22years old 1st caterham

22years old 1st caterham

Author
Discussion

tomd1338

Original Poster:

40 posts

120 months

Tuesday 8th July 2014
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Thinking about getting something fun as a second car.. I've owned a 2010 ibiza cupra for the last 2 years and will continue to use this as a DD. In the meantime ive had a mk1 1.8 mx5 and a mk1 mr2 as 'fun' summer cars but im thinking that a caterham may be a better investment and more of a long term weekend/summer car that i can keep and cherish.

does anyone have any suggestions on what to buy? seems to be loads of different cars within my budget of £8-15k. I know that a live axle isn't ideal and really i would like something with a little bit of power although really fun and trackdays is my main objective with this.

any help or info is appreciated

Eric Mc

121,779 posts

264 months

Tuesday 8th July 2014
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Nothing wrong with a live axle Seven.

Drive one before you write it off (metaphorically speaking, of course).

Don't forget that with only 100bhp in a Seven you will still get a 0 to 60 performance of about 6 seconds.

ghibbett

1,900 posts

184 months

Tuesday 8th July 2014
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Definitely check around on insurance costs before buying. At 22 years old you may have a problem finding someone willing to insure you (which IMO is a load of balls, but there you go).

DougBaker

29 posts

207 months

Tuesday 8th July 2014
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Get a 1.6K based ex race car, the cheaper the car you buy the more money you have left to pay for track days and European Tours.

No point having a really powerful car if you cannot afford to drive or crash it.

Edited by DougBaker on Tuesday 8th July 10:09

framerateuk

2,730 posts

183 months

Tuesday 8th July 2014
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I was 27 when I got mine (29 now), most insurers will only cover over 25 year olds. My other half is 23 and we've found that Greenlight were one of the few companies that would allow me to add her to the policy for the summer months.

BritishRacinGrin

24,602 posts

159 months

Tuesday 8th July 2014
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I bought mine in 2009 aged 19 and had no trouble insuring with Adrian Flux. Later on at 23 I also used MSM. The cost was about 800 first time around and 500 second time around.

That was a 100bhp live axle car which I owned for just under five years and used mostly for racing.

snapper seven

713 posts

213 months

Tuesday 8th July 2014
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I agree with Doug.

If track days are your thing then perhaps an ex Academy or Grads car. They'll be track focussed with roll cage and road registered. They are often for sale after a year or two and should still be in really good condition.

ScottDab

22 posts

135 months

Wednesday 9th July 2014
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I had my first 1.6 roadsport at the age of 20. Had that for a year which was great fun to get into it but always wanted that little bit more power on the track. Although I couldn't find much at normal track days I couldn't get past. Then this year at 21 I bought a fireblade engined caterham which the oil pump failed on so I sold it on.

Now thinking I might get another one. When I was 20 I paid £1400 but at 21 on the fireblade engined car I paid £500 with adrian flux. It is one of the cheapest cars I have insured!

tomd1338

Original Poster:

40 posts

120 months

Thursday 10th July 2014
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flux quoted £610 fully comp on a 1997 1.6 superlight which is pretty good!

Agent Orange

2,194 posts

245 months

Thursday 10th July 2014
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Have you tried Frank Pickles? Granted I'm almost twice your age but £140 for me. Other insurers including Adrian Flux, who I continually find are dear for me, wanted £3-400.

tomd1338

Original Poster:

40 posts

120 months

Thursday 10th July 2014
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Hi mate, your blue one is actually one in my short list atm! What's the power output on that and does it have LSD?

Agent Orange

2,194 posts

245 months

Thursday 10th July 2014
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Ahh! smile

I don't know the actual power output but it's a 1.6 K-Series ex-Academy car so I assume 120bhp. The previous owner won Roadsport A and B championships in it and set quite a few long standing lap records so it's a good engine. Either that or he just had bigger balls than the others! biggrin

No Academy cars had LSD but mine was upgraded to compete in Roadsport A and B championships. That would've included a few minor performance upgrades (so possibly more than 120bhp but as I don't know that I'm not claiming it) but I'm pretty certain 2006 didn't include a LSD in the upgrade.

Travelling to the US this weekend so not around to check - that's part of the reason for sale. Work keeps me out of the country a lot so not getting the use.

Edited by Agent Orange on Thursday 10th July 23:18

ajroberts

84 posts

122 months

Friday 11th July 2014
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Thought I would put my 2 pence in.

