K-series Caterham for sub 11k... possible??
Discussion
As the title suggests really. I'm new to Caterhams, never owned one before and desperate to have one. I am one of those crazy 22 year olds looking to daily it. Hence why I'm looking for a fuel injected motor with full weather gear. It will be a work in progress as well.
Am I being far too optimistic? I have done some good scouring of the Web but not really found much :s
Am I being far too optimistic? I have done some good scouring of the Web but not really found much :s
IAmTupperware said:
As the title suggests really. I'm new to Caterhams, never owned one before and desperate to have one. I am one of those crazy 22 year olds looking to daily it. Hence why I'm looking for a fuel injected motor with full weather gear. It will be a work in progress as well.
Am I being far too optimistic? I have done some good scouring of the Web but not really found much :s
Unless you are very lucky, gone are the days of the £10k K series it seems. You could buy one around this price, use it for a year or two and sell it for pretty much the same money. Crossflows were £7-8k and 8v VX cars were £8-9k but the last two were live axle cars and generally a cheaper option. Now the K series cars tend to be £13-14k and the rest of the market has shifted up accordingly. Am I being far too optimistic? I have done some good scouring of the Web but not really found much :s
Maybe have a look for an old race car or something that needs cosmetic tidying up. Caterhams hold their prices remarkably well so if you can scrape together more funds, it should be worth it
DickyC said:
Sorry to wee on your chips but how would you insure it?
I thought the same when I first thought about it, but surprisingly it's cheaper than my imported mx5!!Tango7 said:
Unless you are very lucky, gone are the days of the £10k K series it seems. You could buy one around this price, use it for a year or two and sell it for pretty much the same money. Crossflows were £7-8k and 8v VX cars were £8-9k but the last two were live axle cars and generally a cheaper option. Now the K series cars tend to be £13-14k and the rest of the market has shifted up accordingly.
Maybe have a look for an old race car or something that needs cosmetic today up. Caterhams hold their prices remarkably well so if you can scrape together more funds, it should be worth it
Yeah I had feared as much! I haven't much experience with carb'd cars. What would the crossflow/vx be like as a daily?Maybe have a look for an old race car or something that needs cosmetic today up. Caterhams hold their prices remarkably well so if you can scrape together more funds, it should be worth it
Maybe I'll have to try and find the end of a rainbow.
IAmTupperware said:
YWhat would the crossflow/vx be like as a daily?
My standard 1600 crossflow did mid-20's for general use and I used it as a daily driver for 6 months / 10k miles. You can get better economy from them with electronic ignition and a good set up but even they they really are going to be high 20's. A 1600k can easily be 10mpg betterTango7 said:
My standard 1600 crossflow did mid-20's for general use and I used it as a daily driver for 6 months / 10k miles. You can get better economy from them with electronic ignition and a good set up but even they they really are going to be high 20's. A 1600k can easily be 10mpg better
Interesting, that's not much worse than my mk1 mx5. I'm more concerned about cold start-ups and general running reliability compared to the K-series to be brutally honest!
Have a look at the Caterham Graduates Racing Club web site and their for sale page - they did have a a K Series Mega Graduate race car advertised for <£10k.
Probably an ex Academy car and almost certainly therefore able to get a V5 and an MOT.
I bought a similar car, in excellent mechanical condition, and although I don’t use it on the road, it is road legal and registered.
Probably an ex Academy car and almost certainly therefore able to get a V5 and an MOT.
I bought a similar car, in excellent mechanical condition, and although I don’t use it on the road, it is road legal and registered.
Turn7 said:
They do occasionally turn up, get onto the FB groups, lots going on there not on BC
Thanks, i'll have a look, any facebook groups in particular?andy97 said:
Have a look at the Caterham Graduates Racing Club web site and their for sale page - they did have a a K Series Mega Graduate race car advertised for <£10k.
Probably an ex Academy car and almost certainly therefore able to get a V5 and an MOT.
