Caterham servicing costs
Discussion
I'm looking into the cost of Caterham ownership, and without ringing round all over the place, would like to get an idea on servicing costs.
Can someone give me an idea of service intervals on k-series engined cars, Superlight R, R300/400 and a rough price of these service intervals carried out by a specilaist.
Are there any specilaist in the Kent/Sussex area?
Thanks in advance
Can someone give me an idea of service intervals on k-series engined cars, Superlight R, R300/400 and a rough price of these service intervals carried out by a specilaist.
Are there any specilaist in the Kent/Sussex area?
Thanks in advance
As i doubt you will do more than 10k miles per year I would suggest an annual service and race prep.
Race prep consists of full spanner check, good clean and checking pretty much everything. Service intervals and schedule are same as most main stream cars etc.
I would say £150-£350 for servicing, and dependant on the state of the car between a few hours to a days work for a race prep if you want it done correctly and cared for.
Race prep consists of full spanner check, good clean and checking pretty much everything. Service intervals and schedule are same as most main stream cars etc.
I would say £150-£350 for servicing, and dependant on the state of the car between a few hours to a days work for a race prep if you want it done correctly and cared for.
Chris71 said:
Easy to access everything if you fancy having a crack it yourself. At least so I'm told - my RSA is just coming up to its first service in my ownership...
Correct but race teams especially know what breaks, and where to special attention to!Also the fact that the service record with your own hand writing doesnt look the best!
Finchy172 said:
Chris71 said:
Easy to access everything if you fancy having a crack it yourself. At least so I'm told - my RSA is just coming up to its first service in my ownership...
Correct but race teams especially know what breaks, and where to special attention to!Also the fact that the service record with your own hand writing doesnt look the best!
I'd place more trust in someone who's mechanically competent and has receipts for every last filter and every last litre of oil than someone who knows nothing about the workings of the car and just wheels it round to the local mechanic every 12 months for a proper stamp in the book.
Without a doubt I'll be going to a respectable specialist for bigger jobs and there are some things I'd never be able to diagnose without their knowledge, but for regular oil changes and 90% of other jobs I see no reason why they can't be done at home. In three months of ownership I've swapped a full set of springs and dampers and the starter motor (along with various other bits and bobs) and they've all turned out to be reasonably straightforward jobs that I'd have paid a fortune for commercially. I wouldn't do any internal engine work, I'd be nervous of cambelts, I don't have the facilities to do precise geometry stuff and I wouldn't do anything involving fabrication but other than that I'm willing to have a go.
Chris71 said:
In three months of ownership I've swapped a full set of springs and dampers and the starter motor (along with various other bits and bobs) and they've all turned out to be reasonably straightforward jobs that I'd have paid a fortune for commercially.
or the equivalent price of 7 RaceTech mags.... 
fergus said:
Chris71 said:
In three months of ownership I've swapped a full set of springs and dampers and the starter motor (along with various other bits and bobs) and they've all turned out to be reasonably straightforward jobs that I'd have paid a fortune for commercially.
or the equivalent price of 7 RaceTech mags.... Yes, to be fair, it's possible I might have had some help from the odd passing PHer, but Caterham owners seem to be a friendly bunch so I doubt I'm alone.
In return I make myself available as ballast whenever anyone needs some extra weight to bed-in the brakes on their loony 200+bhp SLR racecar. Hint... hint.
As a fairly new owner of a second hand k-series R500 with only basic mechanical knowledge I would say a basic service cost of £350 to £450 per year with MOT included if required. Tyres extra, depending on your right foot and track / road mileage per year. Where the money does go is all the upgrades, add-ons from a Caterham baseball cap 
to carbon fibre bits you can't resist 
and upgraded roller barrel engine parts for example 
. If you are going to do it properly then a full suspension check up / ride set up and engine tuning may be required 
. As the miles add up, on road I would look at a possible refresh at between 10k & 14k miles and if pushed hard on the track then less then 5k miles which you may want to include in the overall running costs, (for R500 at least not sure about R300 or R400 ).
From my experience plan for starter & solenoid servicing and replacement costs, plus new battery, although this depends on how well it’s maintained and if you purchase second hand.
Not sure what the interval is for changing the cam belt however mine was done at 4.5k and is one part to consider in the service cost over time. From my experience if you are going to use a service centre and not do yourself go for a car with a fully stamped service log and plenty of evidence that it has been well looked after and built and set up to a professional standard and has not been thrashed, especially if the car is abroad most of the year as in my case. That's my experience so far with enjoying reliable R500 ownership.
to carbon fibre bits you can't resist and upgraded roller barrel engine parts for example . If you are going to do it properly then a full suspension check up / ride set up and engine tuning may be required . As the miles add up, on road I would look at a possible refresh at between 10k & 14k miles and if pushed hard on the track then less then 5k miles which you may want to include in the overall running costs, (for R500 at least not sure about R300 or R400 ).From my experience plan for starter & solenoid servicing and replacement costs, plus new battery, although this depends on how well it’s maintained and if you purchase second hand.
Not sure what the interval is for changing the cam belt however mine was done at 4.5k and is one part to consider in the service cost over time. From my experience if you are going to use a service centre and not do yourself go for a car with a fully stamped service log and plenty of evidence that it has been well looked after and built and set up to a professional standard and has not been thrashed, especially if the car is abroad most of the year as in my case. That's my experience so far with enjoying reliable R500 ownership.
