I don't think there's be a "YKYWT" where I really have "wanted to"

What makes a car feel worn, baggy and saggy?

Bushes? Dampers? Steering rack? Ball joints? Bearings? Anti roll bar bushes?

The majority of these things will not get changed on a Ford Mondeo, for instance, unless it fails an MOT for something. So when you drive one at 150,000 miles, it can feel like a shed.

On a car like a Caterham, they get replaced as and when they're needed.

And if all the parts are new, you **cannot** tell that it's done mega mileage.

Unless somebody has bent the chassis, there's nothing to give it away there - you can't suddenly **feel** that a car has high mileage if all the parts have been replaced.

So it's a pointless prejudice.

The man speaks some logic! Personally I think north of 6k is fairy land. But what do I know? Afterall some muppet recently paid £35000 for a fivers worth of rusty mini. I guess you only need one mental case.

As the owner of a two year old Westfield this thread has been quite the eye opener..

Yeah great stuff, people telling you Renaults are not good for high miles, what do they know! Oh by the way your service light is on!

Whilst it is a lot of money for a car with such high mileage, it's very difficult to value it really. You'll really struggle to find any Caterham for under 10k and if you do, it's likely to be 15-20 Years old.

Now if you think about it, considering the serious lack of rust protection on a Caterham chassis...which is the better deal? A 20 year old, Vauxhall engined road car with 20,000 miles on it, or a 6 year old, well maintained track car with 150,000 miles on it? One has likely been driven a few times a year, still has original hubs, bushes, dampers, gearbox oil (!) and has sat in a damp British garage half its life....the other has never been driven on the road, has been left wanting for nothing, has a modern well maintained engine and has had it's gearbox, diff and engine rebuilt on more than one ocassion.

The closest car I can find to BaT 10 is this - A 7,500 mile K-Series car from '06 and it's £5k more. Now I know it's hardly done any miles, but I doubt it's had an engine rebuild, damper rebuild, gearbox rebuild or new anything in that time. Nothing against the seller of that car, I'm sure it is in excellent condition, but it won't have had the mechanical attention that a track car gets.

I'm sure whoever does end up buying it will buy it to use on track. And if that's what it ends up doing, it will be an excellent purchase! Any track Caterham, even with high milage, is still a great car.

so buy a donor motor, swap in the forged parts and throw away the shagged rest of the engine.

Of course this depends upon the individuals mechanical skills.

Am I missing something? £3000+ for 135bhp engine? There must be so many ultra cheap engines pushing out way more power than this off the shelf? Why waste time tuning up such a low power engine? I'm sure it is nice and light, but still.

Jaysus wept.

What is the 5 pages worth here? Its one car that has what, 5 major areas of importance to worry about? Check them out. If they look/sound/feel ok, lay down what you feel it's worth and see what the seller says.

This is rapidly heading down the path of a witch hunt, which is unwarranted. Jonny shouldnt be defending himself here, he should at MOST be answering geniune enquiries about spec and condition. And if the PH rules as I understand them are to be observed (they're more "guidelines"), that should be done via PM.

So many wannabee Quentin Wilsons who have no intention of buying it anyway. Did BaT even asked for it be broadcast as front page news?

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