Caterham R500 Purchase

Caterham R500 Purchase

Author
Discussion

zetecherb

Original Poster:

27 posts

129 months

Thursday 8th January 2015
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Good Afternoon smile

As above i am looking at purchasing a Caterham R500 from Caterham, i was wondering if anybody knew of any history regarding the below car, any help would be appreciated smile

http://uk.caterhamcars.com/pre-owned/953-superligh...

If anybody could help with things like what i should look for to incase i have missed anything that would be fantastic as it's my first Caterham.

Thank You for the help smile

Tom

spanky3

258 posts

140 months

Thursday 8th January 2015
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Having recently looked at and bought one, the realisation I had when driving home was all the things I forgot to look at or looked at without really thinking about. I've not found any horrors but have found a few things that would have been useful bargaining items like cracking hoses and a dodgy handbrake. It also has no side repeaters (as doesn't the R500 you're looking at) which will be an MOT failure if you go to a picky garage.

Next time I'll be drawing up a checklist before I go to force myself to work over the car methodically. I'll also take a torch and, if I thought the seller would let me use it, a jack which would have helped me spot the handbrake problem and would make inspecting the drive train and chassis much easier.

If you sit down and draw up a list most of it will come to you fairly easily - usual things like chassis damage and repairs, corrosion, play in suspension, leaking shocks, play in steering mech, oil leaks from gearbox/diff/engine, electrics all work, temperatures are ok rim damage, you get the idea.


HurryUpAndWait

1,003 posts

202 months

Thursday 8th January 2015
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zetecherb said:
R500...
... my first Caterham.
Good work!
smokin

That is all.

Shropcat

78 posts

160 months

Thursday 8th January 2015
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Having recently obtained a R500 of similar age I would suggest you look closely at the paintwork for any underlying corrosion. Check the gear change when cold and warmed up. Perhaps you might ask when or if it has been refreshed at any point recently. I am not sure when you buy one from Caterham whether you get much service history so if you can find the previous owner(s) they may provide a bit of real history of the car.

It's an iconic caterham which is awesome to drive, if all is good I am sure you will love it. Just be careful at the begining and your used to it because when it comes on cam as the change is ferrocious and can cause problems on these damp roads.

Edited by Shropcat on Thursday 8th January 17:40

Haroldude

7 posts

110 months

Thursday 8th January 2015
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Hi,
I looked at this car a couple of years ago at Caterham Midlands. Drop me an Email and I'll let you know what I found out about the car .
Cheers .
Harold.

zetecherb

Original Poster:

27 posts

129 months

Friday 9th January 2015
quotequote all
HurryUpAndWait said:
Good work!
smokin

That is all.
I like how peoplease judge without knowing that person wink. Who says I've not driven them before.... that is all.

Thanks for your replys guys it has helped, few things mentioned that I hadn't checked which I will add to my list. Engine wise on the car it had a full refresh 1500 miles ago smile

rubystone

11,252 posts

258 months

Saturday 10th January 2015
quotequote all
zetecherb said:
I like how peoplease judge without knowing that person wink. Who says I've not driven them before.... that is all.

Thanks for your replys guys it has helped, few things mentioned that I hadn't checked which I will add to my list. Engine wise on the car it had a full refresh 1500 miles ago smile
Firstly, have you ever driven an R500? Have you ever driven any Caterham? If not, please make sure you drive several different types. Don't buy an R500 without trying it first.

On this car, find out what the 'refresh' constituted and who did it. It's an early car too...what production number is it? I might be able to dig a bit on if for you. I also don't understand the 'Minister' tag.

admaraujo

62 posts

111 months

Saturday 10th January 2015
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"Minister" tag, might mean it was originally owned by Minister.

I know a "Hyperion" one... well for the first 1800 miles, she was.

I would say yes to this purchase... if you take care of the car/engine, you will be fine.

As for the refreshing... you are buying from Caterham themselves, so any trouble you have will also be their trouble...

Buy it and be happy :-)

rubystone

11,252 posts

258 months

Saturday 10th January 2015
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admaraujo said:
"Minister" tag, might mean it was originally owned by Minister.

I know a "Hyperion" one... well for the first 1800 miles, she was.

I would say yes to this purchase... if you take care of the car/engine, you will be fine.

As for the refreshing... you are buying from Caterham themselves, so any trouble you have will also be their trouble...

