Newbie Advice Please - Re Service History

[Paza3]

Hi Guys

Was after a little guidance , am looking at doing a p/x deal with my Gen 2 911 with a chap selling a Caterham. Now i know sod all about them to be honest but made all the normal checks that I could do from internet research etc everything seems to check out and it only has one previous owner and I assume is know on the dedicated forums alike.

A question I wanted to ask is there is no service history as such with it, it was built in 2003 and is a Fireblade version so am lead to believe 1 of only 24 ever made officially by Caterham. it has 14k on the clock which is good am seem to reflect this in the condition of the car.

Coming from a back ground where service history is essential if anything to verified milage etc is this normal? , the chap advised by the nature of these cars there typically self serviced , can anyone shed any light on this?

Thanks in advance

Paza

[bertberr]

Well, I don't know much about bike engined 7's, but personally I'd be put off by a complete lack of service history. I don't believe that just because it is a BEC it is any more likely to be 'home serviced'.

Obviously condition and price are key, but for me the lack of history would lead me to look elsewhere.

[mharris]

Yes it is very common for Caterhams to be self-serviced. However, I would also want the owner to keep a record and receipts to prove the work had been done (this is what I do).

Mileage can be verified from the previous MOTs so ask to see these. If in any doubt, the certificates can be verified online.

You can tell a lot from the owner.. are they an enthusiast and mechanically knowledgeable? Is it clear that the car has been well taken care of and money spent? If these are the case then there is little reason to doubt that the car has been serviced on time.

Personally, I would rather buy a car from someone knowledgeable who serviced the car themselves, than someone with no mechanical knowledge / sympathy who left it at a main dealer once a year.

[Paza3]

Thanks for the input guys,

the original owner was very well know of the lotus 7 forum by all accounts , and had major jobs like the new clutch and Lsd rebuild done by specialist etc am pretty confident in the chap and its history. Also the last owner has had it since 2012 and only done 3k since ownership and spent around 2-2.5k in running related costs which is all positive. just used to a shiny service book with lost of pretty stamps , I appreciate these are a different ownership experience hence the question chaps.

Reg is CF03 FUN if anyone knows it? its done a few track day etc as one would expect and as will I

[JONSCZ]

Paza.
Have you seen this from James Whiting's web page? http://www.jameswhiting.com/page10.html
It may be worth you ringing him for some advice - he's a great, knowledgeable bloke.
Cheers

[gareth h]

Strangely enough I am looking at a gen 2 996 next week, I wouldn't touch one without history, but would buy a 7 based on the owner rather than paperwork, I would have thought a BEC would be more of an enthusiasts car and probably even more likely to be home fettled.

[GreigM]

Perfectly normal and the majority of cars don't see a dealer, even Caterham themselves aren't bothered about any service history when taking a trade-in. Just get a feel for the owner and the current condition of the car - they are exceedingly simple to service, so if the owner says he did it himself and he seems knoweldgable than you're probably fine. A few receipts for filters and oil is helpful to verify the story.

The market doesn't value a self-serviced car any differently. I service all my cars myself, mark up the service book honestly, keep all receipts for every nut and bolt which goes on the car - and it ends up with a far more complete record of what is done than a stamp from a grubby backstreet garage. Today for example I removed the seats, free'd up the bolts, greased the runners, cleaned out the tub and weather-coated the chassis bars etc...so I put a note to this effect in my history file. The next person who buys my car has a lot of reading ahead of them!

[downsman]

If the service book isn't stamped (apart from the post build inspection!) I wouldn't worry (as mine one isn't ), but if had has been serviced properly I would definitely expect a pile of receipts for parts and oil etc. When I service my Seven over the winter, I print off a table with the service items on it, enter the mileage and tick off the boxes as I do them..............though I might be a bit OCD

[rubystone]

Have you driven a BEC yet? No torque to speak of in 'Blade form and momentum is all. BECs are harder on gearboxes and it's not rare to see a car that hadn't had at least one engine replacement too.

Resale prices are low unless a Jim Whiting 'factory build' too. I absolutely echo the advice to give Jim a call. Almost certainly he'll know the car.

But drive one first. You may not like the way it drives/may not be able to adapt your style to that which it requires.

[rubystone]

If the first owner on the logbook is Stewart Heath, I know the history of the car up until it was sold to the next owner. Stew was fastidious but did track it a number of times. I'd be interested to see whether it is his old car. It was yellow when he owned it... Eta..Stew's car was a Jim Whiting car and Jim knows the car well.

[GreigM]

rubystone said:

Have you driven a BEC yet? No torque to speak of in 'Blade form and momentum is all. BECs are harder on gearboxes and it's not rare to see a car that hadn't had at least one engine replacement too.

I tracked a Westie with a blade engine in it for a couple of years - an absolute scream and could keep up with anything up to R300 level. Yes it lacks torque, but the inifite rev range and sequential box do compensate massively. So long as you keep it on the boil it is a massively fun track car. Biggest issue is diff ratio and the short "range" of the gearing meaning a relatively low top speed.

Engine issues are common with the blade, at minimum they need a baffled sump. I killed 2 engines before moving on to the somewhat more reliable hayabusa engine. Andy Bates at AB performance is the man to speak to about blade engines in a BEC - he is undoubtedly the most experienced having put hundreds of blade engines in cars for the RGB series. One of the benefits of the blade is the engines are very cheap to replace (£400 or so) and are plentiful.

[Paza3]

Hi Guys I can confirm its his the yellow one so is a official Jim Whiting 'factory build' car, am dealing with Chris the current owner and he seems a knowledgeable honest chap he had the clutch and lsd rebuilt in his ownership. I have grown a little bored over the years of the traditional sports cars and really want a track/fast road car and would expect to do some track time in my ownership as well almost expect a car of this stature to be used on the track what it was made for. The idea of doing any track time in the 911 could be very costly on consumables and i loved the Exige's I have had but the fear of a slight knock and damaging the clam/s could be a easy 6-8k on damages if front and back.

Its an interesting situation as I noticed the current owners advert on PH wanting a p/x for a 911 and mine was not even for sale, and I have a 997.2 C2S manual with ceramics and aero cup kit so pretty rare so we have come up with a acceptable deal between us which we plan to sort out on the next few weeks. I've always wanted a Caterham and a BEC seems bonkers enough! he's selling it with a trailer + tyre rack etc which is perfect set up for me.

Am feeling a bit better about the history situation , I will quiz him on what documentation he does have however , its provence of ownership and condition etc seem ideal