kevin Slegg]

@9 - so what is the key for and why do you have to ask for it

[F Spider]

It's the secret key that unleashes the dark powers that control Spyker.

[F Spider]

This really should go in the Technical Q&A section, otherwise all this good info will sink away in the threads.

[Kevin Slegg]

Originally Posted by F Spider

It's the secret key that unleashes the dark powers that control Spyker.

[Mel Bonkers]

Originally Posted by SpykerX3

Mel, i didn't 005. My first was 038. 05, NOT wide body.

Dan,

Sorry, I guess I misread that. Still, a very impressive list .

By the way, what do you mean with DOA? Do you mean it didn't start/work from the beginning? Or cause lots of problems from the beginning?

Mmmmm....not start is maybe the biggest problem you can have with a car.....