Buy it and be happy :-)
Out of interest, when was the Hyperion car owned by them? ISTR Steve W had a JPE tucked away...

admaraujo

62 posts

111 months

Saturday 10th January 2015
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Can't remember the year but 2000 or 2001 springs to mind it's a Kawasaki Green car.

Murph7355

37,651 posts

255 months

Saturday 10th January 2015
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zetecherb said:
I like how peoplease judge without knowing that person wink. Who says I've not driven them before.... that is all....
He never said you hadn't. You stated it was your first.

If you haven't had much experience with them, especially R500s, I'd follow rubystone's angle.


zetecherb

Original Poster:

27 posts

129 months

Sunday 11th January 2015
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I have driven R500s.

I viewed 3 caterhams today 1 nice one at sevens and classics and 2 at caterham south branch.

I spoke to 2 pprevious owners regarding that orange one, a big no unfortunately.

zetecherb

Original Poster:

27 posts

129 months

Sunday 11th January 2015
quotequote all
rubystone said:
Firstly, have you ever driven an R500? Have you ever driven any Caterham? If not, please make sure you drive several different types. Don't buy an R500 without trying it first.

On this car, find out what the 'refresh' constituted and who did it. It's an early car too...what production number is it? I might be able to dig a bit on if for you. I also don't understand the 'Minister' tag.
Hiya, I've only driven a r500 and r300 I plan to drive a super sport in the next couple of weeks smile see what it's like as I haven't driven a slower spec one yet.

That orange caterham has a bit of history so I intend on staying away

rubystone

11,252 posts

258 months

Sunday 11th January 2015
quotequote all
zetecherb said:
Hiya, I've only driven a r500 and r300 I plan to drive a super sport in the next couple of weeks smile see what it's like as I haven't driven a slower spec one yet.

That orange caterham has a bit of history so I intend on staying away
Not suggesting you can't handle an R500 btw..it's just that they can bite smile what was the issue with the orange car? The R300...K or Duratec? My experience of the former was meh...the latter...mmmmm. My first 7 was a SuperSport...perfect for learning how to drive a 7 properly....and I came from a history of driving 911s...

BertBert

18,954 posts

210 months

Sunday 11th January 2015
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Also there's plain old preference. Having done the whole R500 thing I prefer lower power on road. It's easy to think more is better as I used to, but when I get another 7 it'll probably be in the 135 to 150bhp range.
Bert

banana

89 posts

237 months

Sunday 11th January 2015
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If you are not bothered on the providence more interested in the spec I know this car is both is great condition and has very good history.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/c...

Worth a look

rubystone

11,252 posts

258 months

Sunday 11th January 2015
quotequote all
banana said:
If you are not bothered on the providence more interested in the spec I know this car is both is great condition and has very good history.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/c...

Worth a look
Worth a look at £15k, but £25k is mint R500k money. The latter will be a heck of a lot easier to sell in the future too!!!! The former is a mongrel...

zetecherb

Original Poster:

27 posts

129 months

Wednesday 14th January 2015
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The R300 is Duratec, but to be honest it's a little out of my price range, the car i'm test driving today possible (weather dependant) is a Supersport so im looking forward to trying out the lower power end to see the difference.

I saw that orange R500 on pistonhead, put me off slightly that it use to be a race car, you'll never know what that car went through and being someone who races cars on the same weekend as Caterhams lol i wouldnt wanna know haha.

BertBert

18,954 posts

210 months

Thursday 15th January 2015
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how was the Supersport? Or did rain stop play?
Bert

clarkey

1,365 posts

283 months

Friday 16th January 2015
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I've owned a couple of R500s, so I'm probably qualified to comment!

Remember it's an old Caterham - it's going to need some TLC, either now or in the next couple of years. Expect some corrosion between the body panels and the chassis. Get them to lift it on their ramp so you can have a really good look around.
Expect the diff to be a bit clunky and noisy. Expect the gearbox to be notchy from cold, and maybe a bit noisy. Probably budget to spend some money on diff/gearbox within a couple of years.
Engine - in my experience bomb-proof, but the problems are well documented. My advice would be to limit your revs - use it as a top spec 7500 rev engine and you'll get on well with it; use 8600 revs regularly and you may have some work to do. You need to understand the history of the engine - has it been refreshed, what was done, by whom. I found the roller barrels to be really sensitive to set up, and get a bit sticky after a while too.
All the other bits are standard Caterham - brakes, suspension, tyres, etc, etc are all easy to do and relatively cheap.

I'd have one again if I had the time to drive it......