The Caterham Bug Has Bitten - Some Advice Please
Discussion
After a long time admiring I have decided to take the plunge and buy a Caterham.
I have been to look and drive a few cars and one has taken my fancy, but being new to these cars I am unsure if the car I like is a good choice as a fist Caterham, and if the price is right. The car will be used mainly on the road, as I live in the sticks with lots of good empty roads surrounding me.
The car is a 1997 factory built car standard chassis (fits me fine) with a 1.6 k series engine with the 138bhp upgrade. It has a six speed box, wide track front suspension, upgraded front brakes, 5 spoke alloys, spare wheel carrier, full weather gear, momo quick release steering wheel, a leather interior and four point harnesses.
It's had three owners from new but only has 9000 miles, there is a good service history and the car appears to have been very well looked after. The vendor is asking £15,450 and will not budge, but will fully service the car and offer a warranty it for three months.
Any advice about the spec / price and anything to look for when buying gratefully received
Matt
I have been to look and drive a few cars and one has taken my fancy, but being new to these cars I am unsure if the car I like is a good choice as a fist Caterham, and if the price is right. The car will be used mainly on the road, as I live in the sticks with lots of good empty roads surrounding me.
The car is a 1997 factory built car standard chassis (fits me fine) with a 1.6 k series engine with the 138bhp upgrade. It has a six speed box, wide track front suspension, upgraded front brakes, 5 spoke alloys, spare wheel carrier, full weather gear, momo quick release steering wheel, a leather interior and four point harnesses.
It's had three owners from new but only has 9000 miles, there is a good service history and the car appears to have been very well looked after. The vendor is asking £15,450 and will not budge, but will fully service the car and offer a warranty it for three months.
Any advice about the spec / price and anything to look for when buying gratefully received
Matt
Welcome - sounds like a good first Caterham, but a touch expensive unless the condition is very good.
The spec is good. These are good items to have: six speed box, wide track front suspension, upgraded front brakes and the 1.6 k-series with the super-sport cams is a sweet engine.
For that age of car, look at the powder coating on the frame.
Also, check out the Lotus 7 Club at www.blatchat.com
Also, where has it been serviced? If Caterham, give them a ring and ask them what they have on file.
Simon
The spec is good. These are good items to have: six speed box, wide track front suspension, upgraded front brakes and the 1.6 k-series with the super-sport cams is a sweet engine.
For that age of car, look at the powder coating on the frame.
Also, check out the Lotus 7 Club at www.blatchat.com
Also, where has it been serviced? If Caterham, give them a ring and ask them what they have on file.
Simon
Pretty similar spec to mine and I found it fine as a first Caterham. But it's VERY expensive. Millwoods have one for £11,995 (see thread Noob Questions below) though with not quite as good a spec. You could get a genuine Superlight for that sort of money and it would hold its value far better.
Suggest you have a look at the Post 1990 chassis numbers here and compare with the VIN number on the car to make sure the spec is what it is really supposed to be. The handbrake should be between the seats and not under the dash (as on a converted racer).
And if you are really new to the world of Caterhams, it would be a good idea to get a club member or existing owner to go along with you. Perhaps you could post a link to the ad here so people could offer useful advice, as the car you describe is very expensive.
Suggest you have a look at the Post 1990 chassis numbers here and compare with the VIN number on the car to make sure the spec is what it is really supposed to be. The handbrake should be between the seats and not under the dash (as on a converted racer).
And if you are really new to the world of Caterhams, it would be a good idea to get a club member or existing owner to go along with you. Perhaps you could post a link to the ad here so people could offer useful advice, as the car you describe is very expensive.
That is low miles for a car that age , but thats a lot of money too! I bought My car last November ,a private sale ,same sort of spec to that for £11.5k with 24k on the clock. If I were spending that money as said look for genuine 1.6 SL.Unless the car is in perfect condition, I think the seller will struggle to shift it that price. Make him a fair offer and let him sit on it 
Be patient, I spent about 6 weeks trawling the net till I saw a car with the sort of spec and money I was looking for! I also bought in middle of winter when prices are a little lower and people let cars go if they've not used them much during the summer!