I bought a similar car, in excellent mechanical condition, and although I don’t use it on the road, it is road legal and registered.
Just had a peep, they have a k-series for £11k. I might send the seller a message.Probably an ex Academy car and almost certainly therefore able to get a V5 and an MOT.
I bought a similar car, in excellent mechanical condition, and although I don’t use it on the road, it is road legal and registered.
I am not in the Caterham loop at all, but at 21 bought a 1.9 CVH engined Westfield on twin 40's and drove it plenty as well as in all weathers, all be it never really as my sole car.
The running gear is all off a production car of one form or the other so while it's not always the case there's no reason it can't be a reliable as that was and if you're using it daily issues will find themselves fast as long as you have the time to get to the bottom of it. Swapping the ignition to electronic (megajolt in my case) from the worn out dissy made a huge difference to cold starting performance, as did replacing the battery with a new one which I should have done a lot sooner!
I certainly wouldn't be put off carbs for daily use, there is arguably less to go wrong, and starting shouldn't be an issue. Mind lived in a knackered tin box trailer for years started reliably in subzero even without a choke cable it started fine and you keep it alive on the accelerator jets for the first minute or two till it's got some heat in it. I've been to area meets in the snow, had a evening of pub food and chatting cars without and doubt it would get me home.
At the time (sept 08) most companies would cover you once you where 21 and as you say, as long as they would cover you the price was remarkably cost effective, especially as in my case I had access to another car. Rang round each year and always had a pick of quotes. About three years ago when I was 29 my insurance told me I couldn't add my partner as she was under 30 and they where only insuring me as it was an existing policy, but hopefully that was just a one off and others still cover 21yo drivers. Some now ask if you have had prior experience of driving a car like that which is a bit of a bootstapping issue, but I guess worse case you roll yourself in for an experience day and say you daily an mx5 and hope that's enough.
The main issue as a daily would be use in the rain and particularly at night. In the dry they are remarkably manageable, easy to drive and comfortable with some nice ETY earplugs, I've used it work work a lot, driven it to the ring with mates, and for a weeks holiday in the middle of France with my girlfriend at the time, I've strapped the mountain bike to the roll bar, and taken my 80yo granddad out for a half hour spin in it.
Even in reasonable rain it is fine in summer as long as arriving a bit damp is ok, but unless there is a trick that only half the caterfield owners know you will always get a bit coming through the sidescreens l, especially if you're on cycle wings not full wings, and on the older cars the front edge of the roof is only held with lift-dot. Even without the roof you can do an hour sitting an a bathtub if there is a shower at the end, and obviously people commute all winter on a motorbike and just have a full change of clothes on arrival, but it's not like an old MX5 is for dryness. I never had a heaterbox, which wasn't an issue for keeping warm (coat on, plenty of heat comes through the bulkhead) but it did mist up a lot with the roof on.
At night being so low and often with fairly poor headlights it can get down right dangerous how little you can see, certainly I wouldn't take mine on a motorway in heavy rain if it was dark.
Good luck. Till have mine and love it.
Daniel
The running gear is all off a production car of one form or the other so while it's not always the case there's no reason it can't be a reliable as that was and if you're using it daily issues will find themselves fast as long as you have the time to get to the bottom of it. Swapping the ignition to electronic (megajolt in my case) from the worn out dissy made a huge difference to cold starting performance, as did replacing the battery with a new one which I should have done a lot sooner!
I certainly wouldn't be put off carbs for daily use, there is arguably less to go wrong, and starting shouldn't be an issue. Mind lived in a knackered tin box trailer for years started reliably in subzero even without a choke cable it started fine and you keep it alive on the accelerator jets for the first minute or two till it's got some heat in it. I've been to area meets in the snow, had a evening of pub food and chatting cars without and doubt it would get me home.
