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Newbie - looking at this car next week - BOUGHT ONE!


peet

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Now I know it's pre lit (erm had to google what is!) and looking into the age of it etc I am feeling more confident and more critical which was the ammo I think you need.

The seller has been nothing but helpful - I queried the V5 he emailed a copy in minutes but yep I imagine he will disappear as soon as I drive away...

If I can't fix a fault then there's this forum now - years ago we were stuffed!

I dont mind critiscism else I wouldn't be here!

I am the worst case buyer with this one...

1st car I'm looking at, it's not a normal one and I was initially impressed by looks!! Lol

Edited by peet
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Remember that other more modern westfields are still unique and all have different parts and set ups so you can still make any car your own by personalising whats on it  

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Peet, I just wouldn't go down the pre-lit route for your first Westifeld. It's a lot of money for what it is. The 2nd car was better. For around £ 6K to £ 8K you would hope to get a SEIW widebody car from 2000 onwards with a Pinto or Zetec in it. Especially if you can wait a bit. Get along to your local meet and go out with people for passenger rides, you will learn so much.

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Where is the nearest meet please, i'm in Crawley, Westy Sussex. Are there any owners in Crawley?

I will hang on - no rush at all!!

Erm how hard is it to change the coloured GRP? Are they expensive? They all seem to be red or yellow!!!

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I think the entire body bought new from Westfield is somewhere in the £1.5-2k region. That would then require you to do all the fitting etc.

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The point I was trying, (diplomatically!) to make, was that the knowledgebase, even on here, when it comes to Pre-Lits is already quite small. There just arent many current members that have or have had them. Now that normally wouldn't be too much of an issue for most things, as the Westfields that followed on still aren't too different. 9Generally being fairly simple cars etc)

 

But, we already know yours is customised, we just don't know how much. That means that every time you ask a question, unless you give full details, you'll get a host of miss-leading answers as people assume it's a standard car! That's why it's important if you do go ahead to know exactly which parts are on there, and from where they came. Then when you ask a question you can fill in someof the blanks.

 

Otherwise, even quite simple jobs suddenly become an endless stream of "can you identify this part please" type posts, or you spend more time on Google than driving!

 

Indeed, if you hadn't explicitly said you were highly experienced at car restoration, I'd have said have a look at something else as a first car! :d

 

As for meets, there's a map here

 

You look to have two areas near(ish) Surrey - Area Organiser Steve Lawson, they meet at The Parrot Inn, Forest Green, Surrey RH5 5RZ. And a little further away, the Sussex area, their AO is John Cobb and they meet at The Green Man, Lewes Road, Ringmer, Lewes, East Sussex, BN8 5NA

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Thank you all for your advice - i appreciate it. Changin Marques is hard let alone to something like Westfields where EVERYTHING is different from car to car!

I am liking that 2nd car more too bar it's colour but the build looks good and I would have no problems at all with it.

Who thought buying a fun car would be so difficult!?

I think the best thing for me is to look at more cars, dont rush and set what requirements I want from the car.

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Thought I might as well weigh in too :d

 

Even though westfields are by nature not standard, I would say that something as far from standard as the one you're looking at would be harder to sell than a more 'normal' one.

 

There are just less buyers for this sort of thing than a more standard car, generally speaking anyway.

 

While from the seller's point of view, he thinks it's rare and exclusive and worth a premium, from a buyers point of view I would hammer the price down (if you want it) and pay less than for a 'standard' car.

 

Strangely, I've recently found myself thinking of VW campers. I've no idea where these thoughts have come from (I have never fancied a camper, maybe it's a mid-life crisis for somebody who had bikes and fast cars in my 20's and 30's) so I will be suppressing them. :d

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It's true, the more you look at, even cars outside the price point you're after, the better armed you'll be.

 

Sadly it's also been the case in the last year or so, that for whatever reason, more sellers than in previous years have been after fast sales, (and it's not just financial) and have priced cars accordingly; if you had the money to buy there and then, there have been some extraordinary value cars.

 

We're also moving in to the off season soon, when historically values have softened slightly. That may or may not happen again this year. (Hard to say, for the previous reasons).

 

It's a buyers market though.

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Don't do it - you'd go mad dawdling everywhere and checking you're still in the RAC ready to break down!

I actually agree with you on both those counts but what is unusual for me is if you find an early model of anything in Vws they are sought after but not so with Wedtfields.

Now I have looked at the picture of the restored pre lit one I can get a better reference to any custom work.

I'm not rushing to buy it like I was last night now so thanks again!

I reckon it will be very hard for him to sell. The one thing for me is if the price is lowered it would interest me but I am definately not going to rush in and pay over the odds.

I do know nobody big can fit in it too!

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I am not sure the factory would still do a Prelit grp body

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So long as they have the moulds for the GRP it won't be a problem. Sadly stuff gets damaged over time. Like the 'kit' scuttle for my car, which was damaged irreparably.

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Is there a pre lit specialist on here? Been looking into them all afternoon, interesting stuff!

i'm wouldn't say we have a specialist as such, as Dave said, the knowledge base for pre-lits is quite small. For certain knowledge though such as for engines and drivetrains etc it doesn't matter what the car is, if you have a question, just ask and we'll all try and chip in and help with an answer if we can and have done up to now :)
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