California noob with some questions re: ordering new 7

[KnifeySpoony]

Hello all. As the title says, I'm in CA and thinking about ordering a 420R to build myself. Right now I have an Exige S240 that I only use as a trackday, doing about 10 days a year. It's an amazing car, but I'm getting bored with chasing 10ths and fighting the urge to mod further to gain more speed. Looking for something more fun on the street and to do occasional trackdays with.

 

My questions are regarding the ordering/purchase process in CA. I believe that Hillbank is the only dealer in CA, but there is a caterham shop of some kind up in Sonoma (I'm in the bay area). I have configured a car on the Caterham website and see a price in pounds (around 42k fwiw); how does that correlate with the price that I will actually pay? I see that the cars on Hillbank's site (they only have a few in inventory) are much more expensive. Is this just because they are turnkey cars, or is there really that much markup? And I assume you can't just order direct from Caterham?

 

Thanks all

[kayentaskier]

The dealer in Sonoma is owned by Rich Kamp, a long time Lotus and Caterham expert. Rich recently had a kit for sale on ebay. I have used him to sell two Caterhams on a consignment basis.

 

Beachman Racing and Rocky Mountain Caterham are both well respected dealers and active on this site. I have interacted with both and have always been happy with their responses and professionalism. Josh at Rocky Mountain should receive my 420R kit in about a month. See post “Last Crate out of Dartford”.

 

As you found, the Caterham Configurator is very useful in making budget vs performance choices, but does not produce a USA price. Any of the dealers should be able to take your configuration link and give you a quote for delivery to your location. I encourage you to talk to the dealers and discuss price and delivery. The USA price is always impacted by dollar to pound exchange rate.

[KnifeySpoony]

Thank you. I see the options list on the US portion of the Caterham website is more limited than what is shown on the UK configurator. Is this because options are that limited on US-bound cars, or are pretty much all the options available?

[Croc]

The UK prices on the configurator are in pounds and represent a car sold by Caterham directly. You cannot buy directly from Caterham as there are dealer contracts. So the dealer has to price the contract in dollars and with some markup for having money invested in a pipeline of stock that takes time from order to delivery. They also have to price for assembly. The engine/drivetrain process is a little more complicated in the US since they have to navigate US import rules - some money is in that effort.

 

I was once told the Hillbank cars were more expensive as they were old pre-GBP drop against the dollar so they had to recover more. That occurred some time ago so the reason makes less sense as time moves on. It could be thats their starting point for negotiations. It could also be their way of managing the FX volatility in their inventory costs. Best way to check that is give the other dealers a call like Jim suggests above and get some price guidance from separate sales sources.

 

All the items on the configurator are available for order here. However, keep in mind that the order book is about 1-1.5 years from deposit to receiving your kit. Caterham do not ship immediately. The good news about that is that you can place an order without having final spec. Then as new options emerge then you can add them into the build up to a few months before they commence putting the kit together. If you want instant gratification, then you will want to find out what all US dealers have in their current stock and pipeline of orders - that means giving them all a call. Most seem to have a small quantity of spec orders not yet sold that they ordered in anticipation of a walk in buyer. Then maybe you add selected limited options separately onto that to customize as you want.

 

Either way, your best next step is call around and see what is in a container heading here or here already with a dealer and find out some prices. That will at least tell you if you need to make a custom order to get what you want.

[BruceBe]

Croc posted a very accurate summary. As an addendum, US dealers have recently received ordering information for the new Super Seven 1600.

 

Our inventory of in-stock and available kits/rollers on order can be found HERE.

 

Cheers,

-Bruce

[KnifeySpoony]

Being in CA, is there any necessity or advantage to buying from a CA dealer? Kampena is only an hr or so away from me, so if having a connection there is beneficial, that may be a good option I would assume. If there's no advantage to being local, then I would go for best service at a fair price that can get me a spot in the queue.

[Croc]

I am in New Jersey so do not have that luxury - no dealer is in state or local to me. I survive quite happily without a local dealer. Most Caterham owners are similar to me.

 

The real reason you may end up selecting a particular dealer is that they have the car you want. Caterham dealers are small volume. They do not keep a ton of kits on hand for customers. At the end of the day you will choose the dealer who has what you want available. Failing that then you are choosing the best dealer who will take you through the order process for a custom kit from start to finish - maybe 1-2 years - so will need to have a track record of being around for a while (especially in this business climate today).

 

One thing that should be important to which dealer you select is how they manage foreign currency volatility on your order. They are all different. Ultimately you will pay for the FX volatility with all dealers but how you get there is very different depending on the individual dealer. This volatility can be a big cost or saving to your purchase price over the full lead time of an order process. You will not see it with other auto dealers as the Caterham lead process is so long and the GBP has been historically volatile against the USD.

