Selling an Ultima

[LuckyP]

alfasteve said:

LuckyP said:

Now, where shall I put the 648.9bhp and 616ft/lb - top line???

Lucks

Edited by LuckyP on Tuesday 17th April 08:00

This means your car is drivable

Statement or question?

F.C. said:

LuckyP said:

.

648.9bhp and 616ft/lb

What Gearbox / mods (if any) do you have?
Only asking as I'm currently having my diff pre-load adjusted and may look into mods and/or alternative drive train.
My main concern is torque loading.

Gearbox: Heavily modified G50 with PHII altered ratios, side plate, LSD, steel synchro rings and selector forks and trans cooler.

Sales particulars available - May 2nd 2012

[Storer]

chucknorris said:

Both Dom and Paul have hit on exactly why I said one of my first questions would be about horse power, I want my car to be very drivable and that's why my LS3 will eventually be a maximum of around 550hp as I've heard that if it's any more than that it becomes more track car than road car which is not my aim. So I think the original point about the horse power question being a sign of a time waster isn't neccessarily true...when it's about an Ultima, in fact I think it's quite a pertinent question is it not?
I think the first sign of a tyre kicker would be the question "what's the fastest you've been in her?"

Pete

Pete
As I understand things 550hp from a n/a LS3 is pushing the drive-ability a bit. I know you can get more with supercharger/turbos but how many changes are need to the engine to get the 550 n/a?

My LS7 is standard for the moment and is a big step up from the LS2 so we will see if I need more.


Paul

[highflyer]

I consider the most important question would be, who built the car and what the factory knew about it, and what there views were on the build, if they did, these cars are built to go very fast, very quickly and it would concern me to know if the builder was a competent mechanic with both physical and knowledgeable skills to produce such a performance car, NOT what the BHP is, that is just big dick syndrome.
I had a Can-Am with 535 bhp and a GTR with 450 bhp at the same time, and to get out of one and drive the other, I couldn't tell the difference, on a track it may be a different story but I use my cars on the road, and got to say enjoy every minute of the experience, bhp isn't a deciding factor for me, I want to know who built it and am I safe in it. Also engines that are producing big bhp are not necessary going to be reliable or easy to drive around a built up area, and yes an Ultima can be an everyday car, and no you shouldn't have to rebuild an engine after 16k miles as one thread somewhere stated.
Go standard, (for reliability and driveability) use the bloody car (instead of looking at it in the garage or fiddling about with it) if you feel you need more power then get the engine done later,
Gtrmikie owned 12 years actually drives the car (standard zz4) perfect
Storer good call as above
Chucknorris you can get help for that, tablets or surgery, don't try the cream luckyp recons it doesn't work. 648.9

Edited by highflyer on Tuesday 17th April 10:31

[356Speedster]

LuckyP.... Nail. Head.

When I sold my Atom, not only did I give a complete description, I also linked to my PH CarPool article and a photo gallery with over 120 photos of the car, from the complete detail job I did on the car over 3 days before putting it up for sale. Extereme? Possibly, but it did the job and the first person who called, viewed and purchased, there & then, no argements or surprises.

[LuckyP]

highflyer said:

...don't try the cream luckyp recons it doesn't work. 648.9

It cleared up in no time. Don't know whatcha mean?

[GTRCLIVE]

LuckyP said:

It cleared up in no time. Don't know whatcha mean?

Wow Lucky just checked your profile pic's that Yellow MR2 must have some good front brakes to do that......

[dal2litrefrogeye]

Hi all, had to chuckle, see when i was looking to buy one with my fifty grand budget i did quite a bit of asking and learning on this forum ( cheers all ) and after a couple of months i started to go and look at some ( sods law not many for sale when i started looking lol ) any way of the questions i asked the sellers was what power and what have you had out of it ( mines 430 and 189 mph so far if ya intersted lol ) and i was a genuine buyer, bought of a nice guy in nottingham, all i would say is it takes all sorts and you cant judge the book by the cover ? ? ?

[356Speedster]

As Darren says, I don't think there's an issue with asking about the car's stats at all, as they're all indications as to the hardware and it's suitability to the owner's forward plans...

BHP / torque will no only give an idea of the car's drivability, but also the internal stresses that may be on it - so 600bhp+ from a sub-6.0 SBC vs 500bhp on an LS3, will provide 2 very different propositions.

If the car is going to get used on circuits like Silverstone or Spa, more power is going to be prefered, or an allowance made for subsequent tuning. Likewise, 700bhp for bumpy B-road running and shleps to work in traffic isn't likely to be a winning combination.

Top speed gives an indication as to the transaxle spec and again will be relevant to the buyers intended use.

I don't think there's such a thing as a daft question when buying a car, as long as it's all in context. I think it's more important that all specs are weighed up against the quality of the car, the builder's competance and a history portfolio, with pictures for all the hidden things you can't see on a finished car. It's a complete package and when you're looking at £50K+ for something as powerful as an Ultima (as a buyer or seller), everything is relevant.

[LuckyP]

+1. Nice response.

[chucknorris]

Exactly... All about the context, imagine if someone walks up and says "awesome mota pal, how fast ya been in it, my mate has an evo and he took me on the M1 late at night and we screwed 180mph out of it... Any chance of a blast in yours to see what kind of power it has as I want to buy it"

If however if they say " absolutely beautiful car, you've done a great job on it, what kind of speed and power is it producing?
If I was interested and gave you a deposit, would it be possible to get you to take me for a test drive?"

In reality, both are asking the same thing but I know which one I would Say NO! to and shut the door on them.