Anyway good luck
Al Evs
Be patient, I spent about 6 weeks trawling the net till I saw a car with the sort of spec and money I was looking for! I also bought in middle of winter when prices are a little lower and people let cars go if they've not used them much during the summer!
Anyway good luck
Al Evs
I'm not currently in the market, so I won't comment on pricing, but I will stick my oar in re spec =)
Things you NEED on a Caterham, i.e the bst bits of caterham ownership:
the 6 speed box - simply the best, best thing in the world. Honestly, you could sit stationary in the garage going up and down the box, and it would still be fun =)
13's - 15's might look good, but make the car handle like no Caterham should.
Things that are definate plus's:
Wide track front end - really improves the performance round the interesting bits.
Better brakes - obvious =)
Sports seats - much more supportive, I like the fibreglass/ carbon ones, as the "feeel" of the car is really intence.
Heater (the die hard mob will mock you, but it makes the usability of the car much better, and you won't sonstantly steam up)
The side flappy bits for the doors (saves wet arm syndrome)
Carbon wings etc - have hidden bonus in that they don't "star" like fibreglass can when a bolt / big stone crops up.
I've had the privilege of driving 1.4 k roadsport, Superlight 1.6 (138 horse), Superlight R (190 hp), Superlight R300, CRS 260. The 1.4 was the first, and it was brilliant. The narrow front end made it twitchy, and exciting at lower speeds. However, moving on to the wide track cars showed me that I'd never choose to go back to the narrow car with smaller brakes.
The Superlight R was horrible. It was brilliant when going at warp 9, and cammy, rough, non idling and nasty when cruising / going in and out of town. A brilliant track weapon, but not for me on the road.
The Superlight overall is nearly my favourite - with screen, wet gear etc, and was a hoot. Slightly underpowered for taking on the 2 wheel mob, but a brilliant drive. The R300 came in next, which on a hoon was the better car - more power meant it was easier to drive on the throttle, and more exciting. The peakier cams and throttle body setup only had 1 drawback - you had to choose 2nd or 4th at 30, it was sooo unhappy in 3rd.
Finally, the CSR was a weapon - but I didn't like it at all. It was so supurbly capable, that I never got the "exciting feeling" on the road, untill I was going faster than is appropriate on the twisties - no chance of getting the DeDion style wobbly / "on the edge"* feeling, until you were way beond "I can stop within the distance I can see" territory. Since I'm not a total mentalist, it meant I never really pushed the car hard enough to get the Caterham experience, and so cruised about rather than hooned.
Overall, my idea of perfection:
Narrow body, wide front track superlight R300, with wet gear / heater, 13's, decent exhaust, the "normal" dash (I hate looking at the Stack ones, you can never see oil pressure on a quick glance), carbon sports seats, 4 point harnesses, and in a ludicrous colour of green.
Hope you enjoy your new car, once you take the plunge - I'll be returning to the fold as soon as I have a house with a garage =)
Things you NEED on a Caterham, i.e the bst bits of caterham ownership:
the 6 speed box - simply the best, best thing in the world. Honestly, you could sit stationary in the garage going up and down the box, and it would still be fun =)
13's - 15's might look good, but make the car handle like no Caterham should.
Things that are definate plus's:
Wide track front end - really improves the performance round the interesting bits.
Better brakes - obvious =)
Sports seats - much more supportive, I like the fibreglass/ carbon ones, as the "feeel" of the car is really intence.
Heater (the die hard mob will mock you, but it makes the usability of the car much better, and you won't sonstantly steam up)
The side flappy bits for the doors (saves wet arm syndrome)
Carbon wings etc - have hidden bonus in that they don't "star" like fibreglass can when a bolt / big stone crops up.
I've had the privilege of driving 1.4 k roadsport, Superlight 1.6 (138 horse), Superlight R (190 hp), Superlight R300, CRS 260. The 1.4 was the first, and it was brilliant. The narrow front end made it twitchy, and exciting at lower speeds. However, moving on to the wide track cars showed me that I'd never choose to go back to the narrow car with smaller brakes.
