If you were buying your first....

[bongotvr]

So, I'm thinking of finally buying a Caterham, although probably a good few months away yet....

I will probably end up buying on finance, and my current thinking is a deposit of about 4k, and monthly payments of about £450.

What would you do in a similar situation? Buy secondhand on HP/PCP then sell on in 2-3 years and upgrade, or try to buy new on as high spec as poss over a longer period on HP/PCP and keep for as long as possible??

[7tastic]

I bought s/h one, the best spec I could afford and have slowly upgraded bits as I go along. Its probably not the most cost efective way of getting a higher spec car but you do get it excactly how you want it, and feel very attached to it.

Good luck

[bongotvr]

I've also noticed the K-series getting some stick on here over the last few weeks. Does that mean I should be trying to get a Ford engine, or are the K-series just as reliable?

[Chris71]

I don't think the K-Series is considered to be a bad engine. I think the Ford engine is thought to be better, particularly for very high outputs, but it's not bad.

Is there a cunning plan behing the hire purchase idea or is it just a way of raising the funds? I might get slated for saying this, but if it's just a case of money I'd be tempted to save a grand or two extra and buy a Sylva Striker outright - 90% of the car and no debt. Finance just sounds a bit dodgy for something that's a luxury not a necessity.

[bongotvr]

I don't know what it is, but I've wanted a Caterham for as long as I can remember, and I have thought about alternatives like Westies etc but they just don't do it for me. I think it's mainly the subtle differences in looks.

I don't need a car on a daily basis, I live in London so the Caterham would be purely for evening and weekend pleasure.

[Irish]

bongotvr said:

I don't know what it is, but I've wanted a Caterham for as long as I can remember, and I have thought about alternatives like Westies etc but they just don't do it for me. I think it's mainly the subtle differences in looks.

I don't need a car on a daily basis, I live in London so the Caterham would be purely for evening and weekend pleasure.

Start cheap and cheerful for cash and go from there.

[Chris71]

bongotvr said:

I don't know what it is, but I've wanted a Caterham for as long as I can remember, and I have thought about alternatives like Westies etc but they just don't do it for me. I think it's mainly the subtle differences in looks.

Oh there's plenty of reasons to go for a Caterham over one of the other Seven-a-likes, but I think it is a case of diminishing returns. You can get 90% of the car for 50% of the price. With resale values being so strong you might as well get 'the real thing' if you've got the funds sat there, but personally I'd never get into debt for what is essentially a toy if you've got nigh-on the price of a respecatble Striker sat in the bank.

I would recommend giving the others a go. There are differences behind the wheel (and the Caterham is IMHO the best) but you might be surprised how close the more affordable designs can get on fun factor without having to resort to loans and the like.

Good luck either way.

[S47]

Buy a Caterham and you're paying for the name and Lineage.
Buy anything else and you get what you pay for - a Striker is excellent to drive and much cheaper to buy, The major differance IMO is that a lot of Caterhams are bought to be driven hard, usually by Good drivers who've owned the other suspects [Porker TVR ]etc and who find with the caterham a bunch of like minded individuals who like driving the thing.
Other Kit cars tend to be bought as a project, by a person who has no idea of the performance of the car he's building. Having finished said project the builder then frightens himself when he drives it, and so plenty of recntly finished Kitcars get sold on.
Of course all this is IMO
I own a Dutton [26years]
A Genuine Lotus 7 since 1973
Oh I've also built a Robin Hood - however the less said about R Hoods the better, Mine got sold fairly quickly, though for a great price - so I ain't complainin'
Hope this might help you decide
Mal

[bongotvr]

So I should maybe put it off for a further 12 months, and then be in a position where I can either buy outright, or only have a small amount to finance....

[ColinM50]

Why not visit Detling at Easter or Stoneleigh 3/4 May and have a test drive in all the sevenesque cars and see which one you prefer? They all sit differently and in one you'll feel it fits right and another just won't feel right. And of course if you're with a mate, then chances are they'll have exactly opposite reactions but at least you get to make a more informed decision.

Got to be worth at least sitting in them all and comparing the looks side by side Shirley?

[freerange7]

I borrowed £3,000 to get my car, if I had left it any longer life would have inturupted my plans, I still have the car eight years on and the loan paid off in the first year.
Do IT

[MattyB_]

Sylva Striker really does look like something you've hammered together in your back garden though - if I had to go cheap, I'd definately go Westfield.

However, if you can afford the monthly payments, surely a Caterham is one of the best places to put your money? I know countless people who pay £300/mth on brand new Mondeo's and other massively depreciating metal - Caterham prices are pretty much rock solid. Buy slightly used and I'm sure you'll be fine.

[Chris71]

MattyB_ said:

Sylva Striker really does look like something you've hammered together in your back garden though - if I had to go cheap, I'd definately go Westfield.

