Starter Kit or Complete Knock Down Kit?

[Zagster]

Glad I have found this site, I don't really want to fork out £50 just yet to use BlatChat, although I will eventually and it's very useful reading!

I NEED a Caterham, probably a Supersport SV with at least 140BHP (tried an SV 125BHP on a short test drive from Caterham South and it didn't quite have the kick I was expecting - couldn't really try it properly though as we were only out of town for about two miles on twisty country lanes and I don't want to fork out for a days hire as I'm on a tight budget at the moment.

I have two options, either spend about 13K on a second hand SV if I can get one for that price but what I would really like to do is build my own. I am selling my boat to raise the funds and was all set to order a knock down kit but I wondered if the a starter kit would be better. I could spec it to my own taste.

I have had an E-mail from Tony for the packages but not all the stuff is priced, and pricing seems to differ from e-mails, quotes, main website and showroom price lists.

I wondered if anyone knew about all this, has anyone done it already and knows if there are any drawbacks to the starter kit, IVA, warranties etc?

The RoadSport would be fine for me but it's £2500 to upgrade to the 140BHP, it seems better value to get a Supersport with the 140, LSD, suspension upgrade etc and I can save up for a full screen/hood etc at a later point. Any advice/ideas are most welcome to get a 140BHP Caterham the cheapest way I can.

Many thanks folks

Edited by Zagster on Sunday 5th May 08:40

[Emily's dad]

I can't help you with prices of a kit to self build but I''ve just spent the last year looking for an SV and there's nothing about in your price range. You're looking at £15, 000 +.
I ended up with a 140bhp 1.8k Roadsport SV on a 54 plate with 5000 miles from Caterham for a fiver shy of 20k.
I know you could get one cheaper privately but they are few and far between, but have not seen one at your price level during my search.



This is about as cheap as they come for a SV, last car on the list of pre owned.

http://www.millwood-mc.com/

Hope that is of some help

Edited by Emily's dad on Friday 3rd May 18:55

Edited by Emily's dad on Friday 3rd May 18:58

[BertBert]

c'mon if you can't afford £50 for blatchat, then you can't afford a caterham

[chris_speed]

Why do you want an SV? You can get people up to 6'6 and 18 stone in an S3.

[Zagster]

Thanks Emily Dad, seems that they don't depreciate much and although 26K seems a crazy amount of money for what seems so little, at least it keeps it's value. The other benefit is having the opportunity (fun/grief) of building a car yourself. I've had enough of rust, old mechanicals, crap new parts and trying to keep old cars on the road and through MOT's. The Caterham seems the answer, interesting and pretty reliable.

The reason I can afford a Caterham is that I am very frugal with our fairly low income I do have the club membership letter and a cheque sitting in front of me for BlatChat ready but £50 is £50!

I find the SV to be a lot more comfortable, I am a stocky guy and over 15 Stone, although the biggest hindrance I found with the 'Series 3' was the lack of space by the pedals, even with thin shoes I was hitting the brake pedal and I couldn't be bothered putting on racing boots each time. I've visited the showroom three times which is only 8 miles away from me and spent quite a lot of time sitting in the various models and the SV is definitely the kiddy for me.

It would be easier to buy a Series 3 there are so many about for sale and they don't seem to be selling. I've followed the market for two months now and the dealers one's which are very nice still havn't sold. Caterham seem to have a steady turnover though. There is a 2001 Beaulieu model with 4300 on the clock, 5 miles away from me in mint condition going for 13K, I owner etc etc. It's gorgeous but the SV is a better bet. I hope to do some touring abroad and up to Scotland so it makes sense to be more comfortable...

This is the my boat I will be selling for a Caterham with a bit left over to buy a smaller cheaper boat if I keep to my budget. Long coastal passages are not for me, I am quite happy toddling around the Solent with the family and don't need such a boat for that...





This was last week on a rally to Poole, nice that day but 20 miles of fog and a hairy time coming back through the Needles made me think how nice it would be to be bombing over the Southdowns in a Caterham or just tinkering with it in the garage. I was going to sell it in September but she goes up on brokerage on Monday.

I'll sit down with Callum again to go through it all and hopefully get the opportunity to give a supersport some beans on the next test drive .

Edited by Zagster on Friday 3rd May 22:04

Edited by Zagster on Friday 3rd May 22:14

Edited by Zagster on Friday 3rd May 22:15

[kent_phil]

I'm in the same position at the moment and Caterham themselves certainly seem to have the majority of the SV's out there.

I've also been looking for a couple of months and having initially set my cap at £13k I'm having to raise expectations to £18k plus as this season of track days is passing too quickly...

Have tried to persuade myself to go for a normal one but when I tried it I was just too cramped for comfort (6'4 with long legs) and could see it getting very old very quickly on track days.

Good luck with the search, we may end up bidding against each other! On the plus side they do hold their value but may take a while to move on.

[Zagster]

This one that 'Emilys Dad' linked to earlier looks good with a 140BHP. I have to sell my boat first so won't be any competition for you - good luck with the hunt.

http://www.millwood-mc.com/

[V7SLR]

Best advice ..... fork out the 50 quid and get down to a local L7C meeting. You'll be able to kick tyres with guys who've done exactly what you're planning and many will have been in the same financial situation. There's a big difference talking to a group of owners who've shelled out their hard earned cash than talking to a salesman who's purpose is to sell you a car, any car.

[Emily's dad]

kent_phil said:

I'm in the same position at the moment and Caterham themselves certainly seem to have the majority of the SV's out there.

I've also been looking for a couple of months and having initially set my cap at £13k I'm having to raise expectations to £18k plus as this season of track days is passing too quickly...

Sounds familiar to me. I initially looked at a 11k Vauxhall engined S3.

Bought a 20k 1.8 140bhp SV Roadsport.

Man maths was liberally used.

[kent_phil]

Zagster said:

This one that 'Emilys Dad' linked to earlier looks good with a 140BHP. I have to sell my boat first so won't be any competition for you - good luck with the hunt.

http://www.millwood-mc.com/

That one is on my radar but the now I'm in the price point this one at CC seems to tick all the boxes...

http://www.caterham.co.uk/assets/html/preowned/pre...

Man maths are coming up short at the moment though

[JONSCZ]

this isn't my ad, or anything to do with me, but this appeared today in the classifieds - does it sound like what you're after? - http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/c...

[BraddersCat7]

V7SLR said:

Best advice ..... fork out the 50 quid and get down to a local L7C meeting. You'll be able to kick tyres with guys who've done exactly what you're planning and many will have been in the same financial situation. There's a big difference talking to a group of owners who've shelled out their hard earned cash than talking to a salesman who's purpose is to sell you a car, any car.

Read your other posts Zagster, and you'll have seen my reply to the tyres etc. Hope the hunt is going well. What V7SLR said is Gold. This is EXACTLY what I did and the car I have now was recommended by a chap from the area meet. They will also tell you about trusted specialists in your area for parts etc. Their level of technical advice is truly mind blowing. Agree on the salesman part too, what you've said about the tyre advice from them says it all, as it was just not true. He was telling you what you wanted to hear I'm afraid. Area meet guys will tell ya straight, and it'll be right.