[KnifeySpoony]

Anyone in CA registered a car with aeroscreen recently? I've read mixed things about if this will pass inspection or not. I think i read in an old thread here that there is a windshield exemption for vehicles under 1500lbs, but despite that some people have been met with resistance. Bruce from Beachman recommended getting the interchangeable windscreen on my order so I could register it with the full screen, then switch it out later.

[lucky dawg]

Anyone in CA registered a car with aeroscreen recently? I've read mixed things about if this will pass inspection or not. I think i read in an old thread here that there is a windshield exemption for vehicles under 1500lbs, but despite that some people have been met with resistance. Bruce from Beachman recommended getting the interchangeable windscreen on my order so I could register it with the full screen, then switch it out later.

 

That would be the best way to do it. There are times you will definitely want the windscreen on.

[KnifeySpoony]

I don't plan on ever using the windscreen myself, but perhaps my mind could change. I ride a motorcycle 99% of the time, so wearing a helmet and being in the elements is a normal part of my daily routine.

[kayentaskier]

I registered mine with only the aeroscreen through the DMV office in Los Gatos, but that was 20+ years ago.

[KnifeySpoony]

Great- hopefully I won't hit any snags. It seems like the experience can vary a lot in between different DMV offices. I'll need to shop around perhaps. Los Gatos is only 45min or so from me.

 

BTW I have been in contact with Bruce at Beachman - he seems on top of things so I may order from him even though he's out of state.

[Croc]

BTW I have been in contact with Bruce at Beachman - he seems on top of things so I may order from him even though he's out of state.

 

Its a bit difficult these days but I would normally suggest you make the effort to visit Bruce's facility. Its an impressive set up and he has a bunch of cars in various states of assembly/disassembly and that usually triggers some great discussion on options which gets you to a better plan on the options you want.

[lucky dawg]

... BTW I have been in contact with Bruce at Beachman - he seems on top of things so I may order from him even though he's out of state.

 

Good choice, Beachman is realistic and has excellent customer service.

[centerfireman]

I have quite a bit of experience with Rich Kamp (Kampena Motors); he did quite a bit of maintenance work and upgrades on my 1994 Caterham and eventually sold it for me on consignment. I have seen the work he does building new Caterhams in his shop; he is a bit slow but does meticulous work on the builds; I would love to someday have a car that he has built. He is a "one man show" and tends to work at his own pace; "deadlines" usually have a very fluid definition for Rich! He is a very nice guy and knows everything there is to know about Caterham and Lotus cars. I would STRONGLY recommend that you use Rich for your car because getting a Caterham licensed in CA (through the SB 100 program; which allows the car to be licensed and forever smog-exempt) is very tricky and somewhat arbitrary. Rich knows the nuances of the system and some tricks-of-the-trade that can greatly improve your odds of getting it licensed.

[Ferrino]

Although I ended up buying an imperial project car from a user on this forum, I've spoken to most of the US dealers and if I was going to buy a new car, I would not, for one second, go to anyone other than Josh at Rocky Mountain Caterham. This guy is an enthusiast first and a Caterham dealer second. Where in CA are you? I'm in San Diego.

[KnifeySpoony]

I have quite a bit of experience with Rich Kamp (Kampena Motors); he did quite a bit of maintenance work and upgrades on my 1994 Caterham and eventually sold it for me on consignment. I have seen the work he does building new Caterhams in his shop; he is a bit slow but does meticulous work on the builds; I would love to someday have a car that he has built. He is a "one man show" and tends to work at his own pace; "deadlines" usually have a very fluid definition for Rich! He is a very nice guy and knows everything there is to know about Caterham and Lotus cars. I would STRONGLY recommend that you use Rich for your car because getting a Caterham licensed in CA (through the SB 100 program; which allows the car to be licensed and forever smog-exempt) is very tricky and somewhat arbitrary. Rich knows the nuances of the system and some tricks-of-the-trade that can greatly improve your odds of getting it licensed.

 

Hmmm. I like that he's local (and well regarded). But I generally don't do well with people/businesses that operate on their own arbitrary time table. I think that even in a small niche market like this, you have to run your business like a business. I will reach out to Rich though, and see how it goes.

 

Although I ended up buying an imperial project car from a user on this forum, I've spoken to most of the US dealers and if I was going to buy a new car, I would not, for one second, go to anyone other than Josh at Rocky Mountain Caterham. This guy is an enthusiast first and a Caterham dealer second. Where in CA are you? I'm in San Diego.

I am in the Bay Area. I'm still trying to find a local with an S3 to see if I fit. I want to put in my deposit ASAP but don't know which car to order...

[Croc]

You know what is good about this post thread - you have a bunch of happy customers recommending their dealer based on their own past experience. To have three positive dealer recommendations on the west coast is a good thing in support of Caterhams.

[sf4018]

I built a 420R SV with lowered floor last year, I'm 6'5", 215lbs. SV was the right decision for me, lowered floor was essential.