Simply not true. Depends on the example, but I looked at buying a Striker that was way smarter than the Caterham I ended up with. Admittedly it was one of the more expensive examples around (Still less than a battered crossflow Caterham though), but it had been built by a professional machinist and the attention to detail was obsessive.

So why didn't I go for it? Well the great thing about Caterham is they're so numerous in comparison. Prices are stable, for a start (whereas you couldn't guarantee the premium you pay for an exceptional example of a Striker will be reflected when you sell it); support is plentiful becasue there are so many owners around and even quite a few companies dedicated to the Seven; finally with stable resale values you might as well pay the extra for the real thing.

However those are all luxuries I'd only bother with if I had the money sitting around. They're purely the icing on the cake and I'd spend £5 or 6k on a good Striker without a moment's hesitation if that had been my budget.

[casbar]

I agree, if your just going to have track fun, I would buy the best value car you can find that does the job. If you want to attend club meetings and love the clubby thing, have great runs with the club, then the caterham 7 club is a great club to join.

I stumbled into Caterham ownership 12 years ago, and have stuck with the brand, but as I now only really do trackdays, anything that handles well and goes quick would fit the bill

[Dave J]

what you need is a Caterham SLR from around 1997/98 to avoid emissions for about £15K ..... sorted

[Yellow 7]

bongotvr said:

I've also noticed the K-series getting some stick on here over the last few weeks. Does that mean I should be trying to get a Ford engine, or are the K-series just as reliable?

They are jokingly/ half lovingly referred to as cheese.
The engine in other road cars suffered many warranty returns.
They are light, can be tuned, economical and in terms of 7 sorts of mileage last quite a few miles.
In SLR/R400 trim it is a very fast car.
Many, have had head gasket problems, click of doom (starter solenoid, other associated bits - MFU) that can be very hard to cure and the proximity to the starter and manifold doesn't help.
There are fixes to the head gasket problems. Many take them out to 18 / 1900 with big power and you kinda know that this is going to cost a bit with rebuilds or refreshes regularly. Horses for courses...
In more humble trim if bled properly and kept full of coolant at all times, they should off very nice handling and reasonable mileages...
Don't have the torque of a 2l but nice all the same - 6sp box keeps them in the rev range.

Edited by Yellow 7 on Saturday 13th March 17:53

Edited by Yellow 7 on Saturday 13th March 17:55

[bongotvr]

On this beautiful Sunday morning, I wish I could afford to buy one now!

[Tango7]

If you can afford to buy an £7-8k Caterham now I'd do it. You can always sell a cheap Caterham for pretty much what you have paid for if you have bought a decent example. So if you are saving up for a more expensive car, buy a cheap one now and carry on saving and then sell the cheap one just prior to sorting out the replacement and you haven't missed any blatting weather.

As so many people have mentioned above Caterhams have superb residuals and this is one of the big attractions for owning a seven. I'm sure that there are plenty of other sevenesque cars out there that can drive as well as a Caterham but for the complete ownership package I think a seven takes a lot of beating.

T

[Irish]

Tango7 said:

If you can afford to buy an £7-8k Caterham now I'd do it. You can always sell a cheap Caterham for pretty much what you have paid for if you have bought a decent example. So if you are saving up for a more expensive car, buy a cheap one now and carry on saving and then sell the cheap one just prior to sorting out the replacement and you haven't missed any blatting weather.

As so many people have mentioned above Caterhams have superb residuals and this is one of the big attractions for owning a seven. I'm sure that there are plenty of other sevenesque cars out there that can drive as well as a Caterham but for the complete ownership package I think a seven takes a lot of beating.

T

This is what I did. My car cost sub 8k, is a Crossflow in Bugatti Blue.

It has a 1.7 Crossflow engine rebuilt to 155bhp by Roger King.

I have totted up £6k of bills excluding the rebuild so well looked after. It is a shame I can only store it outside.



I wanted a £22k SV - sense prevailed so instead of waiting I have a car now.

[bongotvr]

Irish said:

Tango7 said:

If you can afford to buy an £7-8k Caterham now I'd do it. You can always sell a cheap Caterham for pretty much what you have paid for if you have bought a decent example. So if you are saving up for a more expensive car, buy a cheap one now and carry on saving and then sell the cheap one just prior to sorting out the replacement and you haven't missed any blatting weather.

As so many people have mentioned above Caterhams have superb residuals and this is one of the big attractions for owning a seven. I'm sure that there are plenty of other sevenesque cars out there that can drive as well as a Caterham but for the complete ownership package I think a seven takes a lot of beating.

T

This is what I did. My car cost sub 8k, is a Crossflow in Bugatti Blue.

It has a 1.7 Crossflow engine rebuilt to 155bhp by Roger King.

I have totted up £6k of bills excluding the rebuild so well looked after. It is a shame I can only store it outside.

I wanted a £22k SV - sense prevailed so instead of waiting I have a car now.

Love the colour!!

I have to say, I've not even seen many Caterhams for sub 10k, let alone 8k. Where else is there to look other than PH/Caterham??