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Locost Purchase
Conan257 - 13/9/09 at 04:27 PM

Hey all,

Long time watch, first time poster...

I'm looking at buying an SVA/IVA'd sevenesque car sometime after the end of october... As a good little boy i'm trawling the net getting an idea of whats around....

My main issue is that i'm limited to £2500... I know i'm not going to get a concourse car at this price, but i'm not averse to getting in and getting dirty with upgrading the keeping it running.

Doubt I can build a car at this price, which is why i'm looking at a ready made car.

Then this came up on ebay and I got wondering what issues i'm going to come across when buying a Locost and what to look out for when I view one...


mark chandler - 13/9/09 at 04:47 PM

The amount of time a care spent making the seats and dash indicate a good build.

I would just go over it with a piece of string and check diagonals are even and quality of welds, if all good then why not.

You can build for that sort of money BTW, just add 1 year and a divorce in to your plans.

Regards Mark


daviep - 13/9/09 at 04:52 PM

Worth checking whether the V5 shows the correct detail and that it's not still registered as a Ford Escort.

For £2500 I would say your risk ending up with something which will require a lot of work and probably a lot of money to bring it up to a standard you'd be happpy with.

There are bargains to be had but extreme care is essential when looking at the cheap end of the market.

Not what you want to hear I know.

Cheers
Davie


marcjagman - 13/9/09 at 04:56 PM

I think if you can buy that for 2.5 grand then go for it.


speedyxjs - 13/9/09 at 04:56 PM

Welcome to the madhouse

Dont say you cant build for that price. Iv only spent £1500 so far and only have 2 new shock to buy, a few bits of metal and paint. Then im ready for IVA


JoelP - 13/9/09 at 05:13 PM

quote:
Originally posted by marcjagman
I think if you can buy that for 2.5 grand then go for it.


deffo worth a question about the V5 on that one as he says he's 'kept the original reg plate'.


Ben_Copeland - 13/9/09 at 05:19 PM

Insured as a Locost 7 Replica according to its reg plate......

so might be in luck !


JoelP - 13/9/09 at 07:16 PM

just had this email from the chap, sounds right that its correct on the V5, but anyone else know if he's right about avoiding a full SVA in 2000?

"Hi Joel. It was built to the SVA manual but wasn't SVA'd. When SVA was first introduced it only applied to personal imports and kit cars. The DVLA classed mine as an altered vehicle.
The V5 describes it as a LO COST, first registered 1980."


02GF74 - 13/9/09 at 07:26 PM

ofcourse it is hard to tell from the small photos but it looks well put together and clean - BIN is £ 2,000 - I'd suggest you go and see it ASAP and wave £ 1,600 note in his face. Ideally take someone a little knowldgeable regareding the chassis and welding - there is a photo of the car on a track so I guess he felt confident it wouldn't fall apart.

you'll have £ 500 left from your original budgets - make sure you fit insdie ok if you are over 5 ft 10 ish.

the wheels give it a nice retro look - you'll hace some spare cash to sort things out.

looks like carbon fibre nosecone, front and rear arches


Conan257 - 13/9/09 at 08:49 PM

All good comments...

Have to say i'll not be in the market for this particular machine, just something along the same lines...

I wont have the time to build as I work almost 7 days a week and i'll need a car by Feb at the latest...

I was thinking that assuming a vehicle has an SVA behind it, there cant be any major issues apart from failures in components like gaskets/brakes etc... Those should be relatively easy fixes compared to the chassis failing.


02GF74 - 13/9/09 at 09:34 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Conan257
I was thinking that assuming a vehicle has an SVA behind it, there cant be any major issues apart from failures in components like gaskets/brakes etc... Those should be relatively easy fixes compared to the chassis failing.


not necessairly - how can an SVA examiner really know if a chassis is design correctly or welded together correclty - welds that appear good may fail.

The best way to test would mean to tes to destruction - volume car producers can afford to do that, one of kits can't.

Chassis have failed even those made by the big manufacturers.

that is why you really should have someone who can reconise a good and bad weld with you; usually relying on the fact that car is still together after N years is a good sign.


MikeRJ - 14/9/09 at 05:17 AM

That's quite a nice looking Locost...very classic looks with the steel wheels and alloy panels. Needs a remote change fitted ideally and not too keen on the boxy bonnet bulge, but if it's been put together nicely and there are no V5 problems then that seems like a very good price.