At the time (sept 08) most companies would cover you once you where 21 and as you say, as long as they would cover you the price was remarkably cost effective, especially as in my case I had access to another car. Rang round each year and always had a pick of quotes. About three years ago when I was 29 my insurance told me I couldn't add my partner as she was under 30 and they where only insuring me as it was an existing policy, but hopefully that was just a one off and others still cover 21yo drivers. Some now ask if you have had prior experience of driving a car like that which is a bit of a bootstapping issue, but I guess worse case you roll yourself in for an experience day and say you daily an mx5 and hope that's enough.
The main issue as a daily would be use in the rain and particularly at night. In the dry they are remarkably manageable, easy to drive and comfortable with some nice ETY earplugs, I've used it work work a lot, driven it to the ring with mates, and for a weeks holiday in the middle of France with my girlfriend at the time, I've strapped the mountain bike to the roll bar, and taken my 80yo granddad out for a half hour spin in it.
Even in reasonable rain it is fine in summer as long as arriving a bit damp is ok, but unless there is a trick that only half the caterfield owners know you will always get a bit coming through the sidescreens l, especially if you're on cycle wings not full wings, and on the older cars the front edge of the roof is only held with lift-dot. Even without the roof you can do an hour sitting an a bathtub if there is a shower at the end, and obviously people commute all winter on a motorbike and just have a full change of clothes on arrival, but it's not like an old MX5 is for dryness. I never had a heaterbox, which wasn't an issue for keeping warm (coat on, plenty of heat comes through the bulkhead) but it did mist up a lot with the roof on.
At night being so low and often with fairly poor headlights it can get down right dangerous how little you can see, certainly I wouldn't take mine on a motorway in heavy rain if it was dark.
Good luck. Till have mine and love it.
Daniel
Wow, this is a great section of PH!
I am not too worried about both the rain and dark issues you mention. Partly because the mx5 is also pretty low and i always have the roof down. Not much difference there. I will also probably put LEDs on the Caterham. Still worth a thought though as you said.
Roblot said:
Hi there, just a quick one.
Woodcote sports cars have a 1700 super sprint advertised for 11.5K. Looks OK, but is on a Q plate. Just a thought.
Thanks for that, still deliberating whether or not a carb'd Cat would work. I see they had a k-series for under 10k. I wonder how long ago that was.Woodcote sports cars have a 1700 super sprint advertised for 11.5K. Looks OK, but is on a Q plate. Just a thought.
dhutch said:
I am not in the Caterham loop at all, but at 21 bought a 1.9 CVH engined Westfield on twin 40's and drove it plenty as well as in all weathers, all be it never really as my sole car.
The running gear is all off a production car of one form or the other so while it's not always the case there's no reason it can't be a reliable as that was and if you're using it daily issues will find themselves fast as long as you have the time to get to the bottom of it. Swapping the ignition to electronic (megajolt in my case) from the worn out dissy made a huge difference to cold starting performance, as did replacing the battery with a new one which I should have done a lot sooner!
I certainly wouldn't be put off carbs for daily use, there is arguably less to go wrong, and starting shouldn't be an issue. Mind lived in a knackered tin box trailer for years started reliably in subzero even without a choke cable it started fine and you keep it alive on the accelerator jets for the first minute or two till it's got some heat in it. I've been to area meets in the snow, had a evening of pub food and chatting cars without and doubt it would get me home.
At the time (sept 08) most companies would cover you once you where 21 and as you say, as long as they would cover you the price was remarkably cost effective, especially as in my case I had access to another car. Rang round each year and always had a pick of quotes. About three years ago when I was 29 my insurance told me I couldn't add my partner as she was under 30 and they where only insuring me as it was an existing policy, but hopefully that was just a one off and others still cover 21yo drivers. Some now ask if you have had prior experience of driving a car like that which is a bit of a bootstapping issue, but I guess worse case you roll yourself in for an experience day and say you daily an mx5 and hope that's enough.
The main issue as a daily would be use in the rain and particularly at night. In the dry they are remarkably manageable, easy to drive and comfortable with some nice ETY earplugs, I've used it work work a lot, driven it to the ring with mates, and for a weeks holiday in the middle of France with my girlfriend at the time, I've strapped the mountain bike to the roll bar, and taken my 80yo granddad out for a half hour spin in it.
