Caterham newbie / another 'which 7?' thread
Discussion
coppice said:
Bin the carpets I'd suggest. Inevitably they will get wet at some point; take yonks to dry and your car will smell of mushrooms..Rubber mats are fine- and removable!
Seconded.Re: the hood, very few people seem to use a full hood. Most go for a half hood, Soft Bits For Sevens being probably the most popular, and one of their Shower Caps to chuck over the top to keep the rain out over short periods or to keep prying eyes and hands out when parked up. The half hood takes 30 seconds to clip on if rain starts when you're out and about and keeps most of the water off you when you're on the move. Equally, the shower cap goes on in a jiffy.
http://www.softbitsforsevens.co.uk/page47aa.html
On the other hand I expect many people will have an unwanted full hood in the loft (that's where mine is) if you're looking to buy one.
Congrats on finding a car.
Andy
Not speaking from much experience but I would also agree about the carpets. Mine came with a bit of both, carpeted tunnel, rear bulkhead and boot, with rubber floor mats and black vinyl side panels.
Also agree about the hood debate. Mine came with one but it was barely used. Me and the previous owner spent a good 5-10mins trying to put it up but gave up as it seemed impossible to stretch it to all the boot poppers. By which time the car will have likely got more wet than if you just carried on driving!
I'm getting a half hood.
I have a shower cap I'll be selling shortly if your interested? I'm getting a long nose shower cap instead.
Congrats on the purchase though. If it's the one I'm thinking of I probably would have bought it if it hadn't been in the spray shop while I was looking!
Also agree about the hood debate. Mine came with one but it was barely used. Me and the previous owner spent a good 5-10mins trying to put it up but gave up as it seemed impossible to stretch it to all the boot poppers. By which time the car will have likely got more wet than if you just carried on driving!
I'm getting a half hood.I have a shower cap I'll be selling shortly if your interested? I'm getting a long nose shower cap instead.
Congrats on the purchase though. If it's the one I'm thinking of I probably would have bought it if it hadn't been in the spray shop while I was looking!
I quite like the carpets. The bulkhead and tunnel sides are carpeted one mine, and also put carpet below the seats to stop stones getting stuck in the seat adjuster mechanism - which seems to have worked nicely. The footwell has rubber mats though, I wouldn't bother with carpets there since they'll just become a mess!
+1 on the half hood. The full hood is fine if it's really cold, but otherwise the half hood is better in every way.
+1 on the half hood. The full hood is fine if it's really cold, but otherwise the half hood is better in every way.
Thanks for the suggestions.....
Someone drilled holes in the floor to allow the water escape so ill take the advice not to put carpets down :-) though I may put a carpet in the rear bulkhead .
I opted for the leather seats. For me it just felt a little more comfortable where as I had to squeeze in to the tillets.... And I'm not that fat :-/
Unsure about the yellow nose may spray green and get these stripes.
Someone drilled holes in the floor to allow the water escape so ill take the advice not to put carpets down :-) though I may put a carpet in the rear bulkhead .
I opted for the leather seats. For me it just felt a little more comfortable where as I had to squeeze in to the tillets.... And I'm not that fat :-/
Unsure about the yellow nose may spray green and get these stripes.
Smiffy7 said:
When I think about how close I was to buying the old, slightly tatty, roadsport 140 from CC which had zero history for nearly £3k more, I would have felt comprehensively ripped off. Probably the best decision of my life.
Can't remember if I mentioned on here but I pulled of of that deal with CC at the very last minute, deal was agreed and was just waiting to pay deposit. Well when I pulled out, I had a reply email after 40mins stating that they had now sold it. It sounded very dubious but due to it being the mighty CC I just assumed that someone else saw it and had 2nd refusal. Look what I found:
http://uk.caterhamcars.com/pre-owned/1231-roadspor...
Really shows off their honesty, integrity and professionalism doesn't it?
