questions from a potential new owner

[AV eng]

Hello, just to introduce myself quick, im 21, and an avionics engineer, currently working on cessna citation business jets. I currently drive a 4 year old audi A3.

The M12 really is my dream car, and having found a superb insurance quote, and a few nice examples im getting quite close to having a look at one, though i need to think about practicalities first

Whats the cars ride height like when it comes to speed bumps and those rising bollards ect? do you have problems with them?
And i know you will prob laugh, but is there any space to put luggage... actually maybe luggage isnt the right word to use... a rucksack maybe haha.

and whats servicing like? do you do your own or is best to take to a garage/specialist?

[northnoble]

Welcome to the mad world of the M12/400

I must admit I struggle with speed bumps and more annoyingly actually getting my car in and out of mr drive (the road camber versus the pavement angle isn't good). As such I need to put boards down to get it in and out of the drive and always plan my routes to avoid speed humps etc (thankfully there aren't many where I live)

People will tell you you can buy luggage set and squeeze soft bags in, but in reality there is very little room if you have a passenger (especially if you are both above average height).......Some people use theirs as their every day car but to me it is very much a second car toy (and a great one at that - guaranteed to make you smile every time...unless it's broken). You will note that most cars for sale have low(ish) mileage...enough said !!

Servicing - all depends on what garages you have local - there aren't many "official" ones but if you can find a good independant that looks after Lotus / TVR etc you will be fine.

[Lakelord]

I've rarely had issues with speed bumps to be honest and as long as you treat them with respect, i.e take them at low speed, you shouldn't either. What also helps is that I don't have the standard splitter at the front opting for the qtr splitters.
You can actually get quite a lot of luggage in the bags but realistically, sufficient for a long weekend away - not much longer. Mine is off to Le Mans for six days and there is enough space for the two of us if you stick to the essentials.
This isn't what this car is about tho. For the majority of owners, this is a second car and I personally wouldn't be able to use it on a daily basis. Fun? Yes. Pactical? No.
As far as servicing is concerned, there are a lot of alternatives to getting it maintained by a stealer as long as you don't live in the outer hebrides

[les5709]

Hey, and welcome

I was very much asking the same questions as you when i was looking to buy my Noble. I was only 23 and didn’t really have the money to run it as a 2nd car only giving methe same concerns with ride height and space etc. What i did end up doing is buy a run around 2nd car just incase i ever needed boot space or needed to move the dogs about.

My Noble has been off the road for a good while due to my inability to keep it pointing in a straight line! (enough said) but it is back this week. With the way things worked out I now have managed to get a much better "run around" car, one that i would have no problem driving everyday to work as well as do the other things mentioned above. Now i am able to use the Noble as a 2nd car. When I say a 2nd car to me this means, it is there to drive it at any opportunity outside of traveling to work, except the odd Friday as a treat

Taking into consideration my short experiences (others here will be able to give you much better details) in my opinion i would honestly say you have to have another car of some sort that you will be happy to drive. I know now I feel much happier with my Noble that i have another option if it’s pouring outside/icy.

I know I prob didn’t answer your questions on speed bumps etc- but that’s my input as another youngish Noble driver wanting to drive it at every opportunity possible.

Thanks
Steve

[wessexrfc]

AV eng, without wanting to be a kill-joy. If buying one is going to max out your funds, then this is not the car for you. As people have found, they do require maintenance on a regular basis and when broken, are expensive to mend. Also it tends to need to be specialist garage for the larger work, my last LR was £60 per hour and the hours soon start to mount up. If funds are not a problem, or you are confident on doing the maintance yourself, its a great car, and you will love it. I did the same as you are thinking with a Lotus esprit at your age, and it scared the c**p out of me every time I had to take it to the garage.

My advice would be to make a few more moves up the automotive ladder before going for a Noble. Your in the right job, so in a few years you’ll you can buy the model you want, then, like the rest of us, spend a fortune in turning it into the car it should always have been. HTH

[AV eng]

i must say, considering they arnt very common cars, thats alot of feedback in a short period!

Thanks, some serious things to think about there.

Im in two minds as to what to do with the audi. I would like to keep it for all the above reaons!

Costs arnt really a worrie for me, without wanting to sound big headed :S But the comment about keeping it in a staight line in the wet is worth thinking about! ha!

Im more than confident with a spanner, so i could do the work myself, but as ive have done with all my other cars, i just stick em in the garage through laziness.

Im not going to rush into buying one, so will just keep trauling through the forum, go and have a look around one...

thanks for the feedback guys, hopefully see some of you at a track day in the not distant future if i can justify buying one now

Matt

[D_G]

I've had mine for five years but it is a second car so only comes out in nice weather normally. Speed bumps are not really a problem, low speeds or taking them at an angle if they are really large / bad angles. I've scraped mine loads of times by accident but it's never caused any damage.
Me and my girlfriend went off for a two week jaunt around europe and we had enough room for our stuff spread around into squashy bags (although I did have to put my foot down to reduce down some of the stuff she wanted to take ).
Mines been brilliantly reliable but there are others who have spent a small fortune on repairs so keep in mind they can go wrong and budget for services and repairs accordingly.
Personally I don't regret one minute of owning mine

Dave

[F.C.]

Speed bumps no problem! buy an M400, they don't have the splitter (a good argument to convince the missus you NEED to spend a bit more!)

Try and source a car with all the known issues sorted, (should be easier now as most will have broken and been fixed) If you have the budget get the car with a Roush or similar exhaust fitted, you WILL want to change the standard one; they break at their mountings FREQUENTLY.
The plus side of this is that the fuel pump mods will have been caried out and a re-map to take advantage of the extra flow and you'll save anything between £1500-£3000 to boot.

The niggly bits heater matrix / air con can be very hit and miss leaks etc, they are expensive to have fixed at a stealers (quite rightly so) as they are a real bd to do yourself and the parts price are also a piss-take.

Try and source one with a trackday sump (a nice to have for extra peace of mind)
make sure you have a LSD (no not acid) as open diffs don't last long with unforgiving peddlers.

Check for rot in the chassis, they can suffer badly from the dredded red rot (especially the rear section) the material is mild steel.

Every day car why not? If you have the time and money to maintain it, otherwise you will need a second car for boring miles.

Practical? NO.

Best bang for Buck this side of err.... Not much at all. ABSOfkINLUTELY.

If you trawl the forum for long enough you will get a good idea of the common faults and what to look for in addition to the above.

Buy with your head not your heart, trust me I nearly bought the first one I drove and was so glad I waited for the one I eventually bought.
Good luck with your search.
F.C.

[hoyin]

Ditto what everyone above has said.

I have the front splitter I also live around London so plenty of speed bumps. You have to travel very slowly and very often I have to zigzag across them. So you will always get the women in a Pug undertaking you whilst you do this.

I do my weekly shopping in it as it is my only car so for me there is plenty of storage behind the seats. But to be honest I don't actually need a car. My first mode of transport is a bicycle.

However don't be fooled by the low insurance or the fact that uses Ford parts and therefore will be cheap to run. Getting at anything takes time. Time = labour! And labour at a specialist is not cheap.

I would have at least 3k in the bank and be happy to drop it at anytime.

I have spent a lot on the car getting various upgrades (not performance related) but then I have no intention of selling the car.