James2

Thanks everyone for the responses, much appreciated. The neighbour who hit me has said whether it's insurance or not depends on how much it will cost. I'm sure she's expecting a few hundred quid, but we all know it will be a lot more than that! MRP, it looks almost identical to your damage, just on the other side. I'm sure she's not expecting £4k!!

Yes, thanks for the heads up 7 Wonders, will swap the wheels. Not sure when I did that, middle aged moment!

Happy Easter all. My neighbour didn't exactly wish me a happy Easter this morning though, instead she backed into my Caterham smashing the reversing light and pushing in the rear panel behind it. Thanks to lockdown it's done 350 miles in the 18 months since it was built, so not even run in and I'm more than a little miffed. Sometimes they really are more than just a lump of metal! Photo attached. It looks to me like everything behind the panel is ok and the wing has survived intact. What do people think will be involved in repairing it, and any south east recommendations for making it hopefully perfect again? I hear regular stories about Caterham themselves keeping cars for weeks and not taking very good care of them, and this one is permanently garaged and dry mileage only. Although it's possible they are better than they used to be. Thanks in advance

Hi all. With the IVA test booked for the new one, I’ve finally got round to putting my ‘old’ car up for sale on Pistonheads. Here’s the link if anyone is interested. Feel free to post up any questions here, especially if I’ve forgotten to mention something important! It’s a beauty, built by a Caterham service manager as his own car, so has some nice bits and was superbly put together. https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/caterham/all-models/2016-caterham-seven-310r/9899996

Many thanks to all for your helpful responses!

Hi all. Build pretty much completed by my talented Dad! IVA scheduled. The one thing we want doing is the application of protective film on the at risk bits of the lovely paintwork. Any recommendations of peeps that can do that in the Cheshire / North West area, and preferably are familiar with Caterhams? Many thanks as usual!

Hi all. Wondering what the consensus is for a sensible (approx) expectation of a private sale value for my 3 year old 310R in Ford Ultimate Green, 5k miles. Lovely condition, beautifully built by Dan Piper of Caterham Cars for his own use, and I bought it off him just over a year ago. Reason for asking is that I’m wondering whether to part ex it when my new one is delivered imminently, or whether it’s worth the extra work of selling privately. Don’t seem to have been many 310R’s privately sold recently so I’m finding it hard to know. Ta!

Yes, I'm getting the track day roll bar. I only listed the options I was unsure about!

Hi all. I have a couple of days left to finalise the spec for my new 310R CKD order, and having seen from this wonderful forum that there are some very good sources of Caterham bits aside from CC themselves, I’m wondering which options I was planning on selecting which I could actually omit and get equivalent (or better!) elsewhere? Of course some of these are prices to upgrade from the standard item to the upgraded version rather than buy the upgraded item outright, so I’m guessing it would be more expensive for most things to buy them elsewhere because I’ll still be effectively paying for the standard item which will still come with the kit, but worth asking... I’m wondering about the following items, with the standard inc VAT Caterham prices shown: Clear lens pack £125 inc VAT Front cycle wings - Carbon £355 Full decal pack £395 Half hood £195 Hood bag £80 Carbon indicator pods £125 Sequential shift lights £300 Carbon vinyl tonneau cover £250 Quality is important to me though, so I wouldn’t want to go for a cheaper option unless it’s at least as good quality. Thanks all! James

Many thanks for all your very sound advice Chris. I’ve only had the 310 for a year, and it’s my first Caterham so your experience of a range of models is invaluable. Of course you are spot on when you say it makes no sense to replace a perfectly good 310 with a new 310 and then upgrade it. The plan was always to build a 420 so that I would experience a real step up when the new one was ready, but that was before I completely fell for the 310! And the one I have is lovely, really nicely built by Dan Piper (Caterham service manager) for himself in 2016, with some lovely bits on it and only 5k miles. But I have the same itch to build that you did, and I intend to scratch it however bad for me that might be! My Dad turns 80 this year, and we’d like to build it together. He’s the expert and I’ll be his oily rag, and he’s as enthusiastic as ever so it will be a great shared experience (I hope!). And he’s given me the personal registration number which was the number plate that was on his father’s (my grandfather, who I sadly never met) Mk2 Jag when it was bought new, which has been retained in his family ever since. So I’ll have a Caterham built by my Dad, with the registration number that came from my Grandfather, and I’ll keep it for the long term. So it does make sense for me! Because I’m still a newbie as far as Caterham ownership is concerned, the novelty of the 310 experience has far from worn off, so I think I can be patient and wait for the warranty period to expire before upgrading, but that longer term strategy sounds very appealing at the moment. In the meantime I’m having a lot of fun thinking through the possibilities. Sometimes the anticipation is at least as enjoyable as the experience! Thanks again, James

Massively useful and interesting feedback everyone, thank you. Premier Power sounds very interesting indeed!

Oooh, a consensus emerging already! Thank you!

I'm about to have to decide on the spec of the new kit I ordered early last year. I currently have a 310R which I love, but have always wanted to build my own (well, help to build my own anyway) so the 310 was bought second hand at the time of ordering the new one because I didn't want to wait a year. The plan all along was that the new one would be a 420R, giving me the excitement of a more powerful engine to look forward to in the new one. I went down to Crawley last Friday to drive two 420s, one a 5 speed and one a 6 speed, ostensibly to decide which gearbox I wanted to specify for my 420. Well, the gearbox choice was easy for me (6 speed, as I have in the 310, frantic but fun) but I ended up with a whole different and entirely unexpected dilemma. I loved the power of the 420, incredible, and I see why so many people love it. But I found I preferred the characteristics of the Sigma engine in the 310. Obviously now I want the characteristics I enjoy, with the power as well!! The 310 just feels more instantly responsive. The 420 feels smoother and more refined, as well as much faster, but I'm not really looking for smooth and refined in my Caterham. The 310 feels more like a racing engine. The 420 feels like a heavier flywheel (guess it will be in a bigger engine) and therefore not as responsive when you first push the loud pedal, although it seriously picks its skirts up once you get going. So I'm wondering whether I should get another 310 and look at upgrading the power (can you safely and reliably get another 20-30 bhp out of the Sigma?), or maybe I could make some changes to the Duratec engine to make it feel a bit more racy? I'm not very techy (yet!) so any thoughts gratefully received. I hope I don't upset any 420 owners by the way, it's an incredible car and I loved driving it, and I see why they are so popular. I guess I just want it all! Most use will be on the roads by the way, but with the odd track day thrown in. I know that I will find the 310 lacking power on the track, but I'm sensible enough to know I will generally find myself holding back in the 420 on the roads. The other thing is the financial aspect. Having had a quick look at second hand values, it looks to me like a 420, whilst a bigger initial outlay, holds its value much stronger. Have I got that right? Thank you all! James