If it helps, I went throught a similar process last year but fortunately wasn't quite as constrained in terms of budget and you do find that the cars in the spec/age/power that you really desire are, as ever, just outside of your budget. I eventually found a car at Caterham South which was in my almost perfect spec for fast road and possibly trackday usage. Rareish 1.8 140bhp (Supersport) Roadsport K series with low mileage, Trackday bar, widetrack, leather, non LSD and 5 speed (which I thought would be better on road journeys and is low geared enough - jury still out on that one tbh). I am very happy with amount of power, can kind of understand the desire for more power but tbh the car is already very fast and the momentum you can carry through bends is amazing. I did my first trackday at Brands a month ago and with the terrible weather (torrential wind and rain - when all the floods were ongoing) I took it very easy in the wet and managed, with some extremely helpful support from the raceteam I was sharing a garage with, to both keep it on the black and get the tyre pressures right so the car gave me some confidence. In these conditions there was PLENTY of power. In the dry session we had it felt to me like, up until that point, no matter how hard I thought I had driven for the odd period on the road, in that session the car suddenly came alive and it all made sense. The car just felt at home, and suddenly I was amongst the fastest car on track and it felt like everything else was going strangely slowly. Enjoyed telling that story lol. Hope it is useful and good luck with getting your toy.
Smiffy7 said:
Can't remember if I mentioned on here but I pulled of of that deal with CC at the very last minute, deal was agreed and was just waiting to pay deposit. Well when I pulled out, I had a reply email after 40mins stating that they had now sold it. It sounded very dubious but due to it being the mighty CC I just assumed that someone else saw it and had 2nd refusal.
Look what I found:
http://uk.caterhamcars.com/pre-owned/1231-roadspor...
Really shows off their honesty, integrity and professionalism doesn't it?
I had an identical experience. I went to see an R300K on 5/1/12 after weeks of waiting for it to have its rear wings resprayed (visit delayed 3 times). I was so excited about the spec, condition and photos I had seen I had pretty much agreed the deal before I went and just wanted to see, feel and drive it. It was, of course, a little more expensive than others around but I had reconciled myself to paying the Caterham premium for the peace of mind. The issue I couldn't get my head round in the end was that it had had 5 previous owners. Although this may not be the end of the world (and Anthony tried to sell me on why it was 100% normal) I just didn't fancy being owner no 6, then any buyer after me becomes no 7... Look what I found:
http://uk.caterhamcars.com/pre-owned/1231-roadspor...
Really shows off their honesty, integrity and professionalism doesn't it?
As it happened I found my car at Millwood the same day, went to see it and was immediately smitten. When I texted Anthony to say I wouldn't be having the car from him he texted back within 30 minutes and said "It's OK, I've sold it anyway" - this after they'd been holding it for me for over a month. I realise that some cars will have a waiting list (R300Ks are always sought after) but it struck me as odd/unlikely/b
ks, and I've heard similar stories from others. As it turned out it was still for sale on their website a month later, having never been removed. There had been friction already as I'd reacted badly to an email that was basically a "take it or leave it" response to my attempt to negotiate. It gave me a real impression that their sales operation treats buyers like they're on a production line and if you don't want it, another one will be along in a minute. It certainly left me questioning whether I'd get the service I wanted out of making a large value (for me) discretionary purchase from the manufacturer and main market source - the exact people who should be welcoming new owners into the Caterham lifestyle with lots of warm fuzzy feelings.
That said I could not be more pleased with the service I've received from Jon at Millwood. He has gone well beyond the call of duty to see me happy.
Andy
halstock said:
I had an identical experience. I went to see an R300K on 5/1/12 after weeks of waiting for it to have its rear wings resprayed (visit delayed 3 times). I was so excited about the spec, condition and photos I had seen I had pretty much agreed the deal before I went and just wanted to see, feel and drive it. It was, of course, a little more expensive than others around but I had reconciled myself to paying the Caterham premium for the peace of mind. The issue I couldn't get my head round in the end was that it had had 5 previous owners. Although this may not be the end of the world (and Anthony tried to sell me on why it was 100% normal) I just didn't fancy being owner no 6, then any buyer after me becomes no 7...
