Few questions about being able to sell

Few questions about being able to sell

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NRS

Original Poster:

22,152 posts

201 months

Tuesday 25th June 2013
quotequote all
Hey!

I am currently considering an Atom, even though it is potentially one of the most stupid options possible for me. However you only live once! I live in the place on the map below (up north of the Arctic circle). I was wondering if I buy an Atom now for summer how difficult would it be to sell around August/September? I guess there would be two issues. First, selling in autumn; do they sell then or would I have to wait until next spring (I guess it obviously depends on the price, but would it be a large reduction to sell)? The other issue is higher kms. It's approximately a 2000 mile trip one way (to London) from where I live. So it would be that plus any other miles put on the car.

The main worry would be having a higher milage car that would be stuck not selling because people only buy the lower milage cars, perhaps made worst by the time of year. I have a good deal with accomodation through work until next spring, so this would be using my "house deposit" for a while to have some fun. It would be good to have the money back before next spring for buying a place. Cars are so expensive to register in Norway there's no point in registering it here (for example my 1.6l 1999 MX-5 is around £7000)! Still, it means a few thousand £ isn't bad in regards to depreciation which makes this more justifable! And another plus side is not having to go out and buy lots of ski gear, biggrin

An Atom would be the "perfect" car as the speed limits are low so the acceleration is important. The other thing is the ground clearance/ visability for bad roads - it would be better than something like a Lotus 2-Eleven.

Thanks for any help!



Edited by NRS on Tuesday 25th June 15:17

FlyingTrotter

311 posts

155 months

Tuesday 25th June 2013
quotequote all
post this on the Atom Forum as there are some guys living up your way (broadly)who can respond - in terms of the specifics

- yes Atoms tend to sell best March to Sept and prices are best in Q2 and less good Q3-Q1
- no car is going to be rock solid on depreciation and if you buy a car for short terms retention you will max the depreciation risk
- low speed limits if they are enforced sounds like a problem to me as the car will hit 70+ rapidly
- ground clearance isnt too bad - its less good with the front carbon wing

NRS

Original Poster:

22,152 posts

201 months

Tuesday 25th June 2013
quotequote all
FlyingTrotter said:
post this on the Atom Forum as there are some guys living up your way (broadly)who can respond - in terms of the specifics

- yes Atoms tend to sell best March to Sept and prices are best in Q2 and less good Q3-Q1
- no car is going to be rock solid on depreciation and if you buy a car for short terms retention you will max the depreciation risk
- low speed limits if they are enforced sounds like a problem to me as the car will hit 70+ rapidly
- ground clearance isnt too bad - its less good with the front carbon wing
Thanks for the reply. I did post it on the Atomclub forum so will see what they say there. Since I won't be registering the car in Norway it's best to check for selling in the UK. In Norway there are so few (2 I think) and it would probably take a long time to sell. Combined with the costs of registering it I will just avoid that route. I appreciate that cars will depreciate, and as you mentioned it's more risky in the short term if you need to sell. I guess it's more a question would it be likely to be a few thousand plus. It's hard to estimate when not seeing the longer term trend of them.

The speed limits are strict, but up in the north there is much less police around and I know where the cameras are. It would also be an occasional car - I would need to use test plates I think. So would be careful in town.

I wouldn't be going for the front wing. The main issue with clearance would be patchy parts - so the Atom would be much better as you are not limited by a single low surface like the 2-Eleven and the low part is less wide/ easier to place visually.

It would probably be this car (or similar) that I would get:

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

The 300's would be a bit too powerful I think (although obviously you don't have to use all the performance) plus cost more. The Atom 2 160 for sale now could also be interesting but it sounds a little suspicious in regards to the potential damage.

