Can you order a Caterham with no options?

Can you order a Caterham with no options?

Author
Discussion

Mintbird

Original Poster:

560 posts

102 months

Saturday 18th November 2017
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Honestly, to me a basic Seven 420 is the sweet spot, however the options are so bloody expensive.
as a summer fun car, could you order it without any options?

Should you? I dont care much for resale value.

BigRabs

27 posts

104 months

Saturday 18th November 2017
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Of course you can. It's why they're called 'options'!

Mintbird

Original Poster:

560 posts

102 months

Saturday 18th November 2017
quotequote all
what are the good value ones then!

BigRabs

27 posts

104 months

Saturday 18th November 2017
quotequote all
There's no straightforward answer to that, depends on what you have planned.

Unless you're very hardcore / only going to use it in summer / both then it's pretty hard to argue with a windscreen.

LSD? Heater? Lightweight flywheel? Tillets?

I personally went with the R Pack (on a 310) weather gear, 8 inch rears and a removable momo wheel (for added security, she lives on the drive).

It's annoying having to buy all the weather gear as I didn't want the full roof, but is you want screen, doors, wipers and washer mechanism then it's the only way to go I'm aware of.


downsman

1,099 posts

157 months

Saturday 18th November 2017
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In the past, if you bought a Roadsport model, it would come just about perfect for road use apart from paying for paint so you don't have to polish the alloy all the time.

Now you're expected to take a car with no screen or weather gear etc, unless you buy the S package. They are very clever, as the initial price is tempting, but 90% of owners are going to have to take an S or R package plus some other options which would be vital to enjoying the car.

I bought a Roadsport new 6 years ago, but when I look at current price lists, I think I would buy 2nd hand now.

Mintbird

Original Poster:

560 posts

102 months

Saturday 18th November 2017
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a 420R quickly becomes 40k.... 650 S actually better value?

BigRabs

27 posts

104 months

Sunday 19th November 2017
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I don't know if the 620S has been in the wild long enough to confirm / deny my suspicions but I imagine the running costs will be significantly higher than the 420. I don't meant obvious stuff like fuel and rubber. I imagine the wear on clutches and diffs will be fairly apparent too.

Happy to be wrong about that though?

Mintbird

Original Poster:

560 posts

102 months

Sunday 19th November 2017
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620s sorry. yeah... with factory build a 420 is 31k, S pack 36k. 10k up to the 620S?

anonymous-user

55 months

Sunday 19th November 2017
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You get what you feel you'll need but even a high spec one isn't overly well specced in my view, in that a car would be high spec but still lack carbon rear wings, carbon seats and other carbon bits.

I added lowered floors, weather kit with screen and aeroscreen, 6 speed, heater, dry sump, 8/6 13", nice paint, to my R400 SV 3 years ago.

I also got it with a spare set of wheels with ZZRs for TDs and within a year put RBTBs on.

It must owe me close to £50K. God knows what a similar 620 would be, though I guess at least I wouldn't have needed the RBTBs!!


BigRabs

27 posts

104 months

Sunday 19th November 2017
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FWIW I had mine built by PT Sports instead of Caterham themselves.

6 month queue jump and a really consultative / interactive process throughout. Offered some really good 'real world' advice and got some brilliant feedback on their build quality from my IVA tester.

Couldn't recommend them highly enough.

anonymous-user

55 months

Monday 20th November 2017
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BigRabs said:
FWIW I had mine built by PT Sports instead of Caterham themselves.

6 month queue jump and a really consultative / interactive process throughout. Offered some really good 'real world' advice and got some brilliant feedback on their build quality from my IVA tester.

Couldn't recommend them highly enough.
I'd highly recommend building it yourself, assuming time and ability. I chose that route, which is why I couldn't go more powerful than the 400, and found it quite straightforward, good fun and quite rewarding.

The knowledge gained in building makes maintenance a doddle too.

BigRabs

27 posts

104 months

Monday 20th November 2017
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That was my plan!

Sadly I got let down on the garage I had planned for the build so I was faced with getting it built for me or losing £8k of deposit.

curley

432 posts

220 months

Thursday 23rd November 2017
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BigRabs said:
I don't know if the 620S has been in the wild long enough to confirm / deny my suspicions but I imagine the running costs will be significantly higher than the 420. I don't meant obvious stuff like fuel and rubber. I imagine the wear on clutches and diffs will be fairly apparent too.

Happy to be wrong about that though?
Well i had an R400 for 10 years and have had a 620R for 3 .

I cannot say I've noticed much difference over 10,000 miles in the latter . Admittedly a Sadev rebuild may be more than a normal H shift box.