As it happened I found my car at Millwood the same day, went to see it and was immediately smitten. When I texted Anthony to say I wouldn't be having the car from him he texted back within 30 minutes and said "It's OK, I've sold it anyway" - this after they'd been holding it for me for over a month. I realise that some cars will have a waiting list (R300Ks are always sought after) but it struck me as odd/unlikely/bks, and I've heard similar stories from others. As it turned out it was still for sale on their website a month later, having never been removed.
There had been friction already as I'd reacted badly to an email that was basically a "take it or leave it" response to my attempt to negotiate. It gave me a real impression that their sales operation treats buyers like they're on a production line and if you don't want it, another one will be along in a minute. It certainly left me questioning whether I'd get the service I wanted out of making a large value (for me) discretionary purchase from the manufacturer and main market source - the exact people who should be welcoming new owners into the Caterham lifestyle with lots of warm fuzzy feelings.
That said I could not be more pleased with the service I've received from Jon at Millwood. He has gone well beyond the call of duty to see me happy.
Andy
Wow! The similarities are truly uncanny! I wanted to refrain from bashing CC for fear of sounding like the sour newbie who didn't get the car he wanted, but it's evident I'm not the first. I too had some 'frosty' exchanges, both before I even went there and whilst looking at the car. I firstly enquired about finance options vie email, but I mentioned my available bank loan rate and I was told "sorry we can't match that" and I didn't even get example figures, despite asking twice. If I didn't know better I thought they were trying NOT to sell me a car. Then when I got there with the Mrs (this was 2hours after seeing Calum at Sevens & Classics), just the demeanour couldn't be any more of a contrast. Maybe it was my age or maybe it was because I was looking at the bottom end of the stock, but there was none of the comfort, trust and friendly engagement that I had at S&C. Abrupt and rude immediately spring to mind. At one point, after he reeled of a load of info really quick, I had to apologise and ask the same question again - I got a stern response of "I *JUST* said, bla bla bla bla......". Sorry for asking mate!! At this point he wondered away to get the history (which was non-existent) and the Mrs told me not to buy from here, she didn't like them, and to get one from Calum As it happened I found my car at Millwood the same day, went to see it and was immediately smitten. When I texted Anthony to say I wouldn't be having the car from him he texted back within 30 minutes and said "It's OK, I've sold it anyway" - this after they'd been holding it for me for over a month. I realise that some cars will have a waiting list (R300Ks are always sought after) but it struck me as odd/unlikely/b
ks, and I've heard similar stories from others. As it turned out it was still for sale on their website a month later, having never been removed. There had been friction already as I'd reacted badly to an email that was basically a "take it or leave it" response to my attempt to negotiate. It gave me a real impression that their sales operation treats buyers like they're on a production line and if you don't want it, another one will be along in a minute. It certainly left me questioning whether I'd get the service I wanted out of making a large value (for me) discretionary purchase from the manufacturer and main market source - the exact people who should be welcoming new owners into the Caterham lifestyle with lots of warm fuzzy feelings.
That said I could not be more pleased with the service I've received from Jon at Millwood. He has gone well beyond the call of duty to see me happy.
Andy
- says a lot right!?Seems a shame that the cars we love are represented by people like this.
My experience with CC isn't much better. LOL
I visited their showroom back on a cold wet January. I was the only punter their but the staff had no enthusiasm to show me around think they prefered to be on Facebook. I had very little knowledge about the car and when I started to ask questions, they didn't seem that interested in answering .
I then went to see PT Sportscars and met with Ian, he was passionate about the 7 and spent time with me showing around his cars, telling me the advantages and disadvantages of such things as the Appolo tank, tyres, wheel sizes etc.
I visited their showroom back on a cold wet January. I was the only punter their but the staff had no enthusiasm to show me around think they prefered to be on Facebook. I had very little knowledge about the car and when I started to ask questions, they didn't seem that interested in answering .
I then went to see PT Sportscars and met with Ian, he was passionate about the 7 and spent time with me showing around his cars, telling me the advantages and disadvantages of such things as the Appolo tank, tyres, wheel sizes etc.
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