New member & looking!

[Jimbo93]

Afternoon all, 

 

Brand new member here, always liked the idea of a Westfield but recently started looking at them and now I really really like the idea!
 

I have only just started to learn about them, so based on minimal knowledge, I believe I'd want an SEi W with a Zetec.
 

I understand you really need to know what you're looking at when buying one, so to avoid getting a poor example would it be wise to buy one from someone like Toy Box? 
 

Any help/advice appreciated and maybe one day I'll get to meet some of you. 
 

Cheers 

[Stuart]

Welcome @Jimbo93  Toybox is a dealer so of course you pay dealer's premium. Depending on where you are and/or where a car you fancy is, you might find an experienced local member willing to have a look with you. 

 

Give us a budget and there may be someone here with one to sell. You'll probably at least get some advice as to what you might get for your money. 

[AndrewBClarke]

Hello and welcome. 

Firstly you have done the right thing by joining this club. A lot of knowledge and experience is available. Simply ask and you will more than likely get the answer. 
Take your time to look around. Go to your area WSCC meets and you will gain a lot of knowledge about what you want. 
Yes visit ToyBox. They have stock and will show you the difference between cars. I bought mine from them and had a good experience. 
Where are you??

[Jimbo93]

Hi guys, thank you for your quick response. 
 

I am in South Devon. 
 

Price wise, does £13k get a fairly nice example? I've realised age & mileage doesn't seem to affect values like they do on normal cars, is it more down to build quality and parts fitted? 
 

Ideal car would be racing green or a dark blue, which seem harder to find. 
 

This would be perfection!

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/17046754

 

Thanks 
 

Edited 16 hours ago by Jimbo93
Added link

[Alan Cutler (Adge) - Dorset AO]

Welcome from soggy Somerset.  Car advertised below is also in south Devon.

https://forum.wscc.co.uk/forum/topic/161371-2022-westfield-zk/#comment-1637688

 

FYI: Devon and Somerset area meet is this coming Wednesday 27th at Willand near Cullompton if you’re interested.

Best of luck in your search.

 

[AndrewBClarke]

Toybox adverts do not keep up with their sales - so cars advertised have often already been sold. 
You will need to call @Toybox Specialist Cars to find out their current stock. 

[Jimbo93]

1 hour ago, Alan Cutler (Adge) - Dorset AO said:

Welcome from soggy Somerset.  Car advertised below is also in south Devon.

https://forum.wscc.co.uk/forum/topic/161371-2022-westfield-zk/#comment-1637688

 

FYI: Devon and Somerset area meet is this coming Wednesday 27th at Willand near Cullompton if you’re interested.

Best of luck in your search.

 

Hi Alan, thank you for this. Unfortunately I am away for the 27th but would love to drop by in the future, where are the events posted so I can keep an eye out?

[sebdangerfield]

3 hours ago, Jimbo93 said:

Hi guys, thank you for your quick response. 
 

I am in South Devon. 
 

Price wise, does £13k get a fairly nice example? I've realised age & mileage doesn't seem to affect values like they do on normal cars, is it more down to build quality and parts fitted? 
 

Ideal car would be racing green or a dark blue, which seem harder to find. 
 

This would be perfection!

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/17046754

 

Thanks 
 

I saw this car on Friday when I collected my car from Toybox, it is indeed lovely. 

 

I agree with what others have said, Andrew who runs Toybox isn't able to keep up to date with his stock so many adverts are out of date. He advised me to keep a look on his Facebook for the Friday walk around videos which often show new stock. 

 

I'm really happy with my purchase from Toybox. He encouraged me to come along and view the stock he had in and have a chat. I must have spent at least an hour with him learning all about the different models, specs and engines, no hard sell and no expectation. It was a really useful insight into Westfield. 

[Jimbo93]

35 minutes ago, sebdangerfield said:

I saw this car on Friday when I collected my car from Toybox, it is indeed lovely. 

 

I agree with what others have said, Andrew who runs Toybox isn't able to keep up to date with his stock so many adverts are out of date. He advised me to keep a look on his Facebook for the Friday walk around videos which often show new stock. 

