Buying Advice/Help Required

[1uke]

Hi everyone, over the last few months ive been lurking in the background reading all your experience and advice with nobles and understanding all the common problems with them however this still hasnt put me off! I initially started off saving for a mk2 focus rs in 2009 but over the last year i gradually moved away from the idea for several reasons which you can probably guess im sure! Now i have my heart set on a noble and pretty much enough funding and for the last 4+ months ive been looking in the classifields, autotrader and kerridges for a 3R/M400 and was wondering if there are any other specialists/garges out there that regularly stock nobles at all? Also do you know of any within the noble community that maybe comming up for sale this year? Im in no hurry at all as i would rather wait for the perfect noble to come along so it may not even be this year as i realise that there arnt exactly that many out there! Does anyone have any ideas on how many 3R's / M400 there where produced? Any help with the purchase/advice would be much appreciated as i realise the knowledge you guys have is top notch! Sorry for the essay! Luke

Edited by 1uke on Monday 7th January 20:32

[GC1]

Luke come along to the Autosport show this week at the NEC Birmingham as their'll be 5 cars to look at and you can pick our brains.....

[wessexrfc]

What were you looking for:
Age?
Colour?
Spec?

[1uke]

Thanks for the replies.

I've currently got a lot on at the minute but I will try to get up to auto sport at the weekend if I can as I would like to see your cars and get some advice!

With regards to spec I'm after a noble that hasn't been modified to much standard if possible. With colour I can't be to picky I really like the azure blue but I would settle for titanium/larch silver not a big fan of black cars in general so wouldn't choose that colour if I could help it! Age wise I'm not really fussed as long as its clean well maintained and has a good service history! Im also wanting one that's done 20-30k in mileage.

Edited by 1uke on Sunday 6th January 23:30

[Lucozade]

Luke be very wary of buying even from a dealer although I'm expecting not all dealers are the same.

I bought my 3R from a dealer with 27,000 on the clock and spent a lot of money getting it right.

Mine needed a replacement floor, new brakes, disks, hubs, wheels, front radiator and replacement shocks to name a few things.

Pity my old car has just sold to another member on here.

I'd personally look for one that HAS been modded as it's more likely to have had a lot of work done to it that you won't need to. You can still mod the cars without changing the look if that's a concern.

[sjc]

I'd suggest he means not modded away from spec performance wise?

[1uke]

I should of made myself a bit clearer I did mean in a performance aspect, I understand floor pans, exhausts and other bits are common issues that need upgrading so I'm not worried about those sort of modifications it's just the tuning side of things which I'm not that keen on. Are there any other real big issues to watch out for?

[wessexrfc]

1uke said:

I should of made myself a bit clearer I did mean in a performance aspect, I understand floor pans, exhausts and other bits are common issues that need upgrading so I'm not worried about those sort of modifications it's just the tuning side of things which I'm not that keen on. Are there any other real big issues to watch out for?

Hi Luke, having a quick look, value for money, this looks good (don't know the car) and has a roush exhaust system so one of the main faults put right, don't know the dealer, but seems they are looking for a deal??
http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...
For an original example, I think you would struggle to beat this (so long as you can live with the interior )
http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...
Above being a member gives you the chance to ask questions directly.

[1uke]

Yer i have looked at both of those especially the 3R/M400 one (Crystal Topaz) as it looks a really clean well looked after noble even though it is a bit strange to have 3R body but M400 engine?? but as you say you would have to live with the interior which if im honest im not sure that i could... i have even considered reupholstering the interior but i can see that coming to a lot! hmmm...

[Lecher24]

Hi Luke,
I was looking for exactly the same thing a year ago and bought a standard larch silver 3R from Kerridges. I can thouroughly recommend them on the basis of my experience over the last twleve months both with the car and the people. Good luck and tread carefully...
Ian

[mgbond]

The Topaz one Is Ian's old car. You need to see it in the flesh as it looks great. Ian's had it from new so u know its been looked after.

Just be aware that although an exhaust upgrade is needed because of the chocolate bracket. It realises more power and in most cases to be safe should always have a remap as car could be running lean with new exhaust.

So unfortunately nearly every car with an aftermarket exhaust has had a performance upgrade.

Bondy

[sjc]

mgbond said:

The Topaz one Is Ian's old car. You need to see it in the flesh as it looks great. Ian's had it from new so u know its been looked after.

Just be aware that although an exhaust upgrade is needed because of the chocolate bracket. It realises more power and in most cases to be safe should always have a remap as car could be running lean with new exhaust.

