Why so many used 620s for sale?

Why so many used 620s for sale?

Author
Discussion

Gulf7

Original Poster:

308 posts

57 months

Thursday 13th February 2020
quotequote all
Caterham generally have 6 or 7 of each model in stock, except the 620. Right now they have 17!

https://www.caterhamcars.com/en/in-stock

What's that about?


agatebox

93 posts

133 months

Friday 14th February 2020
quotequote all
I’ve been watching the 620 market for over 6 months since I was potentially thinking of upgrading from a 420, and during that time some of those cars are the same ones still up for sale.

Realistically for me at least when you start paying over £45k for a car I start to question value for money. Now as brilliant as it may be I would never see myself paying for example nearly £62k for a 620R SV. And in reality on real world roads there’s no way I could realistically exploit the performance without a. Looking like a dick/pi@@ing people off b. attracting the boys in blue c. Ending up in a hedge or worse., even the 420R can be a handful at times and needs to be treated with respect. On the track OK maybe buts that’s another matter.

As I see it 90% of the overall Caterham experience can be enjoyed by one of the “lesser” models,

There will always be people who are attracted by the “ultimate”, go for a quick test drive, buy a 620 only to find a few months down the line what it’s really living with a Caterham.

I love my Caterham for it’s rawness, noise, creature mis-comforts, impracticability etc. though those things are ironically probably ultimately responsible for fuelling the low mileage Caterham 2nd hand market.

craig2003

1,206 posts

205 months

Friday 14th February 2020
quotequote all
My 620R turns four this year and with over 17k miles it is fair to say it gets used.
No idea why there are so many for sale as they are simply epic

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 14th February 2020
quotequote all
agatebox said:
I’ve been watching the 620 market for over 6 months since I was potentially thinking of upgrading from a 420, and during that time some of those cars are the same ones still up for sale.

Realistically for me at least when you start paying over £45k for a car I start to question value for money. Now as brilliant as it may be I would never see myself paying for example nearly £62k for a 620R SV. And in reality on real world roads there’s no way I could realistically exploit the performance without a. Looking like a dick/pi@@ing people off b. attracting the boys in blue c. Ending up in a hedge or worse., even the 420R can be a handful at times and needs to be treated with respect. On the track OK maybe buts that’s another matter.

As I see it 90% of the overall Caterham experience can be enjoyed by one of the “lesser” models,

There will always be people who are attracted by the “ultimate”, go for a quick test drive, buy a 620 only to find a few months down the line what it’s really living with a Caterham.

I love my Caterham for it’s rawness, noise, creature mis-comforts, impracticability etc. though those things are ironically probably ultimately responsible for fuelling the low mileage Caterham 2nd hand market.
That’s about it.

I’m convinced many buyers of the 620 just do it because it’s the most powerful.

I get that; I couldn’t honestly say that I wouldn’t have bought one except that I was committed to building my own and the 400 was the most powerful I could buy in kit form.

Having driven others of lower power since I have no regrets. Some are a little easier to get along with than the R400D but overall it’s fine on road and imo better on track than lower powered ones.

I’m sure the 620’s better on track and would love to try one but I’m not sure it’s the best of the bunch on road.

carphotographer

500 posts

194 months

Friday 14th February 2020
quotequote all
Sold a roll cage to a 620 owner and he said it was just too powerful for the road and his get's used on the track. From one extreme to the other, I know a 160 owner, who absolutely loves his car and it's what driving and Caterham are all about having fun, and this is a guy who has driven F1 cars .


braddo

10,399 posts

187 months

Friday 14th February 2020
quotequote all
craig2003 said:
My 620R turns four this year and with over 17k miles it is fair to say it gets used.
No idea why there are so many for sale as they are simply epic
Good effort! thumbup

SidewaysSi

10,742 posts

233 months

Friday 14th February 2020
quotequote all
carphotographer said:
Sold a roll cage to a 620 owner and he said it was just too powerful for the road and his get's used on the track. From one extreme to the other, I know a 160 owner, who absolutely loves his car and it's what driving and Caterham are all about having fun, and this is a guy who has driven F1 cars .
I have driven F1, Rally cars etc and think the perfect Caterham is around the 160bhp mark.

DCL

1,215 posts

178 months

Friday 14th February 2020
quotequote all
I think the reason is probably obvious to those that are selling these cars. The truth is that they are not that good. They're too heavy, poorly balanced handling, and overpriced. It was a marketing exercises to cash in on those who soaked up the hype and believed the figures (all IMHO of course).

Rupert777

5 posts

49 months

Saturday 15th February 2020
quotequote all
DCL said:
I think the reason is probably obvious to those that are selling these cars. The truth is that they are not that good. They're too heavy, poorly balanced handling, and overpriced. It was a marketing exercises to cash in on those who soaked up the hype and believed the figures (all IMHO of course).
I was surprised at the "too heavy" remark but looking at the Caterham website it is shown as a surprisingly Arniesque 610kg, surely that can't be correct for the 620R S3? Maybe it's the additional weight of the supercharger? The 0-60 figures are also confusing, at the top of the page it quotes 2.7 secs but at the bottom under Tech Spec it quotes 3.44, One must be the R and the other the S. I wouldn't say NO to one driving

Gulf7

Original Poster:

308 posts

57 months

Saturday 15th February 2020
quotequote all
Rupert777 said:
I was surprised at the "too heavy" remark but looking at the Caterham website it is shown as a surprisingly Arniesque 610kg, surely that can't be correct for the 620R S3? Maybe it's the additional weight of the supercharger? The 0-60 figures are also confusing, at the top of the page it quotes 2.7 secs but at the bottom under Tech Spec it quotes 3.44, One must be the R and the other the S. I wouldn't say NO to one driving
The R and S 0-60 times for the other models don't differ.

LB14

274 posts

207 months

Saturday 15th February 2020
quotequote all
Gulf7 said:
The R and S 0-60 times for the other models don't differ.
The R has the sequential box though in the 620, the S version a manual box.

BertBert

18,953 posts

210 months

Saturday 15th February 2020
quotequote all
SidewaysSi said:
I have driven F1, Rally cars etc and think the perfect Caterham is around the 160bhp mark.
We are exactly of one mind! Not so long ago 160bhp was considered so powerful you needed to do a driving course to go along with it!

mic

376 posts

232 months

Sunday 16th February 2020
quotequote all
DCL said:
I think the reason is probably obvious to those that are selling these cars. The truth is that they are not that good. They're too heavy, poorly balanced handling, and overpriced. It was a marketing exercises to cash in on those who soaked up the hype and believed the figures (all IMHO of course).
It did quite well at Goodwood a few years back, it certainly beat lots more expensive toys. I seem to remember Xbow spending lots and lots to beat it next time.

ginger steve

61 posts

208 months

Monday 17th February 2020
quotequote all
When I purchased my last 7 I was looking for something with good power. Considered a 620 but I did see a couple in the workshops having head gaskets and I was told it was quite common. Decided to spend £20k less and get a heavily modified 300hp Duratec 7 that’s served me well. On track it’s got the legs to keep up with a 620 and it’s significantly lighter. The downside of a highly tuned NA Duratec is that it’s road manners are a bit comprised, but I don’t really mind.


Hopefully Caterham make a move to Ecoboost or similar, which would be a better package for me. Alternatively, I would be looking at Dave Gemzoe for one of his conversions, which look fantastic.