Depreciation

[Craigsun]

Hi all I'm considering a Westfield I really luv how much you get for you pounds. I'm not well off but saved super hard and have been super careful what I put my money into so as to protect it. For example I got a caterham and sold it a year later for the same money and had put 6000 miles on the clock I have then bought a basic ac cobra at the entry level. 

I'm thinking awesome performance, being in n.ireland a half hood and heater I like to drive all year around approx 4-6 k per year.  Is this possible in a certain westfield. I looked at the Westfield sport 250 maybe take a drop as they are so new? Any advice very welcome. Thanks :)  

p.s it rains alot here so if the hoods aren't great just please say. :) 

I'm excited for the performance you can get. Pure class. 

[Kingster]

Right now I’d say they are appreciating if anything. 
 

I know of at least two of our local members who sold theirs in the past couple of years for more than they paid. In fairness though, that didn’t include bits of “tinkering” they may have done, but at the very least it shows that out cars are holding their value if they are well spec’d, well built and in good condition. 

[Craigsun]

Hi Chris thank you for that priceless peice of information. That's positive. What about the weather gear any good and the heaters?

 

Thanks Craig 

[jonjh1964]

I've driven mine around Europe, Ireland, Isle of Man with a 1/2 hood and never had a problem even in biblical rain, although without a bag on the back you do get some spray coming in from the back of the car. The heater is reasonably effective with the 1/2 hood on, I find wet summer days too hot with a hood on even without the heater.  In the winter I wouldn't recommend driving after the roads have been salted as the exposed front suspension deteriorates with corrosion under the powdercoat unless your willing to spend time washing it off after every drive.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

When it comes to the secondary stuff, like hoods, heaters etc, you see where some of the  difference in costs between otherwise similar spec Caterhams and Westfields goes; I don’t mean that in a derogatory way towards Westfield, but consider with a Caterham, you pay a premium for them to do more development work, whereas some areas on a Westfield, the factory provides a basic functional solution, but one that is also a starting point for the builder to develop something better from.

 

So the heater, is very efficient, but, is also only controlled by turning the blower on and off, “out of the box”. So it always blows hot! Add a simple control valve for under twenty quid to the heater hose,  (either remote operated from the dash, or simply turned on/off in the engine bay) and suddenly you’ve got a much better system. In summer, with the hood up, you can now blow cooler air into the cabin. (There’s a couple more big improvements that can be made, but they’re a bit more involved!)

 

With the hood, half hoods work really well, or alternatively, with a little bit of work, the regular hoods can be improved immensely. (Though be under no illusion, they’re never going to have any degree of total water tightness, the way a production soft top would.) but they can certainly be made to work very well.

 

Its all down to how the builder puts the car together, and what development they’ve done above and beyond the basic kit.

 

Of course, there are other, very workable solutions to the problems too! Westfields also work really well stripped out of all soft materials that would be affected by rain, plastic (GRP or Carbon) shell seats are superbly comfortable if you pick the right size for you, and totally water proof, add an aeroscreen and loose the windscreen, and with the right clothing, you have a brilliant all weather Seven style car, without any concerns for hoods etc!

 

Its all down to what you want from the car, and what sort of experience you want.

[Craigsun]

Thanks John I've had cars before with both great and terrible half hoods. I'm the caterham over 60mph in the rain it would put pressure on the seal and squeeze through from the pretty flat windscreen.  Do all westfields come with the appropriate attachments for half hoods egpoppers on the front etc?

[Craigsun]

Thanks Dave, all valid points really appreciate your time and response.

I'm interested in a fast fun car that with a half hood up and heater I'm not going to freeze to death.  I always wrapped up in the caterham and only used the half hood a little spray from the rd would come in through the bk in heavy rain but all sort of the fun.  

 

I'm thinking about the sport 250 but wondering about the bike engine Westfield? Any views maybe not as I'm not mechanically minded. 

What size are the fuel tanks? 30/40ltrs and service needed on say the sport 250 and road tax expense? 

 

Sorry lots of questions.

[jonjh1964]

12 minutes ago, Craigsun said:

Do all westfields come with the appropriate attachments for half hoods egpoppers on the front etc?