So unfortunately nearly every car with an aftermarket exhaust has had a performance upgrade.

Bondy

To be fair,it's pointless paying £1200-2500 for a new exhaust just to lose the bracket issue.My M400 at 7 years old has had the bracket welded 3 times at 40 quid a time in that period and then strengthened for 60 quid with no further problems. Do it for more power by all means, but not just for the bracket.

[mgbond]

sjc said:

To be fair,it's pointless paying £1200-2500 for a new exhaust just to lose the bracket issue.My M400 at 7 years old has had the bracket welded 3 times at 40 quid a time in that period and then strengthened for 60 quid with no further problems. Do it for more power by all means, but not just for the bracket.

I was just pointing out that he doesn't want cars that have had performance enhancements but he is looking at cars with exhausts upgraded.

From all the years ive been on here it has been know that the cars breathe better with an ehaust without the Y pipe. A remap after is recommended but most of the maps at this time have the boost raised. So all he needs to do if he wanted it std ish is to drop boost back to 0.7 ( I'm not inc M400 as this is already 0.9std) it will still have more power than stock but won't be pushing it.

Bondy

[1uke]

Lecher24 said:

Hi Luke,
I was looking for exactly the same thing a year ago and bought a standard larch silver 3R from Kerridges. I can thouroughly recommend them on the basis of my experience over the last twleve months both with the car and the people. Good luck and tread carefully...
Ian

Thanks for the advice i had been reading that kerridges are a good dealer from previous posts. Has anyone had any dealing with mole valley cars aswell as i often check there site for any new cars.

mgbond said:

The Topaz one Is Ian's old car. You need to see it in the flesh as it looks great. Ian's had it from new so u know its been looked after.

Just be aware that although an exhaust upgrade is needed because of the chocolate bracket. It realises more power and in most cases to be safe should always have a remap as car could be running lean with new exhaust.

So unfortunately nearly every car with an aftermarket exhaust has had a performance upgrade.

Bondy

I had in the back of my mind that a minimal amount of tuning might be needed for a exhaust/intercooler so im not to worried about small amonts of tuning the benefit the running of the car but thanks for the advice!

sjc said:

To be fair,it's pointless paying £1200-2500 for a new exhaust just to lose the bracket issue.My M400 at 7 years old has had the bracket welded 3 times at 40 quid a time in that period and then strengthened for 60 quid with no further problems. Do it for more power by all means, but not just for the bracket.

Andy ive just seen your car on your profile and that is exactly what im after (im assuming azure blue?) i also noticed your from essex aswell where abouts as i havent seen the car around? Getting back to exhausts i saw on bespoke performances that they sell rouch exhaust for 4,260??? bit on the high side whats that about? i cant find any other places that sell them though?

[Lucozade]

Don't forget the chocolate manifolds. And at £1000 plus fitting its s big ouch.

[Plumber1]

And the chocolate wheels

[anotherdom]

Like they said! I bought a standard 3R and had the failed exhaust bracket, blowing manifolds, bent wheels and leaking floor issues. All now replaced, with a handy performance increase to boot, but it would have been much cheaper to buy an already modified car. Granted you might not want one of the 600bhp monsters (I don't believe any are for sale anyway)!

Another vote for Kerridges also - I ended up buying elsewhere, but they have remained exceptionally helpful and it's always a pleasure to stop in for a chat. Great servicing too - not the cheapest, but more thorough than the Noble mandated maintenance regime.

Dom.

Edited by anotherdom on Tuesday 8th January 04:02

[Blu3R]

Luke I'll probably regret saying this but mine may be for sale in the Spring. I don't want to sell but it just doesn't get used enough for me to justify it. It's currently sitting at just under 20k miles. It'll be at Bespoke in a few weeks time, they're dealing with a Co who are repairing a chip in the paintwork for me.

sjc said:

I'd suggest he means not modded away from spec performance wise?

Andy I sent you a message did you get it?

[1uke]

Blu3R said:

Luke I'll probably regret saying this but mine may be for sale in the Spring. I don't want to sell but it just doesn't get used enough for me to justify it. It's currently sitting at just under 20k miles. It'll be at Bespoke in a few weeks time, they're dealing with a Co who are repairing a chip in the paintwork for me.

Thanks for the making me aware I would be very very interested if you do go ahead with the sale! Possibly first refusal would be much appreciated!
Luke

[burge45]

If you are still looking for a noble I'm selling mine, feel free to get intouch

Ian
0758 40 51 558