 

I'm really happy with my purchase from Toybox. He encouraged me to come along and view the stock he had in and have a chat. I must have spent at least an hour with him learning all about the different models, specs and engines, no hard sell and no expectation. It was a really useful insight into Westfield. 

Thanks for the insight, it sounds like a good idea to go up and have a look at what they have and learn as much as possible. I'll keep an eye out for the Facebook videos, there was a racing green one in the most recent video which may be the one you are talking about, I'll try and find out more about it. The Pistonheads link I attached is an old advert unfortunately. Racing Green on Tan is delicious!

[Jimbo93]

Which factors determine the cars value? Is vehicle age less important due to build dates & registration etc?

 

Factory vs Home built 

Performance parts 

Quality of build

Tuning 

Mileage - not so much ? 

 

Thanks all 

 

 

Edited 12 hours ago by Jimbo93
typo

[RickRack]

Hi Jimbo, welcome to the club, I know a number of owners with Toybox cars - all reporting a good experience, but depending on your automotive knowledge, buying private thru the club is also a great option with cost savings. If you have a spec in mind, why not post it in “Cars Wanted” (I assume you can access this as trail member - but someone will advise)many owners that have myriad reasons for sale/change & they’re always coming up for sale. 
One really important factor IMO is cars history but I brought 2nd hand off Autotrader 2 years ago knowing it needed fettling, which meant good price, I then put my own stamp on it and genuinely, EVERY technical question get multiple answers. 

Biggest bonus to me however are the people you meet & the Parts Sale/Wanted section, where i get my membership costs returned 10 fold. Good luck with finding your car & happy Westfielding, Phil R 🙏👍
 

[AndrewBClarke]

Nobody has stepped forward to answer as there is no real response to make. It’s all personal choice really. I would definitely put build quality first on your list. I would want a purchase that has not been treated roughly so personally would avoid highly tuned, tracked (once or twice is fine) and performance parts may also suggest the owner is more keen to push the limits. But when you meet the owner, all of these might simply be as an interest rather than being a hard driver. Factory / home built is really covered by the comments regarding build quality. Good (and bad) from either source. 
You need to think about what you want - track days, standard road use, etc. Don’t be caught out wanting extreme BHP levels as it is simply not needed. Presume you are aware of the differences between Q plates, age related plates and donor car plates. Q plates need no emission tests ( and some pre registered cars with ‘visual checks only’). 
Lots to learn but all great fun and they are a good bunch in the club. 

[Kingster]

2 hours ago, Jimbo93 said:

Which factors determine the cars value? Is vehicle age less important due to build dates & registration etc?

 

Factory vs Home built 

Performance parts 

Quality of build

Tuning 

Mileage - not so much ? 

 

Thanks all 

 

 

Factory vs Home build is difficult. The factory build (or built) to a budget, but also to a standard. However, some home builders are utter pedants/fanatics and will build above and beyond “factory standards”. 
 

Performance parts: depends on a lot of factors. Again, like above if done well then they are a bonus. But you rarely get back what you spend. So it’s often not a bad idea to get a car that has some upgrades included. Probably the best one to look for is an upgraded gearbox. BGH/Tracsport/Quaife/FirstMotion with longer first gear is highly desirable. 
 

Quality of build: this should be your number one priority. But you need to take someone who knows what to look for to ascertain this. 
 

Tuning. Refer to performance parts.

 

mileage: most cars do very, very little. This might seem attractive but very low mileage might not be good for an engine!

 

Other points. Track use. Don’t panic. These cars can be tracked heavily and still be good. But track miles are equal to a lot more road miles for sure. 

[Alan Cutler (Adge) - Dorset AO]

3 hours ago, Jimbo93 said:

where are the events posted so I can keep an eye out?

In the “Events” tab near the top of the forum screen, or “upcoming events” section rhs of home page.

[Jimbo93]

Hi guys. Thanks so much for all of your input, what a nice introduction to the forum & Westfield world. I certainly have a lot of reading to do and I am wary of asking questions that you will have seen 100s of times before. I will post in the wanted section and get revising. I don't expect to be chasing horsepower and it would be 99% road use (I've never been on a track day but would love to have a go). Presumably the standard Zetec cars are plenty powerful enough but that's something I need to try. 

 

Cheers