Even in reasonable rain it is fine in summer as long as arriving a bit damp is ok, but unless there is a trick that only half the caterfield owners know you will always get a bit coming through the sidescreens l, especially if you're on cycle wings not full wings, and on the older cars the front edge of the roof is only held with lift-dot. Even without the roof you can do an hour sitting an a bathtub if there is a shower at the end, and obviously people commute all winter on a motorbike and just have a full change of clothes on arrival, but it's not like an old MX5 is for dryness. I never had a heaterbox, which wasn't an issue for keeping warm (coat on, plenty of heat comes through the bulkhead) but it did mist up a lot with the roof on.
At night being so low and often with fairly poor headlights it can get down right dangerous how little you can see, certainly I wouldn't take mine on a motorway in heavy rain if it was dark.
Good luck. Till have mine and love it.
Daniel
Thanks for your message. That is really helpful and has made me feel slightly better about an earlier carb'd car. Insurance is just so funny, it is about £300 cheaper for me to insure a Caterham than to insure an Abarth 595. I guess its all down to crash statistics?The running gear is all off a production car of one form or the other so while it's not always the case there's no reason it can't be a reliable as that was and if you're using it daily issues will find themselves fast as long as you have the time to get to the bottom of it. Swapping the ignition to electronic (megajolt in my case) from the worn out dissy made a huge difference to cold starting performance, as did replacing the battery with a new one which I should have done a lot sooner!
I certainly wouldn't be put off carbs for daily use, there is arguably less to go wrong, and starting shouldn't be an issue. Mind lived in a knackered tin box trailer for years started reliably in subzero even without a choke cable it started fine and you keep it alive on the accelerator jets for the first minute or two till it's got some heat in it. I've been to area meets in the snow, had a evening of pub food and chatting cars without and doubt it would get me home.
At the time (sept 08) most companies would cover you once you where 21 and as you say, as long as they would cover you the price was remarkably cost effective, especially as in my case I had access to another car. Rang round each year and always had a pick of quotes. About three years ago when I was 29 my insurance told me I couldn't add my partner as she was under 30 and they where only insuring me as it was an existing policy, but hopefully that was just a one off and others still cover 21yo drivers. Some now ask if you have had prior experience of driving a car like that which is a bit of a bootstapping issue, but I guess worse case you roll yourself in for an experience day and say you daily an mx5 and hope that's enough.
The main issue as a daily would be use in the rain and particularly at night. In the dry they are remarkably manageable, easy to drive and comfortable with some nice ETY earplugs, I've used it work work a lot, driven it to the ring with mates, and for a weeks holiday in the middle of France with my girlfriend at the time, I've strapped the mountain bike to the roll bar, and taken my 80yo granddad out for a half hour spin in it.
Even in reasonable rain it is fine in summer as long as arriving a bit damp is ok, but unless there is a trick that only half the caterfield owners know you will always get a bit coming through the sidescreens l, especially if you're on cycle wings not full wings, and on the older cars the front edge of the roof is only held with lift-dot. Even without the roof you can do an hour sitting an a bathtub if there is a shower at the end, and obviously people commute all winter on a motorbike and just have a full change of clothes on arrival, but it's not like an old MX5 is for dryness. I never had a heaterbox, which wasn't an issue for keeping warm (coat on, plenty of heat comes through the bulkhead) but it did mist up a lot with the roof on.
At night being so low and often with fairly poor headlights it can get down right dangerous how little you can see, certainly I wouldn't take mine on a motorway in heavy rain if it was dark.
Good luck. Till have mine and love it.
Daniel
I am not too worried about both the rain and dark issues you mention. Partly because the mx5 is also pretty low and i always have the roof down. Not much difference there. I will also probably put LEDs on the Caterham. Still worth a thought though as you said.