FlyingTrotter

311 posts

155 months

Tuesday 25th June 2013
quotequote all
Call Tom at the factory about any car you are looking at - he will know it and be able to let you know any issues and avoid making a mistake - it's a 2-245 and seems quite reasonably priced but best to check

NRS

Original Poster:

22,152 posts

201 months

Wednesday 26th June 2013
quotequote all
Sorry, the 160 I was talking about is another car for sale which mentions repairs to damage. Thanks again for your replies. Will be phoning up Ariel in a few hours and see what they say about the car, smile

Checked a few things, it's ok about the registration in Norway so no problem. As it's British registered I will have to get British insurance by the sounds of it. I guess I will need to insure with a specialist - is there some names of good companies in the UK? I'm 25 so might be a problem, no crashes. It would be a second car and foreign licence... :S Thinking about this it could be a nightmare to find some... will try and see what happens anyway, smile

Dawsey

67 posts

191 months

Wednesday 26th June 2013
quotequote all
NRS said:
The Atom 2 160 for sale now could also be interesting but it sounds a little suspicious in regards to the potential damage.
Hello not suspicious at all thank you, if I had not mentioned it then it would be.... if you are unsure on it do ask Tom at the factory as they fixed it.

Dawsey

NRS

Original Poster:

22,152 posts

201 months

Wednesday 26th June 2013
quotequote all
Dawsey said:
Hello not suspicious at all thank you, if I had not mentioned it then it would be.... if you are unsure on it do ask Tom at the factory as they fixed it.

Dawsey
I apologise - it was very badly worded. As you mentioned it's much better that you mentioned it in the advert. I guess I was more thinking often cars are harder to sell if they've had damage and so I was a bit less sure about it. So I guess it would have been best to say that I was less certain about it, rather than it's suspicious. I've also had a bad experience with buying a car which turned out to be a bit dodgy when I got to know it better so it's made me wary of cars with damage.

I'll ask the factory about it tonight too, as the work was done by the factory then it's a lot less of an issue for knowing how well it was repaired, smile I suspect the main problem is getting insurance now, so it might help with the lower power. Is it ok to say what happened to the car in regards to needing the work done?

spikeyhead

17,313 posts

197 months

Wednesday 26th June 2013
quotequote all
Insurance could be a problem, try these guys as they specialize in cars that are UK registered but not in the UK.

http://www.stuartcollins.com/

Dawsey

67 posts

191 months

Wednesday 26th June 2013
quotequote all
No problem NRS, yes the wording could have perhaps been kinder :-)

Of course nothing to hide. I was hit in the rear in 2010, roads were wet and chap locked up. It smashed the number plate and rear lights, rest looked fine. I ran the car down to Ariel and Steve went over it and the cross bar at the rear, top one, was bent in about 5mm. SO the fix was a new back end, car was stripped sent off to Arc for a new back end and then rebuilt, third party insurers paid the claim in full and I got my car back.

Dawsey

NRS

Original Poster:

22,152 posts

201 months

Wednesday 26th June 2013
quotequote all
Thanks for answer, good to know for a potential buy. Sent you a text about the registration number for insurance quotes earlier this evening, smile

spikeyhead said:
Insurance could be a problem, try these guys as they specialize in cars that are UK registered but not in the UK.

http://www.stuartcollins.com/
Thanks for that. Tried calling around a number of companies today and seem to fall into a problem area of many UK companies not insuring a person living 100% outside the UK, but Norwegian companies aren't so interested in insuring a car registered outside Norway. Will keep trying and see what happens. Sent a request to the company mentioned above so will see what happens. Will try and look more around Norway, as I know some people have got insurance when driving on Norwegian test plates.

Dawsey

67 posts

191 months

Thursday 27th June 2013
quotequote all
NRS said:
Thanks for answer, good to know for a potential buy. Sent you a text about the registration number for insurance quotes earlier this evening, smile
the phone number is a phone safe so I wont get that, email and I will reply.

As far as insurance goes, in the UK you can insure a car that is registered overseas but only on a chassis number and the vehicle must be re-registered in the UK, only one or two insurers offer this, maybe the same in Norway/