I bought my first Caterham aged 23 (last year May time) I looked for insurance and Adrian flux were about £450 fully comp £100 excess (This was my car http://www.sevensandclassics.com/showroom/caterham... Second year of insurance with Lancaster insurance was around £350 (though I used it for 22 days and got charged £200 for the privilege before I changed the car)

About a month ago I swapped from the 1.6Vx to a 1.8L vvc K, lsd, uprated brakes, adjustable suspension so a huge increase of BHP (around 60bhp more and more torque) and loads more toys also (£16500). I got the insurance for this including breakdown cover for £450. Some other companies did it about £80 cheaper though the one I have allows me to add on to my NCB where as the others didn't

A lot of companies like frank pickles, lancaster insurance, footman james wouldn't do the second car because the car is over £15000 and I keep it on a drive not a garage. I have been told that your NCB doesn't matter with the policy I have, it is respective to how long you have owned the car for as to what discount you get.

The live axle car I had was so fun and was planning to upgrade it to a Red top but worked out way too expensive. It had a 6 speed gearbox so was a lot of fun, the new one is another beast all together and all I can say is drive them and see what you like.

Hope this helps.

Edited by ajroberts on Friday 11th July 08:50

caz4213

317 posts

210 months

Friday 11th July 2014
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Glad I'm not the only one in my early 20's considering a Caterham..! I'm 23 and currently have a Renaultsport Megane R26 but using it as a daily driver is making less financial sense as the miles increase. I was thinking of getting a fairly high milage E46 320d as a DD and possibly then investing in a Caterham as a weekend / track toy.

So my question would be; is it worth looking around for a good 2nd hand version or is it better to consider buying new? I'm lucky in that I've got a pretty good job and still living at home so could probably afford the repayments on a new one if I cut down on trips to the pub smile. Any advice much appreciated!

ghibbett

1,900 posts

184 months

Saturday 12th July 2014
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I would suggest a 2nd-hand Caterham to start with. Buy sensibly and depreciation will be non-existent, you can have one straight away (ordering new will be 6+ months until delivery I believe) and you can learn all the bits you do and don't like to help with future (new perhaps) purchases.

However, and sorry for being a boring fart, but I'd be putting that money into buying a house/flat (big assumption there that you don't already own one - sorry).

BigCol

202 posts

282 months

Saturday 12th July 2014
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ghibbett said:
I would suggest a 2nd-hand Caterham to start with.
Agree... I built mine because primarily, I wanted to build a 7; the ownership was a fortunate by-product. You'll get much more for much less looking at something "previously-loved". Used > self-build new > factory-built new

ghibbett said:
However, and sorry for being a boring fart, but I'd be putting that money into buying a house/flat (big assumption there that you don't already own one - sorry).
Agree with that too. I only built mine when our mortgage was down to a single digit percentage (still a FOB amount of money but we have been lucky with our house moves and our equity has appreciated astonishingly!)

caz4213

317 posts

210 months

Saturday 12th July 2014
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BigCol said:
ghibbett said:
I would suggest a 2nd-hand Caterham to start with.
Agree... I built mine because primarily, I wanted to build a 7; the ownership was a fortunate by-product. You'll get much more for much less looking at something "previously-loved". Used > self-build new > factory-built new

ghibbett said:
However, and sorry for being a boring fart, but I'd be putting that money into buying a house/flat (big assumption there that you don't already own one - sorry).
Agree with that too. I only built mine when our mortgage was down to a single digit percentage (still a FOB amount of money but we have been lucky with our house moves and our equity has appreciated astonishingly!)
Many thanks for the advice guys. With my sensible head on I know I should probably be thinking about property but given the costs that go along with a mortgage (utilities, council tax etc.) I'm not quite in a lucky enough position to be able to afford that at this moment in time. And as has been said previously, if it's a good example and I look after it the depreciation should be fairly small if and when I need to sell it (I hope!)

ajroberts

84 posts

122 months

Saturday 12th July 2014
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House or a Caterham.... I know which one I would have, 'cause I do. A Caterham.
Way more fun and to be honest won't lose much value, I find it cheaper to insure than a tin top car and way more fun as I can over take and out perform friends in 911's, audi's, Bmw's. They all want to swap cars with me.

BigCol

202 posts

282 months

Saturday 12th July 2014
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I suspect ghibbert's and my comments were motivated by envy...!

carpe diem! driving

caz4213

317 posts

210 months

Sunday 13th July 2014
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I'm currently scouring the classifieds for a 'previously loved' example! Are there any particular things to look out for? I know the K-series engine has got a bit of a reputation. Any recommendation to stay away from previously raced examples? I'll probably mostly be using it for road trips and trackdays.