later model R400 at Caterham south

[Bund]

Caterham South have a very nice bright green R400(210 bhp), its done about 26000 miles, what are people views on this kind of mileage? I havent seen many R400's or superlight R's for sale and as i haven't owned one before, I do not think im in a good position to make an informed judgement on this mileage without asking a few owners. Would the mango R500 be a better option at this money level? thank you

Edited by Bund on Sunday 3rd January 22:04

[mic]

R400 is probably a better proposition for a first car, veryeasy toupgrade at a later date.

[Bund]

Ok thanks, what about the mileage, it's probably a 2 or 3 year old car? £27k now but would I see any sensible private bids on a 30k+ mileage car?that's my concern. Are these cars about 31/32k new? If so is that a realistic depreciation considering the use?

[nigelpugh7]

I am pretty sure that is the R400 Demonstrator car, not sure if the R400 CC plate would be for sale with it though.

Its been at lots of the club events in the past, but I think its probably only about just over a year old, so 26000 is a lot of miles.

When it was at Stoneleigh it was looking very tired, and if I recall the orange needle had dropped of the stack rev counter too!!

I am sure it has been cleaned up for sale now.

[Bund]

Yep that's the car, it will be sent out all fresh but it does look tired now. They are putting a good offer forward against an academy, the engine has been refreshed, in people's experience does this take care of the high mileage? People look at 996 gt2's with this mileage and think it's high.

Edited by Bund on Monday 4th January 09:54

[FunkySon]

In the end it all depends on the condition & price. In some respects it won't have been looked after as well as others but if that's reflected in the price then I don't see a problem.

I bought one of their demo cars a year ago. My car had a fairly hard life in the 9 months that CC ran it for - as evidenced by the odd youtube video and magazine article - but the price seemed fair. As long as nothing major fails I reckon I got a good deal (it's looking good so far).

Duncan

[Bund]

I think this is probably the car im looking at without the stripes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=demXmGV_NyY&fea...

erm and this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAkUvVV9lrw

Edited by Bund on Monday 4th January 13:18

[atom-ick]

I've owned several Caterhams and my Duratec R400 is by far the best all round package for me and my driving ability. I wouldn't worry about it being an ex-demo car, Caterham would have given it a proper check over and sort out prior to selling it.

Also, Demonstrators are like race cars - they get a harder life but are papered and serviced much more than road cars so it all evens out.

Just my tuppence worth!

[Sevdoc]

That car is approaching it's first MOT; it was one of the original demo cars from the press launch at Cadwell in March 2007.
The carbon/kevlar Tillets have been taken out at some point and it doesn't have the trackday roll bar mentioned in the advert.
No doubt it has had a busy life- needs to be judged on present condition though.

Neil

[Sevdoc]

That car is approaching it's first MOT; it was one of the original demo cars from the press launch at Cadwell in March 2007.
The carbon/kevlar Tillets have been taken out at some point and it doesn't have the trackday roll bar mentioned in the advert.
No doubt it has had a busy life- needs to be judged on present condition though.

Neil

[BertBert]

In terms of resale, there is some stigma on higher mileage cars which is a bit silly, but worth knowing. It does cut down the available market when (if) you come to sell.

Bert

[Bund]

thanks for all the help, I did just see a picture with the car fitted with the carbon seats, have they been replaced with the cheaper alternative to sell on? The ones iv seen in it are black and used. Someone else mentioned about the roll cage and i have asked, im guessing its just a mistake and has always been fitted with the standard and nothing serious during its hard long life.

Edited by Bund on Monday 4th January 21:30

[David Long]

My 2p,

I've just overhauled my R400 Duratec engine after 4000 track miles and wouldn't be too concerned about 26000. The only area that showed any wear was the camshaft bearings and it wouldn't be a big deal to put that right. But as it is esentially a standard bottom end, I would ask to see a ECU download and check the overspeed histogram to confirm that it hasn't spent too much time at, or over, the limiter.

[Bund]

David Long said:

My 2p,

I've just overhauled my R400 Duratec engine after 4000 track miles and wouldn't be too concerned about 26000. The only area that showed any wear was the camshaft bearings and it wouldn't be a big deal to put that right. But as it is esentially a standard bottom end, I would ask to see a ECU download and check the overspeed histogram to confirm that it hasn't spent too much time at, or over, the limiter.

Thank you, how much time would be considered damaging? Iv not had a print out before so id have to get a friend to check it out.

[FunkySon]

If the engine's been recently refreshed, as the advert implies, then if there's any nasties recorded in the ECU then presumably they'll be irrelevant as they'll pre-date the engine work.

[Bund]

That is what I think caterham may say, good to know the level of abuse it sustained though.

Edited by Bund on Tuesday 5th January 16:32

[Bund]

I have just seen this

http://pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1424751.htm

What are your thoughts compared to the newer one at caterham? Yes i know its cheaper to start with but no warranty, who can check it over thoroughly(ecu) kind of thing? When i see this one compared to the green one it does make me lean more to the newer car. Good to have a comparison for sale finally!

[David Long]

Bund said:

David Long said:

My 2p,

I've just overhauled my R400 Duratec engine after 4000 track miles and wouldn't be too concerned about 26000. The only area that showed any wear was the camshaft bearings and it wouldn't be a big deal to put that right. But as it is essentially a standard bottom end, I would ask to see a ECU download and check the overspeed histogram to confirm that it hasn't spent too much time at, or over, the limiter.

Thank you, how much time would be considered damaging? Iv not had a print out before so id have to get a friend to check it out.

As a ball park figure I've recorded about 10 minutes over the limiter in 4000 track miles. I've no idea if this is high or low, but grows each trackday even when I think I'm being careful. It would be the 200 rpm plus events that I would be worried about as these can only be done through bad down changes.
Here's the table



It shows minutes above the max rpm in 50 RPM slices. I might be wrong, but I think this is above the soft cut 7800 RPM (hard cut at 7900 RPM).

The 'refresh' may have replace bearings and any badly worn items but is likely to have retained the crank, rods and possibly the big end bolts. These are the items that you really want to know the condition of.

Edit: I should say that the 6553.5 figure seems to be a default number.

Edited by David Long on Tuesday 5th January 20:17

Edited by David Long on Tuesday 5th January 20:47

Edited by David Long on Tuesday 5th January 20:49

[Bund]

thank you David, this is good for reference, Ill ask them on the bits you have brought up. Can i ask what your opinion is between the 2004 R400 i put a link too and the car we have been talking about considering the older car has done half the miles.

Edited by Bund on Tuesday 5th January 20:58

[David Long]

Bund said:

thank you David, this is good for reference, Ill ask them on the bits you have brought up. Can i ask what your opinion is between the 2004 R400 i put a link too and the car we have been talking about considering the older car has done half the miles.

Edited by Bund on Tuesday 5th January 20:58

I don't have any first hand experience of the R400 K series, but I think you would be better with Duratec as the the same BHP comes a lot cheaper. If you do need to fix it, you're talking about a 'current and standard production engine' rather than the discontinued and/or uprated k series components. Having said that, there's no reason why a good and well maintained K shouldn't be reliable.