Not early ones that were more like Lotus/Caterham with multiple press studs on the front, I don't know when they adopted it but it was along time ago Westfields now have a ABS channel that goes over the top of the screen and is held on by the 2 press studs on the from and a screw on the back.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Westfield hoods, (except on the very early near identikit to Sevens cars), use a completely different hood attachment method at the screen.

 

Half and full hoods both use the same system. There is a moulded plastic “u” profile rail attached to the front of the hood, it clips across the whole top width of the screen, there is a locking peg in the centre that it fits around, then each front corner of the hood has a press stud that attaches to the upper corners or the front of the windscreen frame.

 

The plus is, it works really well at closing that screen gap. The minus, is that they can be prone to snapping in the middle where the cut out for the peg is, if bent or twisted too much. They can be repaired or replaced though.

[Craigsun]

On 22/02/2020 at 14:27, Chris King - Webmaster and Joint North East AO said:

Right now I’d say they are appreciating if anything. 
 

I know of at least two of our local members who sold theirs in the past couple of years for more than they paid. In fairness though, that didn’t include bits of “tinkering” they may have done, but at the very least it shows that out cars are holding their value if they are well spec’d, well built and in good condition. 

Hi Chris, just wondering about the couple of cars that have appreciated any details on year millage etc?  Are they about the £6-12000 mark? Were they maybe are close to the lowest they might go? 

As I've said I'm interested in the sport 250 a built one so for example it seems to be not many around. Factory Built obviously about £32500 and the main dealer has a red one on 2018 60 miles selling for £25999 so probably get it for £25750 but that's still close to £7000 of a drop in 2 yrs which is a fair bit. 

I'm well aware that if I was mechanically (unfortunately I'm definitely not ) minded and didn't have a young family and had time on my hands then maybe I would be able to build one and hold or increase in value. 

 

Anyone with real world Westfields around the £23000 - £25000 what was there depreciation? after about say  2/3 yrs ownership and approx 10-15000 miles please message about depreciation.

 

I know that after a few years alot of kit cars just wont drop in price once they get towards £6-12000 depending on many variables. 

 

I'm thinking maybe hold on to my ac cobra until next year until say a sport 250 maybe drops a bit closer to the 20 mark (hopefully in the awesome electric blue)

 

I must say very excited about this new journey. Thanks for all responses. 

[Kingster]

1 hour ago, Craigsun said:

Are they about the £6-12000 mark?

Yes. I have no real experience of the £20k+ market. 

[AdamR]

New cars depreciate. It's pretty clear looking at 2-3 year old cars and 10 year old cars there is a gap in values. Not sure it should be such a big factor in owning this sort of car, but that's a different discussion.

 

A newer car is no guarantee of reliability, arguably the opposite in fact. Modern engines are much more complex than Zetecs, Red Tops, etc. It's more about the builder - someone who has had the car a few years and ironed out the issues will provide a much better car than someone who liked the idea of building one but had no mechanical knowledge, learned on the job, got it through IVA then sold it.

 

Spend c.£10k on something 10+ years old and you can get something that will hold value if you buy smartly.

 

IMO best way is to treat them like you are riding a bike. Keep yourself dry with good clothing, drill holes in the seats and floor pan to let water out. You won't stop it coming in successfully, without having steaming up issues, visibility reduction and flappy hood syndrome. If you want all this it's time to look at an MX5.

[Kingster]

1 hour ago, AdamR said:

IMO best way is to treat them like you are riding a bike. Keep yourself dry with good clothing, drill holes in the seats and floor pan to let water out.

Yup that is exactly what I do - and we’ve done the Alps and other yearly 1000-1500 mile tours around the Highlands or Wales (where it’s not usually that dry!)

[TAFKARM]

Obviously this is ignoring the huige elephant in the corner of the room, quietly supping a pint.

 

Your biggest ownership costs will undoubtedly be "upgrades" and tinkering.

 

I'm sure i'd get back the purchase price for my car all day, every day. What I won't get back is the £20k+ I've spent on it over the years.

 

Think of it as a hobby, rather than a car.

[Kingster]

4 minutes ago, RussH said:

Think of it as a hobby, rather than a car.

Much more so than a Caterham where it’s quite possibly frowned upon to tinker with it too much 😁

 

I’ve been quite “canny” with both the build and my numerous (ok stupid amount of...) upgrades - I reckon I might just break even if I sold it now. 
 

Not going to happen though (selling that it’s) so from now on it is hobby investment.