HustleRussell said:
Car insurance, when I was 19 (2009);
1.2 Clio £800
2.0 Mondeo TDCI £800
Caterham £500
That's just ridiculous! I haven't tried the likes of Adrian Flux and Lloyd White yet. I have been with Adrian Flux for quite some time up until September last year so hopefully that will account towards something. They seem much more relaxed about modifications.1.2 Clio £800
2.0 Mondeo TDCI £800
Caterham £500
Quick one on insurance.
17 Year old (2014) me had a mini 1000 for £1600 for first year, sold 6 months later and put on my 1.3 1992 polo for equivalent of £2500 for the year. With admiral I think
18 Polo Still at £747. (insane drop) Think Diamond
19 year old me 1995 2.9 VR6 Corrado £1300 Think Diamond
20 Corrado £880 Direct Line
21 Year old me Audi S4 B5 (stock) £1700 Direct Line
22 Audi S4 B5 (Now at 500hp) £675 Direct Line
Price fluctuations are insane. Notable points here are I bought my house when I turned 21 (post getting insurance on Audi, didn't change on records left at my parents) then this seemed to make insurance drop massively.
17 Year old (2014) me had a mini 1000 for £1600 for first year, sold 6 months later and put on my 1.3 1992 polo for equivalent of £2500 for the year. With admiral I think
18 Polo Still at £747. (insane drop) Think Diamond
19 year old me 1995 2.9 VR6 Corrado £1300 Think Diamond
20 Corrado £880 Direct Line
21 Year old me Audi S4 B5 (stock) £1700 Direct Line
22 Audi S4 B5 (Now at 500hp) £675 Direct Line
Price fluctuations are insane. Notable points here are I bought my house when I turned 21 (post getting insurance on Audi, didn't change on records left at my parents) then this seemed to make insurance drop massively.
Michaelbailey said:
Quick one on insurance.
17 Year old (2014) me had a mini 1000 for £1600 for first year, sold 6 months later and put on my 1.3 1992 polo for equivalent of £2500 for the year. With admiral I think
18 Polo Still at £747. (insane drop) Think Diamond
19 year old me 1995 2.9 VR6 Corrado £1300 Think Diamond
20 Corrado £880 Direct Line
21 Year old me Audi S4 B5 (stock) £1700 Direct Line
22 Audi S4 B5 (Now at 500hp) £675 Direct Line
Price fluctuations are insane. Notable points here are I bought my house when I turned 21 (post getting insurance on Audi, didn't change on records left at my parents) then this seemed to make insurance drop massively.
Should probably explain this was a response to the idea that it will cost a fortune. Seems to be very little correlation so its always worth checking. I remember when I was looking at cars when I was 19. Audi S3's were silly expensive, Audi TT 225 (same engine) was actually as cheap as ANYTHING (capitals as it was cheaper than my dads 1.9tdi 100hp passat) but I didn't want to be too hairdressery 17 Year old (2014) me had a mini 1000 for £1600 for first year, sold 6 months later and put on my 1.3 1992 polo for equivalent of £2500 for the year. With admiral I think
18 Polo Still at £747. (insane drop) Think Diamond
19 year old me 1995 2.9 VR6 Corrado £1300 Think Diamond
20 Corrado £880 Direct Line
21 Year old me Audi S4 B5 (stock) £1700 Direct Line
22 Audi S4 B5 (Now at 500hp) £675 Direct Line
Price fluctuations are insane. Notable points here are I bought my house when I turned 21 (post getting insurance on Audi, didn't change on records left at my parents) then this seemed to make insurance drop massively.
IAmTupperware said:
From looking at comparison sites, I should be able to afford the quotes i'm getting back.
Does anyone else have any experience of running a carb'd Caterham as a daily or almost daily?
Not a lot of space for the dog.Does anyone else have any experience of running a carb'd Caterham as a daily or almost daily?
Seriously, the 'all weather' stuff doesn't stop all the weather. If you want to turn up to work in a suit, it ain't the car for you.
Edited by GetCarter on Monday 10th June 16:19
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