Taking the plunge - pure 'road car'..... or 'ex-academy'??

[guitarguy]

Just another quickie.... I'm a Caterham newbie looking to take the plunge (hopefully very soon!). Been keeping a very watchful eye on the Caterham classifieds both here and elsewhere over the last few months looking for that perfect car that ticks all (or most) of the boxes....

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I'm intrigued by the big difference in value between a pure 'road only' car and an ex-academy race prep/road legal car... (In short, in the £12,000 -£15,000 region it looks like you can buy a 'similar' spec car up to 10 years younger for the same price if you choose an ex-academy racer with full cage etc). I appreciate that one's probably been polished, cherished and well cared for, and the other potential been a bit used and abused, but surely racing is what they're designed to do... (and after all the '10 year younger' car has obviously probably done a lot less miles....). Any thoughts??

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But like most newcomers, I'm not exactly sure what it is the perfect car for me is.... (would love to do the Academy but can't afford that right now, so have decided that buying second hand is the way forward for this year to scratch the itch and get things moving...). I'm looking at a fun weekend car, mainly road, as many track days as I can afford....the usual stuff. Not bothered by the 'Academy' race car look.... (in fact quite like it - even though I'd feel a bit of a fake!!). Bit wary of anything too pampered, as it's gonna get used and I ain't got no permanent garaging as yet (but that's another post - quite literally!).

A very 'non-standard' (and cheap) 'Q-reg' caught my eye a while back but was advised to avoid on both counts...(re selling on later). Made total sense to me, but took someone to spell it out...

Bit wary of going for anything much more powerful than Academy/Roadsport as if I do get in a position (financially) to sign up for the Academy at a later date it will feel like a step backwards performance-wise...

I don't know ... anyone else that's gone through this happy to offer any advice??

[B@W]

freebee said:

if you use the search facility and look at previous topics you will find that ex race cars need to be put through the IVA test to be used on the road which can be quite a work up.

I thought Acadamy cars were road registered?

[freebee]

you could be right so I have deleted my response but I still recommend use of the search facility

[sjmmarsh]

Talking to CC when I sold my previous car, they said that some buyers are put off by cars that have been raced (or even just tracked), which reduces the demand and so the price.

Academy cars are road legal, but if they stay in the competition at some point they start taking the road legal bits off (lights are the first to go). Even then it is quite easy to retrofit the parts and the car will have been initially registered as road legal.

The ones to be careful of are 'race' cars as they may never have been through the IVA and will be a lot of work.

Academy cars will have had a hard life, but the car should be well looked after and any damage obvious, but take someone who knows what they are looking at (the club will help find someone).

My car is tracked and sprinted and, while you will find some cosmetic danage I know the mechanicals are.sound as I don't want the car to let me down on track!

Steve

[HustleRussell]

With Caterhams, if you buy well and don't spend a fortune on modifications, then you will enjoy very low-depreciation fun. This extends to any near-standard spec car at the right price. As you say, heavily modified cars or those fitted with non-Caterham engines do take a bit of a hit on re-sale.

Some folk won't touch ex-racers with a barge pole. Fair enough, there are many reasons why you might want to do that
-They have pretty much all been 'pranged' in some way or another in their lifetime;
-They often have dented panels, pebble rash up the sides, cracked wings, knackred windscreens etc
-They may have been subjected to bad bodywork repairs in the past
-They aren't fitted with creature comforts such as carpets, cushioned seats and heaters
-The bodywork/dash will have been drilled in places to fit cut-off switches, fire extinguishers etc
-They have been driven HARD.

However, at the right price and with the right information/history, you can buy a belter, and enjoy;
-Lower purchase price
-A car with only the neccessities for track use
-Guilt-free trackdays, without worrying about paintwork
-A low mileage car which has been mechanically maintained with no expense spared
-A car which has already been set up and optimised for track performance
-Electrical cut-off switch and fire extinguisher already fitted. The former is very useful (I don't think I'd want a caterham without one), the latter will hopefully never be required but offers some peace of mind for track use.

The other benefit to an ex-racer, if you don't modify it, it'll always have an inherent value as a race car which can be easily re-entered into race series.

I'd say that the ideal would be to buy an honest ex-race car with a straight chassis and a proven history, Ideally from it's former keeper. Pay more for one which has been tarted up and you don't know how the quality of the repairs were.

[EFA]

With Caterhams, if you buy well and sell off all the modifications, then you will enjoy very low-depreciation fun.

Heavily modified cars or those fitted with non-Caterham engines take a massive hit on re-sale.

[guitarguy]

Thanks for the feedback people...

Yes Academy cars are road legal... hence the question. Yes, the search facility - pretty useful, thanks.

Thanks Steve - great blog by the way...

Thanks James, some good thoughts there.

Food for thought all round...

Starting to get impatient now... waiting for the perfect car to pop up! Especially as the weather is warming up. Itching to get this ball rolling.....

[Agent Orange]

I'm not sure there is a perfect or right Caterham. Just the right one at the right price.

I bought an ex-Academy car from Gary Halcrow. Gary won Roadsport A and B in it in 2006 and he and the car still hold a couple of lap records.

Originally it was bought for the Academy series by Luke Dimsdale but was sold to Gary via his friend, who also raced it, Chris Bialan.

The car has the complete history from purchase at Caterham through to all maintenance, service and repair work. Just under Gary's ownership there's about £20Ks worth of work including a £5K engine rebuild. None of the guys ran the car on the cheap.

If you can get that kind of history then I really cannot see there is anything to worry about.

[Grubbster]

Where are you? There's probably a few owners close by that can help you understand what you really want and maybe point you in the right direction. Don't be put off by ex-Academy cars, they make excellent first time cars for reasonable money - spend a year with one then you'd have a much better idea of what you'd really like and probably no depreciation.

I have a bonkers 230 bhp K series which is a riot but it doesn't get much road use any more. Also I'm doing this years Academy, so about half the power, rubbish tyres etc - but is it so much fun in a much safer way, easier to drive close to the limits and it requires a different driving technique (maintain speed at all cost!). So don't think that if you get a higher power car you won't want to do the Academy, a lot of people with high powered 7's still go and do the Academy, its teaching me more about driving than my other 7 does!

Follow my progress at www.sevenracing.co.uk

[Golf Juliet Tang]

I bought a Scholarship car (this became the Academy series) in 1998 after it competed in the 1996 series.
Still driving it today. It's been a fabulous buy giving about 85,000 miles of fun. The car has over 100,000 miles on the clock now.