Ult-Jim said:
As a fairly new owner of a second hand k-series R500 with only basic mechanical knowledge I would say a basic service cost of £350 to £450 per year with MOT included if required. Tyres extra, depending on your right foot and track / road mileage per year. Where the money does go is all the upgrades, add-ons from a Caterham baseball cap to carbon fibre bits you can't resist and upgraded roller barrel engine parts for example . If you are going to do it properly then a full suspension check up / ride set up and engine tuning may be required . As the miles add up, on road I would look at a possible refresh at between 10k & 14k miles and if pushed hard on the track then less then 5k miles which you may want to include in the overall running costs, (for R500 at least not sure about R300 or R400 ).
From my experience plan for starter & solenoid servicing and replacement costs, plus new battery, although this depends on how well it’s maintained and if you purchase second hand.
Not sure what the interval is for changing the cam belt however mine was done at 4.5k and is one part to consider in the service cost over time. From my experience if you are going to use a service centre and not do yourself go for a car with a fully stamped service log and plenty of evidence that it has been well looked after and built and set up to a professional standard and has not been thrashed, especially if the car is abroad most of the year as in my case. That's my experience so far with enjoying reliable R500 ownership.
With all due respect, I think the Caterham's which have been more well looked after are less likely to have 'service stamps' (or any kind of stamps) and are likely to come with a massive history file and a knowledgeable former owner! to carbon fibre bits you can't resist and upgraded roller barrel engine parts for example . If you are going to do it properly then a full suspension check up / ride set up and engine tuning may be required . As the miles add up, on road I would look at a possible refresh at between 10k & 14k miles and if pushed hard on the track then less then 5k miles which you may want to include in the overall running costs, (for R500 at least not sure about R300 or R400 ).From my experience plan for starter & solenoid servicing and replacement costs, plus new battery, although this depends on how well it’s maintained and if you purchase second hand.
Not sure what the interval is for changing the cam belt however mine was done at 4.5k and is one part to consider in the service cost over time. From my experience if you are going to use a service centre and not do yourself go for a car with a fully stamped service log and plenty of evidence that it has been well looked after and built and set up to a professional standard and has not been thrashed, especially if the car is abroad most of the year as in my case. That's my experience so far with enjoying reliable R500 ownership.
I don't think the roller barrel throttle bodies give you *that* much for your cash other than a setup nightmare, marginally better throttle response and a few hp at WOT?
1st thing to do on a Caterham to maximise driving enjoyment is probably getting the geo and suspension set to your personal preferences.
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1st thing to do on a Caterham to maximise driving enjoyment is probably getting the geo and suspension set to your personal preferences.
[/quote]
I definately agree with this, even though I perhaps did not emphasise this strongly enough in my thread - that is money well spent to maximise driving enjoyment and satifaction.
With the other two points I take on board, your knowledge and contribution in all these threads is appreciated
I am embarrassed to say I took a chance with my purchase, even though I did not have a clue about Caterham's at the time 
but have loved it - performance, handling and reliability.I'm planning on a new R500 late next year and I've heard maintenance on Caterhams is at least "a headache" and at most "a nightmare"!
I'm as mechanically minded as Jeremy Clarkson so I'll be getting all my work done by a pro.
Anyone know a garage in central Scotland with Cat experience?
Also I invisage 5-7k miles per year (+/-10k!) is there anything I should know about maintenance that hasn't been mentioned above?
ANy common faults/problems?
What should I expect as the milage gets higher/car gets older?
And the bottom line, how many £/year?
Ta
Johnny
I'm as mechanically minded as Jeremy Clarkson so I'll be getting all my work done by a pro.
Anyone know a garage in central Scotland with Cat experience?
Also I invisage 5-7k miles per year (+/-10k!) is there anything I should know about maintenance that hasn't been mentioned above?
ANy common faults/problems?
What should I expect as the milage gets higher/car gets older?
And the bottom line, how many £/year?
Ta
Johnny
I've got a R300 K series, which has now done 35k plus mileage, 8 trackdays a year etc. Its not been a nightmare at all. I do all my own maintenance, no issues with the roller barrels at all. The only bits that have gone wrong so far are:
Starter solenoid replaced a couple of weeks ago - £50 (did it myself)
Boots on the drive shafts split about every 2 years, replaced myself
The odd gasket here and there.
Odd floor rivet needing replacement, although now fitted a full cage, so floor doesn't flex as much.
Otherwise, change the oil, replace the plugs and general spanner checks.
The engine also has a Pace dry sump (fitted by myself)
Starter solenoid replaced a couple of weeks ago - £50 (did it myself)
Boots on the drive shafts split about every 2 years, replaced myself
The odd gasket here and there.
Odd floor rivet needing replacement, although now fitted a full cage, so floor doesn't flex as much.
Otherwise, change the oil, replace the plugs and general spanner checks.
The engine also has a Pace dry sump (fitted by myself)
johnnyddaman said:
I'm planning on a new R500 late next year and I've heard maintenance on Caterhams is at least "a headache" and at most "a nightmare"!
In my (fairly limited) experience that's rubbish. It's probably the easiest car to work on that I've owned. Because they're designed to be built as a kit the access is pretty good, the only pain is a slightly bizzare mixture of metric and imperial sizes.By all means pay someone else to do it, but if you do fancy having a crack at DIY it's probably as easy a place to start as any. As mentioned above the amount of support, both unofficial and official, is huge if you get stuck.
For Servicing and repair and upgrades O, and full builds to spec of any Caterham - From a 8v vauxhall to CSR260 Give Rob Singleton a call at BOSS RACING - He is in Dartford and can be trusted with your pride and joy IMHO!! He will be looking after mine next year. If he can fit me in;-)
His number is 01322 520 959 and his mobile IIRC IS 07968 591 889
Price wise - he seems to be competetive
His number is 01322 520 959 and his mobile IIRC IS 07968 591 889
Price wise - he seems to be competetive
Edited by Arewethereyet on Tuesday 10th November 14:08
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