The Superlight R was horrible. It was brilliant when going at warp 9, and cammy, rough, non idling and nasty when cruising / going in and out of town. A brilliant track weapon, but not for me on the road.
The Superlight overall is nearly my favourite - with screen, wet gear etc, and was a hoot. Slightly underpowered for taking on the 2 wheel mob, but a brilliant drive. The R300 came in next, which on a hoon was the better car - more power meant it was easier to drive on the throttle, and more exciting. The peakier cams and throttle body setup only had 1 drawback - you had to choose 2nd or 4th at 30, it was sooo unhappy in 3rd.
Finally, the CSR was a weapon - but I didn't like it at all. It was so supurbly capable, that I never got the "exciting feeling" on the road, untill I was going faster than is appropriate on the twisties - no chance of getting the DeDion style wobbly / "on the edge"* feeling, until you were way beond "I can stop within the distance I can see" territory. Since I'm not a total mentalist, it meant I never really pushed the car hard enough to get the Caterham experience, and so cruised about rather than hooned.
Overall, my idea of perfection:
Narrow body, wide front track superlight R300, with wet gear / heater, 13's, decent exhaust, the "normal" dash (I hate looking at the Stack ones, you can never see oil pressure on a quick glance), carbon sports seats, 4 point harnesses, and in a ludicrous colour of green.
Hope you enjoy your new car, once you take the plunge - I'll be returning to the fold as soon as I have a house with a garage =)
Graham E said:
I've had the privilege of driving 1.4 k roadsport, Superlight 1.6 (138 horse), Superlight R (190 hp), Superlight R300, CRS 260. The 1.4 was the first, and it was brilliant. The narrow front end made it twitchy, and exciting at lower speeds. However, moving on to the wide track cars showed me that I'd never choose to go back to the narrow car with smaller brakes.
The Superlight R was horrible. It was brilliant when going at warp 9, and cammy, rough, non idling and nasty when cruising / going in and out of town. A brilliant track weapon, but not for me on the road.
13" wheels are a MUST and give you the greatest degree of flexibility in terms of deciding what sort of tyres you want to run with. A dry sump is very helpful if you intend to track the car. Once you become more familar with the car, adjustable suspension (ride height --> corner weighting, and damping) and adjustable anti roll bar allow you to fine tune the setup to the conditions, are nice to have.The Superlight R was horrible. It was brilliant when going at warp 9, and cammy, rough, non idling and nasty when cruising / going in and out of town. A brilliant track weapon, but not for me on the road.
The SLR comments above most probably refer to a car running on a non mapped std factory ECU. The difference after fitting a well mapped after market ECU (Emerald, MBE for example) is night and day in terms of the idle stability, the transient throttle response and also filling in holes in the torque curve (as much as the 'peaky' cams allow) to give a more linear response. Don't dismiss cars that seem as per the description given above as around £750 will transform the car (2nd hand later generation Emerald ECU, plus a mapping session with Dave Walker!).
The price sounds toppy for a non superlight car. My car is far more heavily modified, and I wouldn't be asking for a lot more than this guy wants for his std car!
Guys thanks for all your reply's, my gut feeling was that whist the car is very nice and with a low milage, the price is a bit steep.
Can Am, unfortunatley I can't post a link as the car isn't on the net yet, I saw it last weekend at Caterham south. They had just bought it in to retail. I drove the car and it felt tight and well looked after, however after looking around I still think that £15500 is strong money for it.
I've decided to hold out and either find a more realistically priced car or to try and find a super light, I intend to keep this car a few years and get involved with the club, so I might as well buy the right one in the first place (with 13" wheels!!).
Matt
Can Am, unfortunatley I can't post a link as the car isn't on the net yet, I saw it last weekend at Caterham south. They had just bought it in to retail. I drove the car and it felt tight and well looked after, however after looking around I still think that £15500 is strong money for it.
I've decided to hold out and either find a more realistically priced car or to try and find a super light, I intend to keep this car a few years and get involved with the club, so I might as well buy the right one in the first place (with 13" wheels!!).
Matt
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