[GTRMikie]

highflyer said:

Gtrmikie owned 12 years actually drives the car (standard zz4) perfect

Not as much as I used to Russ. Now I'm retired I can't drive it to work!

[Juno]

Ult-Jim said:

As a potential buyer and a desire to be a long term owner in the future, I understand not to waist anyones time, especially as I feel guilty about one viewing I had and a wonderful opportunity to look over 'UFO 2 NOB's' red Canam a few years back which was for sale. He was very inviting and we had a good chat out in the cold on a winter's night chatting all things Ultima. The next day I thanked him for his time and was honest in saying I was not ready to buy (I had the cash back then as well!). I hope I am forgiven? I never asked for a drive, even to start the engine, but he did. I learnt a lot about the cars and about Pistonheads in general and I hope he feels the same and that the evening was not a waist of time. I have not bothered anyone ever since until I am happy I can 'show them money' with confidence as a buyer. Meanwhile it gives me plenty of time to do my research. Totally agree about deposit being important. Surely there is some knowledgeable buyers out there asking intelligent questions about the history of your car Highflyer? Ult-jim.

Bloody Hell Jim

That's takes me back a bit, I guess the viewing helped you make the final decision. I enjoyed the Ulrima and it was on the wish list. We made a good car a very good and it was sold a couple of days later. I think it's now got a very enthusiastic owner but I have not spoken to him for a good while.

I always had a desire own everything on my wish list, since the Ultima I've had Amg CLS Merc, Ferrari F430 F1, Porsche 996 Turbo 2x Nissan GTR35, Evo6 Extreme 460BHP, EvoX GSR SST330
300CSRT 8,For sale now Merc S 320 LWB and full Circle back to a Noble M12 GTO 3R.

Ended up back at the Noble as nothing else handles or drives quite like it.

If you want to get down the road quickly without effort you just won't beat the GTR 35

But for pure driving, Soz

But it's Noble all the way

Jim you are forgiven

Edited by Juno on Saturday 21st April 02:20

[Juno]

highflyer said:

there is a lot of advice on buying an Ultima on the forum
I just want to add some about selling one.
Dont take people on face value, and take a deposit, that way you can sort out the wheat from the chaff
so many tyre kickers and time wasters with nothing better to do than waste your precious time, talking the talk.
and why is the 1st question always What BHP is it ???

Russ I made you an offer without seeing the car and an offer of a bank transfer

I have bought 4 cars since then and still have two of them

You should have taken my offer!!!

[Juno]

Juno said:

Russ I made you an offer without seeing the car and an offer of a bank transfer

I have bought 4 cars since then and still have two of them

You should have taken my offer!!!

Ps im glad you didn't as I prefer the Noble

[Ult-Jim]

[quote=Juno]
Jim you are forgiven
[quote]
Thanks Juno I like the Noble as well. I ended up owning a Caterham R500 soon after our meet, which was not the plan, but don't regret it! However I'm now sticking with the Ultima game plan and trying not to let photos of Nobles and also TVR Griffiths lead me a stray. It's just taking a little longer than planned as my Cat is a keeper.

If I remember correctly you did some work on improving the suspension and handling of the Ultima for your liking?

Ult-jim

[highflyer]

Juno (barry) you must have made an offer on a different car because I dont remember you at all, must have been a pi55 poor offer.
Why would anybody make an offer on a car without seeing it anyway ??
Noble's do seem to be second best to an Ultima,
Glad you are sorted though.

Edited by highflyer on Sunday 22 April 17:26

[hedgefinder]

I have bought many many cars merely from a telephone description.
Very few have ever disappointed, but then again they were always boguht at the "right" price..

[Juno]

highflyer said:

Juno (barry) you must have made an offer on a different car because I dont remember you at all, must have been a pi55 poor offer.
Why would anybody make an offer on a car without seeing it anyway ??
Noble's do seem to be second best to an Ultima,
Glad you are sorted though.

Edited by highflyer on Sunday 22 April 17:26

Hi Russ

No it was your car yellow with the improved dash, I did my homework and had enough info from the forum to make decision to purchase without viewing!

The offer was very realistic and it's about where you will sell if you do let it go!

You did turn me down and gave me a number that you were prepared to sell at.

Since then I have bought

Noble. Viewed
Evo6. Bought from spec
Evo10. Bought from spec
Merc S. bought from spec

[Juno]

Ult-Jim]uno said:

Jim you are forgiven
[quote]
Thanks Juno I like the Noble as well. I ended up owning a Caterham R500 soon after our meet, which was not the plan, but don't regret it! However I'm now sticking with the Ultima game plan and trying not to let photos of Nobles and also TVR Griffiths lead me a stray. It's just taking a little longer than planned as my Cat is a keeper.

If I remember correctly you did some work on improving the suspension and handling of the Ultima for your liking?

Ult-jim

R500, that will wake you up after a late night : rofl: wow!

[Juno]

Ult-Jim]uno said:

Jim you are forgiven
[quote]
Thanks Juno I like the Noble as well. I ended up owning a Caterham R500 soon after our meet, which was not the plan, but don't regret it! However I'm now sticking with the Ultima game plan and trying not to let photos of Nobles and also TVR Griffiths lead me a stray. It's just taking a little longer than planned as my Cat is a keeper.

If I remember correctly you did some work on improving the suspension and handling of the Ultima for your liking?

Ult-jim

Yes we did improve the handling one hell of alot by designing our own dampers and springs.
Great power but I think it's trying to balance the big heavy engine and gearbox out back.

I would say the Ultima is a Sledge Hammer and tbe Noble is a Surgeons Scalple

Both great cars in a different way!