Noble Common Problems??

[FletchCossie]

Hi everyone, Im new to the site, but have been browsing for a while. Im tempted to buy a Noble, but am undecided in the M400 and the M12 GTO-3r... Mainly is it worth the extra £££'s on the M400?

Main reason for this post is can someone please list common problems that have been found with both the M12 GTO-3r and M400 please? i.e. Ive seen a post regarding fuel pump wiring on the M400.

Also, is anyone on here having problems with height? Im 6'8" and have sat in a GTO-3r. The roll bar at the top of the screen was in my line of view, but my local Noble dealers (Mole Valley) said they could angle the seat so Im more "Laying" than sitting. Anyone have another solutions?

Any help would be appreciated as I don't fancy spending £30,000-£40,000 on a car I will have to rebuild more or less everything.

Thanks, Steve

[D_G]

Hi Steve,

There are other people on this forum more qualified to advise on the M400 but my GTO-3 has been very reliable up to now. The fuel pump wiring is an easy mod anyway if it's still needed on the M400.
I was concerned too when I bought mine about reliability etc but after the positive reponse I went for it and haven't looked back.
Pound for pound there really is nothing close, go for it

[NobleGuy]

D_G said:

Hi Steve,

There are other people on this forum more qualified to advise on the M400 but my GTO-3 has been very reliable up to now. The fuel pump wiring is an easy mod anyway if it's still needed on the M400.
I was concerned too when I bought mine about reliability etc but after the positive reponse I went for it and haven't looked back.
Pound for pound there really is nothing close, go for it

Agreed. Mine has been reliable up until the point I left the keys in the ignition and killed the battery. So if you're not as stupid as me you should be fine. Be aware of course that you could buy a lemon of a Noble just as you could any other car.

[joust]

My M400 has had 2 air con leaks (same joint seal), 3 services and a new Roush exhaust with the upgraded fuel pump and wiring.

That is it.

J

[V6GTO]

joust said:

My M400 has had 2 air con leaks (same joint seal), 3 services and a new Roush exhaust with the upgraded fuel pump and wiring.

That is it.

J

And a repair on the front where you commited ABH on an orange cone!

Martin.

[sjc]

MyM400 has been totally reliable so far...................................
..........................................................................
but I only picked it up 8 hours ago!

[RobP]

sjc said:

MyM400 has been totally reliable so far...................................
..........................................................................
but I only picked it up 8 hours ago!

Congrats, Andy! Make sure you hang onto it this time!

[FletchCossie]

Thanks for the help so far. If I purchase a GTO-3r it will be from Mole Valley Noble's, so "should" be a good car. I will hopefully get any mods needed (Such as fuel pump) when I first get the car to save time and money later.

Im just selling My 400bhp Esc Cos atm, so hopefully within next 12 months I will have a Noble. In the mean time any more advice would be appreciated

Cheers, Steve

[obes]

The best advice is probably to keep visiting the forum mate

There's not much that doesn't get discussed on here, both good and bad !

[joust]

V6GTO said:

joust said:

My M400 has had 2 air con leaks (same joint seal), 3 services and a new Roush exhaust with the upgraded fuel pump and wiring.
That is it.
J

And a repair on the front where you commited ABH on an orange cone!
Martin.

Not had that repaired yet, so my posting stands

[joust]

FYI both my cars came from MV.

J

[FletchCossie]

Thanks again for the info. I am literally 2mins from MV,and the mechanics there seem to be very helpful too, so all work/servicing will be done by them when I get one

Is there anything I need to look out for or upgrade straight away to be safe or just get in, drive and hope nothing goes wrong lol

Cheers, Steve

[FletchCossie]

Forgot to say. How come alot of people by Noble's and then sell them within the first year or two? Ive seem many 03-05 plates for sale with only 3000-10000 on the clock??

[ahaughton]

FletchCossie said:

Forgot to say. How come alot of people by Noble's and then sell them within the first year or two? Ive seem many 03-05 plates for sale with only 3000-10000 on the clock??

I bought my M400 new, sold it 6 months later and bought the same one back 1 year after that!

[sjc]

Yep, I nearly did the same. Bought my 3R in july 2005 ,sold it 9 months later ( through lack of use) to a pistonheader.Never missed a car so much and have spent the last 3 months trying to buy it back as I new it was a goody.Unfortunately after protracted discussions Customs and excise decided I'd have to pay VAT on it( car is in Guernsey). Just picked up my new one.

Edited by sjc on Sunday 8th July 09:40

[F.C.]

FletchCossie said:

Thanks for the help so far. If I purchase a GTO-3r it will be from Mole Valley Noble's, so "should" be a good car. I will hopefully get any mods needed (Such as fuel pump) when I first get the car to save time and money later.

Im just selling My 400bhp Esc Cos atm, so hopefully within next 12 months I will have a Noble. In the mean time any more advice would be appreciated

Cheers, Steve

Just because it comes from a dealer doesn't necessarily mean its a good car, have the car of your choice inspected.
There have been some unfortunate experiences with cars from both dealers and private sales.
My M400 has been utterly reliable apart from needing a new heater blower motor (quite an expensive item from Noble as it is the whole front air box assembly £500-£600 plus fitting (£1000). However I found that a ford escort blower with a couple of mods fitted quite nicely in the air box (after de-riveting it).
Then I found a good s/h one for £250(and fitted it myself).
My car has the Roush exhaust + motorsport pump fitted, this is when I foud out that my particular car has suffered valve surge due to the original factory boost map being too severe causing blow by on the exhaust valves.
This is an area you should look into when purchasing an M400. a simple leakdown test of the cylinders would be a good start.
A symptom of valve surge is when you hit the gas (probably best in third or fourth gear)you will find it doesn't rev out to the limiter cleanly, so if you test drive and the car feels like you need to change up at 6000-6500 rpm I would have it checked out.
Other mods for me were machined suspension uprights (to give correct/desired camber adjustment), this was a revelation for my car it was transformed from very fidgety at the rear to stuck like glue and as a bonus my tyre wear rate has reduced from set of new rear corsas in just over 2K miles to now 4K and still got loads of tread left!
good luck with your search.
F.C.

[gadgeroonie]

fletch

things to look for when buying a car

make sure it has a track day sump fitted
make sure it has the 6 speed box (stronger)
make sure it has a LSD
consider upgrading the wiring to the fuel pump at some stage

there are some 5 speeds out there that have the LSD and have been strengthened so check out reciepts etc

the car will blow you away - 0-60 in 3.7 and handling you could only deam of in a cossie

have you had a test drive yet ?